Hair

It's been more than a month... I'm slacking... the rain's been keeping me down.
Anyway...I discovered something...
I am OBSESSED with my Allie's hair!

why?! because she barely has any!

When Andrew was born hair was not a big deal because, first of all, he's a boy, and 2nd, he had a TON of hair. Allie on the other hand was born with less hair. I figured she'd grow more in time... but sadly, almost 2 years later... same amount of hair on her big head :)

I think this is the reason why I got a little carried away with the crocheted hats. btw, I finally got around to making a hat for my boy...



After I made Allie 5 hats... which she uses when she plays dress up.... which is not very often.

My latest obsession... headbands and hair clips!

see...

When Allie was only a few months old I got sooo excited about the whole girls and pretty little clips and headbands that I actually got her an $8 clip (Yes! ONE little clip) Sad to say, it hasn't seen a whole lot of action. So now that she has a bit more hair, I decided to MAKE clips and headbands for her, which is actually a good thing because 1. the overhead is low ...a little felt, a little thread, a lot of squinting and pricking my finger ( good thing I got that tetanus shot last month). 2. the way she misplaces them... I can't really afford $4-$8 clips all the time! 3. I can make clips and headbands that match her outfits. 4. Did I mention the eco friendly felt (made out of plastic bottles! Of all things!).

Now.... if I can only make it stay on her head...

Valentines Day

I have to be honest..... I don't like V-day.... I didn't like it when I was single, GOSH, there is just nothing worse than being single on V-day- I KNOW it all too well- (a holiday that exclude certain people is just not a holiday for me)... I didn't like it when dear hubby and I first met.... 12 years down the road and I still don't like V-day. I am the Scrooge of Valentines Day... BAH HUMBUG! Am I being too harsh, cranky and grumpy about this holiday? hmm...Nothing personal with St. Valentine I just think that if you love someone you show that someone that you love them EVERY SINGLE DAY.... not just one day out of the year! (btw, dear husband of mine... that doesn't get you out of taking me out! :) )

Until this past year I had no use for V-day.... now that Andrew is in school.... well, I can't say I now LOVE v-day... but it's tolerable. Thanks to my love of crafting. It kept me and my kiddies busy making v-day cards and crafts for Andrew's friends at school. Not to mention my very cute cupcake toppers :).

Anyway, I can't say I love v-day but I love my two babies, so we will celebrate this holiday. If only to teach them that this day is not necessary when you show and tell people you love that you love them everyday.

Here are my kiddies eating their v-day cupcakes...

(Allie can eat 3 of these bad boys in one sitting!)

And with that.... Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Hats 2

I think I'm on the going over board category with the crocheted hats. I'm just so excited that I can actually MAKE hats! Of course, Allie is the only one who benefits from this new obsession of mine. I have yet to make a blue colored one for Andrew.

Anyway, here are more hats for my big headed little sweetheart.

This one is actually for my sister... see what i mean by big headed(and I say that with LOVE) :) ... fits her perfectly, don't you think?! (with the matching scarf).

This one, for some reason, was a little big on her... I actually used a pattern that was supposed to be for little kiddies...

go figure, the patterns that are supposed to be for grown ups are fitting her better. Just like this...

This beret was suppose to fit ME, not my 1 year old daughter. Not that I was expecting the hat to actually fit me (where do you think my daughter inherited her big head from?) But you know... somewhere in the vicinity of my head circumference. Must be my crocheting technique, I don't really know. And of course, my dear little girl hates ANYTHING on her head. I'd love to try and make more hats but with my track record, what can I do with too big kiddie hats and too small adult sized hats?

Allie's Hat

I am by no means Martha Stewart but I have to admit that I love doing crafts. Whether it's scrapbooking, sewing, crocheting... I love the idea of making handmade stuff. Scrapbooking is fairly new to me (maybe about 5-6 years). Sewing and crocheting on the other hand I've known since grade school (looooong time ago, in the Philippines.... they taught us how to crochet and sew at school). Anyway, I'm not good with both.... I learned to sew by hand.... yeah, that's too time consuming and the machine.... well, that's another story. Crocheting is a different story, well... actually, not too different... I'm not very good with that either. I do know how to make a baby blanket and scarf. That's it! Until I saw my sister's crocheted hat (made by my sister-in-law's sister). I got inspired! I figured it was time to learn something different to crochet. I got myself a "learn how to crochet" book and went to town!



This is my first ever crocheted hat!

Tah Dah!



modeled by my beautiful little girl.

Fits her perfectly don't you think?!

