Friday Photo: Juniper, Week 20...and Olive too

Hanging out on this beautiful quilt my pal Camie made for her.

Olive was there too,

illuminating all that she comes in contact with,

per her usual.

Early Birthday Meals

Friday, a couple of friends had a little early-birthday lunch for me that was so fun and super deeeeeeeeelicious. Holy smokes. I totally stole this picture from my friend's blog who hosted. Check out my awesome little cake. Have you ever seen a cuter cake? I haven't. It was so fun and I felt extra special, and not don't-eat-the-paste special and not you-are-great-with-child-special, just plain special and loved, which was so, so nice. And I even got to take some of these gorgeous hydrangeas home with me in a new little vase. Score!

Then, because who knows when Go will be home Monday on my real birthday, we as a family celebrated last night, Saturday night. He took Ruby and May on a bike ride while Olive finished napping (sweet peace and quiet for me!) and on the way home, picked up a dozen freshly steamed and seasoned crabs for dinner that he had ordered earlier, and had totally watched a video beforehand to learn how to break these suckers open for maximum crab meat consumption. Go took the first one out of the bag and Olive FREAKED out. Once she calmed down and we got all of our supplies ready, we went to town on these suckers. I always find a strange satisfaction in working for my food, like extracting pomegranate seeds, peeling off artichoke leaves, cracking open pistachios, etc. I had never had whole crabs before and they were even more delicious than I expected them to be. It was messy and fun and we all loved it. It was an excellent birthday dinner.

Mrs. Charmagne Lewis-Feinstenburger, our first victim.

May was crazy good at disassembling her crabs.

Those nimble little fingers got every piece of meat out of every nook and cranny.

Let us have a moment of silence for the discarded remains of our friends from the sea who provided us with a memorable birthday meal.

Friday Photos: The Nap Aftermath and its Range of Emotions

Not amused.

Dazed.

Shy.

Puppy.

Which in our house is indeed an emotion.

In fact, I have made it the Sixth Stage of Grief.

Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. Puppy.

Disgruntled.

Confused.

Pensive.

Warming.

Joy.

12 Days of Christmas

I did 12 little illustrations of the 12 Days of Christmas for my buddy Mandy of Gourmet Mom on the Go.

Guess what? She made these images are FREE to download. What a classy broad. See her post with instructions and free download here! She made them into cookies with an edible image printer. So cute! (if I do say so myself...) You could also make them into gift tags or ornaments or a little Christmas mobile. Have at it and let me know what you do with them!

GNO

If you are having a particularly stressful couple of weeks and starting to go a little insane, I highly recommend you grabbing a pal to go see This Is It. Totally fascinating.

What a great idea, Molly. Thanks so much for getting me out of my house! The walls were starting to close in but today I feel like I can breathe again.

Tid Bits

1. A win-win situation:

Do you think this onesie is as funny as I do?

Do you think this tutu is cute and have to have one?

These two things are my most recent buys. My old pal Beth made them. You can purchase them, along with a lot of other cool things, from her etsy shop. Her man recently got laid off, so they're paying the bills by selling her creations, which is pretty scary for their family of four. So if you're in need of a baby/child gift (or even if you're not), check out her shop--it's called "love, september." I'm pretty sure you'll find something you'll like and I'm pretty sure it would help their family out big time. Everybody wins.

2. A Pink Thumb:

It's around this time of year I start thinking "Maybe Pennsylvania ain't so bad." In my head, I have horrible grammar. I planted pink calla lilies like these in my yard yesterday, among a bunch of other plants, vegetables, and herbs. My stuff from last year has also sprung up; it makes me happy, so happy that I look at them and think "Me likes the spring, me does."

3. Happy 31st to my hunky monkey who has an obsession with his facial hair,
can bench twice his weight, studies every night while his girls crawl all over him
and dances like everyone is watching.

Go's birthday was Thursday. It was filled with Thai food, Patagonia garb, t-shirts, red licorice, black licorice, running shoe shopping, singing and homemade cards. It was fun.

Elated to be Related

I can put yet another notch in my "You Are Married to Your Spouse Thanks to ME" belt, otherwise known as the "You Guys Owe Me Big Time" belt. It is encrusted in diamonds, just like the city of Provo (where it originated) in case you were wondering.

