Texas State Fair

Sydney and I made a quick trip to Dallas and Austin last weekend to attend one of my college roommate's wedding. Our first stop was to Dallas so the cousins could play. We decided to go to the opening day of the State Fair. You can't go to the Fair without seeing Big Tex!

The girls.

We first went to the feeding/petting area. They had so many baby animals to feed and pet. A baby giraffe, zebra, camel, piglets, calves, etc. You name it, they had it. Here's a few pics.

Sydney feeding the mom camel.

This picture makes me laugh - it's the camel.

You can't forget about all the fried food. You name it, they fry it! Karen had a list of all the new fried food we had to try. Here is the fried butter. I was very hesitant to even try it because, well frankly, it sounds like a heart attack. It tasted like a buttered roll or croissant. Much better than I had expected.

They had this kid's farm area so you can learn about where your food comes from. Very fun and hands on. Here are the girls planting seeds.

We let the girls ride some rides. Here the "hot air balloon" ride. They are such big girls going by themselves!

Syd was SO adamant about riding this roller coaster. I have no idea why. Because of my "condition" I couldn't ride so Aunt Karen to the rescue! Thank you! She loved it.

I have no pictures from Austin. Pathetic, I know. But I want to thank Nonnie and Pa for babysitting Sydney for 2 nights so I could hang out with my college friends. THANK YOU!

Syd's New Headband

Here's a new picture of Sydney with her new headband I made. It's made out of fabric rosettes like my necklace. I should have gotten a better close-up...ah well. Have a great weekend everyone.

September's New Felt Food

So I have been working super hard to get ready for the holiday season in my Etsy shop. Every Christmas has been extremely busy (especially last year) and I vowed to not get stressed out this year. And the only way for me not to get stressed out is to make lots of food in advance so I never have the "I'm so behind" feeling. Well, you should see our guest room now! That will be a whole other post. : ) Anyway, so along with stocking up on the "regulars" I've made a whole lot of new designs. Here is just a sampling - yes, there's more not shown. I will be putting them up in my shop all during the month of September.

Key Lime Pie:

Lemon Meringue Pie: Hot Dog (from the Chicago Children's Museum):

Bread Loaves (wheat, white, and rye):

Mini Baguette:

All my breakfast foods in one listing (a popular request):

Fail Dogs

Oh my word! Matt just told me about this website: http://www.faildogs.com/ and I have just been laughing so hard at these pictures or videos. There are too many great ones to show you so you'll just have to check out the site but here's a couple I found quite amusing. And make sure you check out the titles, it makes it even funnier.

Can you imagine this big dog in your dryer? Or walking into a room and finding this:

Mac & Cheese

She looks so sweet and innocent.

But in fact, she's a lot of silliness. This is her lunch she is wearing on her fingers. There are macaroni & cheese shells. At least they aren't olives!

Cupcakes & Canoes

Just some more pictures of our trip to see my parents. Every trip now includes a treat to the local cupcake shop. Sydney picked out strawberry for her dessert.

They were quite yummy! The choices were: carrot cake (me), strawberry (Syd), blueberry cake with lemon frosting (grandma), and chocolate cake with mint frosting (Syd picked it out for grandpa).

Can I just tell you that Sydney got spoiled with attention from my parents! She absolutely loved it. As soon as she would wake up she would ask for grandma. As soon as my dad got home she would follow him around like a puppy. And just like any good grandparent, they did whatever she wanted to do! As you can see here, Sydney wanted to go out on the canoe.

What's this? UPDATED.

This is growing on my back fence. It's a vine that my neighbors have planted so I have no idea what it is. It's actually about 2 feet long! Is it a cucumber? Can I eat it? I actually have been slightly peeved that I have to continually trim these vines that come over from my neighbors yard. I guess if I get a cucumber from it, it won't be so bad. I've done some research but nothing conclusive.

Update: Okay, I did some more research and it's appears to be a penguin gourd or at least a gourd of some sort. Did you know that there is a National Gourd Society?! You do now. : ) And actually, I trimmed the vines on my side of the fence but left the gourd and woke up this morning to find it missing and more vines trimmed. So I think my neighbors took the gourd. Which is okay by me. Other than drying it and painting it, what do you do with a gourd?

Mystery solved.

