Quilt completed!

I finished the quilt! Some of you may have already seen it since it is now up in my Etsy shop but for more bragging rights those who haven't seen it I decided to make a separate post.
Here she is....I am in love!

Makes me smile! I think I am becoming addicted to quilt making. Look out!

My Etsy Shop is Up!

I've finally done it and have gone ahead and started an Etsy shop. I'm just getting started so I only have 4 listings so far but I plan on adding more to it soon. I am excited about it and hope to see something happen with it. I've put it off because I tend to doubt myself and think "nobody is going to want to pay for this." But I've gotten enough comments and people telling me otherwise so I am giving it a shot.

I am in the process of coming up with a good name for my shop. Right now it is the "B.G. Boutique" and the banner is something I threw together just to have something up there but my husband has put his two cents in and says that B.G. at first glance looks like "BIG" so I am now looking for a different name that I can build a cute banner around. Can you help me? I'd also love it if you could pass the word along.

I am planning on adding some baby slings, nursing covers, some baby blessing/christening dresses, and the bunkbed playhouse that you may have already seen in one of my previous posts. I thought it'd be fun to offer some other fun designs/themes to them.

The link to my shop is HERE. Go and check it out and let me know what you think. Tell me what your favorite item is too. It'll give me a better idea of what people like.

Craft Time! Nothing else to do while Hubby is away.

It's amazing what I get done when the hubby is gone. This weekend Dan is away at a scout camp-out and it's been a very quiet evening. For some reason I avoid going to bed until I absolutely have to. With him away the house seems lonely and eerie I guess. So it is now 1:00 in the morning if that gives you a better understanding of what I mean when I say I avoid going to bed. Although it has been a very fun and productive night. I have done 3 different sewing projects! THREE!

I will tell you about them in more detail later but for now I wanted to show off the latest which is a quilt top. YAY! I have only made 1 or 2 "real" quilts in my life and it is such an accomplishment to say "here's another!"

I can't wait to finish it, but I think it is time to hit the hay. Here's a peek...

Sorry about the bad lighting. It is 1:15 a.m. afterall. zzzzzzzzzzzz....

Tent Playhouse for Bunkbed FINISHED!

I did it! I finished the playhouse panel for the kids' bunkbed. I love it I love it I love it! It turned out just as I imagined it!

All the apples and flowers are removable and can be placed in the basket at the base of the tree, and the mailbox opens and has 3 letters that go with it. I am in love with how it turned out!!! It was so fun to make and I can still add to it if I want to. I am thinking it needs a puppy and maybe some crawling critters.

I got the idea when I saw the card table playhouses that are all around blog land and thought "That is soo cute, but I am cramped on space in the kids room as it is." Then we built the kid's bunkbeds and while trying to find plans on how to build one I came across things like THIS. And then it just clicked! We built the bunk bed from plans we found on Knock Off Wood, and since then I have had the project swimming in my head.

I drew up plans and took it with me to the fabric store. I bought all the different colors of felt that I needed and it sat in a bag in the craft room. (Story of my life). This past weekend I broke it out knowing that in a couple weeks my niece and nephew would be coming for a visit and wanted to have something fun for the cousins to play in together. It's going to be perfect!

The kids discovered it a minute ago while I was writing this post and what I heard was, "WOW! ETHAN! LOOK! It's a house! Come here!" It made me smile and glow. Knowing I had made something special makes me proud. I am sure it will provide hours of imaginative play and story times together. I can't wait!

*please ignore the mess and the scuff marks on the top bunk bed posts, I need to touch it back up with some paint but didn't want to wait to show you the tent playhouse.

*And if anyone is wanting one I am thinking about selling some in my Etsy shop. I have an account set up but nothing to sell yet (sad I know). What do you think? Would anyone be interested? I need to come up with a better name for them too. Any suggestions?

Right Before my Eyes

Time has flown by! Wasn't it yesterday I was pregnant for the first time, still in college, absolutely no money, yet extremely happy. I am still extremely happy but now that happiness has multiplied. I now have two little miracles running around. It was also just yesterday they were saying their first words and learning how to walk. Now they are running, climbing, carrying on conversations and doing what big kids do.

This past weekend my baby girl got her first two wheeler! (training wheels included of course). She was so excited to have a big girl bike! She spent all Saturday evening riding up and down our little street without any help at all! I can't believe it! I couldn't help but stare and try to drink it all in. She looked so beautiful! So happy! So me! I love my little girl and love these little moments that make being a mom incredible!

Sneek Peek at my Latest Project

I am working on a fun fun fun project. It is not only fun for me but I am hoping it will be even more fun for the kids when I am finished. I spent Sunday evening after the kids were in bed working on it. I am so excited it is going to be sooo cute! Here's a little peek. Can you guess what it is?

Staycation in Seattle Part #3

I am finally getting around to posting about our trip again. I have to take the minutes while I can. Nap time for the kids just doesn't seem to be long enough these days. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if there were more hours in the day but I think it would just give me an excuse to be lazy.

