FUN WITH LETTERS

Evie and I sat down to play with her alphabet blocks earlier tonight. After she informed me multiple times that "E" is for Evie ... and for Elmo...  and for Elephant, we decided to spell out Abbott's name just to throw some variety in our all-about-the-E-spelling bee.

This was too good of a photo opportunity to pass up, and luckily the little man was in a happy and very giggly mood... so here are the results!

Not to be outdone by the 3-month old,  his big sister requested her own photo shoot.... but in typical 2-year old fashion, she wouldn't stop talking, wiggling, being distracted, or making faces.  

So, these pictures capture her personality perfectly!!

"It's MY name, Momma!"

"Smile, Evie!"
"No."
"Please? Pretty please?"

"Oh, okay!"

"See momma? It's MY name!"

FUTURE JAVELIN THROWER?

Or maybe a long jumper? Or triple jumper? Heptathlon?

Either way, our little lady is willing to run down a runway.

Especially a runway made out of pink bubble wrap.

Pretty good form on the run-up so far...

Ahhh... Nope, she lost concentration and looked down at her feet.
Your eyes should be looking out towards the sector, little lady.

Going back for another round.

Really fast run-up this time...
here comes the speed demon!

Good form!
But don't look at Dadda!
(well, unless you plan on throwing the javelin at him.)

Dude, I gotta call my agent about this chick.

WHY I WEIGH 500 LBS....

Because it's "Happy Valentine's Day!"

And I'm not 500 lbs. Not yet, at least. If I keep eating this way, I will be soon.

I went on a baking binge last night. "E-bie's Momma" signed up to bring cupcakes to Evie's Valentine's Day party at school.

Which meant I went overboard and made 24 red velvet and cream cheese icing cupcakes, PLUS an entire red velvet and cream cheese cake to bring into my office, AND 24 cupcake-sized rice krispie treats. Because... well, just because.

To say we have had a sugar high in our house in an understatement.

Oh, yeah. And with Dove chocolates.
Because all that sugar needed more sugar on top.

I'm very happy Valentine's Day only comes once a year.
But who are we kidding? I'd have one of these every day if possible.

The tower of confections.

Not the most polished icing writing I've ever done,
but I was playing with some new Wilson icing
tips to see what would happen.
I didn't hear my coworkers complain when I brought it in!

These were Evie's Valentine's to her classmates and family. 
Yup, the idea was copied straight off of Pinterest. It was too good not to!!
The Valentine we actually gave to her classmates is in the upper right hand corner. The other pictures were just options that I thought were too good not to print, using captions that fit our little lady's personality.  

Miss Priss on Valentine's Day morning.

Wearing her momma's pink bathrobe...
because, well just because she wanted to.

I'm off to crack open a bottle of the bubbly with the hubby...
because, well just because I want to. 

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!!!

ABBOTT'S CHEST

Ahoy, matey!

I found a great bargain at Michael's craft store. A toy chest that typically retails for $50 was on the "As Is" rack for just $12.  The top had been broken off and it had a few problems, but nothing that a few screws and a drill couldn't fix!

All fixed up and working properly.

I took some graphite paper and traced a monogram
on each end with a black permanent marker. 
I thought it would look like I used a wood burning/etching tool.
A tool that I don't have and didn't want to buy.

I got some wood stain in Antique Walnut...
The new wood color is fine, but let's face it...
new wood doesn't exactly scream "old treasure chest."
It just screams "somebody put me together last week!"

I tested the color out on the inside first. I like it.
If you don't like it, well you can
just go walk the plank, you scurvy mongrel.

Yes! You can still see the monogram.

Instead of painting it a bright kid's color, I thought this could pass
for both a playtime pirate chest and still work for him as he gets older.


He could even take it to college and use it to store all his:



a. research papers when he finds the cure for cancer

b. love notes from all his girlfriends

c. sports gear when he gets that athletic scholarship

d. job offers from Fortune 500 companies

(Hint: b is a false statement. Your choices are a, c, or d.)

I think he likes it.

Yup, that's a happy little pirate dance.

A really happy pirate dance.

Ya must be wonderin',  "Katie dear, why ye wastin' precious breath on syllables and letters what ne'er do ye no good? Me time's precious! Be so kind as to let me cast me eyes on more pictures of my future ship mate!"

(No, it's not Talk-Like-A-Pirate-Day. But it should be.)

So, here's a boatload of more Captain Abbott pictures:

He's a jolly little mate.

   



Argh!!!
(That's pirate speak for "hahaha")





All this laughing makes him need to go to the poop deck.

 


Yup, when the scurvy dog comes sniffin', it's time for a diaper change.




I found me a lass to change to me diaper!
The lass is wearin Mickey Mouse pajama pants
and not a stitch of make-up, but she'll do the job.



Now it's bedtime for all little pirates.

Going

Going....



GONE!
G'night mateys.



Full disclosure: I really only told you about making the treasure chest in order to have a reason to make a blog post with pirate talk. You're welcome.