My own little fashion model...

Thinking about selling these skirts... Would you buy one for your little girl?
Hailie seems to think they are very fashionable..





I would offer them in this same natural cotton fabric but with different ribbons and either with the tulle or not..
Maybe open an Etsy store and see if any local children's boutiques would be interested..
Stay tuned...I am making several this weekend in different styles and will post.
Please leave a comment as I am curious to see what your thoughts are!

Decisions...

Since it seems the topic of shoes seems to be a popular one on here.. hehe wonder why.. I noticed Nine West is having a sale.. hmm I have really been wanting a new pair of brown sandals and I am liking the new Gladiator style.. Can't decide which ones I want though...

The Sulliban

The Heech

They are both the same price.. I am kind of leaning towards one but I am curious to find out which one do you like?

My Sweet Boy..A Luke Story..

So I went to Academic Night at Lukes school (Thanks Grandma Kathy for watching the kids so I could go!) and they gave all the parents a folder with information on what the kids do on a daily basis. In the folder they had a poem...
It was so cute and touching and when I got home I was sharing it with Kathy and then sat it on the counter. We then began talking about other things and then all of a sudden Luke comes into the room and says, "Mommy close your eyes I have to show you something." So I closed my eys and he led me into the bedroom and when I opened my eyes, there above our bed he had gone and got blue tape out of our junk drawer and taped the poem on the wall right smack dab in the middle of the bed! He was so cute, he said "Look, I hung it above the bed so you and Daddy can look at it all the time." So there you go...thanks baby for helping mommy decorate the bedroom! (speaking of, I do need to get started on doing something with our bedroom..it seems that is always the last room in the house you worry about)
If you click on the picture below you should be able to read the poem..WARNING.. it is a tear jerker!

From Vans to pumps...

So I was working on a project and the kids were playing and all of a sudden her comes Hailie around the corner...
"Look Mommy.. Hailie so pretty"
There she was wearing my shoes..It was cute to see what her choice was..
A nice Maryjane..That's my girl...

I was suprised at how well she was walking around in them too..she didn't fall once!!
So of course I whipped out the camera and was taking a couple pictures and what do you know here comes Mr. Luke..."Mommy, take a picture of me too, look I have daddy's cool shoes on"
Too funny!

Home Sweet Home..

Almost exactly 1 year after we brought them home it was time for Buzz and Woody to have a new home... they were just getting too big for that aquarium and the smell in the playroom was getting out of control! So Kyle was off to Lowe's to find some suitable materials to build them a home outside.. I was excited when he came home with this white picket fence and him and the kids went out back and made the cutest little area for them.. Boy were they happy!
Once Kyle put them in there they were all over the place!! We have never seen them be that active before.. they seem to really like it..
I asked Kyle if he thought they would be okay in the heat and he just looked at me and said, "Cara, their Desert Tortoises..." ohhhh

Grosgrain Giveaway

Kathleen at Grosgrain is extremely talented... she is giving this dress away and Hailie needs to win it!

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Daily Cuteness

I didn't start a fire in the kitchen this time! (and yes I really have done that before)

So this weekend I decided to cook... a rarity in my house, but hey I am working on it!
I decided I was going to try to do two new recipe's every weekend..one entree and one dessert.. We will see how long that lasts.. I thought if I decided to blog about it, then I would be more apt to follow through..

So here we go.. Week 1 of my mid year resolution:

I had a recipe that I found a couple weeks ago and it is becoming a favorite in our house and seems to be on permanent rotation...
Fiesta Rice..
I found this recipe on a blog that is becoming one of my favorites.. Dinner's on Me!
The only thing I did was make it with white rice instead of brown, so Kyle and the kids would eat it. We had it over tortilla chips and I added chicken for the best ultimate nachos, and then a couple days later we made burritos..so yummy.. I also stole the picture from her blog, because I found out this weekend how difficult it is to take pictures of food and make it look appetizing..


The next thing I baked was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars...
Let's just say that they were beyond delicious..enough so that Kyle almost ate the entire 9X9 pan by himself in 2 days!
I found the recipe on Bake or Break.. a blog that I find myself checking everyday as well.
Again, I stole her picture too.. I know..I know.. I said I am going to work on it!
Anyways, for me..the complete non-baker/cook ... they were fairly painless to make.
Besides the fact that while making the crust part, I put the butter in with the graham cracker crumbs and when I was mixing them couldn't figure out why the crumbs were not getting moist, then I looked at the recipe again and noticed it said to melt the butter.... ohhh..
I never have said I was brillant at this stuff..so go ahead and laugh..
So I tossed that mess and started again and then it went pretty smooth from there...

Fall Shoe Shopping

So all my August magazines and catalogs have been arriving in my mailbox and it looks like ballet flats and patent leather is here to stay for at least one more season! I love fall... How cute would these shoes look with your favorite pair of jeans
( I am really addicted to my Ginger Sevens!) and a comfy sweater.

