Mammograms - For Girls Only

Four of my bestest friends went in for

their mammograms today.  I wasn't able

to make it, so I was feeling a little left out.

So I decided if I couldn't be there, I'd do

the next best thing and send cupcakes.

Special cupcakes.

Very special cupcakes.

If you are a boy, stop right now.

You don't want to see this.

If you are a girl, 

get ready for a giggle.

Aren't they cute?

Would it not crack you up to show

up at your appointment to a pan full of these?

Thank you, Sara!

The girls loved them - both the patients

and the hospital employees.

Guess Where We're Going

Guess where we're going...again.

Without the kids.

Where there is snow.

And mountains.

And ski lifts.

Yep - Winter Park.

Again.

Just one more time this season.

Four times isn't too much, is it?

Whatever...we're going anyway.

Spring Decor

Our cold, snowy, cloudy days have not

inspired me to dig out our Easter decorations,

but I have picked up a few new springy type

decorations I can show you.

Blue birds from Hobby Lobby and Adrien's.

Carrots from an antique store in Hutchinson.

My favorite right now is this "tree".  I made it from

several long, leafy, drapey flowers from JoAnn's.

I bound the greenery together with brown paper

covered floral wire and stuck it in some floral foam.

I put the arrangement in a ceramic pot and covered

the foam ball with shredded paper.

I love this because it's a dramatic statement

on my table, but when we sit down to eat, 

it doesn't block our view of each other.

DC Cupcakes

Grant and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary on May 25th.

We decided to take a trip together and ALMOST booked

tickets to Hawaii.  Instead, we decided to take Brett (15) and

Paige (13) to New York City and Washington DC.

It was a great decision.  We had so much fun with them.  

We headed to Georgetown for dinner our first evening in DC 

and happened upon DC Cupcakes.  LOVE their show!

 Paige and I in front of the store.

 SO hard to choose!

 Grant and Brett weren't impressed.  They didn't get it.

Oh well.  Note:  It didn't stop Brett from ordering a cupcake.

 Paige got chocolate with chocolate.

I got chocolate with vanilla.

Brett got vanilla with vanilla. 

The hungry teenage boy had his cupcake half-eaten 

before the tired mom could get out the camera.

 A day of sight-seeing in DC,

a shower,

a YUMMY cupcake.

Life is good for Paige!

This is the cupcake I bought at Crumbs in NYC.

It was BIG.  

And it was so moist and yummy that I ate it all at once.

It was so good, that I've already found their website

to see if they ship.  They do.  :)

Craft Time

Hope is so excited to share a craft with you.

She made a robot out of a box, wrapping &

craft paper and pipe cleaners.  So cute!

Tater Tot had to get in on the action too.

We've started saving our change again to spend at 

Winter Park next winter.  I loved the old brown bottle

that we've been dropping our change in, but I decided

to cute something up to inspire us to save even more.

I took an empty lemonade canister 

(an oatmeal container would work too)

and used Mod Podge to glue on

a Winter Park trail map.

I used an exacto knife to cut a slit

in the lid and started filling it up with change.

NYC Windows

One of my favorite things to do in New York City

is look at all the fabulous and creative window displays.

I could kick myself for not taking the time to take a picture

of a window at Tiffany's when I was in NYC for the first

time in November, 2009.  It was a huge white peacock

decked out in Tiffany's blue colors and ready for Christmas.

So this time around, I made sure I snapped pics of the

window displays that stopped me in my tracks.

Here's one of my favorites.

A wedding dress made out of wedding invitations.

I took a picture of another wedding dress similar to this,

but they had punched circles out of the invitations and 

layered them into a dress.  So cute!  But I can't find it.

I'll keep looking.

This window was in a store on 5th Avenue.  Paige and I

love the light hanging here, but it's a little hard to see :(.

We snapped this pic after we left the Metropolitan Museum

of Art and were on our way to meet back up with Grant

and Brett who had snuck off to watch basketball.

MAYBE March madness season isn't a good time to

take a vacation with my boys.  Maybe.

This window was so cool in person.  The tree is painted

 on a piece of white paper that is set behind the brown paper

that has a cutout of the tree to peek through.  The ladder is on

another piece of paper that is hung seperately. 

New York City

After some turbulence (as in the lady in front of us was

getting sick, I was praying and Paige was giggling because

she felt like she was on a rollercoaster kind of turbulence),

we landed in New York City.

We managed to see a few sights our first day.

Times Square, Empire State Building,

New York Public Library (you know - with the 

big stone lions out front), Rockefeller Center,

Hard Rock Cafe.

Wish I had time to post more pictures, but 

we're headed to see a lady this morning.

A big green lady...on an island...holding a big torch.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

We usually don't do much for St. Patrick's Day

besides wearing a little green to protect from pinching.

But this year, I did a few things.

Nothing fancy.

We made treats for Hope and Hart's teachers.

The little cups are filled with rolos.

I stuck some St. Patty's Day things in

the highchair.

I rarely use the word luck and most of the 

St. Patrick's Day crafts and decorations

I've seen lately refer to luck.  Having it,

wishing it, finding it.  So I threw together

my own craft last night that expresses how

I think about luck.

 I used a clover with three leaves instead of four

because the story we have about Saint Patrick

says that Patrick used the shamrock (with 3 leaves)

to teach about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 Have a blessed St. Patrick's Day!

