Flowers, Owls, and....Seahawks?

I have been really busy lately but have been doing things WAY outside of my norm. It started with baking, which is interesting because I always said that I cook – not bake, but it has moved on to more crafty projects.

If you haven’t heard, the Jet City Tattoo Expo is coming up and I wanted to do a little som’in, som’in for when we’re there. I decided to make some flower hair clips and picked up a few things to get started. After about six clips I got bored with flower so wanted to make something else instead. (I got bored with the TYPES of flowers more than anything else; I just have to go get some different flowers to use.)

Sorry about the blurry pic, I couldn't get a clean shot.

So I wanted to try to make a cute little owl I found on Cut Out & Keep. A handy website for all the DIYers, a community where you can post your projects that you’re working on, view other people’s projects, and check out all the how-to posts if you want to try something new. I have trolled that site for a while and finally bit the bullet and made a cute and simple little owl. It worked well but I followed the pattern to a T and my owl came out the size of a quarter. I have blown up the pattern a bit and we’ll see how that turns out.

Pecan Pie Goodness

The holidays always put me into a crafty mode and November thru January is the time when I bake, make holiday cards, and want to learn more crafts. This holiday season was nothing different. It's the beginning of January and I'm only starting to come down off the feverish crafting season.

Over the last two days Kate and Oliver have been driving me crazy so I wanted to do something crafty to help me relax and not make me go all Falling Down on everyone. If anyone had been reading my Facebook posts during that time know there was a good possibility of that happening. :D

Every year I always make one or two pecan pies during the holiday because they are Lucky's favorite. Quick background: Before I met Lucky I never made a pie that I couldn't find the recipe on the back of the filling can. It was either one of the Jello cheesecake pies or pumpkin pies and, although they are both good in their own right, they aren't my definition of a "real" pie. A homemade, made from scratch, takes-all-day-to-make pie that sits on the windowsill to cool. Of course people are looking in at me at my kitchen window in my house with the white picket fence and children playing out front. Yeah, that happens a lot so naturally homemade pie-baking happens a lot as well.

These are the Days of Our Lives

Today is December 30, 2009. One year ago today our lives changed again for the better. My little baby boy was born on December 30, 2008 at 4:54am weighing in at 6 lbs 4 oz and something like 21 inches long. He was 16 days early and really a pleasant late holiday surprise.

For those who don’t know the story of when Oliver was born, let me take you back a little over a year ago. Over Thanksgiving 2008 holiday Lucky, Kate, and I had driven over to Coeur d’Alene so we could see the family and spend at least one holiday with them. We had already decided that we weren’t going to go back to Idaho for Christmas because knowing our luck Oliver would come early and have to be born away from home. (Although I would have been able to use the same doctor – my favorite! - that had delivered Kate.) Over Thanksgiving my sister, Crista, announced that she and her fiancée, Joe, were going to get married on December 28th (yes, only 4 weeks later) and that Lucky, Kate, and I were all in the wedding party. So although we were happy for Crista and Joe we had to admit that a part of us were kind of upset that we had to go back to CDA for a wedding at the end of the year. But Kate was born two days after her due date so I figured that Oliver would most likely do the same thing and wait to make an entrance in the middle of January. I mean, does any kid of mine really want to come early?

Lucky and Erin: 6 Years of Togetherness without any Deaths

Today is a day that will live in infamy. Not likely but Lucky and I have beaten the odds of staying together for 6 years. Anyone who knew Lucky back in the day, a la the days where he went by the name Chris, is still in a constant state of shock that Lucky is together with someone longer than 2 weeks! I might have something to do with that – 6 years ago today I hung out at Lucky’s house and pretty much never left.

I could write this post looking back at all the fun and not-so-fun times we’ve had, for example me getting on with my pregnant self kindly explaining to Lucky the importance of getting the correct Rocky Road ice cream because of the differences between marshmallow cream and actual marshmallows (actual marshmallows win). Or the time that Lucky called me at work to inform me he had just burnt down our kitchen making tacos and was on his way to the hospital because he lit his hand on fire. I could talk about all the times we stayed up all night talking or playing 20 questions (actually more like 300) until we decided to get up and go to Dennys at 3am on a Tuesday night. There were the crazy 400-person parties, Halo parties (my favorite was the one on Superbowl Sunday where 25 people were in the room and I was the only one that saw the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction), moving days, knock down drag out fights, and the tattooing all-nighters.

Still I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy anniversary of togetherness, Lucky. We’re wading through the muck, still have a long way to go, but I can’t see it with any other person. I love you.

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Mother's Day

Mother's Day is almost upon us and is one of my favorite times of the year. What mom doesn't love the cute little homemade (or daycare made) gifts and some yummy breakfast in bed. Of course it is also the day where you have to watch your eggs carefully for some dropped eggshell, but that's besides the point.

Imagine my delight yesterday, when I get home from work and walk in the door finally out of the pouring rain, Kate runs up to me and drags me to the kitchen where she shows me her masterpiece she created at daycare for Mother's Day. This is one of those times that make me love being a mother.

There was some glitter writing on the flower pot but by the time I got around to taking a picture Kate had already picked it all off. What it said we'll never know.

A Momentous Occasion

Something happened last night that has never happened before. Kate ate all of her food for dinner -- and there was no mac and cheese in sight! We had amazing grilled steak, steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes and Kate didn't put up a fight to eat anything. Well, that's wishful thinking because she somewhat hesitated with the mashed potatoes but I can't really get angry because she ate meat!

Without cheese on it!

Hardly any carbs anywhere near her plate.

I can't get over it and had to take pictures of this historic occasion:

Kate has been giving the ultimate cheesy smiles for her photos lately but she had a little bit of evil thrown in to this one...

Just for the heck of it I had to throw in a pic of Oliver for good measure. Kate put one of her hats on Oliver and thought it was the funniest thing! Can't you tell he's having a blast with this thing on his head??? Yes, that is drool you see hanging from his chin...