BASTE

the joy
of a nearly finished quilt
and the excitement of one little boy anticipating a new quilt on his bed.

Good news and some crafty goodness

First the GOOD NEWS!!!

I'm 3 centimetres dilated!!!

Yay!

this baby is on it's way soon!

Now, an udate into the crafty goodness around here as this will probably be my last post until after baby #3 joins our family....

I finished my quilt!

and it's at the quilters and I should have it back by the end of the week!

Here is the top:
and here is the backing:

i chose to have it professionally quilted because my hubby wanted it to have a soft cuddly scrunchy look and I can only do straight quilting.

Can't wait to bind it and throw it in the wash!

Pumpkin is attending her first ever real birthday party!

I saw this post on Bridget's blog, Everyday Chaos, in the morning and by the afternoon I had a gift!

Yeah!

It's getting sunny around here and the kids were due for Big Kid sunglasses.

I had seen this idea on Disney's blog (which sadly she is no longer writing)

and bought me some potholders.

Jazzed them up and instant sunglass cases!

and best of all--

No scratched lenses!!

Lastly I bought a pair of jeans for Pumpkin hoping they would fit.

no such luck. too short!

So they instantly

(or should I say after I decided what to do with them)

became some super ruffly and fun capris!
they were so easy and she gets lots of compliments!

So there you have it!

hopefully the next time we talk these 2 will have a new sibling!!

Wish me luck!

Bob the Builder Birthday Party!

Can we Party?!

YES WE CAN!!

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Well, as you can tell, I'm still hanging in there.

My water did not break during the birthday party,

thankfully.

And we made it through!

First off,

the cake.

Now I know you saw my part the other day,

but check out BOB!!!

My friend, Laurie,

truly outdid herself!!

He is clearly well put together and totally made the cake special!

and was a total hit with our own Bob the Builder!

My portion of the cake was a bit of fussin', but worth it!

I used a great tutorial found on FamilyFun.com.

They have SUPER cake ideas!

and often show videos of how to do it.

I just looked at a picture of SCOOP and tried to adapt this tutorial to recreate him.

The toughest part was trying to frost a twinkie!

Definately freeze them first!!

All the kids and parents met us at the free splash pad in town.

It was very warm and the kids loved the water.

I brought colouring sheets and crayons in a dump truck.

and mod podged rocks with our favourite characters to hold down the napkins/plates and papers so they wouldn't fly away.

Lastly, before everyone left, we had a pinata!

here it is after the party still in one piece.

Why?

because it wasn't a pinata you hit--

it had a trap door!!!!

the kids pulled on the caution tape strips one by one.

they fall right out unless you pull the one that opens the door

and WHAM!

Candy for all!!!

the kids and the moms loved it!

I got the idea on familyfun.com as well.

HERE.

but did a few things differently.

the thing that made it the easiest was that I had bought adhesive caution tape at the dollar store.

Saved my butt that tape did!!

and made decorating the park a breeze because I didn't need to "tape" my caution tape.

It just stuck to whatever I put it on!!

All in all a great day!

And now onto having this baby.....

Here's the SCOOP!

SCOOP the Backhoe that is...

More to come....

that is, if my water doesn't break while throwing a birthday party for my 3 year old!

fingers crossed :)

ahem...

THIS

is my mouse pad...

It has seen some serious use.

Bubby got ahold of the tape the other day and tried to fix it for mommy.

bless his 2 year old heart!

I whispered in his ear that maybe he should get mommy a new one for mother's day...

I guess we'll see tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day!

crazy busy. crazy fun.

yes. okay.

Where do I begin?

the last months have been...

ummm...

eventful...

to say the very least.

Between dentist appointments for my two year old...

why you ask?

ummmm--he took a bite out of our fireplace and is now missing his 2 front teeth :(

makes me sad...

and then what else?

oh! he's potty trained!!!!

WHEEE!

so toothless and potty trained...

