a birthday happy . . .

Fortunately, my darling niece's 7th birthday is this coming week. Unfortunately, that day falls on the first day of travel for their summer vacation. Fortunately, they are spending the afternoon and evening at my parent's house (they're flying out the next morning). Unfortunately, Lucy believes that her birthday may get lost in all the shuffle. Fortunately, that will NOT be the case!

I started this ages ago (a quilt for her American Girl doll, Kirsten) and just
last week realized I needed to get on the ball!

I started with 12 simple four-patch blocks.

Stitched them together.

Added a border.

After adding backing & batting, did a simple outline quilting stitch, along with a ribbon tie.

Got the binding ready and . . .

Got the binding on it and ready to hand sew.

Got distracted by this guy . . .

Was inspired to put in Furry Vengeance to watch while I stitched down the binding.


Added a handwritten label. (I know, I know -- I need to get some printed with my name on them.)

Happy birthday to Lucy!

Now I just need to rush it to the post office in the morning!

And in case you didn't know to appreciate my Fortunately/Unfortunately beginning, you definitely need to click HERE.
:)

full-fledged one year old . . .

It occurred to me that Sawyer's first birthday happened in the middle of a family visit, which was followed by a week in Tampa. And other than a single birthday photo, I didn't blog about his very FIRST birthday and party!!

I'll take this opportunity to correct that mistake!

The theme for the day was "Robots"! Sawyer's mommy even made him a shirt to go with the theme!

You can tell, from the lovely brown brace, who he's holding on to in this pic!

He was in rare form that day -- perfectly ready to join in the fun!

He was really excited about the present table . . .

I love the "monthly" photos on this table - 3rd through 11th!

Until he saw the FOOD table!!

They had his birthday in one of the big children's rooms at their church. This made it especially nice for Kim! Plus there was plenty of space for the birthday boy, eating, gift unwrapping, and all his family.

And here's the 12-month photo!

Aren't these cake pops cute?!? They are red velvet cake coated in candy shell and then decorated with candies. So fun! Todd *loved* these!

And the cupcakes were *wonderful*!

The "Robot Parts" were a big hit, too!

Robot host . . .

And the *special* birthday boy cupcake!!

He had a special chair and he was ready for lunch!

And a little juice . . .

And he really, really likes pizza!

I think I was the only one lucky enough to catch him with his "cool breeze" shades.

And here's the birthday king with his crown!

And here's my most favorite picture of the day . . .

Sawyer, meet chocolate cupcake! Chocolate cupcake, you're demolished!

My son actually took that picture. I don't know what I was thinking -- I videoed it, as did my hubby, so I don't have any pictures of the process! But the video is hilarious, so I'll forgive myself. :)

I don't know . . . from the looks of the chair and the tray, it seems that most of the cupcake never made it from his fist to his mouth!

After a brief "clean up" interlude, he then moved to present opening!

Love the hat, lil' dude!

Neesey & Paw-paw got him a fire truck. It really sprays water, too!

It tickles me that he looks like he knows what he's doing!

Checking out the cards . . .

I think his favorite gift may have been the "popcorn popper" he got from his Aunt Joc and Uncle Jason!

See the glazed look in his eyes? Yeah, put a bow on this birthday boy -- he's finished!

Happy birthday my sweet Sawyer!

:)

other birthdays . . .

I think I may have mentioned that my folks and my youngest sister and her family spent some time with us earlier in the month. My sister and her crew were very brave, and pitched their tents for the visit! She, her husband, and their two youngest slept in the big tent, and her two oldest (12 & 10) slept in the smaller tent. Which, by the way, they pitched completely on their own. I was so impressed!

Sawyer's birthday also happens to be Ali's birthday, the oldest of my sister's children. She had a pretty monumental birthday . . . twelve . . . and had to celebrate it on the road (they traveled here from Texas). So I thought she should have something special for her birthday! When I happened upon this tutorial for making a petal pillow from Cluck Cluck Sew, I knew it was the perfect gift for my darling niece.

I did take a little liberty with the felt colors (since when did I make something that I didn't put my own twist into), but I loved the multi-color look . . .

