My Kid is Funny

A couple weeks ago, we went to Kansas City to visit my in-laws. Saturday was my sister-in-law's birthday, so we all went out to a Japanese steak house for dinner. This is one of those places where they cook your food in front of you and put on a little show. Lil' Kay had never been before and was totally in awe. Watching the chef, he pipes up, "Are there any chocolate chip cookies coming up?"

As the cook was making the eggs for the fried rice, he whispered to me, "I think I'll just have scrambled eggs." I swear, that kid makes me laugh almost everyday!

On Sunday, we headed up to Legends to visit the T-Rex Cafe. On the way he explained to me that sometimes, when you birthday is over and you've had your party, you get to have a "sequel birthday". A sequel birthday? As in Lil' Kay's Birthday II? Seriously. Where does this kid get this stuff?

Conquering a childhood monster

For Christmas 1985, I received a Sears Lockstitch child's sewing machine. I was so excited, because my Aunt Fern had her own sewing business, and my sister and I would sometimes go to her shop after school and go through her box of fabric scraps. I really, really wanted to learn how to sew, and now I owned a real life sewing machine of my very own. I couldn't wait to get started sewing clothes for my Barbies and dolls, making my own dress-up clothes and maybe even real clothes.

Well, guess what. I never could get that silly machine to work right. I would take off stitching and the little monster would create a mess of loops and tangles on the back of my fabric! Shortly after I got it, that machine went back in its box and stayed there. We moved and that box sat in my closet at the new house and stared back at me mockingly everytime I opened the door. I was convinced that the machine was a piece of junk or I was never destined to be much of a seamstress. I didn't learn to sew until I was in the seventh grade and got to take a home ec class. Turns out, I was pretty good at this sewing thing. The Sears Lockstitch stayed in my closet in the box.

Several months ago, my mom sent the little monster home with me so it could now live in my adult house. I couldn't believe we had never gotten rid of it, but I know I kept it because I felt guilty selling a gift that my parents had given me, thinking I would love it. Plus, I felt guilty selling anyone a piece of crap sewing machine that never worked right. I didn't want to frustrate some other little girl! We were getting ready for a garage sale about a month ago, and the Lockstitch box came out of my cupboard. I left it sitting on the floor for about a month, thinking I would eventually open it and see what kind of condition it was in.

So, this weekend I opened the box and pulled the little monster out. If I could not figure this machine out as an adult, then it really was a piece of junk. I loaded it up with 4 D batteries, read the instructions carefully, managed to get a bobbin wound and set it up next to my big adult Singer. Guess what. A beautiful, perfect straight running stitch with no weird loops and missed stitches. I was thrilled! Even though I never played with it much as a kid, the Sears Lockstitch is staying with me. Granted, I'm probably not going to use it much, but at least I can use it as a fun little, retro display piece, without it bringing back sour childhood memories. The monster is conquered, and now I can enjoy its pink, plastic cuteness.

Seriously. It's cute, right? I love the pink plastic cover that it came with. I had to laugh, because it really is in collector's condition! I only used it a few times before I became totally fed up with it. The box still had the original instructions, three bobbins, a spare bobbin cartridge and two spare needles - all original! Not to mention samples of the stitching that drove my 9 year old inner seamstress to tears! But, we've made up and are friends now.

Long Time, No Blog!

I have been totally missing from the blogosphere lately! I haven't been blogging or even reading blogs. Chalk it up to being busy at work, feeling a bit down, tired, whatever! Anyway, I'm back!

But, I have been meaning to blog about Lil' Kay's birthday party! He turned 5 at the beginning of May. He wanted a dinosaur bowling party. The party was lots of fun, although he and his friend Laney didn't bowl nearly as much as we adults did! They were more interested in running back to the party room to check out the cake. And what a cake it was! My parents live half a block away from the absolutely best cakemaker in the whole world! She's been making cakes for us for years. She made my wedding cake and my sister's and my brother's. She made a welcome home cake for my brother when he returned from Iraq. (It had tanks and "sand" on it!!)

I called her up and asked her for a dinosaur cake. She asked if I wanted one shaped like a dinosaur. I told her it didn't matter. Whatever she came up with would be great. When my mom walked into the bowling alley carrying this cake, I was blown away! It has a freakin' volcano on it! And palm trees!! Everything was edible except the plastic dinosaur figures. The trees were made out of giant pretzel sticks and frosting. The volcano was cake and lots of frosting. So, so cool! Lil' Kay couldn't stop looking at it! He didn't end up eating much of the cake, but he loved those palm trees!

