I'm a pickle master!

Okay, maybe not so much a master, but turns out, I made some damn good pickles. Beginners luck, maybe, as this was my first go at it. Plus, I cheated, and used pickle seasoning in a package rather than adding my own spices. Still, these dills turned out crunchy and delicious and we've already gone through 3 jars!

The first piece of advice I followed: USE YOUNG CUCUMBERS. Apparently, if you use cucumbers whose seeds have already developed, you will get mushy pickles. Also, you must cut off the ends because apparently, if you try and pickle the blossom end of the cucumber, you will get mush pickles. Hmm, I don't know if that's true, because I heeded this advice, but honestly, I don't care to find out. Who wants mushy pickles?

My friend Shari and her family went away for 3 weeks, and she left me in charge of her garden (and the three tadpoles living in a plastic container on her kitchen table, but that's another story). Turns out, they left during prime cucumbers season. And Shari's good at growing cucumbers. At first, the cucumbers I had were too big for pickles. I made most of them into cucumber and onion salad (we at a lot of cucumber and onion salad for awhile there). Then, I started picking the cucs before they got fully plump all the way down. I saved them for more than a week, and then it was pickle time!

I washed up all the cucumbers and then sliced them into spears the size of my jars. The extra ends became round pickles.


The jars, lids, and rings were sterilized, and then I shoved the cucumber spears pretty tightly into the jars.

I heated up a mixture of water and white vinegar and added the pickle mix I bought at the store. The liquid was poured into the jars, and then the jars were covered with water in my (not quite big enough) big pot and boiled for 5 minutes. When I pulled them out, the jars actually all sealed. Hooray! The recipe says the pickles will be ready in 24 hours, but I waited 3 days before we sampled the first pickle. Good stuff!

Kaia's casual carrot cupcake celebration

A week or so after Kaia's first birthday, we decided to make some carrot cupcakes and share them with some friends. This was an impromptu gathering, and very casual, but we had a great time. I'm amazed (amazed! I tell you!) that 27 people fit inside our little house, even if several of them were smaller-sized humans.

I mean, seriously, look at all these children! Our playroom had never gotten so much use before. It was great. I was so thrilled to see my girls and their little friends exploring and playing together!


As we were waiting for everyone to arrive, we just sort of released the small people on the playroom. They had a great time with the train set, the kitchen, and the various boxes of playthings we have in that room.

(This photo is blurry, but I love it nonetheless.)

Then it was time for cupcakes! This was actually Kaia's second experience with a cupcake, as she swiped one off the table earlier when I wasn't watching. She dug right into the frosting!

After all that frosting, Harper and Sierra decided the birthday girl needed a scrubbing.

As the evening was winding down, we put on some music, and had a dance party in the living room!

Weekly Wee Read: The Quiltmaker's Gift

Back when I had my giveaway associated with the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, I asked my commenters to tell me a favorite children's book. I made a list and hope to review them one by one.

Today's pick:
The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau, suggested by Skooks and kt.

This is a delightful book about the joy of giving. The quiltmaker lives in the mountains, and makes the most beautiful quilts anyone has ever seen. Everyone wants one, but she refuses to sell them, instead giving them to those most in need.

A rich and greedy king, who has treasures galore, learns of the quiltmaker and marches his soldiers to her cabin to demand she give him a quilt. The quiltmaker tells the king to give away all his possessions and when he has made a gift of all he owns, she will give him a quilt. The king argues that he can't give away his things, and he tries to force the quiltmaker to give him a quilt by first chaining her to a rock in the cave of a sleeping bear, and then by leaving her one a tiny island only big enough for her to stand on her tiptoes. In both cases, the quiltmaker's kindness and spirit of giving endears her to the animals, who then ensure no harm comes to her.

The king finally realizes that he simply cannot force the quiltmaker to give him a gift and her agrees to her terms to give away his things, which do not make him happy anyway. He soon realizes how much the people he gives to appreciate the gifts, and much to his surprise, giving things away has made him happy than he has ever been. He loads all his things into wagons and sets of on an adventures of giving, sending messenger sparrows back to the quiltmaker as he gives gifts around the world.

