Lizard Turns Ten

Where does the time go? Ten years old. It's hard to believe.

My sister made a candy bar card for her husband for Father's Day and Lizard liked it so much I thought I would make one for her. I remember getting one when I was younger as a thank you for babysitting and loved it.

We went to the zoo (it was Saturday so hubby came too!) for the first half of her birthday. The weather was awesome and the animals were making all kinds of noise.

 The Chief liked being with his dad.

Inside the butterfly house Little Bird isn't so sure it's safe.

 

Little Bird stays true to her nickname and is a huge fan of birds. This little one in the insect portion of the butterfly house was tame enough to allow a quick touch. She ended up tapping it three times before it flew into a tree. She gets her quick reflexes from trying to attack her brother before we can stop her.

Hubby told us to do "party face"... I don't think Lizard is familiar with the term "party face."

Little Bird gave a hug to almost every stuffed animal in the gift shop. It was really cute.

Little Bird hugged all the animals, but it was Lizard who went home with one. She ended up picking out a plush octopus that she added to guard her presents. Little Bird kept wanting to "help" open them.

The card above is from us. I told her that she is "T-Rexeriffic", because she is...I totally came up with that on my own...I know, I know, how does Hallmark survive without me.

 She got a cool watch, a drawing book, and a sketchpad. She LOVES to draw.

 Recently Lizard has gotten into Pokemon cards. I guess it's popular at school and after getting a Pokemon book from the book fair she decided she wanted cards too.

We asked our friend Dai in Japan if he was able to get any cards and he sent her 12 packs of five. Lucky girl!!! The cards are neat and I have been translating them for Lizard. Thanks Dai!

Lizard always requests a strawberry cake for her birthday and over the years I've tried a lot of recipes and haven't been satisfied that I found the best one. They either don't taste like strawberries or the texture is off. This year I was determined to find a recipe that would end my searching and I finally found it.

http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/08/27/strawberry-cheesecake-cake/ 

(If you go to this link I used the cake recipe that she suggested you try instead.)

 It's two layers of strawberry cake (it doesn't look pink because I didn't add food coloring) with a layer of cheesecake in between. The frosting is a strawberry cream cheese butter cream. To get the puree for this cake I cooked down two pounds of strawberries to 3/4 of a cup (it's 1/2 cup in the cake recipe, but I needed an additional1/4 for the frosting). We have a winner. Lizard loved this cake.

Ice Cream - A Love Story

I have said it before and I'll say it again...I love ice cream. It is one of the most delicious foodstuffs on the planet, and it's fun to make. It is for this reason that my one ice cream maker and bowl were not cutting it. While looking into purchasing an additional bowl (you know...two flavors are better than one) I found that for two dollars more I could get a reconditioned machine AND bowl. Sold! This is what making two flavors of ice cream looks like.

It to two sauce pans, one for chocolate and one for vanilla malt. The chocolate flavor above is taking an ice bath.

Two machines churning yummy goodness.

The chocolate ice cream had Oreos (actually they're Jo Jo's, same thing) and the vanilla malt got the edible cookie dough bites. 

Finished product with homemade caramel sauce, whipped cream and a cherry on top.

As a disclaimer I think those cherries on top are not so delicious, but hubby likes them and it makes the sundae look pretty.

The Latest Projects

Here are some of the things that I've been working on. I still need to take pictures of another skirt I made and some dolls (that won't be for a while because they are gifts and we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise).

At the end of the year Lizard gave a present to a girl she had become friends with and we find out that same day that she's invited to her birthday party two weeks later. Because she had already given her a present I asked her if she would like me to make her friend something she could give her...I think it actually started out with "do you want to make her something" and then I kind of accidentally made it. That's why I sign Lizard up for sewing classes, so I can't butt in. Anyways, the girl's name starts with A so I made a giant A with a mustache because she likes mustaches. Lizard did pick out the fabric.

Here are some ties I made for The Chief. I made two of the argyle ties so that he could be twins with one of his cousins who is just two months older than him.

 The polka dot tie matches his sister's skirts.

I saw a photo of this whale on Pinterest and thought I could make it. It's made out of a pair of jeans. Lizard stole it so now I need to make one for myself. I really do like whales.

This fabric was on clearance at WalMart making the grand total of this skirt $6 (the zipper came off a sleeveless dress that I turned into a skirt years ago but saved the zipper). Here is the tutorial I used:

High Waist Skirt

I had something like this in mind when I bought the fabric, so I was so excited that someone took the time to show me how to do it. The internet is so amazing. It's like having classes in your own home.