I've been a bad blogger... I didn't make a special post for my son's birthday.
Shame on me.
We have visitors in and lots of fun activities for John's birthday.... some fun for him and some fun for me (like date night with Steven & getting compost for our gardens).
However, I HAD to share this immediately because it makes me laugh so hard (as you will see in the video).
We went to Blue Bell today because I wanted John's first ice cream to be there ... and well, I wanted to go! Anyway, here is an AWESOME video of the experience!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Wedding Shower Cake
I made a cake for a wedding shower today. The sweet couple go to my church and they are a lot of fun! I had so much fun thinking about them and praying for their marriage as I made the cake. Their wedding colors are teal & pink/red... and they also like vintage bikes. This is what I came up with!
Greatly inspired by i am baker's rose cake & this other cake she did. The only thing I'm not crazy about is how the pink/red came out (I went a little crazy with the spray stuff). I used the spray that she suggest, but she's right it looks best in white (see pictures below). I should have done pink & red icing roses but I though the spray would give a more textured look... I was wrong, now I know.
I love the way the teal cake came out. Both methods us A LOT of icing... especially the rose cake. On the teal cake I didn't quite make enough so it you look really closely you can see slight holes... I still really like it.
And what did I do with the extra icing?... teach my baby bad habits, of coarse!
Note to self: babies will scream when you stop the flow of icing... however, you can distract them with gold fishes :) ... they have a short memory.
So this was my morning. I had to take a picture because it made all parts of me happy. Icing a cake while my cute baby stared back at me. Lovely!
And here's a picture of the cake before I sprayed it. Also, lovely!
Greatly inspired by i am baker's rose cake & this other cake she did. The only thing I'm not crazy about is how the pink/red came out (I went a little crazy with the spray stuff). I used the spray that she suggest, but she's right it looks best in white (see pictures below). I should have done pink & red icing roses but I though the spray would give a more textured look... I was wrong, now I know.
I love the way the teal cake came out. Both methods us A LOT of icing... especially the rose cake. On the teal cake I didn't quite make enough so it you look really closely you can see slight holes... I still really like it.
And what did I do with the extra icing?... teach my baby bad habits, of coarse!
Note to self: babies will scream when you stop the flow of icing... however, you can distract them with gold fishes :) ... they have a short memory.
So this was my morning. I had to take a picture because it made all parts of me happy. Icing a cake while my cute baby stared back at me. Lovely!
And here's a picture of the cake before I sprayed it. Also, lovely!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Fishing
We went fishing out at Lake Somerville on Good Friday with Manly & Christine. Since it was Good Friday I guess everyone had the same idea that we had... the dock was PACKED! We were fishing for Crappie because it's that time of year, but we really would take whatever we could get.... we just want practice catching & cleaning fish... oh yeah, and eating :)
We headed out around 7am (we meant to head out earlier but Steven and I were dragging everyone behind) and got to actual fishing around 7:45am. We first tried the dock (with John in the stroller with a life jacket), but since it was packed (and windy) we decided to move to a little cove. This was a much better idea for multiple reasons. 1) The wind was being blocked by tall grass & small trees. & 2) The baby could get out of the stroller and explore (which really means eat) rocks and sand and even the shallow water.
John did excellent the entire time and we were out there about 4 hours. He did take a little nap while in my homemade ergo thingy... but when Manly caught the second (huge) fish, I got too excited and woke him up. I was also equipped with mad amounts of cheerios. I think next time to make it even better I might bring more snacks, some toys and a blanket to put over the pack & play. I think he would have taken an even better nap if I put him down in a pack & play.