Finally, the last sparrow alights on the quiltmaker's needle, she puts a last stitch in her quilt, and sets off to find the king. When she gives him the quilt, he is surprised at the gift and tells her that though he has no possessions, and he may look poor, he his the richest man he knows. His heart is "full to bursting," filled with memories of all the happiness he has given an received.

The illustrations are colorful and realistic, and there is the wonderful addition of the quilting aspect of the book. Each page features a particular quilt block and there are more in the front and back covers of the books. The book is definitely worth the read for the story, and if you've dabbled in quilting, you will love it even more.



Here's the list:
Books/Series

10 Minutes till Bedtime - Peggy Rathmann
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz
Amelia Bedelia - Peggy Parish
Are You My Mother? - P. D. Eastman
The Berenstain Bears - Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
The Boy and the Moon - James Christopher Carroll
Boy Who Ate Words - Thierry Dedieu
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type - Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin and Randy Travis
Digger Man - Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha
The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars - Jean Merrill and Ronni Solbert
Enemy Pie - Derek Munson and Tara Calahan King
Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like - Jay Williams and Mercer Mayer
Everywhere Babies - Susan Meyers and Marla Frazee
Fancy Nancy - Jane O'connor and Robin Preiss Glasser
Frog and Toad - Arnold Lobel
Frogs Jump - Alan Brooks
The Gardener - Sarah Stewart and David Small
Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody - Michael Rex
Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
How do Dinosaurs ... (series) - Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
I Love You Stinky Face - Lisa Mccourt and Cyd Moore
If you give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond
Katy and the Big Snow - Virginia Lee Burton
Kitten's First Full Moon - Kevin Henkes
Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems
Leo the Late Bloomer - Robert Kraus and Jose Aruego
Llama Llama Red Pajama - Anna Dewdney
The Little Engine that Could - Watty Piper
Little Miss Spider - David Kirk
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Love You Forever - Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton
Mr. Men and Little Miss - Roger Hargreaves
Mr. Putter & Tabby - Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard
My Great-Aunt Arizona - Gloria Houston and Susan Condie Lamb
My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
My Monster Mama Loves Me So - Laura Leuck and Mark Buehner
The Napping House - Audrey Wood
The Night Before Christmas - Clement Clarke Moore
Olivia - Ian Falconer
The Paper Bag Princess - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko
The Polar Express - Chris Van Al
Poppleton - Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague
Pirates Don't Change Diapers - Melinda Long and David Shannonlsburg
Please, Baby, Please - Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson
The Quiltmaker's Gift - Jeff Brumbeau
Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple
The Shoe Books - Noel Streatfeild
Skippyjon Jones - Judy Schachner
Stephanie's Ponytail (Classic Munsch) - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
To Market, To Market - Anne Miranda and Janet Stevens
The Tomten - Astrid Lindgren
Top Cat - Lois Ehlert
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
Where Is the Green Sheep? - Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
Wild About Books - Judy Sierra and Marc Brown
The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs - Phoebe Gilman
You Are My I Love You - Maryann K. Cusimano


Authors

Sandra Boynton
Jan Brett
Tomie dePaola
Richard Scarry
Dr. Seuss

Life with a 3-year old

Sierra was in rare form with her comments tonight, so I thought I would share.

For dessert, I made a 5-minute cake in a mug for her and I to share. As she and I watched it rise up out of the mug in the microwave, I (being silly) exclaimed, "Oh noooooo! It's coming out of the mug! OH NOOO! It's getting all over the microwave."

And Sierra said, "It's just a little mess, you don't need to fweak out about it!"

We were enjoying our cake at the kitchen table, and Jason came in for a bite. He said, "You and Mama really did a good job on this cake."

And she responded, "Oh, it was all Mama tonight."

Because she told me not to freak out, I was reminded of when she told the "fweakin' cats to get off the road." I was imitating her, perhaps a little too boisterously, and she reminded me, "Use your nighttime voice, Mama!"

