Ug, so behind

We are still here! It's been a super crazy week. I'm still working on getting my new etsy shop and blog going. I have the url set up (sewandscribble.com) but haven't made the banners or started posting on the blog. I'm pretty much done editing all the art so from here on out it's just a matter of getting everything all set up. We've also had some weird stuff come up this week...I'll write more about it later. :P In the meantime, here's my logo! Haha, I'm really proud of myself over this...and I try not to think about how long it took me to come up with and then draw.


I have some cute photos to share but first I've got a funny story. My friend Cathy teaches at Autumn's Mother's Day Out. She does music with Autumn's class on Thursdays so they get to visit together which is way cool. So, anyway, Thursday I saw Cathy on my way in to pick up Autumn and we got to chat in the hall. Apparently, they were in class yesterday singing and clapping and all of a sudden, Autumn stood up and walked up to Cathy. And handed her a booger. Yes. Ahhhh, my little delicate flower.

On to cuter things. Like Samuel!


He's Cathy's little guy who, at five months, is nearly as tall as Autumn. Hahaha! I'm sorry, Autumn. It was really sweet to see Autumn and Samuel interact. Samuel liked Autumn...and me! I feel like I'm terrible with babies so it was soooo cool to see him smiling and wiggling in my direction. And Autumn was so gentle and patted him and brought him his toys when they fell. I like the way Samuel is looking at Autumn here.


Like most kids, Autumn is a big imitator. If I'm sweeping, she gets out her broom. If I'm reading, she wants to read, too. If Mike is vacuuming, she gets out her vacuum. If he is raking leaves or playing games, she wants her rake or her baby computer. Case in point:


I personally like her hair grabbing technique. Note that Cathy is not utilizing it, much to Samuel's relief. Samuel's like, "so...I'm eating. Not sure what all this camera business is about," hahaha.


Actually, last week was a good week for friends and family. Not only did I get to have tea and scones with Cathy and Samuel and Autumn but earlier that week, we also got to celebrate Boppa's birthday! He is 84 years young!


I was playing with the settings on my camera at dinner so most of my pics didn't come out well. I did get a few funny photos of Autumn and the moon. Which she is kind of obsessed with. I blame Goodnight Moon for that. "Ohhhh, look look!! Moon! See? Moon!"


Here she's blowing at the moon. I'm not sure where she picked this up but she will blow a poof of air at random times. Like, at Molly. She'll just be sitting there and Autumn will stand a couple of feet away, yell "MONNY!" and go POOF to blow a puff of air at her. Molly just kind of looks at Autumn quizzically and moves on.


Rubber face bebeh. For no other reason except it tickles me. :P


That's all for now!

Memories and a Leftover Candy Recipe

I meant to get a post going sooner than this but I have been just beyond busy. But it's for a good reason! A friend of mine and I are starting an Etsy shop, hopefully in the next 10 days. At first, we're really only going to sell paper products like labels and note cards but later we'll be adding some fun stuff like art and sewn items. I will have more details later on all that sometime soon! :D But, I will tell you that our name will be Sew and Scribble!

Anyway, I have been trying to figure out ways to get Autumn involved in cooking dinner. Some of you might know that I love to cook. I love to give parties. And the first memories I have of cooking are helping my mom and my paternal grandmother in the kitchen.


My mom would let me roll biscuit dough and my grandma would even let me create my own muffin recipes. She lay out the ingredients and let me go to town with very little guidance. Haha, only a grandma, right? But, I really think of her when I think of how much I love to cook. I'm not sure if any of my muffins were edible but she encouraged me with her enthusiasm, willingness to go along with a weird kid, and her very tough stomach (probably). And, later, my mom let me cook "fancy" meals. To this day, she and her best friend talk about the amazing mother's day meal I made them when I was 12. Again, I'm not sure if it really was amazing, but it was a 3 course epic project for someone not much taller than the stove!


Anyway, I came across this recipe for Candy Corn Bark and thought it looked pretty cool. I was also able to really let Autumn in on the creation of this dessert so that it wasn't just me giving her flour, water, and salt to mix for an hour.


The site I linked has a nice recipe and better pics but here's what we did. I put 14 oreos in a plastic bag and let Autumn break them up. She was having so much fun that I think we made them a little too small for this recipe. So if you do it, make sure the chunks of cookie are pretty decently sized. You can see the intensity in Autumn's face here, haha.


We already had pretzel rods so I guessed at how many would make 1 1/2 cup pretzel pieces. Same thing, don't let them get too small. By the way, I'm impressed with Autumn's left handed mallet work here! She's actually kind of right handed. :P I know it's silly but I was kind of hoping she'd be a lefty. Maybe she's got a touch of both in her!


Here are the oreos, pretzels, and 3/4 cup candy corn spread on a baking sheet. You can use wax paper but I have a silpat mat that I used. Also, spread it in a pretty thin layer. I was concerned when I was spreading the bits but thin layer is the way to go.


