A Spring Fling in December

 I am in total denial that Avery is turning 6 tomorrow! She wanted a Rainbow, butterfly, flower party this year. I tried to convince her to do one or the other, but she wanted them all! The birthday girl got her wish!

I designed the invite with some freebies from Lettering Delights. love that site.

For the decorations I replicated the invite on a big wall in the family room. Almost everything I used was from the dollar store. Avery and her friend Remi helped me make the rainbow out of tissue paper and then I cut everything else out of scrapbook paper and taped it onto the blue table cloths. It is really bright and happy, perfect for a Spring Fling!

sorry my crappy point and shoot picture doesn't do it justice

I also order butterfly wings for all of the girls from haloheaven. another great site you should check out. They are really cheap! this is the only picture I have showing some of the girls and the wings

And last but not least, a rainbow cake topped with a cute little bunting. The kids LOVED it. 

Livi snuck into the corner to play chubby bunny with some leftover marshmallows :)

Super fun!! I only wish I had more pictures. Can someone tell me how to run a party AND photograph the event? How do people do it? I'm lucky I got what I did! :)

Happy Birthday Sugar Booger!!! we Love you!

I blinked

I blinked and November was over. Why do I feel like my life is speeding by? Please slow down. I want to savor my sweet little kids. They are growing up too too fast.

I have been a terrible picture taker this last month (mostly because the thought of keeping up with all the editing is so daunting). So, the november recap will be quick :)

Drew's Preschool pictures. Isn't he a handsome little dude?

After I got my wisdom teeth out (so NOT fun) my face was really swollen and I didn't feel like doing much. But, I did manage to do a few Thanksgiving crafts while hiding out in my house for a week. I jumped on the crafting bandwagon and made a coffee filter wreath and a give thanks banner out of an old book and doilies(it was supposed to be for the fireplace mantel, but I made it too big). 

Super fun and easy!

Drew being Drew☺

Simple Sweet Moments...Siblings sharing an Apple Cider slushy at the apple orchard

and the most exciting news of all. drum roll please...

Avery lost her first tooth!!! She has been wiggling them since april and finally pulled one out. She was so excited! Andy and I both cried. Sounds silly I know, but I felt like a piece of her "little girl-ness" came out with it. She needs to stop growing up so fast!

That's all for now folks. I told you I was bad. Hopefully December will be a better month.

HaPPy hALLoWeEN!!

We have all eaten WAY too much candy over the last few days. Talk about an overdose. I'm not so sure I really like this holiday. It really doesn't lead to much good...cavities, expanding waist lines, and whining kids begging for more, more, more. What would be the halloween version of the grinch? That is me right now. Halloween is fun and all, it is just the aftermath I don't like :)

My little pumpkins

Superman is showing off his muscles!

This picture makes me laugh because I can just hear Livi making her little "uh" noise when she wants something...like a sucker. Livi loved going trick or treating! 

Ariel showing off some of her loot from the ward trunk or treat party

 Hope you all had a fun Halloween :)

School Pictures

Come on. Could they try just a little bit harder to connect with the kids and get a good smile??? Do all school pictures have to be awkward? A little background though. The week before pictures her front tooth died and turned grey. She was really sad about it and told me she didn't want to smile in her pictures. I told her not to worry about it and smile big anyways. I think this shot is her contemplating the idea to smile or not :) She is still cute though, quirky smile and all.

Another Drewism

Drew was watching the living scriptures, the one where the Savior comes to visit the people in America.

Drew says "Wow,  Jesus is really sticky."
me: "Huh?"
Drew: "Jesus must have really sticky feet. He can stick to the clouds and walk on them."

Ha Ha, love that boy!

Such a fun Night!

We went to Vala's pumpkin patch last week with some friends. It was such a blast!! This place is huge and packed with family friendly fall activities and goodies galore. It still doesn't replace Patterson's farm in Ohio, but it was close ;)

Livi was scared to death of the Camel. So I did what all good moms would do. got her picture with it. The Camel decided it would be funny to give her a big wet one. She screamed so loud! We laughed so hard!

There was a huge pile of corn to play in. everyone (adults included) loved it. The funniest moment was when Andy threw some corn at our friend blake and 2 kernels went straight up both of his nostrils! So Funny! We had corn down our pants, and just about everywhere.

The spider web crawl

                             

Livi Loo loo

Just some random pics from Livi and I hanging out in the garage last week.

 She LOVES to eat chalk

12 months at a glance

Livi decided to take this walking business serious on her birthday. She took off and hasn't stopped since. She loves her independence!

Livi loves to read books with her daddy

She loves babies, blankies, and stuffed animals

her first word is "uh-oh"

Her first animal sound is an elephant

she can scream like no other :)

She is a happy sweet little girl!

we love you livi loo loo!

