High Five!

Bea turned 5 years old this week. (Deep breath.... just realized my kids are now 5 & 10. Five fingers & ten fingers. One hand & two hands. My little five & dime.)

When I asked Bea what kind of cake she wanted, she replied: "I want a yellow bumblebee cake. And I want his hand in the air, doing a high  five. And I want a flower in the other hand."

Well, I got half of it right. I managed to make a high-fiving bumblebee, but I forgot to put a flower in the other hand. And Bea noticed it right away. "MOM! You forgot the flower!"

Geez. Some clients are so hard to please. ; )

Other than that minor detail, Bea kept saying "This is the best birthday, EVER!" She got to go to Build-a-Bear with her daycare friends, Sophia & Miss Francis, where they picked out matching bunnies. She got to spend the day playing with her Grandma Nette. And she opened up present, after present, after present from her many aunts & uncles. So yeah, it was pretty much the best birthday EVER for our sweet Bea.

Keepin' it Classy

Helping my brother decorate his new house also means helping him graduate his design style from college boy to cool bachelor. 

I had an idea for this industrial, wood & iron wall railing and begged my husband to build it, because I couldn't find anything like it in any store or catalog. He installed it in Kurt's house last weekend. I love how it turned out. It's perfect for displaying some of my brother's screen printed concert posters from a few of his favorite bands.

Each poster is mounted on foam core and then framed with lightweight plexiglass and some mini, rubber-tipped, spring clamps. (I found them at Wichita's hardware-store-of randomness: The Yard.)

Eclectic, grown-up, and fun. But still very Kurt.

Skateboard Ramp Cakes

Our good friends, Luc and Ian, celebrated their September birthdays together with one, big, skateboarding-themed party. And I made their cakes.

With short, simple names like LUC and IAN, it was easy to turn them into skateboard ramps. The ramps are built out of Rice Krispie Treats and placed on top of cake letters. I frosted the name cakes with buttercream icing and then sprinkled silver & white sanding sugar over everything to make it look like "concrete." I made paper cutouts of the boys, attached them to mini skateboards, and placed them next to their birthday candles. Then I painted & glued together toothpicks and kabob skewers for the skate ramp railing.

The cakes were a hit with the 10-and-under crowd. But I think Luc & Ian loved the paper cutouts of themselves the most.

Home Sweeeeeeeeet! Home

My youngest brother, Kurt, bought a house last winter and I eagerly volunteered to help him decorate it. Of course, that means I also volunteered Eric to build some things.... like this mid-century-modernesque table for the entry way.


Similar to a table he built for our basement, Eric created a taller, black-stained maple version - with a drawer for storage and a few simple shelves for some of Kurt's finest literature. ; )

I accessorized it with some masculine, yet kitschy items. My favorite is the owl lamp. I keep telling him it's a chick magnet. Girls like guys with fun lamps. Am I right? 

I've now volunteered my husband to make some end tables that will compliment the entry table design. It's a big house, I'm afraid Eric's project list is about to get even longer.

A tub time trick.

Ever have trouble getting your kids into the bathtub? Try this trick sometime: glow sticks.

I saw this idea on Pinterest. (My new, favorite, time-sucking, go-to website.) I bought a tube of these for $1 at Michael's last weekend and put them in Bea's bathwater. She thought it was totally awesome. Except, we used all of them. And they only last 24 hours. So now I gotta buy some more. 

I'll do whatever it takes to get that girl in the tub. Am I right, moms?

My camera had some trouble focusing on these in the dark.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Yes, please!

I saw a post for these on Pinterest a few weeks ago and have been craving them ever since. I don't know why. Just the thought of all-things-fall and pumpkiny made me want them.

I have to admit, there's very little pumpkin in this recipe. Only 1/2 cup in the dough. So, I intentionally tried to make them more "pumpkin-pie-like" by adding nutmeg and ginger to the frosting. Probably should have added it to the dough. But I didn't think about it until the frosting stage. It still helped. They were delicious. I'll have to try it the other way around next time and see if I notice a difference.

And even though it got up to a toasty 89 degrees today, it still felt like fall in my pumpkin-baking kitchen.

Best $3.89 I've spent in a long time.

Bea and I made a trip to Michael's Art & Crafts this weekend, and came home with a cheap, fun, creative, keep-this-little-gal-busy-for-hours, animal painting kit.

The only thing better than the $3.89 clearance price tag was knowing that it was originally $33.99. Seriously? Who in their right mind would pay $34 for a bunch of plastic animals.

I loved watching Bea's color choice for each of the beasts. Elephant? Red. Zebra? Yellow. Sure. Why not? Don't let your mother (or mother nature) sway your artistic inspiration darlin'. Paint what your heart tells you to paint.

As an added bonus, I noticed in the bathtub tonight that Bea gave herself some lovely, red highlights in her hair. Unintentional, I'm sure. But unfortunate, because they didn't wash out.

PS. Please disregard the newspaper that Bea's painting on top of... just now noticed it was a giant ad for women suffering from vaginal dryness and itching. Awkward. But funny. ; )

Out of hibernation.

After a summer of record-breaking heat (51 days over 100 degrees), we ventured out of our air-conditioned house last weekend to enjoy the almost fall-like temps at Eastburough Park.

It felt so good to go outside and not melt for once. Bring on fall, y'all.

Gus and Bea waddled after this poor duck for a good 10 minutes.

Up, up and away!

The design student that works in our office on campus is leaving us for a real-world job at Pioneer Balloon. Yea for Kyle! Boo for us.

I sent him off in sugary style with some chocolate balloons via the Wichita State mascot, WuShock.