Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Monday, October 26, 2009

Pumpkin Carving

Yesterday we carved our pumpkins. Teagan held up for a while, but then soon faded and was put down for a nap. It was strange that when I opened my pumpkin up that inside mold had gotten to it. However, there was no holes in it, so I made James clean it out. Once it was cleaned out I continued to carve it. We had gotten a small pumpkin for Teagan, and debated on whether or not to carve it or not. We decided why not, and James went a head and did it. Today James roasted his pumpkins seeds, they smell and taste good!

Teagan with is pumpkin.

He likes it!

Of course, like everything else, straight into the mouth.

Oh nice one.

Ohhh, what is this goop?

James' headless horseman!

My little scary creature guy.

We did a test light on our pumpkin in the kitchen. Teagan's is the little ghost.

Kiely is guarding our pumpkins.
Or should I say, "which one thing does not belong here?"

Displayed on the doorstep.

Close-up.

My friend, Kelli, told me about this trick. You put cinnamon on the inside of the top/lid so that when you burn the candle it smells like cinnamon. Good idea huh!

We made our tops/lids in the shapes of pumpkins.

Lit up!

Really dark and lit up!
(I know it is blurry)


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Pumpkin Patch

Sunday we were invited to go to the Pumpkin Patch out on Sauvie Island, outside Portland, to Hannelie's 2nd birthday party. We were joined by the Popkin gang, my Aunt Jane (Auntie Gram), my cousin Mark, and my dad and Sheryl (Grandma Tapir). After lunch we went exploring, and had a great time. The weather was perfect, we didn't get drenched, it was actually pretty nice out.

It was neat to see my dad and Aunt Jane (brother and sister) with their grandchildren, Teagan and Hannelie.


My dad's friend, Steve's wife, Hilary, made this hat for Teagan. Fitting isn't it!

Sheryl gave this "soft play" squishy plastic panda to Hannelie for her birthday, but Teagan was also interested in it.

Teagan with Grandpa Lee.

Teagan and Daddy at the Pumpkin Patch!

James mostly packed Teagan in our back-pack pack, which Teagan enjoyed. He was up high and could see what was going on.

Lots of things to look at!

My little pumpkin!
(both of them)

Oh what do they see?

A llama!

What are those orange things, Daddy?

James and Teagan in the little pumpkin patch.

Field of Screams!

It was very beautiful there.

Fall colors.
Mommy and Teagan picking out a big pumpkin.

Such a cute smile on Teagan, you can see how much he loves this!

Look at that tongue!

Family hay ride!

Daddy, is this my pumpkin?

It is! It's just my size!

Teagan on my knee with his first pumpkin.


Friday, October 16, 2009

Best Buddy

Kirk and I have been best friends since Middle School, and we happen to share birthdays, or at least almost. His birthday is October 9th and mine is the 10th, so since middle school every year I get so excited around August knowing that our day is close. He just loves it that I will call him to give him a count down on how many days 'til the big day, in case he forgets! It has been great having him as a friend, I know we appreciate each other, or at least I tend to think so :)
Love Ya!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Glass Blowing Birthday!

My birthday was on Saturday, the 10th, and James asked me what I wanted to do. We had always seen a guy at festivals and markets that has a glass blowing business right on the outskirts of Astoria, and it just so happen that a few weeks ago we saw a laddie at our local Sunday Market advertising and selling blown glass. We got the information and I told James that is what I wanted to do. So he set it up and on Friday we went out there for a little over 2 hours, while my friend Kelli, watched Teagan. Ya, date night, no baby! We had a great time, and are thinking about going back there for James' birthday, in November, to better master our skills, make glass balls, and eventually make mugs. This was a lot harder then you think. it is a many step process, and we didn't actually "blow" any glass. We made 8 egg shape paper weights, 4 each.


Clyde and Chris own Fernhill Glass.

Chris was a great instructor, who was very patient with us.

This is the small studio that we worked in.

Safety First!
(I think this is such a funny picture of James!)

This is James with the rod with glass gathered at the end. You can see a small orange ball at the end of the rod.

From the picture above we would take the glass and stick it into that orange hole to melt the gathered glass, while tuning the rod, always tuning! you have to always be turning the rod so that you don't loose your shape.
Then we would bring it to this table to shape the glass and cool it.

We would do that many times, heat and shape. We would also add color to this process and then melt in the color.

From that station above, we would come sit down, while turning the rod, to twist the glass.

Here Chris is assisting James while he takes these huge tweezers and twists the glass.


Close up of the twisting.

After the twisting, Chris would gather more glass to go over it. Then we would have to shape it with wet newspaper into a nice smooth shape.

Once you have shaped it, we would take these Jacks and start our line for the bottom of our egg.

The last station is to bring our egg over to Chris so that she can knock it off the rod.

My turn!
This is the first station. It is soooo hot that you have to wear sunglasses for protection. It was challenging to have to gather the glass, you wouldn't really know if you had any on the end of the rod 'til you brought it out. Then figuring out the right amount, too much or not enough to get you started.

Next.

Shaping and cooling.

The orange show you how hot the glass is!

It was hard to multitask, with remembering to constantly be turning the rod, using the jacks with just the right amount of pressure and not burning yourself!

Posed picture, but remembering to still be turning the rod.

Time for Chris to knock off my egg.

The next day we had to go back out there to sand the bottom of our eggs and to engrave them. Here are our eggs!

You can click on the pictures to see them closer up!


We had a great time out there, and we are happy with how they turned out!
Thanks babe!