Happy 2nd Birthday to Elmo & Cookie Monster!

Liam and Peyton are turning 2!

Their party theme is Elmo and Cookie Monster, so I put together these shirts for them. They look bigger than they are in this photo, they're size 2T. Lands' End had the perfect colors of T-shirts! I ordered the patches from Amazon/Glo's Collectibles and bought the iron-on letters for their names on the sleeves at JoAnn.

Happy Birthday, Boys!

Pumpkin Pie Apple Pie

Two sugar pie pumpkins...

yield a lot of pumpkin puree! Much more than I needed for one pie so I'll make soup from the rest.

The Thanksgiving pies. I meant to take a photo of the beautiful apples for the apple pie, Cameo and Granny Smith. Both were delicious!

"J" is for Birthday Cookies

My Auntie Janet and my friend Jennifer have birthdays in the same week, how convenient for these initial cookies! They're sugar cookies with a simple glaze, all packaged up and ready to mail. I hope they travel well!

Happy Birthday to you Both!

Toddler Peasant Dress

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I bought a yard of this fabric at my favorite local shop, Buttons 'n' Bows, a few months ago. I've been wanting to make Gracie a dress and finally decided on this peasant dress pattern. And how perfect that I had just enough fabric! I made version C with some slight variations including shortening it two inches. I think it could be shorter still, but it might fit her for a while this way.

I enjoyed making it, she likes wearing it, and it looks very cute on her. A successful sewing project completed!

Teddy Bear Bread

I've had this magazine clipping for a long time, probably around 30 years! I know I've made it at least once. 

I thought it was time to make a loaf for Gracie, using a whole grain challah recipe from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking.

A success! She wasn't sure whether to play with it or eat it.

So she did both!

When Pigs Fly

A couple of Saturdays ago we bought a new garden sculpture, this flying pig who is now keeping watch over our courtyard.

Packing

I don't usually enjoy packing.

But I'm excited to use these eBags packing cubes.

And this cute toiletry kit from Dakine.

Another Softie Ball

Gracie is inspecting this softie ball I made for our friend's new baby boy. She approves!

Welcome Baby Tyler!

Felt Food

I've been having a lot of fun sewing play food out of felt. My favorite felt source is Felt-o-rama.

Breakfast, anyone? I think my pancake syrup could use a little work but I'm really happy with the bacon and fried egg.

I'm happy with this pizza, too! I enjoyed figuring out how to construct it. You may notice there's a piece without mushrooms. That's because it's a gift for our friends Peyton and Liam. Their mom, Karis, doesn't like mushrooms, so there has to be a piece for her!

I'm making a similar set for Gracie, too. She's too young to do anything but carry them around, chew on them, and toss them on the floor, but when she's old enough to want to play "chef" she'll have a well-stocked pantry.

Pizza

Homemade pizza inspired by this recipe from Stone Soup. The crust is thin, crispy and delicious! My favorite was the one on the lower right, with sauteed onions and mushrooms atop mozzarella and parmesan.

Flowers

Some very pretty flowers Art brought home. I'm having trouble gardening here. Between an unfamiliar climate and limited time, the only flowers we have right now come from the store. I love how flowers brighten a room!

Happy Easter

I made a chick and three eggs out of felt for Gracie's Easter basket. For the eggs I used a pattern from Lola Nova. I had planned to embroider decorations on them but ran out of time. Maybe next year! The Easter grass is strips of tissue paper cut on the paper cutter.

The chick is from this Vogue pattern from the 70s. I made some chicks and the gingham and rickrack eggs for my family way back then.

I baked hot cross buns for our Easter brunch.

I used this recipe from one of my favorite cooking sites, Simply Recipes. They came out really well!

Arboretum

My birthday celebration continued on the weekend, when we started the day with biscuits and later went to the Arboretum.

It was a mild spring day, and so nice to be outside in nature, walking the tree-lined paths. It's so nice to know there are places like this in the middle of this 

big city.

One of the highlights was a wildflower meadow, the path was lined with bluebonnets.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's birthday season at our house! All of our birthdays are within 10 days of each other.

Mommy's friend Diana sent her a present from Biordi, an Italian ceramic importer in San Francisco.

Gracie likes the pretty paper.

She helped me open it.

Two very pretty plates. Thank you, Didi!

Art gave me two framed Gracie photos.

My parents sent gifts, including a set of number 

cookie cutters.

My friend Susan sent me this card, which is very special because it turns out that I know the artist!

Meanwhile, Miss Gracie was enthralled with this envelope.

And wanted to tell us all about it!

For dinner I wanted a cheeseburger so we went to Burger Guys. Gracie is enjoying a slice of toast while we wait for our dinner.

Thank you to all my family and friends who sent cards, gifts, and birthday greetings! I felt very celebrated.

Party Gift

I was happy with how this gift bag and tag came out.

The butterfly on the tag matches the butterflies on the fabric of the softie ball I made for Savannah.

More Softie Balls

Two more softie balls are finished! The one on the left made out of pentagons is for Gracie, the one on the right is for our little friend Savannah who is about to celebrate her 2nd birthday.

Daffodils

The tulips are finished but the daffodils have taken their place as our spring color. They're only blooming a few at a time, but they're very pretty and there is a nice variety. We've also been seeing some pretty wild flowers around town, in the parks and along the roads.

Christmas in March?

I finally finished Gracie's Christmas stocking. All I had to do was sew on the bells and tie on the ribbons, but it took me a while to decide that's what I wanted to do! I had visions of leaving it until the last minute and trying to get it done on Christmas eve of this year, so I'm happy it's finished in plenty of time.

Two Tulips

My second tulip is blooming today, with more on the way. The baby lizards are starting to come out, too. It's spring in Houston!

Ribbon Ball

I made this ribbon ball as a birthday present for Gracie. She saw me working on it and got excited! I think she'll love it. And it's finished over a month early!

Tulip!

It feels like spring at our house, the tulips are doing well and are starting to bloom.

Another Heart Garland

This time I used paper from this Martha Stewart Mat Pad, eyelets and ribbon to make a heart garland for Gracie's room. I like the way the solid color backs are reflected in the mirror.

Gracie, watching me put up her garland, started making her happy squealing noises. High praise indeed!