Fruity Birthday "Cake"

Happy Birthday to my mom!  Well, it is actually in a week, but we are celebrating today.  She had been working the new Weight Watchers plan and fruit is one of the things you can eat for "free."  (In moderation of course)  Anyway, she didn't want regular cake and I am working on losing the rest of my baby weight, too.  This is what I came up with...  a cake made entirely from fruit.  Well, as my blog title indicates, I copy ideas and don't usually come up with them on my own.  I initially saw a watermelon shark on pinterest.  (If you have never seen pinterest, stay away.  You will find your self pinning ideas for hours... addicting and fabulous!)  Then I went here and there are lots of carving ideas and instructions.  It is pretty easy.  I used a cookie cutter on the pineapple to make flowers.  Melon baller to do cantaloupe plus strawberries and grapes.  Take some bamboo skewers and start arranging.  Voila!

Cow appreciation day.

Every year Chick-fil-a offers a free meal to anyone who comes in dressed up as a cow.  It is kind of a madhouse and I didn't think Andrew would go for it, but he wanted to go get some free food.  I love a good bargain, so I was pumped and the kids were very excited, too.  I literally threw together a couple of costumes in a little over an hour.  I pulled apart a sheep costume and re-used the felt to make 2 kid cow costumes with black felt spots.  I decided baby Ashley could use a costume, so I took a onesie and added felt spots.  To make the bottom cute, I added islet lace around the leg cuff.  I saw the idea on pinterest and thought it actually turned out super cute.  I may need to try this again.  Last, I cut off the sleeves.  Baby Ashley is kinda big, so the only white onesie that fit was long sleeved.  I didn't have enough lace, so I just took some ribbon and tied bows on the shoulders.  I was trying to make it look summery and not an unraveled mess.  I have also seen a few pics of friends kids with ribbons tying up the sleeves on their t-shirts...  so maybe that is the style these days.  Seems like with little girls, you can add a ribbon just about anywhere and it works!

Finished product...  the boys didn't want to pose for pictures.

The lace with super chubby leg.

At Chick-fil-a.

Ginormous bow and tutu!

Happy 4th of July!  I had some girl time with Ashley and made some accessories for her outfit while she napped.  Mom got her this cute onesie and I decided to spruce it up super girlie.  I made a stacked bow to match and a white tutu.  The bow was a little heavy so I clipped it to a headband.  I think she like the feel of the tutu.  I cut a 6 inch spool of tulle into 12 inch long strips.  I folded each one in half and sewed a pocket for some 1/2 inch elastic.  I threaded the elastic through the tulle and cut it to size on Ashley's waist.  Stitched the elastic together and fluffed.  Tutus are super easy to make and can be knotted instead of sewn.  Anyone can make these!  Look how cute baby girl is!

Go Dawgs!

Getting ready for football season with my collegiate fabric and ribbon.  I have a variety of burp cloths and I like a cloth diaper for the size and absorbency.  I saw a contoured burp cloth and thought what a great idea for good coverage.  I used terrycloth on one side and UGA fabric on the other.  I think I could really make it look like a dog bone!  I also embroidered the name and added a single tag for tactile stimulation or just to attach a clip.  Once I got on my UGA kick, I had to make baby girl a boutique hairbow.  It is a little big and will probably need to be attached to a headband.  I made a couple smaller bows, too.  Check it out!

Copy cooking

Well, not really "cooking" like a homemade meal or anything.  I saw this on a friend's facebook page and thought it was clever.  Alex loved it, too!

A couple of videos

This is a quick clip of Ashley talking/laughing a little bit:

This is Josh singing the Little Einsteins theme:

Taking pictures.

Why is it so hard to get a good picture?  I am not a great photographer, but sometimes I just want a cute pic of the kids and they just don't want to cooperate.  Is it because they are boys or because they are 2 and 4?  The funny thing is the first shot is the good one in this set, and the rest are funny although irritating at the time.

  Home Alone and straining poop face.

Get your hands out of your pants...  amazing how many time I say this in a day!

Just smile and don't scrunch your face.

This first pic I took...  should have stopped while I was ahead.