Ok, so our last and final day of our Seattle Staycation we decided we wanted to do something more relaxed and recreational. We decided that a walk around Pike Street Market was a definite need before leaving. You can't really go to Seattle and not go to the market or it isn't a real Seattle trip. We walked around for a bit and since it was the weekend before Mother's day there were flowers everywhere! Rows and rows of BIG bundles for $20. I should have taken a picture but I was too enthralled I guess.  We bought some gifts as a thank you's for Grandma and Grandpa staying and watching the kids for us. We found some orange/citrus glazed almonds which were delish! And a cute pair of bagel tongs made from exotic woods. It was fun to look at all the cool crafts that people were selling too. I think Dan added to his wish list of woodworking projects while we were there too. 

We walked along the water front and found out that it was the Maritime festival. They were having tugboat races, and chowder cookoffs. It was pretty cool. We happened to pass a little bistro that was doing a BBQ out front along with their clam chowder. We hadn't eaten breakfast and it was already lunch time. We ordered some WONDERFUL chipotle BBQ chicken sandwiches and the guy was so nice he gave me a free bowl of chowder too! You're supposed to purchase chowder cookoff tickets for $9 to go around and try 9 different restaurants chowder but I got to try some for free! It was soooo good. Even Dan (who does NOT like clam chowder) said it was really good. Now that is saying something.

We walked down to the festival and took some pictures of the boats and the coast guard helicopter doing a demonstration.

Then we went to the Maritime Museum. There they had giant models of cruise ships and cargo ships done all in legos. Dan was impressed.

 Upstairs they had a set up as if you were on a real naval boat with telescopes and lots of buttons and dials to turn. They even had helmets to wear. This is where we started wishing the kids were with us. Funny how that works huh?

After playing a bit we decided we'd better start heading back so we'd have enough time for our planned activity. We headed back to the hotel. Here's a picture of a guy I took as we passed Pike Street Market again. He was singing, playing the guitar, and playing the harmonica all while hula-hooping. Wish I could do that. And I loved his hat...

The Sheraton lets you keep your car in the valet parking until 6:00 p.m. even after you've checked out. We got our luggage that was being held for us by the Bell Hop (I have never been to a fancy restaurant with Bell Hops before, it was really nice) and then drove down to Washington State University. We when to the WAC (activity center) and rented a canoe for $10/hr and paddled around the lake right there. It was a gorgeous day and there was a really pretty treearbor park that you could paddle around. We saw lots of cool birds and even turtles. Before moving to Washington, I had never seen turtles in the wild and they were EVERYWHERE! All basking on logs in the sun. I almost left my camera in the car because I was worried about the potential of tipping the canoe but I am glad Dan talked me out of it. Here are some shots I took on the canoeing trip.

It was a little sad to go back home but there is something about being a parent (at least for us) that you can't go too long on a trip until you start saying "the kids would really like this" or "oh I wish the kids we here to see that" but it was sooooo nice to get away with my sweetheart and spend 3 days away. It makes my birthday that much easier to look forward to. It is definitely a tradition we'll keep. I think next year we'll do something a bit less city oriented and go out somewhere in the country, or go on a backpacking trip. Wouldn't that be fun?

Staycation in Seattle Part #2

Ok here's another post on our Seattle trip. I better get these posts done before I start forgetting the details. So Thursday night was the Mariners game. After we got back to the hotel I was able to relax and warm back up in the hot tub. Man! if we had one of our own I am sure I'd be in it all the time!

Friday morning we woke up and went out to look for a place to eat breakfast. We found a little corner bakery and it smelled so good we decided to go in. We ended up getting some amazing sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiches on Ciabatta bread. MickeyD's doesn't even compare! We also got a yummy crumbly cranberry scone. It was a lot of carbs but sooo worth it. I think I walked them all off that day anyway.

For this trip I forgot my tennis shoes! It was not good and my feet and legs were killing me.
We decided that It'd be smart to go and buy some (lucky me huh!) Wish I could say I planned it that way.

We went to Ross and I bought some oasis brand shoes. They seemed comfortable enough and were $35.00. Sadly though by the end of the day I realized they weren't going to work. The arch in them was too far back and hit me and put pressure in the heel. Needless to say I took them back and went to Nike Town and got some much better ones the next morning. The price tag was quite a bit more too but my feet thank me now. I have never spent that much on shoes in my life! They better last.

So Saturday afternoon we spent a lot of time walking and looking around. We made our way over to the Underground Tour and bought our tickets for the next available tour. It was a lot of fun. But I will say that I don't think it would have been nearly as fun if it weren't for our tour guide Gael Zane. I am so glad we ended up with her. She was hilarious! Sometimes I couldn't tell if parts of the history lesson were true or not, but I don't care. She did a great job and I learned quite a bit.
Here are some pictures I took while on the tour...

Meet Gael

She's was the best! If you ever go try to get her as your guide.

Underground toilet. Don't worry they don't work anymore at least I'd hope not. Especially when they don't have proper sprinkler valves.

See somthing missing? There's no "L"

 And this is a picture of Seattle's original water system. It's wood! 