Around the House Part 2

As of last week, I had NO pictures of my kids on the walls. That needed to change. I LOVE Canvas prints and would order a ton if I could. Unfortunately, they don't fit in my budget right now. So I found a solution. Behold the Faux Canvas

I was a little skeptical before I started, but I actually really like them. And, It cost less than $20 to make all Three! I bought a board at Lowes (about 3/4 inch thick) and had them cut it into 12x12 pieces. Then I painted the sides black, had the pictures printed at Costco for $3 each, and mod podged them on the boards. And Waahlaa! Faux Canvases! You've got to try it. Fun, Cute, and Cheap!

HoW tiMe fliEs...

It seems just like yesterday I was buying girl clothes and bedding before even knowing the sex of baby #3 (more on that here),  hoping, waiting, wanting another sweet babygirl. My wish was granted and this last year has been a dream in so many ways. Livi has not been the easiest baby, but she has won my heart. I am head over heels for this little girl. 

Enamored.

I had so much fun planning her party. Things didn't go quite as expected (the weather forced a few changes on us), but I think it turned out pretty cute and we had a great time! 

I didn't have time to take pictures before the party, so you will just have to use your imagination a little as to what the table looked like with all the food and stuff :)

I found a ton of cute craft projects online that I knew I had to make for the party. First was the adorable crepe paper rosette balls that I hung on the tree branches. So cute and fun to make! The doilie banner was the perfect delicate touch for the table. And one of my favorite ideas I came up with was the picture time line (I was going to hang it up outside but it was too windy). I cut out 12 birdies, labeled one for each month, and hung the corresponding pictures up with clothespins.

The party favors were fun to do too. The goods included 1. bags of gummy worms with tags that said "early bird gets the worm" 2. Felt bird clips for the girls made by my amazingly talented mom 3. Bird whistles (do you remember these as a kid? this was to add a little nostalgia. I loved these when I was little and knew I had to have them for here bird party). You fill them up with water and they really sound like birds tweeting. And some bubbles and play doh 

number 4 shows the cute shirt that my mom also made for Livi

Here is the cake topper. And oh the cake! It was really hot and humid the day I made it. I put the filling in the middle and decided to do the frosting after I finished up a few other things. After a while I looked over and noticed that the filling was oozing out the sides, melting into a big mess. So I picked up the cake to put it in the fridge. As I bent over to make room for the cake, The whole top layer slid right off and splattered all over the floor. not pretty. I almost cried. But, I happened to have an extra layer (long story) so it wasn't as tragic as it could have been. but no party is complete without a little DRAMA!

Livi LOVED the cake. I gave her a cupcake and she seriously devoured it! 

Lucky for us Uncle Austin and Aunt Andrea got to be there to help us celebrate. Andrea was my picture taker so I could enjoy the party. I think she did a great job. Thanks Andrea!!!

Around the House

This post is for you Kathryn!! :)

Last winter My Friend Kathryn and I bought some old doors off of Craigslist with the intent of making headboards for our beds. We both were really excited about moving and decorating our new pads. Unfortunately we never got around to making them and after moving into my new place I lost my zest for all the DIY decorating projects I had planned. Mostly because I realized we are only going to be here for 1 year and every house has different needs, so there is no point in making everything for this house. But, last week I caught the decorating bug again and was determined to get the headboard made. This was my first woodworking project and lets just say I learned a lot! :) Thanks to my sweet hubby who answered my dumb questions and came to my rescue a few times, I am very happy with the way it turned out! So without further ado, here are some seriously crappy pictures taken with our point and shoot of the finished product :) Except I really want to paint the walls now. But I can live with them for a year.

I also did a few projects for Avery's room over the summer with my mom. Avery got her duvet cover for christmas last year. I LOVE it, but it is a peachy pink that is hard to match. I saw this Liberty London print at Target and knew that it was perfect for her bed. I ordered a duvet cover online and it took over 5 months to get it (no joke). But I was elated when I finally saw the package on my doorstep! I made curtains, the bunting, and lampshade with the duvet cover. I LOVE it!

and of  course her room could not be complete without a "you are my sunshine" picture :)

I always tell Andy that when we buy our next house I am hiring a decorator :)


okay Kathryn, I want to see what you've done with the fabric for the family room, Kolette's room, and your room!!

☀ Liquid Sunshine

Avery was almost one year old when Andy's brother Adam was first diagnosed with Cancer. Grandma Cindi was having a rough time (rightfully so) but always tried to look for the positive. One of her happy spots was Sweet Avery Jane. She called Avery her Liquid Sunshine, the bright ray of hope to shine through the dark clouds. There is something amazing about a child's ability to help you feel the love of the Savior and put a smile back on your face when life has you down. Avery is especially good at this. She is my Sunshine baby girl!

see more here

He Thought This Day Would Never Come

Drew started PRESCHOOL today! He was SO ready. Ever since Avery started kindergarten, he has been asking incessantly when his school starts. Today is the day. He walked right in and never looked back. I can't wait to hear all about his day! 

Drew and his empty backpack :)

I LOVE them!

Those EYES that is!

sorry, I've got Livi on the brain. You may be seeing lots of this girl in the next few weeks. I can't believe she is almost one! 

see more here