Hair Ties

Today I crafted up some pretty hair ribbons with an idea I found via Angry Chicken. This is my kind of project. Find some cute coordinating ribbon, double knot it around an elastic and you're done! My daughter is not around to try these on so you'll just have to imagine.

Spring Awakening

Pretty Spring Things on Etsy!

Garden Gift Tins, Personalized Bird Stationary, Blossom Necklace, Flower Cupcake Toppers, Scroll Invitation, Soap Sticks, Berry Bowl

Party Time

So Wade is more than "In Love" with his good friend Elmo so I knew this was the only way we could go with his party. There is really no way that an Elmo party can't be a little cheesy, but it still turned out pretty cute. Wade didn't know what to think of the attention and he wanted all of his presents to himself, so he kept yelling at everyone. Many apologies to our guests! The top picture really explains it all. Thank goodness for Elmo's yummy furry red frosting!

You Say It's Your Birthday!

I can't believe my baby is already 2. He's my last baby so he'll always be my baby of course, even though he's not a baby at all. The big day is actually tomorrow but his party's today so I thought I'd start a little early. Wade is my little Wild Man and he definitely keeps me on my toes. He makes us all laugh every day. He is my loviest child I've had and I love his snuggles. I am so thankful for how healthy he has been. I know how blessed we are to have him and I am thankful that he has been watched over. Here are a few pics of his first 2 year. Happy Birthday Wade!


This looks like it's a few days after his birth. He was so tiny at just 2 lbs. 14 oz.


This is my very favorite picture of him in the hospital. I love his tiny hand.


First Birthday. What a chunk!


Big Boy. Two Years Old!

5 Ways To Know You're Obessed With The Bachelor

1. After each episode, you google for an hour trying to find any hints as to what happens next.

2. You have to leave Empty Nesters FHE early so that you don't miss the show and when your RS Pres. says, "You watch that? Isn't it just a bunch of people making out?" Your reply is, "Yeah! That's why it's so good!" I won't name any names on this one but you know who you are.

3. You have dreams that you are actually Melissa and Jason loves you! (That one's for you M)

4. You text your friends for the next 6 days after debating over who will leave next.

5. You are a happily married woman with 3 children and you sit and plan out what you will do and wear when you get to be on the show.

*This is just what I hear. I swear it's not me. Ha Ha!

Young Love

This story was so sweet to me. This little Jayla Cooper is expected to lose her battle to leukemia in the next few weeks at only 9 years old. Her dying wish was to Get Married. The town pulled together and threw her a beautiful wedding where she was married to her best friend that she met in the hospital. She said, "He is very cute and I love him." They vowed to be friends forever. I just love how little girls dream of a fairytale wedding. What a sweetheart.

Dunce?

It's that time again for Parent Teacher Conferences and I was looking forward to it this time because of something that happened a couple of weeks ago...

If any of you know my Gabe, you know he is anything but a Dunce! He is much more on the lines of biggest Teacher's Pet. He has not had one mishap as of yet in his school career. Well, on a certain day, he came home from school almost beaming. I asked how his day went and he replied with this, "Mom, guess what? I got my name on the board today!" I'm serious when I say, you have never seen a child more proud of himself. I asked him what happened and he said that he was just "Goofing Around" and his teacher got mad. Well, of course I had to laugh a little but I did go on to enforce that the first offense is okay but he's not to do that again. Of course he hasn't gotten in trouble again, but he is still very proud of that moment. Well, I was excited to go visit with his teacher to see what she had to say about it until I got a call from her the other day. She was calling about the reading schedule, but I thought I'd throw in a "How's Gabe Doing?" while I was at it. She went on to say that he's doing great and there's nothing to report, so I proudly reminded her, "Well, he told me about how he got his name on the board a couple of weeks ago." She paused for a minute to think about it and then said this, "Oh, No! His name wasn't on the board for being bad. It was just up there because he was one of the ones who hadn't done his report yet!" Silly Gabe. Here he is thinking he was so cool because he'd been goofing around. I had to laugh. I love that kid. Still Mishap Free And Proud Of It!

Girl Time

I've just returned from a Fabulous Weekend Getaway with my two favorite girls, my mom and my sister. We spent three days in the beautiful, sunny, oh so sunny St. George touring the ever so fabulous homes in the Parade of Homes. This has become our yearly tradition and I'm already looking forward to next year. I was telling Mr. L last night that because it's so snowy and cold here and so beautiful and sunny there, one of these times I'm going to come home the owner of a new house. I am so thankful for the time spent laughing, gossiping (yes, we gossip), eating junk food, sharing memories and just enjoying the peace and quiet of grown-up time. It also rejuvenated me and made me ready to come home to some serious mommy lovin! And believe me, I got it. Thanks Mom and Ash for making it so great!

*No this is not us swinging up high in our fancy bathing suits. I just saw the picture and had to have it. If I ever get the pictures from my sister I'll put them on.

Woo Woo Winner...

Thanks to all who participated in the Rose Ring Giveaway and thanks again to Royal Princess for their generous donation. I forgot how much I like doing these giveaways so I will try and do one again very soon. I wish I could have picked you all, but the winner is...
Missy from Simply Red. Yeah!

Spring Fever GIVEAWAY!!

I've noticed a lot of you out there with a case of Spring Fever, and I'm starting to feel it myself, so I thought what better way to cure the case of the Fever than a GIVEAWAY! Royal Princess is donating this beautiful Pink Rose Ring from their new Spring 2009 Collection for one of you lucky ladies to win. This open bloom Real Rose is mounted on a a white gold plated adjustable ring. It retails at $29.99. Royal Princess has an incredible selection of natural petal jewelery.

