She's Crafty

So I went ahead and tackled another one of my "pinspirations" from Pinterest.

I made a little monogram for Jack's room out of crayons.  When I saw that Crayola crayons were BOGO at Toys R Us, I went and got some so that I could tackle this project.

It was pretty easy.  I printed out some Js in various fonts and then started cutting and arranging the crayons to my liking.  I had a hard time finding a J that I liked.  I wanted one with the "top hat" and I wanted one that wasn't too fancy.  I ended up, finding on that I kind of liked and then improvising.  I glued all of the crayons to each other.  First, I tried hot glue.  That didn't work.  Then, I tried good ol' Elmer's glue.  That didn't work either.  Finally, I tried Gorilla Glue whose tag line is "For the toughest jobs on planet Earth" and it worked!  I'm not sure that my crayon monogram is the toughest job on Planet Earth...but maybe on Mercury...he seems like a wimpy planet.  Once I got everything glued together, I waited or it to dry before gluing the letter down to some card-stock.  I'm hoping I can find a shadow box frame so I can finish this puppy off and hang it up in Jack's room.

What pinspirations you working on?  Which planet do you think is the wimpiest?

Happy 200th Blog Post

Wow!  I can't believe this is my 200th blog post!  My original purpose for starting this blog was to keep all of our friends and family who live near and far up to date on our lives.  I never had any idea that I would stick with it and I'm happy that I have.  Thank you for sticking with us and following along on our crazy (often boring) adventure.  Here's to 200 more posts!

Piña Colada Cake

Oh. My. God! I made a very delicious dessert tonight and I just had to share with everyone.  It's super easy and super delicious and super not so bad for you.

Piña Colada Cake

INGREDIENTS
1 package of Angel Food Cake mix
1 (20 oz) can of crushed pineapple in it's own juice
1/2 cup shredded coconut (the sweet stuff)
1 teaspoon rum extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 (12 oz) contain of frozen fat free whipped topping, thawed

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 9x13 pan with Kitchen KY cooking spray
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pineapple (including juices), coconut, rum extract and coconut extract.  Mix well until blended.
3. Pour batter into prepared 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown and level.  Let cool.
4. Serve with whipped topping

Just try not to eat the whole thing!!!

Brunch

We went to brunch this morning and Jack was such a good boy.  He is able to sit in a high chair when we are out, which he really likes.  He gets to look around and smile at anyone who will make eye contact with him.

studying the construction of the menu

Jack noticed Mommy was taking pictures, so he stopped to pose.

Reading the menu.  Trying to decide what to get.

 When all else fails, we play Jack's favorite game.  Peek-a-boo!

Where's Jack?

There he is!

We are so lucky that Jack is such a good baby and we are able to take him out with little to no problems.  He spent a good portion of brunch flirting with the lady that was sitting next to us and I overheard (with my sonar hearing) several other patrons admiring our sweet little man!

Splish Splash

Jack is still really enjoying his bath time.  We are still using his little tub, but I think we are about ready to transition to the big tub along (we'll just have to be super cautious that he doesn't fall over and bump his head).  Now that Jack is so much more aware of his surroundings, he is trying to grab everything and pull it in the tub.  He engages with his toys and still loves to splash!

Last night I decided to give Jack the opportunity to choose what toy he wanted to play with...he chose them all!!!

playing with all of his toys in his tub

lovin' the rubber ducky

you can practically hear his giggle

drinking some bath water

I'm sure not everyone will want to watch a video of Jack in the tub, but I'm pretty sure the grandparents will enjoy it!

Woobie

Growing up, I had a woobie that I loved dearly.  I carried it around everywhere and sucked my thumb until I was, well, let's not get in to details about how long I actually sucked my thumb.  My favorite part is the silky binding that goes around my woobie.  I still have my woobie (and a backup) and still sleep with it every night.  I remember when Dave and I first started dating and I sat him down because I had something very important to tell him.  I was sure it was going to be a deal breaker when I told him I still slept with my woobie, but he somehow found it endearing.  My woobie has fallen apart and been stitched together more times than I can count. 

Jack has taken a liking to the woobs and as much as I love him, I'm not sure I'm ready to hand my first love over just yet.  I decided to make Jack is very own blanket that he can love and cherish for as long as he wants (even if it is into his 30s).  I found a neat idea for a blanket on a blog and immediately "pinned it" on Pinterest.  If you don't know what Pinterest is, it is a website where you can basically bookmark ideas that you find online and share them with your friends.  If you want an invite, let me know.

So anyway, here's what I did.

I went and bought my fabric:

Then I got to sewing, this blanket has some almost quilt like qualities so it took quite a bit of sewing. I basically sewed all five layers on top of one another in diagonal lines about a half inch apart all the way across the fabric.  Then I cut in between the stitched lines (which was quite a bit of cutting). 

Dave decided to help me out with some of the cutting:

 After it was cut, I added some binding and threw it in the wash.  As soon as it was clean and dry, I handed it over to Jack.  It was love at first site!

Do you think he loves it?!

Playing coy.

Testing his woobie out from all angles.

By sewing the fabrics in so many lines and then cutting them, the cut fabrics curl up and make a "chenille" type fabric.  I really like the final product and so does Jack.  The colors I picked remind me of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Down with the Brown(s)

Yesterday we went and had brunch with The Browns.  I was their "childcare technician" when the kids were younger and I instantly became a part of their family.  When I left Virginia, I would go back and visit them a few times a year.  A few years ago, they moved to Chapel Hill and I couldn't be happier.  You first heard about Aunt Kori (the middle child) here.  Kori is about to move to Honduras to teach fifth graders and we needed some more Aunt Kori love before she left.

I hope that Dave and I are able to raise our child(ren) to be as wonderful as the Browns.  All three of their kid are thoughtful, caring and moral individuals.  They appreciate family and know the value of giving back to their community.  Teva is living up in New York, Kori just graduated from Virginia Tech and is heading to Honduras to teach, and Levi is about to be a senior in high school.  I can't believe these kids adults young adults have grown up from the 3, 7, and 10 year olds that they used to be!

Aunt Kori and Jack snuggling

Elissa and Jack

cheese!

Levi, Dave, Elizabeth, Geoff, Kori, Jack & Elissa