Step Away From The Computer..

Unplug For All The Right Reasons

I'm joining Kimba today over at A Soft Place To Land.
My reason?
Today is my birthday.
Unplug computer? Check.
Eat plenty of my own birthday cake? Check.

She Gets Older and Smarter...

...and I seem to get older and dumber.

2005.
Her grandfather taught her to play chess.
So of course. A chessboard for a cake!

2006.
She has found her true love. Dancing.
May she love it well past the boy stage and skip that part altogether!

2007.
They will tell you the breakfast in bed thing has been a tradition for birthdays for forever.
But I have the photos to prove that THIS was the first year.
That's it.
ONE year = tradition.
I'm stuck with it for forever or until she turns 18 and moves out right?

Like Mother -Like Daughter.
A purse cake (of course) for 2007.

And....This weekend.
See what I mean?
One time = tradition, chained in for life.
Never let you forget it.

Happy Birthday to my 11yrold. You know this means I AM OLD now.

But the cake?
This year I won.
Instead of the 'traditional ones', I talked her into this awesome 'Ice Cream Sandwich' Cake.
Did you know they make peppermint ice cream sandwiches? AND...oh my gosh!
we saw Eggnog ice cream sandwiches?

I found all sorts of recipes for different versions of This Amazingness.

Here's what we did.

peppermint ice cream sandwiches
vanilla Oreo cookies
one candy cane

Frosting:
1 container vanilla store-bought frosting
1 small package white chocolate pudding mix
1/2 container small whip topping
mix together

unwrap 8 peppermint ice cream sandwiches
lay 4 side by side on piece of parchment paper
cover this layer with frosting mix
crush 5 vanilla Oreo cookies, and sprinkle on this layer

lay 4 more sandwiches on top of frosting cookie layer
frost the whole 'cake' with the rest of the frosting
crush a candy cane and sprinkle on top for Martha effect

put it all in the freezer, and enjoy 2 hours later!

I'm seriously using this frosting for like EVERY other cake I ever make. It was THAT good.

To my very own Husband.

He is:

A fabulous Daddy.

A Disneyland Good Sport.

The most fun (and usually the only) Dad on Halloween.

He is:

My favorite person to hang with.

The one who 'gets' my jokes.

The funniest person I know.

And the love of my life.

Love,

Random Weekend Doings

For my sister's birthday:

She picked out these two fabrics and I made her a little tote! I wasn't sure how much fabric to buy, because I wasn't sure how big the tote wanted to be. After sketching it out, I have enough to make two more! It measures about 12"wide by 9"high.

It is completely reversible. And (a bonus) the little pocket holds a cell phone perfectly!

Well, my new internet friends? What do you think? Would you buy one of these? For now I'm just making them as gifts (don't have enough gutz yet to try sales...) Watch out Etsy, I'm dreaming. I want to make a bag out of This fabric from Jessica Jones next...

And to complete the randomness. I've named this 'Snowy' my little daffodil.

A Painful Glimpse

I was going to post about my birthday... but that's bo-ooor-ing
Instead.
I'm ranting.

Where is the pot-lickin' TAPE?

And don't tell me you can see it there in the front of the drawer. No.

Because that tape. The one clearly marked Mom's is GONE. I mean you only want tape

When. You. Need. It.

And just in case you think I'm tidy enough to only have one junk drawer...

Oh no. I have three.

What's that? No one says Pot-Lickin'? When the dog was naughty my Grandfather would yell and say, "you little POT-LICKER"! And sometimes that's exactly the right phrase to describe my sweet kids.

Happy Birthday to me.

What I want for my birthday....part 4

I would truly love a set of these:
And of course if I have those I will need a new pair of these:


But you understand by now... all I'm really getting this year is.....

Picture curtesy of Xenia.com.br from morguefiles.com

Isn't it nice? It's just what I've always wanted. And really it costs very little to obtain. For the person who's hard to shop for? The perfect gift.

This, this, and this are also on my list.

What I want for my birthday....part 3

I am drooling over this:

Woul you like to see what I’m getting instead?

NOTHING.

My Point and Shoot camera works just fine (my husband keeps reminding me), but the more I learn about Photography and Photoshop, the more I REALLY REALLY need a DSLR.

I'm also dreaming about this, and this.

What I want for my birthday....part 2

I would Oh So Much like to spend an afternoon in worship at my favorite local spa.

A facial would be lovely.

But...what am I actually getting? Glad you asked.

Miracle Whip Exfoliator, what else?

No one was harmed in the masking of this woman.

See all of my birthday wishes!

Photo Credits:

Julies Journal

DiamondDuste

Tween Girl Presents

When a gift is needed for a friend, our new rule is to make a gift if at all possible. (For Christmas-- 5th grader made homemade bubble bath for a few of her friends.)

Today we are going to make headbands. I found the idea at alteredcloth.com Thanks to Jessica Jones (howaboutOrange.blogspot.com), for suggesting it!

The girls picked these two very quiet prints.









And I chose these three. They are all fat quarters and I'm hoping to make two headbands/piece of fabric.





And what to do for 4 year old boy gifts? Ninja paper folding anyone? Scooby Doo snacks maybe?

What I want for my birthday....part 1

Here's what I want:
The Sak Signature Leather Slouchy SatchelThe best part about this bag is there's a perfect little pocket on the OUTSIDE back for a cellphone...I LOVE that! The cost? Ahem... A LOT!

Instead...Here's what I'm getting.

NOTE it does NOT come with the toilet seat.
That's extra.

If anyone knows of a MUCH better price for this purse PLEASE share it with me! If anyone knows of a better price on the other, buy it yer dang self!

Wanna read the rest of this series?