Here's why:

Did you ever have a bestest besty friend growing up, one whom obsessed over the Beatles with you, consumed massive amounts of frozen yogurt with you, watched every single Hitchcock film ever made with you, memorized the Newsies soundtrack with you, cried with you every time Meg died and Jo denied Laurie, wore Birkenstocks with you, got annoyed with the same pesky boys with you, drove to seminary in the dark early hours of the morning with you, rode bikes with you, looked for stolen bikes with you, baby sat with you, worked at Chick's Sporting Goods and Hogi Yogi with you, jogged with you, jogged while eating Hershey bars with you, was on swim team with you, TP'd people's houses with you, Girls Camped with you, Youth Conference with you, skiied with you, Palm Springed with you, EFY'd with you, ate pepperoncinis with you, had Sunday night game night with you, had the same curfew as you, had the same futile crushes on various boys with you--though thankfully never at the same time as you, had endless amounts of inside jokes with you, and since you both were attached to the others' hip, applied to the same college with you, then roomed at college with you, was like a sister to you and together you vowed you would someday be related?

No? Man, you missed out.

I was lucky enough to have had (and still have) a friend like the aforementioned. Elizabeth Eaton Jex and I? We did it: at the end of July, we will be related.

Though it may look like it, we did not take each other to the prom.

We both had dates.
I swear.

[E: you may find this hard to believe, but this was one of the FEW pictures that did not have
a) at least one of us in our swim suits
b) someone else in the picture I would have felt obligated to Photoshop out
c) both of us covered in an assortment of condiments]

Elizabeth's little sister, Sarah Eaton, whom I would love and adore regardless of her last name, is marrying my brother-in-law: Go's little brother Harry this summer. She will make a stellar addition to the family.

Elizabeth and I. Related. Who would have thunk?

Things That Help

When you are having a stressful and yucky day, here are some things that will help make you feel better:

ALL IN RUN-ON SENTENCE FORM! JUST FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT!

-Receiving a very cute bouquet of flowers from your sweet MIL which is held inside of a yellow colinder which happens to be something you've always really wanted but have never bought because Miss Cheapy Pants told you that even though it only cost like $8, you have a perfectly good plastic white colinder sitting in your cupboard at home that works just fine, so just keep on walking, sister.


-Venting to a loyal friend and realizing she would throw the first punch if you asked her to because she knows you are just too tired to do it yourself and then imagining that loyal friend actually throwing a punch and getting a good 5 minute chuckle out of it.

-Reading a comment made by your mother about how much she loves Justin Timberlake and realizing she might just be a cougar and what a funny post that would make, especially since she hates the term cougar but the fact that she is coming to visit just one day after she would read the My Mom is a Cougar! post, it is highly likely that upon her arrival, while waiting for her baggage at the airport, she would all of a sudden reach over and claw your eyes out because she's a cougar and that's something that cougars do.


-Staying up way, way too late while eating cheesecake and gabbing with girlfriends.


-Having a husband on a rotation that allows him to actually be home to watch your kids so you can go stay up way, way too late, eat cheesecake and gab with girlfriends.



-Having a husband on a rotation which allows him to get your daughter on the bus in the morning while you go sweat off your frustrations at the gym.

-Knowing that very soon, you will be holding and squishing a baby that will probably look something like these squishy babies:

Well, Sweet Baby Jane!

Go has 2 more weeks of vacation that he has to take before the start of June. And what do you know? This next week is one of them. We're doing a couple of little trips:

1. Pittsburgh! For the Super Bowl. Mmm...ok, if you say so. But more like to see our dear friends the Ringgers and Jacksons while we eat delicious food and laugh ourselves to oblivion. I think the game might be on in the background. Maybe. I really don't care. Go Steelers? Sure. Whatever.

2. Great Wolf Lodge & Waterpark!
The water is 85 degrees. That's all I need to know. My apologies in advance to the Jacksons who will be accompanying us.

3. D.C.! Probably!

It's going to be a lot of driving but our kids like riding in the car. I guess it's bigger than the cage they're normally kept in. More leg room.

I know I said I was going to lay off the craft projects for awhile but I have to do something while we do all of this driving, so I'm going to attempt to crochet a headband similar to this one.


"What's with the headbands, Annie?", you may ask. Well, folks. Big, fat headbands cover up big, fat roots. I've got at least a month left until I'll let myself get my hair done again. In the meantime, I'll be looking like those poor babies you see every Sunday at church.

Who Says Domestic Tasks Need to Be Boring?

Today I am baking artisan bread. I'll let you know how it turns out as my bread baking skills are more than lacking.