After dessert, we were watching a movie clip on tv (which is internet based) and it stalled to load. "Are you kidding me?!" Sierra said.

Favorite Children's Books

Back when I had my giveaway associated with the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, I asked my commenters to tell me a favorite children's book. I read every single one of those comments and compiled a list. Now I will (finally!) share that list with you. For now, I included only books intended for younger children (since I currently have younger children), but I did have a few favorites in the comments that were for older children and teens. I've saved the comments, so someday I can revisit those.

I'm hoping to use the list when we go to our local library and begin reviewing some children's books as a regular (semi-regular? occasional?) feature in this space. I'll begin with some of my own favorites.

1. Dr. Seuss, especially the stories with a lesson like The Lorax, The Sneetches, and Horton Hears a Who
How can you not love Dr. Seuss? He makes up words, and you still get it. The rhymes and illustrations are super fun. Plus, slipping lessons about environmental sustainability, racism, and treating people with equality into children's books is genius!

2. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
I love this book, and it still makes me tear up when I hear the story. The tree just keeps giving and giving to the boy until she quite literally has nothing left to give. All she wants is for the boy to be happy. It's ridiculous that I do not own a copy of this book. However, Sierra pulled it from the shelves of the library a few weeks ago, and as I sat listening to Jason read the story to Sierra, I realized that the tree is like a parent. The story is about unconditional love. What we want most is for our children to be happy and we will do almost anything we can, no matter the sacrifice, to make that happen.

3. Animalia by Graeme Base
This is a new favorite and it is the most amazing "ABC book" I have ever seen. Each page is an entire sentence focusing on that letter of the alphabet. "An armored armadillo avoiding an angry alligator," "Proud peacocks preening perfect plumage," etc. The real delight of this book, though, are the illustrations. As you continue to look at each page, you will notice that hidden within the drawing are layers and layers of things that begin with the focus letter. I mentioned the page for "P" above, and if you look at that illustration, you will see a prince and a princess. There is a parade in the background with a pregnant woman wearing pearls and holding a parasol, pushing a pig in a pram. There's also the pope, a pirate, and a peace sign. You will see a penguin, a puffin, a pigeon, a panda, and the list goes on and on. It's truly amazing.

4. There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
This is a fun story that I have loved since childhood. The lesson is that you shouldn't be afraid of things in your closet. The little boy in the story decides to confront his nightmare, and when he shoots the nightmare with a cork gun, the nightmare begins to cry, and the little boy has to comfort him.

5. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Ron Barrett
I do realize that there is now a movie based loosely on this book. Like most books-into-movies, the book is better. I guess you have a lot of space to fill when you're trying to make a short children's story into a full length movie. But this isn't about the movie, it's about the book, which is wonderful. Such a fun, imaginative story line.