Rated G Birthday Post

I found the cutest idea for a party hat!

And I happened to find it on the morning of 

my 40-year-old friend's surprise party.

YAY!

It was so easy to make with a little fabric,
trim, a pom-pom, headband and hot glue.

And Hope was happy to model!

SO STINKIN' CUTE!
I want to make gobs of them!

Rated PG Birthday Post

Please don't let your kiddos look at this post.

It's very rude.  In fact, if you don't think I can be

rude, please do not read any further because I 

would hate to burst your bubble.  

Still with me?  Are you sure you want to proceed?

OK...A friend and neighbor of ours recently turned 40.

Yes, the big 4.0.

Now, don't get me wrong, turning 40 is a blessed event.

I was happy to turn 40 AND 41.  I will be thankful for

every future birthday I get to celebrate with my friends and family.

BUT...it's kind of fun to give my friends a hard time when 

they have a "big" birthday.  So I was all too happy to make

a few decorations for my friend's party.  Ready?

If you found this offensive, I deeply apologize.

Sincerely.

But, I did try to warn you.

Lost Then Found

While cleaning out the little boys' closet, 

I found a lot of stuff that we were ready

to bless another family with (i.e. haul to Goodwill).

But there were a few things that I was so happy

to find.  Treasures.  Here is one:

I'm guessing that Paige painted this, but I'll do a little

investigating to find out for sure.  I can't wait to put

this in a frame and hang it up with Easter decorations.

A Clean Bedroom

Look quick!  Hart and Tate's bedroom is clean.

You can see their carpet!  It's a miracle.  Truly.

Do you know how many Legos, cars,

rocks, socks,

puzzle pieces, game pieces, Reese's Pieces,

books, balls and bits

can end up on the floor of a 4-year-old and 7-year-old?

Lots and lots and lots.

So many that it takes a mom 5 days, 15 baskets

 and 22 cups of coffee to tame it all.

See the deer on the first shelf?

Those were Grant's when he was a little boy about 100 years ago.

Or 35 years or so.

I rescued them from the top of the boys' closet where some things

had gone untouched for many years.  We glued a couple antlers

back on (and by 'we', I mean Grant) and they're good as new.

I LOVE maps.  I picked this one up from one of my 

favorite thrift stores.  It was in it's original packaging

from Target and it was marked down to $8.00.

SOLD!

Thursday

1.  Dentist with the 4-year-old

2.  Sam's Club

3.  Cupcakes

 

4.  Porch Sweep

 

5.  Chicken and Noodles with Mashed Potatoes 

6.  Kitchen Clean-Up

7.  Bedtime

* I would have been happy to skip steps 2-6 after the dentist appointment with Tate who, if you ever need to know, absolutely DOES NOT LOVE a numb mouth or the sound of electric dental tools.

Thrifty Finds

Here are a few of my favorite things...this week.

I think this is a trash basket that is missing the original liner.

I'm going to use it as a shade for my mudroom light.

I had a dollhouse JUST LIKE THIS when I was little.

I'll admit...this was an impulse buy, but I couldn't resist.

It will sit on my bookshelf where I can see it everyday.

Now I'll be on the lookout for the furniture and people that live here.

A pretty dresser for  more storage in my dining room.

I might paint it white when it gets a little warmer outside.

I may look for something a little smaller to sit here and

move this dresser to another perfect spot in my house.

A prettier dresser for the other side of my china cabinet.

It doesn't have as much storage space as the first dresser, 

but I LOOOOVE it!  I may or may not paint this one white.

I may look for another walnut dresser to match it.

I've seen some beautiful antique highchairs used to display books

in a kitchen.  I found this one at a local used furniture store and before

I knew what was happening, it was in the back of my Suburban,

riding to McDonald's with Tate and me.  I'm still not sure what happened...exactly.

AND LOOK WHAT IT DOES!

It unfolds into a little table and chair...ON WHEELS!

Please ignore the tired, old skin on me and look at

the pretty, shiny necklace.  I went into a cute little

store in McPherson (SassyBags) looking for luggage

and came out with this fun necklace/earring set.

It was half-price.  It cost me a whole $8.

That's it.  That's all I've got today.  Is that enough?  :)

Sunday Night

Tonight...Grant is in Florida.

Brett is at youth group.

Paige is ... somewhere around here.

Hope is making herself beautiful.

Want to see what a breathing treatment does to 

a little boy after a hard day of play and a warm bath??

Guess what Hart is thinking....

"Mom is so busy taking pictures of Tate, she's lost

track of time and let me stay up 30 minutes

past my bedtime.  I'll sit quietly and see how

much longer she lets me stay up."

Fruit of the Spirit

Go to www.tagxedo.com to make

your own word pictures.

FUN!

You can find this pear printable

at www.tipjunkie.com.

Ironing

 Do you iron?

Do you LIKE to iron?

I don't love to iron.

I don't even LIKE to iron.

Truth be told...I HATE TO IRON!

I do it as little as possible.  

But I want to do better.

I'm thinking of starting an ironing club. 

We'd meet one morning (with coffee) or

one afternoon (with cocktails) a week and iron...

and drink...and chat...and watch chick flicks.

What do you think?