Pumpkin had no bus driver for nearly a month so...

hi ho hi ho, it's off to school I go--twice a day!

and something called the Battle of the Books--

TRUST ME--it truly was a battle.

read 10 books,

make 100 questions each... (per book)

yeah,

have no life as a result!

(I did have help--lots of it!)

AND

my team won!

wooo hoooo!

and of course, I'm still pregnant.

So there you have it.

Nutshell.

ewwww...

what do
3 pairs of underwear,
2 pairs of pants,
2 pairs of socks and
1 shirt
have in common?


Sadly, they are all casualties of the war on potty training

(we do have a Boon Potty Bench and we love it)

actually he's doing quite well...
but my laundry room smells like a sewer plant
and at moments I feel like the room is spinning...

I'm not sure if the dizziness comes from the smell (ugh!)
or the fact that it always seems to happen at inopportune moments,
like when my hands are covered in chicken guts or egg shells and I hear those sweet words
"mommy, I poop--now!"

yeah.
Kodak moments.

sick...

a pit in my stomach that just won't go away...
--------------------------------------------------------

1. Bubby decided to pick a fight with our field stone and brick fireplace today....

let's just say that the fireplace won and I spent an hour in emerg so they could "glue" his forehead back together

--not pretty

2. Pumpkin is going to go to Kindergarten in less than 2 weeks.

On a bus.

By herself.

3. It's beautifully sunny and warm but I'd rather be curled up in front of the boob tube eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate.

My legs are aching and my arms are like dead weights that I'm dragging around with me.

I think I may be allergic to working out.

-------------------------------------------------------

What am I going to do?

1. I prayed on the way to the hospital out loud in the van.

While waiting in triage I prayed silently.

Not for Bubby,

he was bouncing on the waiting room chairs,

but for me, that I could stop shaking.

We prayed a prayer of thanks once we got home from the hospital and Bubby had a temper tantrum because I said he couldn't go to the park.

I think he's gonna' be okay :)

2. I think I'm going to stalk her to make sure she makes out all right.

This act will mainly aid in my digestion and rehabilitation from Paranoid Mother Syndrome

also known as P.M.S.

3. Get off my butt and go make supper.

And then I'm going to make another bookmark!

Dirt Road Frosting

YUM!



VROOM! VROOM!


peanut butter chocolate chip buttercream frosting
recipe here

Pinata 101

I have received quite a few questions regarding pinata making....

I have to say first off that

I am NOT an expert!

I made my first pinata ever last year

after googling

"how to make a pinata?"

A picture of last years crocodile pinata.

The only tips I can provide are on what not to do...

Do not hang it from 1 string...

do have several strings hanging it to balance the weight

Do not use newspaper for your last paper mache layer...

do use unprinted paper so that it won't show through your tissue or painting

Do not use white glue to apply crepe paper or tissue when decorating...

do use a glue stick

Do NOT start your pinata 4 days before your party...

This results in having to find a way to dry your pinata really fast...

Like in your oven....

do not try this at home-- only crazed lunatics do this.

I did this.

case. in. point.

I feel my first ever tutorial coming on...

1. take out all oven racks.

2. place 1 oven rack as low as possible in said oven.
3. squeeze pinata into oven.

4. shut oven door. shove the door with your hip if necessary.

5. put your oven on the lowest convection heat possible (mine 325 degrees)
6. Keep checking to make sure there are no flames.

7. feel temperature of wire rack. when too hot to the touch--take pinata out IMMEDIATELY.
8. leave oven door open to allow heat to escape.

9. when oven has cooled and rack feels just warm shove pinata back in and shut the door.

10. keep checking.

RESULTS: 1 dry pinata

Take it from me...

DO leave yourself and the pinata ample time to be completed.

like I said, I am not an expert

...but it worked.
*giggle*

Birthday Palooza!

Happy 2nd Birthday,

BUBBY!

A birthday story in pictures...