The pattern I was following was supposed to fit ME. I knew something was wrong when it started to look like a yamaca (sp?). I must have missed something... oh, well. I thought the flower was a nice touch .
It looks so cute on her I want her to wear it all the time.

Unfortunately for me, this is what she thinks about the hat...

Christmas!

Okay, better late than never but..... Christmas was AWESOME!

Okay, these are pretty much random pics from our Christmas vacation in texas. I actually wish I have better pics, but you know how it is when you're having fun, you forget to take pictures.

top 5 Reasons why christmas was AWESOME: (they are in no way rated, just all awesome reasons!)

*I can put more than 5 but then this will be a very, very loooong blog.

1. We finally got to meet my OH SO EVER CUTE nephew, Gabe! I have to admit, before, I often wondered how my siblings can love my kiddies so much... I get it now.

2. ALL that darn food! Need I say more? From Christmas eve until 2 days AFTER Christmas... all we did was EAT! EAT! EAT! And I don't mean leftovers... I mean.... crawfish, ham, ribs, eggrolls, crawfish, Toshio's (our favorite japanese food place), homemade crabrangoon, shrimp, did I mention crawfish yet? (my Aunt from Houston brought a whole sack... I was in heaven!). Even Allie got in on the eating action Christmas day... all day long all she did was EAT!

3. Family time! I just love my family! I missed them soooooo much!

4. Christmas pic of the kiddies (Andrew, Allie and baby Gabe)... Need I say more? This is the most hilarious pic I've ever seen... you just can't stage this! The cookies she was eating were supposed to help her calm down...

4. Night out with my sisters.... Just us... Ana, Isa, Pam and JACOB! Wooohooo! I saw the movie "twilight" on dvd and WE just had to see "New Moon"... Now, don't judge, I know perfectly well that I am too old for this... I just can't help myself! :) Besides, I wasn't the one who kept on watching "New Moon".... 3 times! (we'll just keep that our little secret) :)

*BTW, I am currently reading "Eclipse" and looks like more of Jacob. Shirtless.

5. My Best friend having her baby! Welcome, Vincent! Congratulations Hoai and Neal, you guys are going to be great parents!

4th Birthday!

My little boy's 4th Birthday came and went without a post :( (Bad Mama)

Between Thanksgiving, planning his party and packing up for Texas for the holidays... can you blame me?! Anyway, I guess it's no excuse.

so here it is.... Andrew's 4th Birthday!!!

We started the day off with a donut breakfast (with red, white and green sprinkles)... not the best way to start off the day but our last donut day was September (or was it August?).

And off to school he went... where he got his birthday crown for the day

after school, he got his birthday gift from Grandpa and Grandma... with Allie in tow...


ANDREW'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Theme: Backyardigans

Andrew's special guest.... straight from Texas... NINANG ISA!

Friends...

Pinata Time!

I like the pull string ones.... less aggressive.. although I have to say, Pablo (the Penguin) looks like he's pooping candy :) (and Richard's looking up his butt :) )
*As for the apron.... because i know someone (and by that "someone" I mean you Carlo!) will say something about it.... I was frying eggrolls and completely forgot i was wearing it.

Kiddies got to decorate their own hats! I think they liked that! And I liked it because it kept them busy and not stampeding throughout the house.

Cake Time!

cake flavor: White chocolate mousse with fresh strawberries (yum!)

Awesome huh?! (ha!ha! j/k)

It wasn't how i imagined the cake to look like in the beginning but I had to work with the time I had. The characters were made out of chocolate candy melts. I worked on these daaaaaayysss before the party. I ended up making 3 Pablos (the penguin) and 2 Tyrones (the moose)and had to choose the best ones. There are 5 characters in the Backyardigans but let's be realistic... I have 2 kids... enough said.

As for the cupcakes... from the box. As much as I like making things from scratch.... I am not a masochist. So, I used the box and tub icing... no shame admitting I need help sometimes :) I did make the cupcake toppers and I think they turned out great! I've been on a cupcake topper making kick lately and I just love them. Unfortunately, I don't get to make cupcakes very often.

Here's the birthday boy blowing his candle.

And the Birthday boy's sister enjoying her cupcake.

Happy Birthday my dear little Andrew!

My dear little Angel.

You are growing up so fast...

there are days when I can barely remember

how small you were when you came into our lives,

and yet,

there are days when I remember every detail of that 1st day,

four years ago.

you are growing into a big boy,

everyday with you is a blessing.

I wake up in the morning thinking "how will you be today?"

Some days are more challenging than others

but i wouldn't change the way you are for anything in this world.

You'll always be my little boy and I love you very much.

love, Mama

PS.

See what I mean about the cupcake toppers?!