Happy Birthday Katie! Part 2

After returning from Disneyland it was Katie's birthday. I did not plan a big party this year because of our trip so the plan was for a small party at home and to invite Grandma, Papa and Uncle. There were still streamers, balloons and helium from last years party so I brought those out and decorated. Katie really liked the balloons.

Katie had a small pile of gifts and one large one that she was really interested in.

When she finally got to unwrap it, she was thrilled that it was a kitchen from Grandma and Papa. (Mama and Grandma had frantically put it together while she took her nap)

I got her a pink fluffy dress up skirt which she really likes and would never take off if I would let her.

Next came the cake. Katie had debated between pink inside, brown on the outside and pink sprinkles or brown inside pink outside with pink sprinkles. Finally option two won. I consulted with the Food Librarian and went with the Devil's Food Cake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours and a  butter cream frosting dyed pink.

She was very happy with her cake.

After the cake it was back to her kitchen

Happy Birthday Katie! Part 1

My little girl turned three this week, hard to believe she is already three! To celebrate we went to Disneyland for three days, this was her first trip.

The first ride we went on was the carousel.

Of course we got a pink mickey hat with her name on the back.

We checked out the huge tree.

And of course the castle, this was what Katie was looking forward to the most.

Katie got two buttons, one for her birthday and on for her first visit.

On our second day we were finally able to get on Its A Small World which Katie really liked.

We visited Tinkerbell's Fairy Woods.

Katie stole my sunglasses.

We went to Minnie's Character breakfast, Chip and Dale, Eeyore and Rafiki all tried to talk to Katie but there was only one character she was excited to see...

Luckily Katie did not get swept up in the princess over load, she did get a pink princess pen but she also got a baby Minnie.

And the highlight of the trip was getting a balloon with a flashing led light inside.

On our last day Katie's cold was really wearing her down so we did not stay too long but we did ride Pirates (no fear from Katie) and the steam boat.

It was a great trip, I did not think about it being one of the busiest weeks of the year at Disneyland but we managed the crowds fairly well. 

Spiders

As you might remember I made Katie some bright napkins a little while ago. They have been very successful, she loves using them. They also cut down on our paper towel usage which I also wanted to do. On a trip to the local quilt store I let Katie pick one yard of any fabric she wanted to make more napkins. We looked at the pinks, watermelon prints, cherry prints and all sorts of colorful fabrics. Suddenly she saw the Halloween fabrics at the front of the store, she saw spiders and we looked no further.

Katie has a great love of spiders, people keep thinking she will be afraid of them but she likes them. She has been given several plastic spiders which she really enjoys, so I was not too surprised she chose the spider fabric.

Like before I cut squares but then I zigzag stitched the edges.

Katie likes using her spider napkins which makes us both happy.

I Like Big Bundts 2011

It's that time of year again! My friend Mary the Food Librarian celebrates National Bundt Day with 30 days of bundts, crazy and awesome!! For my submission this year I selected the Pumpkin Spice Bundt from Day 10. It was easy to make and tasted great. I took it to a potluck and was told by one person all made them want a pumpkin spice latte.

Car Diddy Bag

I finished another project! This time I decided to make the Car Diddy Bag from the Moda Bake Shop. I used Moda's Strawberry Fields fabric.

First I cut the 5" and 3" squares.

Next I matched them up and sewed them.

Once they were sewn each square was cut into four and mixed up.

I then sewed the triangles together. The squares were then sewn together in 3x3.

The next step was to make the strap using small squares. There was a gap in my sewing time with the construction of Katie's Halloween costume. Somehow most of the squares needed for the strap disappeared. So I used a 10" square and sort of made it up. It worked but I did not get any pictures. After that came the lining. This pattern called for laminated cotton which was a small challenge to find. I bought a yard of it but only needed two 11" squares.

The lining squares are sewn together and then attached to the bag, before you know it, its done!

Here it is in the car, ready for whatever Katie manages to put in it.

Big Picture

While I have been posting what we have been canning it has been mentioned that it might be good to see how many of these jars there are. I have not actually counted them. There are some in the refrigerator and some have been given away but here is a look at my counter.

The boxes are full and some jars are stacked double. 

Now in the cabinet above this counter I have some dishes, printed recipes, etc... I have filled in as much space as I can with jars, just ignore all of that in the picture, it looked better before I started smashing it all in there.

Hopefully we will not have an earthquake anytime soon or I may loose some food!

Monterey

I recently went to a conference in Monterey. I went up a few days early and took Katie and my Mom with me. On the way up we stopped in San Simeon. First we ate lunch at Sebastian's, it was delicious.

Next, we went to Hearst Castle.

There were a lot of steps.

The buildings were beautiful and so were the gardens. 

The pool was also impressive, Katie wanted to get in but I convinced her we forgot her swimming suit.

The view of the ocean was great.

Afterwards we went to the beach, Katie kept busy with collecting shells and rocks.

The next day we stopped at a seal viewing area, there were a lot of them and Katie loved them.

We drove up Hwy 1 which was beautiful but took awhile, once in Monterey we went to the Aquarium. Katie liked the jelly fish and the shark.

The next day I went to an all day pre-conference and Katie and Grandma went to the beach.

Katie and Grandma went home the next day while I stayed for the conference. Everyone had a good time.

Halloween

In preparation for Halloween we had to carve/decorate some pumpkins.

We bought some potato head kits last year and used them this year.

First up was the pirate, we also had a Frankenstein one that I did not get a picture of.

Next we needed to empty some seeds out of pumpkins, Katie's reaction was "ewww" so I got the job.

Katie then started using another light up kit, this required a hammer and Katie really liked that.

Here is that finished pumpkin.

Next I had Katie draw a happy face on the pumpkin and Kevin cut it out, I think it was cute.

A few months ago my Mom and I took Katie to the fabric store to to pick a pattern for her costume. She debated between Alice in Wonderland and a Pirate. In the end the pirate won.

Grandma did most of the sewing. We had to buy white eyelet and dye it black since it was impossible to find black in the right size. It came out adorable.

Katie went to school and had a party, when I picked her up we went to my work potluck. One of my coworkers gave her a big spider which she tried to scare everyone with.

After a nap we visited Great Grandma, the Littlerock Library and then went to the Trunk or Treat. They had a bounce house which Katie got in early.

One of the other families brought a snake which Katie was very to get to hold.

Once everyone was set up Katie went Trick or Treating.

They also had a cake walk, Katie tried forever and did not win until very late. Even after she won she continued to walk around with everyone and jump on empty number.

Later she went back to the bounce house and eventually climbed the ladder and went down the slide, over and over and over again.

It was a long but very enjoyable day, I cant wait till next year!