Lil' C is Two Months Old

Grandmoochie and Big K celebrate with dancing....

...and high kicks!

Lil' C using the powers of her cuteness!

Festivities last through the evening with a family movie night.  Who's excited to watch Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue?!

Next Food Network Star

Making a lemon poppy seed cake for Grandma's belated birthday celebration, Katie uses the mixer for the very first time!

Do you watch the Next Food Network Star? It's my favorite show! For those of you that do not watch it, each contestant is required to concisely express their culinary point of view. Katie's culinary point of view is, "I can do it myself. Mommy, you don't help." She yelled at me when I tried to help. She can do so much by herself these days.



Yes, the mixer is on. Katie's whole body was vibrating from it's power, but she takes her baking very seriously and would not let go.

The second picture is included so you know how close by I was and so you can wonder about my outfit. Yep, it's a tank tucked into soffe shorts. It's my Saturday style. I rock the fashion world!

Tis the Season for Blood Curdling Screams

This is not the picture we had envisioned (obviously - or I would have made better wardrobe choices for myself) when we took K to see Santa.

Why are Jon and I in the picture? Shrieks of terror, loud enough to make us all jump, from the boy just ahead of Katie in the Santa line made her more than a little cautious. See the fear in her eyes in this pic below? K kept saying "Hold you, Mawhner." She just knew Jon or I would betray her and force her to sit with Santa. However, neither of us had the heart to wrench her from our arms and force her to sit in S. C.'s lap. So we have a family portrait. It'll be a fun story to share with K one day.

Memaw T gave me red and white polka dot material. I sewed it into the bubble skirt K is modeling. My Memaw Hazel would make me and my girl cousins Christmas skirts each year to wear in our Santa pictures. I'm keeping the tradition alive.

Back of the bubble.

Halloween - The Real Deal and Aftermath

Here are a few pics Granddad and Grandma, or Mahner as Katie refers to her, took on Halloween.







While K was celebrating at home with the grandparents and cousins, Jon and I were in NYC carbo loading on spaghetti! I saw Elmo - and a few less appropriate costumes - on Times Square.



The next day we ran 26.2 miles.





Then had pizza and dessert.




This video is of Jon after the marathon. Watch the little old lady pass him! A man offered us $20 to pay for a bike cab across the park. Jon looked so pitiful the man didn't think he could make it. Jon gutted it out to the next park bench for a little rest. Then he was fine.

Thanks for helping Jon raise support for Team for Kids and his first marathon!

Back at home, right when we really needed to catch up on laundry, errands, and housekeeping, K and Mommy were hit with nasty colds. This book makes K-T feel better.

I have read it 15 times in 3 days. So if you ever need help with your horse...

Bananas for Bandanas

I made this flower brooch for my mother in law using this online tutorial. It was practice for the smaller version pictured below.



Made this for a friend's cute baby cowgirl. This is my second bandana skirt to sew. I am getting better. I'm really proud of the waistband. Two rows of stitches will hold the elastic in place during laundering.



And to keep it about Katie and Abbey...

It is their show after all! This video makes Jon smile. Katie has finally gotten over her Mommy Only phase - Thank heavens!

Here is the bandana flower brooch gift wrapped. I was on the phone when Katie did a postmodern design with the tissue paper (Yes, I had to Google the postmodern art movement to make sure I used the term correctly.) I think Grandma will still like it.

Say It Ain't Sew

After just two sewing lessons from Katie's Grandma, I made the skirt and fish applique the baby supermodel below is wearing. Katie opted to wear purple shoes. I wanted her to wear her white sandals, but figured I shouldn't push my luck since she wore the homemade clothes without complaint. Now I just have to decide what I will sew next. Anybody want a custom made scrunchie?
Katie points at her tummy and says, "fish!" My homemade clothing is educational, functional, and cute.
Katie is holding a piece of mulch in her hand. On the way to the car she noticed some of the mulch was scattered in the grass. She spent a little while straightening things up by carefully placing the little pieces of bark back under the tree where most of the mulch had been piled.