Ok one more shout out to our tour guide Gael!

After the tour we made our way down to the Space needle. We didn't go up but I thought the picture I took was pretty cool.

Right across the street from the needle was our next destination. The Ride the Duck tours. It was fun but was I sort of wish we had done that before the underground tour. It was sort of a let down after our experience with Gael. The Ride the Duck tours is in a military vehicle on land and on the water. You get a tour of the city on land and then you drive right into the water for another tour. The weather was perfect! I wish I had gotten some more pictures of our guide "Captain Clam Chowder" He had a hat for everything. I only got a picture of the one he used while in the water.

Here are a couple more shots I took on the tour and one that another couple was willing to take of the two of us.

Seattle is full of Art. Even on the streets. I loved it. I didn't get to go this time but hopefully one day I'll go to the Seattle Art Museum

Dan and I think we found our dream home. Mom what do you think? Just kidding.

The weather was amazing! I could actually say that I love the clouds. They weren't gray! Just white, fluffy, and gorgeous! Cotton candy anyone?

Piggy Taco Truck. Didn't eat there but I wish I could have seen what they had. We had already eaten at a little Mexican restaurant earlier anyway.

This is a view of a park from the water. I thought the coal building looked cool.

After the Ducks we took the monorail for $2.00 per person back to the mall near the hotel. It was great! It would have been a long walk back and the hot tub was calling my name already.

After resting a bit it was time to go go go again. We went and got a sandwich at a little deli and then headed to the paramount theatre for A Tribute to the Beatles concert by RAIN. It was awesome. And it was my first ever "real" concert.  Hard to believe I know...

And guess who we saw as we were leaving.?  It was our favorite tour guide Gael!

The concert was the last thing we had planned for the night, but it wasn't over yet. On our way back to the hotel we saw this little man.

I just had to get a picture with him! He was too fun!

Stay tuned for our adventures during our last day...

Restocking my card supply

Yesterday I needed a craft. I cannot go a week or even a couple days without the NEED to make something. So I sat the kids down with some watercolors while I broke out the scrapbook paper, stamps and card-stock. For awhile now I have been completely out of cards and there have been quite a few instances where I have wished I had one on hand.

The kids were occupied for quite awhile and stayed busy with the paint better than I expected. I also did a couple more that same night after the kids had gone to bed. So what do you think? (please excuse the dirty breakfast dishes in the background).

Strawberry Freezer Jam

The other day when I asked to see if there were any takers on hiring me as a cake decorator I didn't get many, or at least not any that lived in close proximity (thanks to those who did comment and wished I could drive across the country).

So to fulfill my sweet tooth/desire to create something yummy I decided to make strawberry jam. There's something very fulfilling about smashing, and crushing delicious strawberries and then adding tons of sugary goodness. I've had the strawberries sitting in my freezer since last summer and decided it was time to do something with them. They made really yummy jello salad too!

Staycation in Seattle Part #1

I am finally getting back into reality and recovering from an awesome vacation with my hubby. We started the tradition of going on a mini vacation by ourselves (without the kids!) for my birthday. It doesn't end up being right on my birthday day but either a week before or some time soon after. Last year we went up to Victoria, BC and went ziplining and saw Butchart Gardens. It was great fun. This year we did something a bit closer to home and did a two night stay in Seattle. We've lived here almost 3 yrs now and haven't really been.

We stayed in the Sheraton in downtown Seattle and it ended up being a pretty good location. It was the type of hotel that charges $5.00 for a bottled water and $3.50 for a pack of M&M's. But at least it had a hot tub and pool. From the hotel we could pretty much walk to all of our planned destinations.

I will be posting about our trip in stages since it would take me all day if I tried to do it all at once. So here's  #1.

The first night we went to a Mariners baseball game. Nothing like sharing garlic fries, chicken strips, and a soda in stadium seats for dinner! It was fun. We lost 8-0 but it was still fun. That night was also my very first time riding in a Taxi. We had waited at the bus stop for a half an hour before we realized another one wasn't coming. So our next option was the Taxi. And to be honest I'd prefer it to the bus!

Here are some shots I took while we were there.

This is the view from our seats. We were up pretty close. Good seats huh?

What a cute couple, It was great to be able to spend that much time alone with my man!

This one's a bit blurry. I had to zoom in a ton. But look who it is...Ken Griffey Jr.! 

I'd only seen baseball cards of him growing up. 

Ichiro Suzuki #51 beats him in my book though. He has the funniest little routine he does every time he goes up to bat. Maybe if I can figure out how to post my video of him at bat I'll put it up.

Stay tuned for more...

Cake Decorator for Hire...Any takers?

Does anyone have a party coming up that they'd like to hire me to make a cake for them? I don't know why but today I am itching to do one. I just can't make one that will be sticking around the house, or I'd eat it and fail at my next weigh-in.
Here are a pics of cakes that I have done in the past. If you are one of my faithful readers you've probably already seen some of them. I have no idea what I'd charge yet but just wanted to see if I had any takers first.

 Like I said, I have no idea what I'd charge, but just seeing if there were any takers.