Nolan's 4th Birthday

I'm going to try once more to get back into updating my blog. Occasionally I go back and look at my older posts and think, "I had forgotten all about that recipe" or "look at how the grandkids are changing". Blogs are such a great way to journal. So, enough with the excuses and let's see Nolan's 4th birthday. He had his party at Going Bonkers and it was wild!!!! They had an adult room upstairs that was fixed to buffer all the noise. I'm pretty sure this had to be a grandparents idea! It was all encased in glass, so you could have a little peace and quiet, but still get to watch the children playing.



Here's Kaylee riding on a ride the was probably for younger children, but she still managed to have a good time.



And here are two of Nolan's friends from his daycare:






Easton wasn't feeling good, but you sure couldn't tell it from this picture.




He's teething, so he's pretty much using anything he can find to chew on.



Nolan was having fun with all the different games.









When that tongue starts to stick out, you know he's really concentrating!

And speaking of concentrating, look at Jennifer and Grandpa trying to work on that train. It was the cutest cake, with a little train that really worked that went around on the track. The trouble was, that it kept getting stuck on the icing. But, once they got it going, it wouldn't stop! Way too cute!




Nolan blowing out the candles.




Nolan defending his cake from Kaylee.



And here is Nolan eating his cake. Yes, that's right. He got to eat his birthday cake. In the past, he had just been able to blow out the candles on his cakes and then we would switch and put a muffin that he was able to eat on his plate. But, this time, Jennifer found a lady that could bake a cake with all of his allergies in mind. He loved it and ate every crumb!



Now the fun begins, the presents! There's that tongue again. He must be concentrating.




He got lots of neat presents.



And had lots of fun. It's hard to believe he's already 4!




Happy Birthday Nolan!

Just Plum Fun

What do you do when a friend blesses you with lots and lots of plums??????

You make plum jam, of course!






Plum Jam

3 lbs. of plums
1/2 cup water
1 T. lemon juice
8 cups sugar
1 pkg. pectin (3 oz.)

Cut plums up and remove stones. Put plums, water and lemon juice in large sauce pot and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer until fruit is tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, start preparing jars. Heat them in a large pot of water.

After the plums are tender, stir in sugar. Bring to a boil and continue to stir. Once it boils, reduce heat and cook until sugar is dissolved. Add pectin and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and pour in hot jars. Process jars in a water bath for 10 minutes.




I also got in a little sewing this weekend. I made these flip flops before my machine decided to give me trouble. It's headed to the shop tomorrow for a tune up. I've been putting off it's yearly check up and now it has to go in. Hopefully they won't keep it too long, because I've got lots of ideas of things to make. If they keep it very long, I'll probably forget all the great creative things I've been planning.

Say Cheese

Have you ever tried getting that perfect picture???? Taking good pictures has never been easy for Mike and myself. We are just not very photogenic!!!! And then try to add 4 precious grandchildren in the picture and what do you get??? Chaos! You have all the people behind the camera yelling and trying to get everyone to smile. In the long run, it can really scare and confuse the kids!


Uhh, girls .... Kaylee .... Aubrey .... get your fingers out of your mouth.
And, Granna .... quit pointing that finger at the camera.



Grandpa, it will be okay, you can smile.
Granna, close that mouth.
Aubrey, it's okay, don't be scared.




Nolan, quit making faces.
Aubrey, no pulling Kaylee's hair.
Grandpa, look up.
Granna look at the camera.



Almost there. Oh, Nolan, don't pick your nose.



We're getting close.
Nolan look at the camera. Aubrey, again, no pulling hair.




Yea! This one will do! It's going to be as good as we can get.

A Few Things I've Been Working ON

For 2010, I was determined to get back to blogging, but as you can see, I haven't been doing very well. What can I say? But, I have been busy with a few things. Here's a few burp cloths and baby wipe case for my grandson, Easton, who should be here in a few weeks.

And here's a big sister shirt for Kaylee.

And a big brother shirt for Nolan and of course a little brother shirt for Easton.

A baby set for little Robert Clay.

Some little wristlets for a few friends of Jenn's.

And a kitchen towel for Mike's Aunt Jenny.

Dinner with Friends

Aren't Saturday nights great when spent with family and friends around the dinner table? We enjoyed a good dinner with friends last night and we didn't even have to bring anything. What a treat! During this busy tax season with all the added stress of work and taking care of my dad, it was nice to just relax and have someone else do the cooking. And look at what we had:





Robert fixed us sweet potatoes chips to munch on while he prepared the food.





We had roasted broccoli and brussel sprouts,






corn on the cob and new potatoes,



bacon wrapped asparagus, grilled chicken, and T-bone steaks.





We managed to save a little room for the chocolate peanut butter cake. Sorry, no pictures of the cake. I was too busy eating to take anymore pictures. Needless to say, we were miserably full!

A Few Sewing Projects

I was so bad in updating my blog in 2009! Maybe in 2010, I'll do a little better. But look, the first month of 2010 is already nearly over and I still haven't posted anything. Not a very good start! I wish I could say it was because I was concentrating on my new diet and exercise, but that would be a lie!


So I thought I would go ahead and show a few things I made recently:




This was a set of hand towels I made for my hairdresser for Christmas. She had recently redone her shop with pink walls and black fluer de lis, so I thought these would go great with her decor.





And here is an apron I made for the dog groomer. She treats Snickers really good!



A burp cloth and baby wipes case for a new little daughter of a man at work.



And a few more things for my new little granddaughter. Wish I had more time to sew for her!!!!!



A Christmas pillowcase dress I made for my oldest granddaughter. Isn't she a cutie!




A few "I spy" bags I made for the grands to take on their long flight to Alaska. And another one for the son of a co-worker. These actually turned out pretty good and keeps the children occupied in church, too. I may have to make a few more of these.






And a little pillow I made for Aubrey's room. I'm going to make one of the other grandchildren, too.

Comfort Food

I've been sewing and working around the house this weekend, so what's for supper after all that work??? Some homemade potato soup and cornbread!




Of course the cornbread was made in a cast iron skillet.



And for dessert? A glass of cold milk with cornbread in it. Reminds me of my mom, she always liked putting cornbread in her milk.



Hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did mine~

Sewing for the Grandkids

I got to spend some time sewing this weekend,which was great! I finished Kaylee and Nolan's trick or treat bags. I decided not to put their names on them, just made them simple.



I made a tooth fairy pillow for Kaylee. I think I need to put a little bow on one side of the ribbon.




And I made a few burp cloths and baby wipes case for the newest grandbaby, Aubrey, who should be arriving by mid December. What a great Christmas present for Kellie and Brandon!