Friday, February 26, 2010

Cutest feet in the world

I've watched them grow since she was a minute old and I just can't get over how cute her toesies still are.

I think...

...all cleaners should be lemon scented. =)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Shirt Makeover

I used this tutorial from Make It and Love It to make Kristie a dress! I inherited this shirt from my sis in-law and it doesn't quite fit - it's so cute that I couldn't just leave it hanging!
I used one of Kristie's dresses to gauge the size - kinda funny to see how small a Kristie dress is compared to my shirt!
Finished product! I had to do a LOT of adjusting after this to make it fit better. =)
I made little rosettes to liven it up a little bit. I used this tutorial from Made by the Mama Monster. Cute!
I think she looks rather cute in it!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

It was a perfect day to fly a kite

We lucked out! Another spring-like day! And Dev & Les didn't have to work - so we booked it and spent the day at Edmonds beach. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. My favorite part of it was the fishing pier we walked out on. It's just so picturesque and breathtaking. Seriously, never appreciated the scenery around us so much as now and I love it. One of the many blessings in my life.




















Sinfully soft sugar cookies

Had to share! I made these on Sunday - they are just the most delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cookies you'll ever taste. This is my favorite baked good on the planet. =) Enjoy!

SOFT SUGAR COOKIES

8 ounces (1 cup) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup confectioners, sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup colored sugar or sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or spraying with vegetable shortening.
3. Using a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and confectioners' sugar and continue beating until nice and fluffy. Scrape bowl. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
4. On low-medium speed, mix in canola oil. Scrape bowl again. Add baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and blend well.
5. With mixer on low speed, add flour 1 cup at a time. Beat well, and scrape sides of bowl making sure to get down to the very bottom.
6. Is the kitchen hot and humid? Chill the dough for 30 minutes before scooping and baking.
7. Roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheets, leaving room for the cookies to spread.
*8. Bake at 325 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until the outside of cookies feel slightly firm to the touch.
9. Remove and cool on racks before storing in airtight containers.
Makes 50-60 delicious Soft Sugar Cookies!

*Took 14 minutes baking time for me. =)

You can use any type of frosting you'd like, but here's the one I used, from one of my cookbooks:

BASIC BUTTER FROSTING

1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/3 cup light (10%) cream or evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large mixer bowl, cream butter and half of confectioner's sugar until light and creamy. Add cream and vanilla. Gradually add remaining confectioner's sugar, beating until smooth. Add a little more cream if frosting is too stiff, or a little more confectioner's sugar if too thin, to make a soft spreading consistency.

*Now, I had to do some adjusting with this. It was WAY thin! So I ended up adding about 4 more cups of confectioner's sugar...crazy! With that, it lost some of the butter flavor, so I added a little bit more cream and a cap full of butter flavoring. In the end I got the perfect consistency and perfect flavor!


Saturday night hot dogs

Saturday night Dad invited us to go to the Mukilteo beach to roast hot dogs for dinner and watch the sunset. It was another BEE-YOU-TI-FUL day so we soaked it up. Dad cooked some amazing hot dogs and we laughed at Jason and Devin trying to get the kites to fly with the lack of wind. Then we saw the sun set behind the islands and just thought how lucky we are to live here. (Leslie took all these pictures - thanks!)









Sunday, February 21, 2010

Another side of Seattle

Friday, Kristie and I met up with Jason in Seattle so we could do some walking around the sculpture park right next to where he works. It was a super gorgeous sunny day and we had so much fun! We walked around the park next to the water, walked through his office and saw his cubicle (!!!), walked on Pier 70 and then went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. I just can't get enough of how beautiful it is where we live. It was SUCH a great night!

This is the building where Jason works. Awesome!!
Another view of his building. The water is on the other side of the train tracks....wow!

Pier 70
Kristie, just completely in awe of the water...





Teaching Kristie how to throw a rock. =)

Weee! Good throw Kristie!

She was so excited to run up and down this hill...it was hilarious.



Mac and cheese for her at the Spaghetti Factory...yum!