Birthday Party Sneak Peak.

My baby boy is turning 4 next week and we are throwing a birthday party backyard bash to celebrate. I absolutely love throwing parties and kids parties are by far my favorite. I've been working on lots of small items to help create the party atmosphere and so I thought  my next couple of posts would be a sneak peak into some of these that you can make at home with objects lying around the house.

I had bought a bunch of candy for a pinata but decided to forgo the pinata but was not sure what to do with the huge bag of candy. I had some glass jars that were holding miscellaneous things around the house so I decided to spruce them up by filling with different types of candy and after adding a few decorations such as ribbon and some stickers made some very cute candy jars.

Sewing Project #3 Finished - Homemade Birthday Banner

This past week I had some time to finish the homemade birthday banner that I had discussed in a previous post. Once I got my sewing machine up and running the process went by really quickly and it turned out great. I got the pattern and materials from here and its a great first project to make at home and adds a touch of backyard vintage to any kids party. The most time consuming part was cutting all of the patterns out but after that it was smooth sailing. I'm in search of my next sewing project so if anyone has any great ideas let me know....

Peach Pie...

We had company over for dinner this past weekend and I had some ripe peaches I needed to use so I thought it would be a good time to make peach mini-pies. I brought out my Breville Pie Maker again and got to work. I was in a little bit of a time crunch so I ended up using Pillsbury pie crust instead of making my own. If not making your own, I highly recommend using a high end pie crust instead of the generic brand since they tend to keep together more. I also used a cookie cutter to create the flower shapes and used an egg wash to adhere them to the top pie crust.

For the peach filling I put diced peaches, cornstarch, brown sugar, and vanilla in a sauce pan and stirred until the peaches became soft. I also made homemade whipped cream to go along with them and let me tell you, making it tastes WAY better than store bought. Enjoy!

A Sunny Day in Anacortes, Washington

This past weekend we headed up north to Anacortes, Washington to take advantage of the nice summer sun that seems to be a rarity lately. My mom and Jon recently moved to Anacortes so we also used this as an opportunity to check out their new digs which is very charming and cute. We had a great time hanging out at the Farmer's Market that happens on Saturdays from 9-2 and even visited a soft serve ice cream shop that had 24 flavors of soft serve to choose from. Amazing.

Right up the street from their new house was a really cute park called the John and Doris Tursi Park that actually had a zip line. Ethan was a little hesitant at first but after a few tries he was hooked. We even made it to the beach and Ethan and Bindi both got in the water before heading home. On the way out of town we stopped at Bob's Chowder Bar for lunch which has fantastic clam chowder. If you ever get a chance to pass through Anacortes I highly recommend a stop there for a quick bite to eat.

Take me out to the ball game - Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers

This past Father's day I treated Jeff and Ethan to Mariner's game tickets for a summer game in July. We had pretty good seats in the 300 level that was right next to the railing. It was a little scary since it was about a forty foot drop down to the next section so we were a little wary but luckily Ethan fell asleep shortly into the third inning.

Even though it was a rainy day we had lots of fun chowing down on hot dogs, fries, gummy candy, and ice cream.

Thomas the Train - Snoqualmie Washington

This past weekend we went on a drive up to the town of Snoqualmie to go on their annual Thomas Train ride. We try to make an annual trip up to the Northwest Railway Museum for their Day Out with Thomas, and the Santa Train. It's a perfect activity to do on a nice summer day. An old fashion train ride to the falls and back. And Ethan even got to have a rainbow Popsicle to celebrate the day.

Sewing Project #3 - Birthday Banners. Oh Boy!

Ethan's fourth birthday is quickly approaching and we plan on having a backyard shindig to celebrate the occasion. I LOVE hosting kids birthday parties and I am always on the look out for decoration ideas that are not going to break the bank. I found a birthday banner kit through Amazon and since I have been looking for projects to use my sewing machine this seemed like the perfect fit.

I will be sure to post the finish product in the next few weeks. Stay tuned...

Homemade Cherry Pie...

It has been a pretty rainy few days in Seattle and it felt like a great day to bake.
The tree in our backyard has been bursting with cherries and I needed to pick them before the birds ate them all. Jeff had gotten me the Breville Pie Maker as a gift awhile back and so I made some mini homemade cherry pies. I had never attempted to make the filling of cherry pies before and it turned out great. I combined cherries with sugar, a little flour, and vanilla. I even made homemade whipping cream to put on top. Don't they look tasty?

A dapper young lad...

Check out Ethan in his fancy attire. I think he would be a shoo in if they ever needed a young lad to play a roll in Mad Men.

*I have also been doing some changes to our blog. Hopefully you enjoy the new layout.*

Sun Valley Vacation...

Jeff, Ethan, and I headed over to Sun Valley Idaho to celebrate the 4th of July and hang out for a week in the sun. We got to hang out with my sister and her family visiting from Colorado, my step brother from Utah, and my parents. It was a perfect 80 degrees every day we were there and we had a ton of pool time and lots and lots of home made ice cream. I definitely need a sugar detox now that we are back home. We also drove into Hailey Idaho for their 4th of July parade and took a gondola ride up to the top of Baldy Mountain to eat at the Roundhouse Grill.

We had a long, long drive there consisting of ten plus hours but it was worth it and thanks to the iPad, Ethan did tremendously well. We plan on hopefully making this a annual Summer tradition.