I melted a pound of almond bark. I actually added a touch more because I got nervous when I saw how it spread out. Didn't think I had enough but the amount the recipe calls for would have been plenty. Autumn stirred for me.


Autumn helped pour the chocolate from the cup onto the mixture but I had to spread it a bit. I've never made a bark so this was a new experience for me.


Sprinkle 1/4 cup candy corn and some brown sprinkles on top (and orange but I didn't have any), pop it in the fridge to harden annnnd voila! Or, as Autumn would say, tada!

Candy Corn Cookie Bark

14 whole Oreos, broken up.

1 1/2 C pretzels, broken into pieces.

1 lb. white chocolate, almond bark or melts found in the bulk food section

1 C candy corn

brown and orange colored sprinkles

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper. Spread broken cookes, pretzels and about 3/4 C of the candy corn onto the waxed paper. Place white chocolate in a container and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds until melted and smooth. White chocolate melts faster and burns easier than chocolate.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture, spreading with spatula if needed to coat evenly. Sprinkle remaining candy corn and colored sprinkles over the chocolate while it is still wet. Do not let it harden. Place cookie tray into refrigerator until set and firm. Remove and gently break bark into small pieces. Store in air tight container.

And, to end, have some Autumn in boots and a hello kitty tutu feeding her baby doll a bottle while holding her by the hair. :D

A Halloween Fairy Tale

It was a dark and stormy night.

Well. Not really. It was a bright and sunny day. The first bright and sunny day in some time. But the sunniness of this afternoon belied the darkness that is inherently Halloween.

Well. Not really that either.

The truth was...this was a halloween of light and smiles and joy. It started with a little girl who, through the magic of eyeshadow and glitter and wings and a pretty dress, was transformed into a little fairy.


The little fairy was a patient fairy. She knew fun things were to come but the big people had lots of things to say before she could get started. And so she waited.


And waited.


And waited.


And then finally, the little fairy got to embark on her Super Awesome Halloween Travels.


She played games.


And showed off her spoils.


And played more games!


And showed off her spoils.


And then the little fairy visited the Very Big Hospital. She walked across a big walkway and went up a really fast elevator! It was so exciting! While she was at the Very Big Hospital, the little fairy shared her m&m's and a candy bar with two new friends she met in the hall. And, she got to visit with her Very Favorite Nurse!


After visiting her Very Favorite Nurse, the little fairy walked back up the big walkway and then rode all the way to see her Honorary Fairy Family.


And she showed off her spoils.


The little fairy and her Honorary Aunt sat together while the little fairy learned the names of all her yummy candies!


The played for a very long time and it was fun.


The little fairy took off again, this time to snuggle with a Very Silly Mama.


Who was dressed like an aikido instructor--which wasn't really much of a costume at all since she wore it to class that morning! Silly Mama!


And her Very Silly Lula who was dressed as a hair stylist. That wasn't much of a costume either! Silly Lula!


So the little fairy went on a search for something a little less silly. She knocked on a door and said, "trick or treat!" Well. Not exactly. She patted a door and said, "tweet!"


And she got one!


And guess whose door it was! The little fairy decided to show off her spoils...to a very appreciative and perhaps envious audience.


The little fairy had one more stop before dinner and night-night time.


She rang a doorbell...and was greeted by the melodious sounds of lots of little doggies greeting her. The little fairy was surprised by their enthusiasm. And so was the Official Costumer of the Fairy Family.


Now, at this house, there was dancing.


And friends


And doggies


And best of all...babies!


The little fairy loved babies and took her chance to give the baby lots of kisses.


One more good-bye, a yummy fairy dinner, and a ride home later, the little fairy shed her wings for the night. She washed off her glitter and said, "night-night, Wings! See you tomorrow. Muah!"



A very special thank you to everyone who had us over: Penny, Stephan and Maddie and DeeDee, The Yopps. Also thank you to Lula and Mama Lainey and Papa D for a super fun night. And, a special hello to all the Ridgeway ladies for all your kind words about our little blog!! To all our readers: you have no idea how much it means to us that you take time out of your busy schedules to read about our silly adventures. :)

Little Colleys on the Farm!

We went to Tyler's birthday party two weeks ago and it was so much fun!! It was at this little petting farm place in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, Nanny was just joking that we were going to run out of asphalt WHEN WE DID. We were sooo cracking up. Now, I have approximately 800 photos from this event. I have narrowed it down to...64. Ha! Way too many to put here on the blog. So, I made a picasa slide show. If you want, you can just click through these photos ordered and captioned for your viewing pleasure. Seriously, you won't regret it. I mean, you'll see my favorite Autumn expression:


BUNNIES


Little Colleys on a PONY!


And so much more!



By the way, family who forgot cameras, I uploaded these in sharing size. So, feel free to download!

One more by the way--if you want to stop the auto scrolling of the pics in the slideshow, hit pause and then you can go forward at your own pace.