So back to actual fishing. Not long after we first got set up, Manly caught a bass. It wasn't big enough to keep, but if was fun to watch him reel it in. Then I think Manly got the next hit... he had found a sweet spot that only his rod could reach really well. This fish was more of a fighter and it took him a while to get him in. Once we could see it we understood why. It was a big catfish! About 21 inches. I got the next bite... a smaller catfish, 14 inches. And then Christine got the next one... 16 inches. Christine's fish was fun. We were sitting together (probably talking about wedding stuff) when all of the sudden we saw a fish jump out of water and watched her bobber sink down! I was quite exciting. I was kinda surprised it was a catfish when we pulled him out because I've never seen them do that... but I guess he really wanted her minnow.
Around lunch time we cleaned them up and headed home. Christine & Manly had other plans, but that night at dinner I cooked all our fish. It made quite a bit. Enough to feed Steven and I three meals. The smaller fish were harder to clean, but Steven said they tasted better. I have never really tasted the dirty water taste that people talk about when it comes to catfish, but Steven said some parts of the bigger fish tasted that way. So I guess around 15 inches is ideal eating size. I also soaked them in milk to try to get the taste out (I've heard that can make them taste better).
It was a great morning! Here is a slide show of all our pictures.
We headed out around 7am (we meant to head out earlier but Steven and I were dragging everyone behind) and got to actual fishing around 7:45am. We first tried the dock (with John in the stroller with a life jacket), but since it was packed (and windy) we decided to move to a little cove. This was a much better idea for multiple reasons. 1) The wind was being blocked by tall grass & small trees. & 2) The baby could get out of the stroller and explore (which really means eat) rocks and sand and even the shallow water.
John did excellent the entire time and we were out there about 4 hours. He did take a little nap while in my homemade ergo thingy... but when Manly caught the second (huge) fish, I got too excited and woke him up. I was also equipped with mad amounts of cheerios. I think next time to make it even better I might bring more snacks, some toys and a blanket to put over the pack & play. I think he would have taken an even better nap if I put him down in a pack & play.
So back to actual fishing. Not long after we first got set up, Manly caught a bass. It wasn't big enough to keep, but if was fun to watch him reel it in. Then I think Manly got the next hit... he had found a sweet spot that only his rod could reach really well. This fish was more of a fighter and it took him a while to get him in. Once we could see it we understood why. It was a big catfish! About 21 inches. I got the next bite... a smaller catfish, 14 inches. And then Christine got the next one... 16 inches. Christine's fish was fun. We were sitting together (probably talking about wedding stuff) when all of the sudden we saw a fish jump out of water and watched her bobber sink down! I was quite exciting. I was kinda surprised it was a catfish when we pulled him out because I've never seen them do that... but I guess he really wanted her minnow.
Around lunch time we cleaned them up and headed home. Christine & Manly had other plans, but that night at dinner I cooked all our fish. It made quite a bit. Enough to feed Steven and I three meals. The smaller fish were harder to clean, but Steven said they tasted better. I have never really tasted the dirty water taste that people talk about when it comes to catfish, but Steven said some parts of the bigger fish tasted that way. So I guess around 15 inches is ideal eating size. I also soaked them in milk to try to get the taste out (I've heard that can make them taste better).
It was a great morning! Here is a slide show of all our pictures.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Quilt, Video & Aggie Ring
My sweet sister-in-law, Christine, got her Aggie Ring a few days ago (remember that busy weekend). Even though we were only there for the actual getting of the ring, it was still a fun day.
I had finished a quilt for Christine and decided to give it to her when she got her ring. It is all of her high school t-shirts and didn't have anything to do with her Aggie Ring, but it was done and I wanted to give it to her. Here is a picture of her opening her quilt...
And the front...
And the back...
So a couple of things are different about the way I made this quilt. Most people that make t-shirt quilts will stabilize the t-shirts. I don't really like that because it makes the whole quilt stiffer. I don't stabilize because I want the quilt to be as soft and snuggle-ly as possible... after all, quilts are made to snuggle under.
So, how do I keep things straight? Patience, ball point needles & a walking foot. I try to make all my cuts as straight as possible and I don't rush piecing. The ball point needles glide through the knit fabric and the walking foot feeds the fabric in evenly so that things don't shift around.
