I'm 32!!!!!!!!!

              So on  Sunday I had a birthday!  I'm 32 now!!! 

I guess I'm strange, but I still don't feel like I'm becoming ancient yet,

and don't feel the need to hide my age. :) 

Here I am with my four kiddos.  Samuel refused to look at the camera

and all the rest of

us are squinting into the sunshine!

The kids FINALLY got to wear their Easter outfits a week late.  I made matching polo shirts for the boys and a skirt and top for Callie.  Callie was grumpy and didn't want to smile or look at the camera.  It's impossible to get a perfect picture of kids!!! ;)

For my b-day dinner, I fixed stir fry and rice.  It was yummy!!!  For dessert we had ice cream, fresh strawberries with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.  The boys and grandpa washed and put away all the dishes.

Grandpa and Callie goofin' off!

Callie loves lickin' off the spoons!

Cake with a side of Toenails!

                          Late, last Tuesday, I was asked if I wanted to bake a birthday/going away cake

 for a friend at church.  I said I'd do it. 

 So, early Wednesday morning, I started baking. 

 I had a little helper who helped clean out the cake batter bowls!! :)

Isn't she cute!!

Here is "Mr. Leg" reaady to be frosted. He took 3 cake mixes, 2  pounds of powdered sugar, 1 pound butter, 9 eggs, 7 different cake pans, one VERY large piece of cardboard covered with foil, 5 brand new toenails & a package of sixlet candies!!!  This has got to be one of the most interesting cakes I've ever created!!  The entire time I worked on spreading the icing, Callie kept up a running conversation with 'Mr. Leg'.  She was very sad that her new friend was to be eaten that evening at Teen Action and he wouldn't get to experience everything she has experienced.  She decided he needed to see one episode of I Dream of Jeannie before his demise.  She got the portable DVD player, put in a disc, and placed it right where both she and 'Mr. Leg' could watch it together! :)  She definitely has an imagination.  Who knew that cake & frosting could be so entertaining. 

Here are the kids with 'Mr. Leg'.  The boys expecially thought it was disgusting that the cake had a thigh! 

Some pictures of 'Mr. Leg' by himself.  It's supposed to vaguely resemble a leg prosthetic.  Our friend, from church, is in the final stages of training, learning how to make these. I guess it was a hit at Teen Action, toenails and all!!!!  I reassured everyone that they were fresh from a brand new box!!!! :) 

~Sewing for Spring~

After cleaning out Callie's drawers, I discovered she had practically nothing to wear that fit her!  I decided she needed some mama-made stuff for spring.  Yesterday, I made her 2 skirts & a shirt. (I'll have to post her monkey outfit later)  Today, 4 more shirts & skirts. I've sewn quite enough today and am ready for a break! :) 

~A princess outfit~

She LOVES twirly skirts, but my stars....they take FOREVER to hem!!!

My favorite set happened by accident!!  I sewed the sleeves for this shirt onto another one and was left with the red polka-dot sleeves.  I added a moon reverse applique and matching skirt and voila a very different color combo that I have fallen in love with. :)

A little purple & some stripes.

I just love this strawberry fabric.  Very bright and cheery!

Now, I MUST get the sewing explosion cleaned up!!! 

A SHORT scare!!!

Well....it was short-lived THANKFULLY!!!!  I tried to sign in to my blog this morning to upload some pictures of the kiddos.(we baked cupcakes last night and it was a HOOT!!)  Anyways, I couldn't acces my blog and it said it was disabled!!!!!  Didn't know WHY!!!  I tried all different things, even sent an e-mail to google.  Well....finally I decided to start resetting passwords.  When I reset my password for my blog it allowed me to access it!  Weird, huh??  Oh well....now to get on with the day.  Now that I've wasted so much time on all this!  Cupcake pictures later........:)

~Eating by Candlelight~

I've given up (put aside for now) a great deal of things but, my one luxury for dinner is to light candles.  I have 2 brass candlesticks(a wedding gift from Duane) that have candles lit every meal.  Callie & Samuel each get to blow one out when dinner is over.  Seth or Simon usually light them for me.  For some reason, just that simple thing, lighting of the candles, makes me relax and enjoy the meal more. Even if it's only hot dogs and mac-n-cheese!! :) Silly, I know.....

Callie decided she wanted her own candle lit for lunch.  I pulled out a class votive holder and gave Callie her candle.  Here she is enjoying her Taco Salad lunch on Tuesday. 

Samuel, after seeing his sisters' candle, insisted that he have his OWN candle lit.  Back again to the china cabinet I went.  Rummage around and found another brass holder(another wedding gift from Duane).  Put a candle in it and he was happy!  Yes, I realize he's wearing a Christams shirt, but I let him.  He'll outgrow long before next Christmas, and he might as well get some more use out of that Ooga Booga shirt I made him!:)

Here they both are, enjoying their taco salads and their lit candles!  They've insisted on candles everyday this week for lunch, don't know what I'm going to do when I take them out for lunch at Wendy's today!!! 

"Can I have some Ketchup, Please?"

Those were the words out of the mouth of my jokester-lovin' 9 year old last night!  After a shopping trip to Kohl's, Seth, Simon & I go through the drive-thru at McDonalds for some ice cream.  As the lady hands us our ice cream, Simon leans over and asks for some Ketchup!!!  The lady gapes at us, eyes bulging out and replies, "What did you say?"  He repeats the question.  She just stares at us in bewilderment!  I explain to the poor girl that it was a joke.  As we drive away, I'm thinking that she just didn't get it!!! lol   The boys laugh all the way home and daddy has to get after them at home 'cause their little brother & sister are sleeping!

~I tackled polo shirts!!!~

I've been wanting to try to sew some polo shirts for a LOOOONG time!  Finally I cut into some wild knit fabric to try them out!  I didn't want to practice on my good fabric! :)  This was my first attempt!  I'm hoping to make all 3 of the boys matching polo shirts for Easter.  We'll see......

~the close-up~

My second attempt went much better!  These shirts are so much fun to make!!! Samuel is not too thrilled with modeling a shirt first thing this morning!

~a close up~

Next up.....I want to tackle putting in a zipper fly!  Pants for Samuel with a REAL zipper are coming up!!!!