(with captions because I just can't stop myself from narrating)

(photo courtesy of FOTOSEARCH.com)

You are invited to a CAR WASH Birthday Party!

Bring a ride on toy to wash...

Search for cars in the OOBLECK to wash...

messy!

Finished the pinata around midnight with Hubby's help.

Thanks Honey :)

When we hit it to get the candy out,

Bubby was so shocked about the "broke" car

he hesitated to collect any candy.

poor guy

And the cake....

RACE CAR

Thought of Tanya, when I was making this :)

Thank you Carol for the cake book :)

Bubby loved it all!

(even the pinata)


I even did some sewing for the party....

A car banner for the patio decor....

We asked for food donations for our local food bank

and T-shirts for an African mission trip in lieu of gifts.

Bubby received an abundance of donations!

5 lbs of clothing

and an entire laundry basket of food!

All in all,

very successful and fun 2nd birthday!

OWIE!

ONE Little People Lil' Movers Airplane

Vroom!

PLUS +

ONE pair of excited

scurrying little Bubby toddler feet

whee!

EQUALS =

ONE really sore owie

and a Curious George bandaid

Wahhhhhh!

Poor Bubby :(

My Dad and Bubby

My dad never really got to know my son.

Bubby was only 7 months old when my dad was promoted to heaven.

Bubby had just begun eating solids.

In Daddy's last days with us, I fed Bub right beside Dad's wheelchair

so he could see the little monkey gobble it up.

Nothing my Dad liked better than seeing the kiddos enjoy their food.

Sadly, the ALS stole my father's ability to communicate verbally

early on in his diagnosis.

(Here he is with pumpkin on the coast. It was a special trip and they had a special bond. I'm thankful that she has some wonderful memories of her Papa)

He was a wonderful communicator.

And terribly funny.

He told particularly funny stories.

Not always because the story was all that hilarious.

But the way he told it was.

(my cousins, my brother and I as kiddos jumping into the pool with my dad)
My son is an out and out HAM!

He's so talkative and silly.

But he has these serious moments where you look at him

and he's chattering.
All pensive.
Like he's thinking really hard

and is telling you something really important.
He repeats himself, we've noticed.

To further his point, I'm assuming.

We can't understand him yet

but we nod and accept what he's saying as truth.

I see dad in him.

(Bubby, 2 months old, meeting his Papa for the first time)

If Bubby was to have glasses

I imagine him to take them off and stare right into your eyes.

And share his very important bit. Just like my dad.

Sometimes dad would tell a story and he'd tell it with big arm movements

and loud outbursts. Just like Bub.

And if you zoned out for a few minutes,

you could come back and still be on the same page as dad.

I miss my dad and his stories.

He made life interesting.

And even though he feigned no interest in the world

he certainly did know an awful lot about it.

(white socks, black shoes. So my dad. He also wore shorts all year long. Crazy man!)

I can't wait to see what stories and secrets Bubby has to unfold.
I don't want to miss a minute.

Not for the faint of heart...

I recently had 2 wisdom teeth taken out.

They were impacted and it was atrocious!

Not the surgery.

I worked as a dental assistant/receptionist before Pumpkin and Bubby were born so I knew what I was getting myself into.

But still---horrible, wicked, atrocious!

After all is said and done, I'm fine now.

Minus 2 teeth.

I asked them if I could keep them to show my children.

Pumpkin was so excited to see them.

I was barely out of the car, gauze in mouth,

and she was begging me to "see 'em!"

Pretty cool, really.

When I was feeling somewhat better I thought I'd take a closer look at them.

Bubby wanted a chance to look them over too.

I didn't see any harm in letting him take a look.

(he is nearly 2)

I look away to stir the soup--

turn back and

"where are the teeth, Pumpkin?"

She doesn't know.

"Where are the teeth Bubby?"

A big smile spreads and I see them stick out like chewing gum in his mouth.

"pop, pop"

"POPCORN"

UGH!

He spits them out and they're both there and in one piece.

And now they are also very clean.

Gross.