Baby makin...shirts!

Handsome T's older sister, Meredith, is pregnant with twins.  Twins, as it turns out, runs rampant in his family.

Handsome Taylor (left) is an identical twin with Garrett (right...obviously): 

Their mom, Angela (left),  is an identical twin with her sister Cecilia (right):

Cecilia's grandsons are very handsome identical twin boys: 

Phew!  I'm pretty sure that it only passes through the women's family line...pretty sure.  So now Meredith is pregnant, and while her twins aren't identical (boy and girl), I can still make them fantastically cute twin stuff:
 

I wanted to make some one-sies, but I didn't really want to order them since it wouldn't be completely hand-made.  So, I decided to make them using this idea I got from a friends blog.  Using fabric paint, freezer paper, and some creativity, she made ridiculously cute Harry Potter shirts.  Here is my attempt at one-sies as well as directions in case you would like to try it as well!

Step 1:
Get your material together.  This is what you will need:

An iron

Freezer paper
Tulip fabric paint
Foam paint brushes

Xacto knife (and scissors)

The fabric of choice: deliciously cute one-sies

And the most important things to have while being creative...

Step 2: 

Freezer paper has a shiny side and a dull side.  If you are printing your image to the freezer paper, make sure you print it on the dull side (this goes for if you are drawing/tracing your image as well).  

Step 3:

Once you have your image on the freezer paper, carefully and slowly cut the image out using your xacto knife (or if you are really talented, a pair of scissors).  If you have images (or in my case, letters) that have parts to cut out inside them (i.e. O, P, A), make sure you save them!

Step 4:

Iron the piece of freezer paper you want (shiny side down) onto your article of clothing...several times.  Just to make sure it's sticking!  

Step 5:

Using your foam paint brush, paint your image (and make sure you stay inside the boundaries of your image!).  After the first coat of paint dries, you can add an additional coat so that the likelihood of your beautiful piece of artwork staying beautiful is doubled.  Also, to ensure that the paint doesn't go through the fabric, place a piece of wax-paper between the two layers.

 Step 6: 
This is the best step!  You can peel the freezer paper off of the clothing (after the paint has dried, of course).  For the wee little pieces, you can use tweezers if you can't grab them off with your fingers.

W is for Williams (Meredith's soon-to-be last name)

Ta-Da!!

My Grandma

Dear reader,

I apologize for the extremely long delay in writing.  A lot has happened in the past few weeks.  But in this particular blog, I would like pay tribute to my wonderful grandmother, who passed away last Thursday morning.

I won't go into any detail, but I just wanted to say how much I loved her, and how much she radiated her love to all around.  She never got the chance to retire, but instead, helped raise four of her grandkids, my cousins to be responsible and caring adults.

Thank you Grandma, for everything.  I love you more than you will ever know.

Saturday, in the park...

Bam and I went to the NC Agriculture Center this past Saturday.  Why, you ask?  Dogs, dogs, and more dogs.  I love doggies, possibly more than anything, and this was like dog heaven for me!  The Ag Center was hosting a dog agility show!  Big dogs, little dogs, fast dogs, slow dogs, any dogs!  So I took some pictures...and some videos... :)  Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

I spent Easter with my grandparents in Asheville.  The weather could not have been more perfect!  I went to church with my grandmother, and then went to grab a quick lunch at one of my favorite spots, GreenLife (similar to Whole Foods, Earth Fare, or Trader Joes).  It was delicious!  When we got home, I proceeded to plant my tomatoes and beans (yay!) and enjoyed the warm weather.  Bam, my grandmother, cooked us the most wonderful turkey I have ever yet to feast upon with homemade mashed potatoes, sesame green beans and orange cheesecake!  Stuffed beyond capacity, I was.  I didn't get pictures of the food--sorry, scarfed it down too fast!  Hope everyone else had a wonderful Easter!

My beautiful church 

Codilicious!!

My choco Easter bunny that Handsome Taylor's mom got for me...Tay left it in the sun on his ride over and, well, it deflated.  Chocolate is still yummy!

Garden progress

My beautiful garden has progressed so so so much!  No seeds just yet, though.  Sorry.  My wonderful grandfather tilled the land, which in the time elapsed since the last garden, has become a mini-jungle.

Last Friday, when the weather was perfect, I came out to my garden to do a little work.  There were still a lot of roots and debris left from the roto-till, so I raked those suckers right out!