Here's the list:
Books/Series

10 Minutes till Bedtime - Peggy Rathmann
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz
Amelia Bedelia - Peggy Parish
Are You My Mother? - P. D. Eastman
The Berenstain Bears - Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
The Boy and the Moon - James Christopher Carroll
Boy Who Ate Words - Thierry Dedieu
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type - Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin and Randy Travis
Digger Man - Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha
The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars - Jean Merrill and Ronni Solbert
Enemy Pie - Derek Munson and Tara Calahan King
Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like - Jay Williams and Mercer Mayer
Everywhere Babies - Susan Meyers and Marla Frazee
Fancy Nancy - Jane O'connor and Robin Preiss Glasser
Frog and Toad - Arnold Lobel
Frogs Jump - Alan Brooks
The Gardener - Sarah Stewart and David Small
Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody - Michael Rex
Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
How do Dinosaurs ... (series) - Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
I Love You Stinky Face - Lisa Mccourt and Cyd Moore
If you give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond
Katy and the Big Snow - Virginia Lee Burton
Kitten's First Full Moon - Kevin Henkes
Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems
Leo the Late Bloomer - Robert Kraus and Jose Aruego
Llama Llama Red Pajama - Anna Dewdney
The Little Engine that Could - Watty Piper
Little Miss Spider - David Kirk
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Love You Forever - Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton
Mr. Men and Little Miss - Roger Hargreaves
Mr. Putter & Tabby - Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard
My Great-Aunt Arizona - Gloria Houston and Susan Condie Lamb
My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
My Monster Mama Loves Me So - Laura Leuck and Mark Buehner
The Napping House - Audrey Wood
The Night Before Christmas - Clement Clarke Moore
Olivia - Ian Falconer
The Paper Bag Princess - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko
The Polar Express - Chris Van Al
Poppleton - Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague
Pirates Don't Change Diapers - Melinda Long and David Shannonlsburg
Please, Baby, Please - Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson
The Quiltmaker's Gift - Jeff Brumbeau
Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple
The Shoe Books - Noel Streatfeild
Skippyjon Jones - Judy Schachner
Stephanie's Ponytail (Classic Munsch) - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
To Market, To Market - Anne Miranda and Janet Stevens
The Tomten - Astrid Lindgren
Top Cat - Lois Ehlert
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
Where Is the Green Sheep? - Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
Wild About Books - Judy Sierra and Marc Brown
The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs - Phoebe Gilman
You Are My I Love You - Maryann K. Cusimano


Authors

Sandra Boynton
Jan Brett
Tomie dePaola
Richard Scarry
Dr. Seuss

Imagination

It's so much fun to see Sierra's imagination develop. Recently, she has been making up names and adding them to existing names.

The other night at dinner, she told me she was having dinner with her two cousins.
Me: You have two cousins? What are their names?
Sierra: Harmony and Tambourine.
Me: You have a cousin named Tambourine? Well, who is her mama?
Sierra: Her mama is named Glacier.
Me: So, you have an Aunt Glacier? Is she my sister or Daddy's sister?
Sierra: Glacier is Tambourine's mama!
Me: Yes, but if Tambourine is your cousin, and Glacier is your aunt, then she must be either my sister or Daddy's sister, right?
Sierra: Oh. She's your sister.

So, apparently, I have long lost sister named Glacier and she has a daughter named Tambourine. Funny, my parents failed to mention her to me.

Skill Builder Sampler Block 7

Well, Block 8 in the Skill Builder Sampler was posted yesterday.

So ... here's Block 7! (Raise your hand if you procrastinate? Anyone?)

Block 7 was the Virginia Star and it marked the beginning of a new quilting skill, flying geese. The "geese" are the three triangles sewn together that make up the points of the star. In my recent and very limited knowledge of quilting, I have learned that I really love star blocks. They're the best (so far). I find that they just really catch my eye. Someday, I will make an entire quilt out of different stars. Maybe. But it would be lovely if I did.

I laid out all the blocks I have made for this sampler so far. There are the 7 "assigned" blocks, plus the challenge block from week 4, and the log cabin block that I didn't like and redid and still didn't know if I liked. As it turns out, when I see them all together, I actually think BOTH the original log cabin and the redo work in context. Who knew. They'll likely be even better with more blocks added.

Not quite a disaster: Lewis Falls Loop

We had planned to head out to Shenandoah Friday, but we had forgotten that we were partying like pirates that day. So, Saturday was the day.

We hadn't fully commited to going. There was a 40% chance of scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. But at breakfast, Sierra said, "We're going to Shenandoah!" And so ... we went. We were on the road before 9, and after a bathroom break, at the trailhead around 10:30.

We chose a loop trail described in a guide book we have, 3.6 miles. It starts along the Appalacian Trail and then turns and begins decending to the falls. Before we even started, we realized that Sierra has outgrown her hiking boots since she last had them on in June. She was adamantly insisting that I had put them on the wrong feet, but they were just too tight, so she had to wear her little velcro sandals. Not ideal for hiking! The hike started out nicely, and we saw a deer in the woods, and then realized that she had a fawn with her. They ran off before I was able to get a good photo, though.