Thanks to the many hours I spent at the Eaton household over my lifetime, I cannot bake bread without saying this over and over:

"They say bread is life. And I bake bread, bread, bread. And I sweat. And shovel this stinkin' dough in and out of this hot hole in the wall and I should be sooooo happy. Huh?!!! Sweetie?"

It confuses my children.

Yo! Yo! Yo! Thanxgiving, Yo!

We had a deee-lightful early Thanksgiving this weekend. Good family, good friends, good food. I really don't need much else.

The turkey and it's gravy was successful. Not too salty at all but I didn't just follow one recipe, I kind of combined like 20. It was delish. Everything was.

I was kind of disappointed we didn't all hold hands, go around the table and say what we were grateful for. It probably got overlooked as we were all quite mesmerized by Go, who while dishing up his dinner, serenaded us with Salt 'n Peppa's None of Your Business.

If we had gotten the chance though, I would have said something like this: "I am grateful for a steady and strong husband, one who works hard, loves me and our girls and never ceases to both amaze and entertain me with his ability to remember every word from "The Mormon Rap."

And Now It's Time For a Break Down

Camie, my great friend here in Hershey is making me a quilt for our new baby. I would put a link to her blog but she doesn't have one because she's way to busy making my quilt to bother with blogging. I totally know how to pick my friends, don't I? She must like me a whole lot. So much so, that I got to tell her exactly what I wanted. Like, "Score!", right?

This is the inspiration for my requested quilt, which site it came from--I have totally forgotten, but from the minute I saw it, I loved it. And I'm not one to get excited over quilts because I don't quilt--I'm not precise enough, so I will never be able to be a quilter. Miss Cheapy Pants is very pleased about this.
The quilt that is being made for me will not have a yellow binding, but white. The colors of rectangles will be reds, pinks, oranges, yellows and greens. Because I'll be hanging this in the baby's room above her crib, I am basing the new nursery decor around it. You know--new baby, new room.

I will be using both cream and white (which were our wedding colors - I'm just wild and crazy like that) and will have pops of color here and there, like in the mobile I shall be constructing, a pillow for the glider I will be sewing and something festive on the wall I shall be whipping up. I figured since this time around I bought all the textiles in the room instead of making them, I needed to throw my own personal touch in there somewhere. And our baby will love me for it. Because newborns care about that kind of stuff. They just do, it's really weird. Just ask Go. He knows now. Because I keep telling him. And telling him. And telling him.

BEFORE (May's Nursery)

AFTER (New Baby's Nursery)

And yes, thank you, I AM aware that there's a hand full of months between November and March. Just ask Go. He will be able to tell you exactly how many. And tell you. And tell you. And tell you.

Vote!

I'm not talking Obama or McCain, I'm talking about something much more appetizing:

cupcakes.

Remember my friend Mandy who made me those awesome cupcakes for my birthday? She has entered the Iron Cupcake competition where chefs and bakers all around the globe have entered their recipes; the secret ingredient being chili peppers. I was lucky enough to photograph her creations, Chili Cacao Mayan Cupcakes.

Here is the recipe from her recipe blog, Gourmet Mom-on-the-go. Trust me, she should win. I got to take a box home after I took pictures of these little beauties and they were divine.

To help a her out, go here to vote. Click the bubble next to "Gourmet Mom-on-the-Go" on the left-hand sidebar, then scroll down and click "Vote". Voting is open until Thursday. Long live spicy chocolate!

The California Leg of the Trip

Highlights

-The uncles.

Don't be fooled by this tough guy picture. Uncle John is a softy.

Uncle Joe, who is always a belly full of laughs.

-The beach.
...with my family.

Uncle Joe also is a very good walker.

Not one word, Mom. This is a good picture of you.
May surrounded by men, just like she likes it.

-Going to the park with Uncle John who likes to fall down when he skates.

He also likes to slither down curvy slides.
I can't explain why, but this is such a "John" thing to do.

And then he took May for a ride.

-The pool.

"That face has mischief written all over it," you might be saying.

You are correct, sir! After this stunt, Joe was banned from the tossing of nieces into the pool.

But don't worry. Papa Tommy was there to catch her.
Have I ever mentioned that Papa Tommy is a goofball?

-Getting to see my cousin Megan and her cute kids.
-Getting together with old roommates for a practically perfect afternoon at the Lagoon. Rhymes!
If you think these ladies are cute, you should see their kids.

Ok.

(Sorry Kate, but I don't even one shot of Avery on here. Dang!)

-Riding the train to San Juan Capistrano and going to Zoomars with Grandma Caren.

-This picture, particularly the background.