Another thing I do is use the scraps (or blank sides of extra shirts) for the backing. I did it because I had them and it saved me having to go buy more fabric and because t-shirts are really soft. It makes a double sided quilt... sorta... I don't stress about keeping things as straight because after all, it is the back.
I also used left over t-shirt scraps for the binding. Keeping the softness, again. I used a cotton batting. So this quilt was pretty much like snuggling into a 100% cotton t-shirt. Now, who doesn't want to do that?
John loves when I work on quilts... or just throw a blanket down in the floor. I'm pretty sure his wife is going to be a quilter :) I had to take a video of his silliness...
Here are more pictures from Christine's Aggie Ring weekend...
How cute are these roommates?
Yah! So excited!!!
Yep, we're an Aggie family!
John with something in his mouth... of coarse...
Aggie Ring Dunk!
I had finished a quilt for Christine and decided to give it to her when she got her ring. It is all of her high school t-shirts and didn't have anything to do with her Aggie Ring, but it was done and I wanted to give it to her. Here is a picture of her opening her quilt...
And the front...
And the back...
So a couple of things are different about the way I made this quilt. Most people that make t-shirt quilts will stabilize the t-shirts. I don't really like that because it makes the whole quilt stiffer. I don't stabilize because I want the quilt to be as soft and snuggle-ly as possible... after all, quilts are made to snuggle under.
So, how do I keep things straight? Patience, ball point needles & a walking foot. I try to make all my cuts as straight as possible and I don't rush piecing. The ball point needles glide through the knit fabric and the walking foot feeds the fabric in evenly so that things don't shift around.
Another thing I do is use the scraps (or blank sides of extra shirts) for the backing. I did it because I had them and it saved me having to go buy more fabric and because t-shirts are really soft. It makes a double sided quilt... sorta... I don't stress about keeping things as straight because after all, it is the back.
I also used left over t-shirt scraps for the binding. Keeping the softness, again. I used a cotton batting. So this quilt was pretty much like snuggling into a 100% cotton t-shirt. Now, who doesn't want to do that?
John loves when I work on quilts... or just throw a blanket down in the floor. I'm pretty sure his wife is going to be a quilter :) I had to take a video of his silliness...
Here are more pictures from Christine's Aggie Ring weekend...
How cute are these roommates?
Yah! So excited!!!
Yep, we're an Aggie family!
John with something in his mouth... of coarse...
Aggie Ring Dunk!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Edible Arrangement
I made this for Steven's family for Easter!
I wanted to see how hard it was to do an edible arrangements, and it turns out it wasn't very difficult. I, of coarse, watch a few videos on youtube first (this one was most helpful)... but it didn't take long to do and I had a lot of fun being creative while making it.
I added in some cake balls in the shape of eggs... some were like peeps popping out (I got the idea from i am baker), some were just plain eggs and some were just plain peeps. I like the way it turned out, but next time I will make a nest (out of pretzels & almond bark) for the peeps (& eggs) to sit in while I do the edible flowers around the nest. I wanted to give a healthy treat, but I had to include something not so healthy as well :)
Here are some more pictures!
Here is another easter idea that I want to do next year... also from i am baker... are you guys starting to see a trend here?... cuz I love that lady!
I wanted to see how hard it was to do an edible arrangements, and it turns out it wasn't very difficult. I, of coarse, watch a few videos on youtube first (this one was most helpful)... but it didn't take long to do and I had a lot of fun being creative while making it.
I added in some cake balls in the shape of eggs... some were like peeps popping out (I got the idea from i am baker), some were just plain eggs and some were just plain peeps. I like the way it turned out, but next time I will make a nest (out of pretzels & almond bark) for the peeps (& eggs) to sit in while I do the edible flowers around the nest. I wanted to give a healthy treat, but I had to include something not so healthy as well :)
Here are some more pictures!
Here is another easter idea that I want to do next year... also from i am baker... are you guys starting to see a trend here?... cuz I love that lady!
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