Kaia had a really rough night the night before so she and we were tired. This was fine for Jason and me, we just felt a little fatigued, but Kaia was a bit whiney. And then she was downright miserable and yelling her little head off.

Meanwhile, I was alternating between carrying Sierra and guiding her down the trail. She's at a tough age for hiking because she gets tired, but she wants to do it herself. So, she wants up in the carrier, but 5 minutes later, she's ready to get down again. We do not indulge this constant up-down-up-down desire. We usually make her continue to ride over rough section of the trail and up steep grades and then let her hike on her own when the trail is smoother and flatter. She rode up to a little diversion to Blackrock, which had lovely views, but they were obscured because it was so hazy.

Jason and Kaia at Blackrock

Sierra climbing at Blackrock ... in sandals!

Sierra found a millipede along the trail

As she was hikingrunning down, she tripped on a rock and hurt herself, so now she was crying, and Kaia was wailing because she was tired.

Sierra settled down pretty quickly, but Kaia was still mad because she was tired. And it started to rain. Just a little sprinkle and the sun was still shining at the same time. And then we heard a faint rumble of thunder in the distance. We thought perhaps the storm would just skirt around us and we didn't have anything to worry about. Kaia was still crying. Jason just wanted to get to the falls because the weather was concerning him. I wanted him to trade me children because I thought Kaia would settle down better with me. Finally, he stoppped, we traded children and a loud crack of thunder was much closer to us.

The rain started coming down a little bit harder and we got out raingear. Kaia does not have raingear, but I wore her on my front and tied my rain jacket around us so I could cover her with the hood. It started raining even harder. Another crack of thunder. Sierra started crying because she was scared of thunder. Kaia was crying because she was tired and because I kept trying to cover her with the hood of my rain jacket and because the rain was coming down on her so she couldn't fall asleep (why won't you keep the rain jacket over your head?!)

By now it's pouring down rain, but we're committed. Really, there's no where we can go, it's just as far to keep moving forward as it is to turn around and go back. The trail is rocky and slick. Both kids are crying. IS EVERYONE HAVING FUN? Kaia calms down a bit and dozes despite the rain, which means I can cover with the rain jacket finally. I try to distract Sierra by singing songs about ducks. How many songs about ducks do I know? FOUR!

Lewis Falls are nice, but not spectacular by any means and the view point does not offer a particularly awesome vantage point of the falls. We take a couple token shots and then head back up the trail.

Look! More people! We weren't the only poor souls caught in the rain.

A puddle, to see the big, fat raindrops splashing down

I turned the flash on so it would reflect off the raindrops

Sierra looks thrilled to be out there, doesn't she?

Kaia is calm for the moment

Ta da! Lewis Falls!

No sooner had we made the turn to head back to the car, the rain cleared, the clouds parted, and the sun came back out. What a day! We've certainly had better hikes at Shenandoah, but it was still nice to get out of the house and back to "our" park.

Not your average tote

A friend commissioned me to make her a high-end tote bag. This was a unique assignment because other than some guidance about the size of the tote and a request for longer handles, she left all the design decisions up to me, including color and fabric selection. When I asked her what colors she liked, the response was something along the lines of: "Oh, pink and orange and blue or turquoise and brown or whatever." Hmmm ... okay, well I'm up for a challenge.

I finally finished the bag and I'm really, really pleased with how it turned out. I hope that she's just has happy with the result. I redid the handles three times. First, I pieced the flower accent together in one long piece, but it really bugged me that the flowers were upside down on one side of the handle. So, I redid it so the flowers are growing up. And then, I didn't like how the teal thread looked on the back side of the tan handles, and I decided to make the bag fully reversible anyway, so I added accent fabric on each side of the handles.

The ouside has two large pockets, one zippered and one not.

Inside (or, if you prefer, the other outside since the bag is reversible), there are two pockets along each side of the bag as well as a smaller, floating zippered pocket for small items.



Add a ring to clip your keys and we're all done.

Happy carrying.