And I think Ali loved it too!

It was fun and easy to make (although I'll admit it took me a little longer than the 30 minutes she talks about in the tutorial) and made the ideal gift for a nearly teen birthday girl!

Speaking of which, our family celebrates another today . . . my nephew Ben! Ben is the one for whom I made the Boy Scout quilt!

He'd probably kill me if he knew I'd posted this, but since I'm fairly certain he doesn't read my blog, I think I'm safe. Besides, I knew him when he was tiny. Happy birthday, Ben!

:)

festivities . . .

Slowly, but surely, I'm getting back into the swing of things! For now, here's a darling 'capture' from Sawyer's first birthday celebration . . .

This one pretty much sums up his special day -- it was a blast! And I think he takes after his "Neesey" a little . . . he's a two-fisted chocolate eater!

:)

the chinese candle, revisited . . .

I didn't realize that while I was taking video of the spectacle, Todd was taking photos of the fiery ordeal. I so wanted to share the process of this funky candle!

Here it is just as Jason is lighting it . . .

Then the flames run high . . .

And higher . . .

And just when we start to look for a fire extinguisher, the petals start to unfold:

And as the petals unfold, it starts playing, "Happy Birthday!"

Then we realize that the fire has completely consumed one of the petals, and the ice cream cake has thawed considerably.

It was so much fun! I *do* wish I could share that video! But I think you get . . . the picture!

:)

busy, but off to a good start . . .

Monday was a busy day. I spent the day with my darling Sawyer. I can't believe he will be one year old on Saturday!!! He's such a loving, charming little fellow!

Monday morning was no exception. He'd just woken up when I got there, and he was still all snuggly and cuddly. This photo above is my new phone photo. He's still nearly as bald as he was the day he was born -- actually, he does have hair, it's just so blond and fine, it's hard to see!

We started out with breakfast. Yogurt, fruit, and Cheerios! He's a *great* eater!

And he's really good about sharing. He wants to share everything I eat, like my banana! It's like feeding a baby bird. Constant!

Ummm, I think he was reaching for my bag of chips.

No more food?? No more pictures??? Nope. He was dancing! That's his "Praise the Lord!" dance! I was actually lucky to get a shot that wasn't blurred, because I can assure you, the body was bouncing and the hand was waving!

Late Monday afternoon, Sawyer and I headed over to Joc's house, to meet everyone else and to have a birthday celebration! Jason had treated her to an extra-special day, and she told me later that it had been better than she had thought it would be. We had pizza and Jason had ordered a magnificent chocolate truffle ice cream cake!

The funniest part of the evening was when Jason put a Chinese birthday candle on the cake and lit it. Jocelyn had purchased these when she was in China the second time (about three years ago). It's a big, pink flower that you light. And when the flame burns down far enough, the petals of the flower open and each petal holds a candle, and it plays, "Happy Birthday"! As you can see in the photo, the single flame gets REALLY big -- we didn't think it was going to open! But it did, and it only caught a little bit of the cake on fire . . . I caught video of it, but I've been blackmailed convinced I shouldn't share it, outside of family. Sorry!

Joc sent me a video yesterday -- the flower is still playing, "Happy Birthday!" Crazy!

Yesterday was a little crazy, too. On top of my regular job, I keep the books for a friend who's a builder. Usually I go after work, once a week, but in the midst of all the craziness in my life, my hours got cut AND changed, so I was working 7:30 - 3:30 four days a week, and now I'm working 11-5, four days a week. It puts me late getting to the second place, and later getting home, so I headed over there yesterday morning before work, to put in a couple of hours.

It's usually quiet, and for the most part, I'm typically alone. Well . . . sorta . . .

There are plenty of eyes watching me work! LOL!

And finally, I received the most delightful delivery yesterday afternoon at work . . .

My darling forever friend, Sharon, sent these as a reminder of her love and prayers for our family. Aren't they beautiful? They made my day!

My folks arrive on Friday, and my youngest sister and her crew on Saturday -- big happenings up at the camp! I cannot wait!

:)