Birthdays, and Lego, and Crafts, Oh My!

I was going to post this on my cooking blog, but it's not really cooking; while I've posted crafting things there before, I thought I ought to give you guys an update on how we're doing anyway, so I'll just kill two birds with one stone, and post here. (The best part about that extraordinarily long sentence? Completely grammatically correct.)

So, last you heard we got a cat. We still have her, and she's doing pretty well. She's cuddled her way onto the bed, and still loves a good belly-rub. She 'meows' when we come home and falls onto her back, belly-up. We call this "assuming the position." It translates to "Pet me!"

Purrrrr

We've also since celebrated Jake's 9th 29th birthday! We had a party (it's been 10 years since he last celebrated his birthday with his family). There was a four-hour (yes 4-hour) Lego spaceship-building contest, followed by pizza and pie (with ice cream of course). But was the birthday celebration over yet?! I think not! We spent the next night over at the Jenkins' where there was more pie, and cake, too! Allison and Jake had the experience of sharing their birthday for the first time ever!

Little Miss Tess playing with Lego! (She is a Contor.)

To say "We have a lot of Lego" would be an understatement.

"Happy Birthday, Dear Jake..."

Okay, I know this picture doesn't really have to do with birthdays because Abi wasn't celebrating a birthday, but look at this kid. How could I not put this picture? And, technically, we were at the Jenkins' house for Jake and Allison's birthday when this picture was taken. :)

Abi helping Jake open one of his birthday presents.

"Happy Birthday, Dear Jake and Allison..."

So there are the birthdays and the Lego. Here are the crafts. I made all of these. The first one was inspired by Cherie, who you can find here. The next one was inspired by one of my favorite movies of all time, which I blogged about here. The last one is something I made at a craft-day with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Supply wise, I bought the burlap things (it's just some burlap stapled to a wooden frame) at Walmart ($4 for 2); I also bought the black embroidery floss at Walmart ($0.30). I just drew out a sketch of what I wanted to make on a piece of paper and did it. It took me ages to get my crow just right, but I think he's a pretty cute little dude now. The last project involved a glue gun, some giant googly eyes, gauze, a Q-tip, a brown stamp pad, white paint, a foam brush, and a little wooden block (and a bit of sandpaper to smooth out some rough edges on that block). All of this was provided by the craft-day people, so I have no idea how much it would cost, but, from experience, I can tell you a bit of wood, paint, and some googly eyes don't cost much. If you want more details on how to make anything, just let me know. This is more to show off than instruct. The showing off bit basically consists of "I finally have Halloween decorations, and I MADE THEM!" and we're done with that. :)