My gardening partner, Codi, who was taking a break from all of the hard labor!

He came to check in on the work...and to get a carrot!

The fabulous fence complete with latching gate (for the deer) that my wonderful grandfather and Handsome Taylor built for my garden.

Note to self:

Dear Randi,

Next time you are thinking about traveling via car up to Virginia/Maryland, remember to follow these important guidelines:

• Pack lunch on I-95 if you desire anything besides fried food or pancakes

• Have 4 extra tires in car in event of a blowout due to excess pot holes

• DO NOT stop in Petersburg, VA for gas; if you do, do no leave pump unattended and bring safety weapon if you plan to exit vehicle

• Update GPS weekly: roads you thought existed are only a figment of your imagination or are dirt

• Do not live on DC/MD boarder 

• Remind other traveler (aka mom) to bring her own music
• Music that is agreed on: 
• Earth, Wind, and Fire
• Train
• John Denver
• Some 80's and 90's
• Music that is not agreed on:
• Anything 70's 
• Rap
• Country
• Steve Miller Band, Eric Claptan, Elton John, James Taylor or other "easy listening"

• Bring: candy, ranch sunflower seeds, chewing gum, and bag for trash

• Do not flick off every truck driver for driving in the passing lane even though they are not passing

These reminders will make for a fun and safe trip.

Ms. Frazier goes to Washington and Maryland

You might have wondered where I went this past week.  Well, I'll tell you.  And I'll give you some juicy details too!  I drove up to Northern Virginia with my mom and during the week, we visited many-a-places to see many-a-great-things.

You see, I am seeking a graduate position at the University of Maryland, but in order to be accepted into a graduate department, one must find a graduate professor.  This person will be your mentor, advisor, and best friend...sometimes only friend when you're wedged in a book for 4 years.

I've spent the past year looking for this person, and it's been a rough journey, especially since the budget for graduate programs has been cut and the number of graduates applying to school has increased tenfold!  Either way, I was able to visit several possible profs across the state of Maryland at various labs.  It was great!

We made some important stops along the way:

One of my first homes in Greensboro, NC

Meeting my godmother for the first time!  I didn't even know I had one!  She was the professional calligrapher for the Clinton administration!!!  Her office was beside Hillary's!!!  I knew I loved her!

Anne Arundel Hall at the University of Maryland, my grandmothers name and namesake.  Yes, she (and I) am in direct lineage to Anne Arundel!  

The Baltimore Aquarium.  If you haven't gone, you should go.  Period.

And of course one of my favorite places (I never go to DC without stopping by!): The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History!  I saw this little guy and it reminded my of my brother and some of the faces he makes so I had to snap a pic!

And they have this awesome program that allows you to take your picture and it transforms you into a homo "species"...in my case, Homo floresiensis.

Last, but not least, in the Entomology section, I got an up close and personal encounter with an Atlas beetle, one of the largest in the world...and yes, he was alive...and no, I was the the one holding him.  But I totally would've!

And in case you're still wondering about the graduate school, I'm waiting to hear back so I don't have any news quite yet!  But the trip was fantastic, even though we always had to leave early (from DC and Baltimore) to avoid crazy rush-hour traffic.  We were able to see old friends and my fantastic uncle and aunt who live in Burke, VA.  And, of course, it was wonderful to be able to spend time with my mom since I don't see her that often!  Thanks mom for a great time!

Christmas in SC

I just spent the weekend in South Carolina with my dad's family and it was spectacular!  It's our Christmas tradition to get together the weekend before Xmas, eat chili and hot dogs, and just be a family.  I was able to see not only my dad, brother, sister, and my brother's wonderful girlfriend, but all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmother and both, yes both, of my great-grandmothers!  It is so nice to see the fam (even if only for a weekend)!  Thank you for a wonderful weekend Frazier family!

All the cousins, sans Kimi

The girls and their scarves

The boys...I mean, men..

Dad, Uncle Todd, Mama Helen, and Aunt Paige

Me, Mama Helen (great-grandma #1), Ryan, and Alexis

Ryan, GiGi (great-grandma #2), me, Alexis

Ryan and his beautiful girlfriend, Ariana

Kevin and Tiffany

Tiff and I having fun in our new scarves and hats!

Flleeexxxxinngg...

Me, Alexis, and Ryan :)