How to Make Homemade Pizza: two ways

When I was a kid, my family regularly made homemade pizza. Once, my dad asked my sister to put on the cheese, and unsupervised, she put an entire two pound bag of shredded cheese one pizza!!

Jason and I finally tried homemade pizza with our family, from the crust up. We used the basic pizza crust recipe in our Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, just subbing whole wheat bread flour for the all purpose flour. We then divided the dough into personal sized portions. Sierra really enjoyed helping with this part, and since she grabbed a ball of dough for a portion, it resulted in a pizza that was just her size.

Method A:
This was all Jason. He learned this when he was camping in Glacier National Park this summer. We may actually do this on our own camping trips in the future.

1. Cook up all your ingredients ahead of time (or use ingredients that don't need to be cooked). We sauteed together sausage, green pepper and onion. On one pizza, we also used pepperoni and green olives, which didn't need any additional cooking.

2. Warm up your sauce.

3. Roll out your pizza crust and place in a pre-heated iron skillet. Grill it until it's brown, and then flip it over and grill the other side.

4. Set your crust on a plate and top with hot pizza sauce, followed by cheese and then your pre-cooked pizza toppings.

5. Allow to sit for several minutes. The warm crust and sauce will melt the cheese while you wait.

Method B:
This is the more traditional method, and the one described in our cookbook.

1. Cook your crust in the oven for 10-12 minutes until it begins to brown.

2. Top with sauce, followed by pizza ingredients and then cheese. Since the ingredients are cooked a bit after they are put on the pizza, this opens up the possibilities for toppings. Obviously, something like sausage still has to be cooked up ahead of time. We used chopped spinach, fresh tomatos, minced garlic and red onion.

3. Place back in the oven until the cheese melts and begins to brown.


Wanna bite?


The results:
We like the skillet method of cooking the crust better than the oven method. It makes a crust that is crisp on the outside and still chewy on the inside. Next time, we might try brushing on some melted butter or a little olive oil before grilling the crust.

We like the ingredent possibilities more with traditional method. And I prefer the cheese on top of my other ingredients.

Next time, we might try a combo method, cooking the crust in our iron skillet, then adding ingredients and giving the pizza 10 minutes or so in the oven to melt the cheese. Or perhaps just few minutes under the broiler. (Though, Jason says I don't do well with the broiler. Which is true. I don't know how many times I've burned garlic bread. But I swear it's genetic as my mother does the exact same thing. I would just have to have a rule that I have to stand there an look at the pizza while the cheese melts. No walking away. Not for anything! The pizza must not be sacrificed in the name of multitasking!)

Upcycle: Papa's pants to pirate pouch

Because Teddy was having a pirate party, I decided he needed a pirate gift. I made him a pirate pouch to hold all his treasure.

The focus of the pirate treasure pouch was the applique, which I modeled after the invitations to the birthday party.

But the genius of this project is that the pouch itself is made from a pair of Jason't old pants. That means: no side seems to complete! I did a french seam at the bottom of the bag so everything would be nice and finished inside and out. I flipped the top over to make the casing and sewed with a green contrast stitching to match the fabric in the pirate applique and added some green ribbon to cinch it closed!


And a pirate headscarf to wrap it up!

Where AAAARRRR you going?

We went to a pirate party to celebrate Teddy's 3rd birthday. After everyone had arrived, the kids headed out to the sandbox to dig for pirate treasure. There were gold coins, little frisbees and lizards to be found, buried in the sand.

Oh, the chaos!

Tommy readies his shovel

Sophia, Sierra, and Harper dig for treasure

Sophia comes up empty this time

Sierra stashes her booty

Kaia had fun helping dig, and found a cash of about a dozen or so gold coins where she was digging. But, poor girl, every time she would come up with another coin, we took it away from her. If only she didn't try to put everything in her mouth!

Pirate fun was had by all!

The whole pirate crew

Dads and babies

Then it was time for pirate lunch.

Sophia and Sierra share a table

And, of course, pirate cake!

Harper dives in

Who needs birthday cake when there is birthday frosting?

Happy birthday, Teddy!

For more, check out Carrie's blog.