What we do for Family

I come from a large family of eight kids and I am the oldest. All of our names begin with 'T' and I was dubbed 'Big T' by our dad. The nickname has been adopted by friends, too, not sure why that is as I am not particularly 'big'. But I like the reminder of my place in the sibling order.

My sister and sibling #6, was married this past Sunday at a small ceremony in the woods. It was a lovely chance to gather with all eight of the sibs and many members of our family. With so many of us, it is rare for all 8 of us to gather together, though we do try once or twice a year.

Here are we eight T's all together. There are more picture's over at flicker. Check out the picture of my three brother's shirtless. I must say, they are all hotties!The past month has been busy with planning, shopping, sewing and baking, all in preparation for this wedding. Even though they wanted a casual, small, picnic-like affair in a park by the river, there are still many detail to be planned and carried out. I volunteered to bake cupcakes for the affair, which turned out to have more guests than any of us anticipated, a little over 100. Cupcakes for 100, I baked 166 in all! Whew. I survived, and learned a lot. And would do it again with all I know now. Tips: cupcakes freeze well; unwrap before thawing, which takes about 1 1/2 hours; piping frosting goes really quickly; you can purchase cupcake carriers from your local grocery bakery, making transportation a breeze. They were cute and everyone seemed to like them.


The little girls outfits were sewn by myself and my mom. I made the shirts, one niece's skirt and one for myself. My mom made the babies' dresses, bloomers and tiered skirts. We used fabric from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope collection. They looked so very cute. We neglected to get a group photo of the cousin's all dressed up, but here are a few photos of a few garments, worn and alone. Don't the girls look adorable?