3 years

The boys turned 3 yesterday and because we had no idea if we'd be in the midst of moving or not, we decided to have a low key party for family only at my parent's house. I was pleasantly surprised that almost everyone was able to make it including a cousin and family that lives in Alabama with a less than 1-year old I've barely met. I think everyone had a really good time, especially the boys.

    

I know for a fact Isaac did because Isaac initiated and gave both Joey and I a hug goodnight with arms open wide instead of just leaning into us while we hug him like he usually does. Eden gave his normal series of pulling my face close to give me a kiss and then smooshing it to his chest for a hug, repeatedly.



We were looking at the pictures later last night and realized just how much they are barely even toddlers anymore. They are so far from the babies they used to be and it is bittersweet. I love being able to watch them grow, learn and discover and see their personalities bloom, but sometimes I miss the sweet innocent little snuggles and coos they did as babies..

 

             

They have been playing with all their new loot intently all day long and I look forward to purging some of the older stuff soon.

 

Homemade "Pizza"

After having the boys out for errands all morning, the thought of stopping at yet another store to get supplies for making pizza exhausted me. So instead, I went home and realized the necessity (or just plain old being tired) is, and always will be, the mother of invention....

We ALWAYS have bread on hand. We ALWAYS have some kind of pasta sauce on hand. We ALWAYS have mozzarella cheese on hand. So, I used a rolling pin to flatten out a couple pieces of bread, smeared a tablespoon of sauce over each piece, and sprinkled some mozzarella cheese on top. Just to add some interest aka "pepperoni", I used the circular end of my pineapple corer (a dosage cup from toddler medicine probably would have sufficed as well) and made smaller circles out of bologna and put them on top. Popped them in the toaster oven until the cheese melted and by that time the bread crusted up enough to keep it from being a big soggy mess (if I had used the microwave). The boys LOVED IT and never questioned it being actual pizza. You could even finely chop up some veggies like broccoli and cauliflower to add to the sauce just to make sure they get a good dose of veggies but as long as there is sauce cheese on it, they probably wouldn't care.

I thought it was the best idea I've had since cutting up their PB&J with an apple corer! :)

Paddington Bear Quilt

I originally purchased this panel three years ago at my first visit to the sewing and Quilting Expo. The next year, I bought the verigated thread I ended up using on the back. A couple years later, I bought some batting and the back yellow fabric. Finally bought the invisible thread for the top as well as the binding. I still suck at putting on binding, corners are not long enough. I enjoyed the freehand quilting on the back but my forearms were killing me!

Puppet theatre

Was supposed to be for christmas but life happened. Done now though so I guess that's what matters.