**Anyone Can Enter! For a chance to win this pretty ring, all you have to do is leave a comment below. I am also adding a chance to gain a second entry this time. If you post about this contest on your own blog, come back and leave a second comment, you will have DOUBLE the chance to win. This giveaway will run until 12 PM on Sunday, February 22. Good luck to everyone!

A Good Date

Our Valentines Date turned out so great today. We have been wanting to try something like this for awhile now where we just hop on a plane and go somewhere for the day and come home, and of course it had to be Vegas, because "Why Wouldn't It Be?", and it's always our favorite. It really turned out to be so much fun. I have to give huge props to Mr. L as well for planning this romantic escape all on his own and keeping it a secret! At least until yesterday when I snooped a little. Thanks also to my always amazing Mom and Dad for watching (and playing) with the kids. I love you all!

Love Story

I hope your day is full of love. I am being whisked away for a romantic lunch at Mon Ami Gabi in Las Vegas. I'm excited to spend a day with the very handsome Mr. L.

Apple Of My Eye

Twig and Thistle has provided everyone with a free download for this adorable Mini Pie Box for Valentines. I actually think it would be cute all year round. There's also a recipe on there from Epicurious for the tasty little pies.

Gonna Make A Pie

Desserts must be my thing this week because that's all that's drawing my attention for some reason. What's fun about this yummy Chocolate Mascarpone Cheese Pie is that it uses Philadelphia's new Chocolate Cheesecake Filling which sounds delicious to me.

And speaking of PIE, here's a fun film suggestion for the weekend. Okay so the story line of Waitress is a little questionable, but I still loved it and actually Mr. L kind of liked it too. The reason I loved this movie though is because it contains the sweetest lullabye that the girl sings to her baby. Every time I think of pie, the song pops into my head. Anyways, you have to hear it to love it. The character in the movie bakes pies that are all based off of different circumstances in her life. It's pretty random and funny but trust me it's a good one. I linked the song at the end of the post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RVZsizvRP4&feature=PlayList&p=6BBE6206BE04FE31&playnext=1&index=34

Cream Puffs

Here's a little delicacy I found that would be perfect for your sweethearts this week. All you need for these Valentine Raspberry Napoleon's is frozen puffed pastry and instant pudding so they are very simple and so pretty.

Button Button...

Aren't these candy buttons fantastic? They were featured on Creature Comforts, but it's the Bake It Pretty blog who provides the magic. If you head over there, you can find the recipe and FREE Labels. All you need to buy is the Vintage Button Mold Pan that you can get for just $2.25.

What Is Love

Love On A Park Bench! Don't you love the last picture?

Heart Box Cake

This sweet heart gift box holding Bakerella's Red Velvet Cake Balls is actually cake itself and she tells how she made it here. Tricky but Amazing!

Pink & White

These adorable Party Favors/Valentines are acutally part of the new Pink & White spread by Amy Atlas. Most of her ideas are never to be recreated because she is so amazingly talented, but these simple gift bags are definitely doable and so sweet.

As seen on HWTM

Happy Day

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my good friend BECKY and my sister in law DIANA! I hope you both have the most wonderful day. You deserve it!

Photo via Oh Joy!

All Things Pretty

It's like they always say, "Once you start, you can't stop." And this one appears to be true with my dress buying. I do have quite a few "Dress Up" events coming up, so it is somewhat justifiable, but I promise I will try and gain some control after this. So here is my new dress that I just received in the mail today and I love it! Thanks to my friend A n' D for pointing me in the direction of Shabby Apple. If you've never been there, go there...they've got so many cute finds for both mom and daughter. I had a hard time choosing.

And with my new dress, I just purchased a new ring. I've been wanting one of these giant flower rings for awhile so I decided now was a good time. This is the Cherry Blossom Ring from LuLu Coco Designs.

Letter Holders

I just found the best site ever. No Fuss Fabulous has a ton of awesome, easy, no sew crafts that even amateurs like me could put together. These Valentines Chair Backers are a copy cat version of the Pottery Barn ones that I've always loved. All that is involved is cutting and gluing. My cute Sister made a version of these a couple of years ago that I just love so I think I'll try my hand at them this year. While you're there, be sure to check out the Chocolate Dipped Krispie Pops. They are not to be missed!

Pucker Up

Since it's the season of LOVE, I decided to do a post on the KISS! What's funner to talk about during Valentines than kissing right? Do you remember your first kiss? I do, and it's so the worst and most horrible memory of a first kiss ever. It was with some weird French guy in Cancun. Jill and Jenny...do you remember? Needless to say I've had a few better "first kisses" since then, Mr. L being the best and last of course. Anyways, here are some fun facts about the kiss for your enjoyment...

*A total of 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles are used during kissing.

*Indian text written in 1500 BC contain the first description of people kissing.

*The Romans started the tradition of kissing after the wedding ceremony. They considered themselves betrothed after kissing passionately in front of a group of people.

*Before the 1400's, kissing under the mistletoe was very serious and meant that the couple was engaged.

So I also thought it would be fun to take a poll. Do you think Kissing is LEARNED or INSTINCTIVE?

*I chose the Titanic picture not only because it's one of our favorites, but if you ask Mr. L about it, his first response is "Now That Was True Love!" Referring to Kate and Leo. So funny.

Sweet Fortune

I am loving the Felt Fortune Cookies for Valentines. Here is a simple tutorial. This would be an easy one for the class parties. You can also make them with foam and glue dots. I think they'd be perfectly packaged in these Love Takeout Boxes.

Paper Bouquet

Here's another fun Valentines Bouquet that the kids can easily make. All you need is tissue paper and pipe cleaner. I found the photo here, but you can get the full instructions from Wondertime.