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.