Big News!

Photo from Somethings Hiding In Here. Link to Photo Here.

Due Date: Christmas Day.

Yep, you read that right.

I'm already 5 months. And (get ready to hate me) it's been the easiest pregnancy ever. Syd was easy, this one has been even easier.

What Was I Thinking?

A red popsicle with a white shirt. Thankfully she just got one red drop on her shirt. It was a team effort though at the end to keep her clean. And many wet-wipes were used after we were done. It was all worth it though. She loved it.

Last Weekend's Pirate Festival

Arrrg! : )

North Carolina Beach

So we headed up to NC to spend some time with the family. We had a great time. Here's some pictures of our long weekend.

Jean, Sydney & Karen tubing.

Jean, Karalyn & Karen doing some more tubing.

Kevin & Andy doing some really fast tubing!

Grandpa had this whole hot dog roast, s'mores, and fishing evening planned (and some fireworks). Sydney & Karalyn love to go fishing. Syd caught 3 fish that evening. She even touched the fish too. That is not my daughter! haha.

Reeling one in.

What a whopper! : )

The girls are so silly together. They play so well - making up games, running around, sharing, and absolutely no fighting. Amazing! They are 2 peas in a pod.

Aren't they cute with their matching pigtails.

I'm sure once I go through some of the 500+ pictures we took, I'll have more to share. Yep, you read that right! Have a good week.

Random Post

Sydney was very excited to find this heart shaped blueberry in her snack bowl the other day. I just had to take a picture - I mean really, how many heart blueberries does one find in their life? And no, it's not from our tree. Our blueberries have come and gone.

In sewing news, I've been making felt food like crazy and working on new designs. You'll have to wait a little longer to see those though. So instead here is a requested tote for my sister-in-law.

Sprinkler Fun

Here's Syd in action of the sprinkler. It's been pretty rainy here so we get out while we can.

And for some reason, she likes black jelly beans. She must get it from my dad (who loves licorice). She definitely doesn't get it from me. Yuck! They turn her mouth all black too. Good thing we enjoy good dental hygiene in our house.

Syd's Haircut

So last week, I decided that Sydney needed a haircut. I took off more than I was planning to cut but it came out so cute. It's now shoulder level. Sydney of course doesn't really care except for the fact that she received a "new haircut."

Our Poor, Neglected Blog

I know it's been so long. I think about posting a lot but just don't get around to it. Ah well. Here is a new picture of Sydney letting you know that she is 3 years old now. She's very proud of her age.

And the blueberry trees have been doing there thing and producing many delicious blueberries. Here is just a very, very small portion of what we have collected and eaten. I didn't make any cobblers or pies with them. We basically eat them right off the tree everyday.

Happy Birthday Sydney

Yesterday was the big 3rd birthday for Syd. Here's just a couple pictures of the mandatory cake & presents. Notice Dixie just waiting in the wings for just a tasty morsel to fall.

It was very fun to watch her open presents yesterday. This was her expression after every present opened. Needless to say, she was very excited.

Thanks to everyone who sent presents. We played with all of them yesterday. Yeah, seriously ALL of them. : )

Super Exciting News!

My felt food and my photos are now published in a magazine! : ) I'm so excited. I squealed when I found it in the mailbox. My neighbors probably think I'm nuts. The magazine, DDN Cucine, is out of Italy and caters (no pun intended) to Italian chefs, architects, and students. Anyway, they contacted me awhile through my Etsy shop and here we are. It's a huge magazine with lots of really great pictures. Too bad I can't read any of it.

Look at that 2 page spread! I had a friend translate for me (because it's obviously in Italian). Thanks Sonia!

Who has not played "kitchen", copying mom while she is baking cakes and cooking delicious meals? The result was always the same a lot of fun...and a house invaded by flour, sauces, and preserves. BeckyM is proposing an alternative that is practical and as much fun: felt food, hand-embroidered cakes, fruits, noodles and pizzas. Felt toys, ideal to stimulate the fantasy (and the desire of food) of the youngest.

Here's the link to flip through the magazine (I'm on page 101 & 102, I believe):

http://www.designdiffusion.com/En/NewsStand/NewsStand_Detail.aspx?IssueIDMaster=312

or just their website: http://www.designdiffusion.com/