So, there's a quick update from my corner of the world. I've got more silly 5 year old stories coming! That kid says the funniest things! (And, guess what! I sewed something!!)

New Friends

This evening, after work, we were all out in the yard working various projects. Mr. Kay was mowing the lawn, and I was adding some English ivy to my topiary pots. Lil' Kay was hunting toads.

I love having toads in my yard. When I was a kid, we used to catch them and try to keep them as pets. That never really worked out, because they always escaped from their shoebox condos. I still get a kick out of finding the little creatures, plus they eat bugs, so they're great to have around!

These two are our newest friends. The top one is Sally. I am totally enamored with her, because of her talent in camouflage. Look how well she blends with that tree trunk. She's quite confident in her ability to be undetectable. She would hardly move unless it looked like we actually intended to touch her. Quite serene, this little toad.

Sam, on the other hand, was a bit more jumpy. (Get it? Jumpy? insert groan) His nerves were probably due to the fact that he had just been chased from his hidey hole by a roaring lawnmower. He hung out in our flower bed for a bit, but hopped away as soon as no one was looking. I had a hard time getting a picture of his face. He kept turning around everytime I got close to him with the camera!

Aren't they cute? I'm just totally amazed that two totally different looking toads are living in the same yard. You'd think you'd just get the same kinds of toads.

Anyone ever had one of those little toad house things? Do they really use them? If so, I might need one!

I did it!

I did it! I took the plunge last night and cut my hair short! I also added a bit of color. My new haircolor is caramel-walnut-brandy. Doesn't that sound yummy? I'm actually really pleased with how it turned out. I have a long standing fear of short hair that goes way back to the fourth grade. When I called my sister and told her that I was going short, she was a bit nervous. My hair is quite fine and very, very straight. No matter what you do to it, it will be flat. Fortunately, this style is just that. straight and flat. She was quite happy with the results, too.

I let her wax my eyebrows, too. I kind of think she takes a bit of pleasure in causing her big sis that kind of pain. I always wait too long between waxings, so it's kind of a big job. They always look soooo much better when it's over, though!

So, now that I have this fabulous new hairdo, I'm thinking I deserve new glasses, too. I'd love to go back to my contacts, but they cause me too much grief. My eyes are just too dry to tolerate them for very long. So, maybe some sexy new specs are in order. Heck, I'm due for a pair courtesy of our insurance company!

So, the big plan or the weekend is Lil' Kay's 5th birthday party! He actually turns 5 today, but we're celebrating with a dinosaur bowling party on Saturday. This morning, he didn't want to wake up, even though Daddy was singing "Happy Birthday" quite loudly. Finally, Dad said, "I can't believe you don't want to open your present!" Lil' Kay stumbled out of bed, all bleary-eyed and said, "Gotta open presents," in a very zombie-like manner. We're going to Applebee's for supper tonight, so they can sing and bring him free dessert.

Big step

Last night I was reading through my copy of the May issue of Real Simple, and found this adorable haircut. Now, I haven't had my hair any shorter than the bottom of my ears since I was in the fourth grade. I'm a little nervous, but I think I can pull this off. Besides, I'm 31 and married. Who am I trying to impress? It's only hair. It will grow back. I'll just keep repeating that to myself as my sister begins cutting this evening. By the way, my sister is a licensed cosmotologist who owns her own salon, so she does know what she's doing. I'm also going to do an all-over color to darken my hair just a bit and give it some oomph.

I'm really excited, but I'm also afraid I might cry. My sister says she won't do it if I'm going to cry. (Having your younger sister as your stylist is great, except that she tends to yell at me and doesn't care if she pulls my hair! I'm kidding. Sort of.) I'll try to take some before and after pictures and let you know how it goes!

Busy, busy!

I admit that I have been totally MIA in the blogosphere lately! That's because I have been busy, busy, busy. Look at what we did to our house! Don't the topiaries look amazing! I think they are my Mother's Day present. I'm really excited, because after living in our church/house for over 9 years, it's starting to look like a house!

This weekend is the biggest, hugest, most ginormous garage sale in the universe. We've been working very hard to get rid of all the stuff that we don't really need or use. We've gone through our house, our basement and our storage unit. Every few days, we take another load of stuff to my parents' house for the sale. The other night I walked into their garage and took a look at the wall of boxes that is our stuff. Oh my gosh. I cannot believe how much stuff we have collected over the almost 10 years we've been married. The scariest part about looking at that wall was knowing that my sister hasn't even brought over her stuff for the garage sale. I don't know how we are going to get it all put out on Saturday morning OR where we will put it all. I hope the weather is nice tomorrow!