First Time In The Pool

All I can say is: Thank goodness for Sunscreen!

Queen Violett

Violett is going to be a year old
soon and I'm planning a garden tea
party for the family. This is the image
that I've used for the invitations.
It is so funny and I worked on it for hours!
Click on the image to enlarge it.

from MY garden

These are some of the bulbs that I planted last November. I don't have much of a garden so I just put them in large pots.



Here's a pic of the pansies that Deb brought over the last time they visited.



I guess I got the good bag of black tulips because Debs mostly turned out to be red and not black. All of mine turned out to be the correct bulbs except for one. They are so pretty.



Most of the tulips and other bulbs are on their way out for the season and I'm just waiting for the long weekend to be over before I plant some seeds and perennials.

Daddy Wants A Kiss

Another scene from the High Chair

Rustic Strawberry Tart

I've had some puff pastry sitting in the freezer and no idea what to do with it. Strawberries have been on sale at the grocery store and I bought too much! Violett can't go through that many in a day so what to do? What to do? Hmmm, the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living as a Strawberry Galette which is basically a pie crust laid out flat on a baking sheet, lined with cut strawberries and the edges turned up. I used the puff pastry dough instead. It still worked out just fine, but I'll admit...it looks really crappy to me! Violett loved it and so did Scott. I loved it too, but next time i will use pie crust and make it myself. That way it will be big enough. Now, I know that it would have looked better if I had sliced the strawberries evenly and discarded the outside of the berry slices, but BLEH, who really cares? I'm not that picky. I had used the tray and parchment paper earlier that day to freeze grapes. I dried it off but when I had taken it out of the oven all the sugars left behind by the grapes carmelized on the sheet.

Random Picture Series V

We took Violett to the park the other day.
While we were there we saw some bunnies.
I got up fairly close to them to take some pictures
of them as they were hippity-hopping around.









She had such a good time in the
swing. She was clapping and
waving her arms around. Is there
anything as cute as these pictures?
I don't think so.



These are daddy's socks.
It was a little chilly so we put
some socks on! I think that
they're a little too big for her.









This is just too cute!
I had to turn the
flash off to get a better
picture of her. I love the
way she is on all fours
peeping through the holes
in the gate.



She looks like she's all ready
to go out and play in the snow!
Too bad it's not winter anymore.

I have a new pencil

I made this from scratch! It's my own design and I'm very proud of it. Deb asked for four of these for Ella and Seths teachers as an end of school gift. I think it looks great and it doesn't take too long to make!

A Few Little Steps

A Cheezy Adventure

April 17th is Barry's Birthday and April 29th is Edith's Birthday. This year they decided to have just one party for the both of them. This event took place at Chuck E. Cheese's. I had never been to Chuck E. Cheese's before and am now suffering from arcade withdrawal. I love arcades and always have. I had no idea what to expect when we got to the place and I wasn't disappointed. I was impressed with their pizza too! It was crispy and had a really great garlic note to it. Not greasy at all either! If you're going to eat pizza for breakfast, Chuck E. Cheese's is the way to go. The icing on the cake was super sweet but the cake part was good and Violett loved it. I don't give her too many sweet things, but a few bites here and there aren't going to do her any harm. There were photo booths there that take your picture and turn it into a sketch drawing. Both Scott and I took one with Violett and I brought them home and framed them. I'm going to hang it up in her room. Truly cheezy I know, but they look good!
Anyhoo! Here's a good variety of the pictures we took. There's more of Violett than anyone else, but hey, what'cha gonna do? Some things can't be helped...




I love the look on her face!
This horse not only moved
back and forth like the old-type
horse, but it jumped as well.





She enjoys sitting with Edith.






MMM, cake.








I know it's your birthday
party, Grampa Barry, but
how many pieces of cake
are you gonna eat? Haha,
I decided to be nice and
not post the one with
icing all over your face!


Woo-Hoo!
We're Fighter Pilots!
I didn't realize that if
you pull on the button
the whole thing will
move. Found that
out at the end... :P




Ok, that's enough commentary. Bah, I can't think of anything else to say about the pictures so let them speak for themselves!