These are cute too from Old Navy

And at $24.50 compared to $250 are much more likely to end up in my closet!

High Ho..High Ho..It's off to work I go

I got my desk and I am so excited! Isn't it fantastic!
Such a great deal too... I have several little projects going on and it is so nice to have a space of my own to just have them all laid out...

Ode to Williams-Sonoma...

Oh how I do love thee Williams and Sonoma..

I do truly wish I had a fairy godmother to buy me all the lovely things that you tempt me with..

I mean a cake pan that is the shape of a gianormous cupcake.. oh my..

OR.. how about these Garden Butterfly Teacups and Plates that just beg me to buy Hailie a little table and chair set to put them on so we can have a lovely tea party.

And what have we here??
You can buy Sprinkles Cupcake Mix AND they even come with the cute sugar dots!!!
Okay I surrender.. you had me at cupcake!!

Loving this fabric...

Doesn't this fabric just scream Hailie's name!

Well Chelsea at Vintage Chic is giving away a 4 yard Sample Pack!!

I really hope I win because I have my eye on a pattern from her Etsy Shop called the Olivia Top that I think would turn out absolutely adorable using this fabric!

Word to the Bird!

So Kyle called me the other day and said a bird had hit the front end of his truck while he was driving..

He said it hit the front end and then he didn't know what happened to it.

Poor Bird!

So he got home and went inside for awhile and when he came back out to leave again this is what he found!!

The bird had actually gotten stuck in his front grill and was still alive!!!!!

He said he went to go get some pliers to get the bird out of there and was dreading that he would find that the bird would be mangled and as he was seperating the grill and all of a sudden the bird flew out and away it went!!

That is one tough bird!

Our Little Olympian...

So we were driving home on Friday after I picked the kids up from school, and I was talking about how excited I was about the Olympics, and how when we got home we were going to be watching the Opening Ceremony. I went on to explain what the Olympics was the best I could to a 3 and 5 year old, so I said something along the lines of that athlete's from around the world would be competing in all different types of sports to see who was the best. I went on to say we would get to watch basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming....and just as I said swimming Luke interrupted and said "Mommy, if they want the best boy in swimming then I need be there, because I can swim really good!"
Here's to looking forward to you making the 2020 Olympics baby boy!!

Hailie's room is finished..

Thank you Grandma Mary Jo for buying such a beautiful new vanity for our little Hailie Girl..

So I found this butterfly wall art that I fell in love with for her room, at where else but PotteryBarn kids ... For only a mere $129.. Now don't get me wrong I LOVE Potterybarnkids but really..$129 for wall art? So I read the description and it said it was made with mixed media of watercolors and tissue.. I thought hmmm.. Maybe, just maybe I could duplicate that?

Well some of my water colors, tissue paper, modge podge, and a $6 canvas later this was the result... What do you think?? Close enough? Kyle was pretty impressed and thought it worthy to hang.. So here on her wall over the original canvas I did with scrapbook paper and her baby pictures hangs my version of the butterfly canvas.. Also, I saw this really cute idea about using a picture frame and some ribbon to use as a place to keep your child's hair clips. So I had the white frame and some muslin and cute ribbon that matched her room and Voila!I think it turned out pretty cute. Hailie really ended up liking her room so that made mommy happy.

'Twas the night before Kindergarten,

When all through the house mommy was scurrying around like a mouse..
The homework assignment was completed so nice..
The lunch was made.. The new backpack, shoes and outfit set out with care..

In hopes that the first day of school soon would be here..

Luke was nestled all snug in his bed..
While visions of glue sticks danced in his head..

When out on the horizon the sun began to rise,
Luke sprang from his bed to start his first day of Kindergarten

Away to school he walked in a flash..

When, what did his wondering eyes should appear..

but his peeps Lorenzo and Jacob were awaiting him there..

A wink of his eye, and a wave of his hand, soon gave me to know that I had nothing to dread..

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his line

And away they all went like a flock full of ducks..

Happy First day of Kindergarten to all, and to all the best of luck!

We love you Luke!!

So pretty

We had a couple of swim party's to go to this weekend and Hailie got this cute swimsuit from Auntie Becca for her birthday so I wanted to make a cute dress/coverup to go with it...
I had this cute fabric so I decided to go for it. It turned out pretty cute I think? She really loved it. I had her wear her new Cakies clip too, and it ended up matching perfectly!

Happy Birthday Daddy

I thought it would be fun to let the kids help me bake a cake for Kyle's birthday.
They were really excited to help bake a cake for daddy's birthday, and you can see they really did a good job! It was adorable, after we were done frosting it and piping the lettering on it, Luke ran in his room and said it needed one more thing.. and he came out with the Matchbox Police Car.. How cute is that? You can see how proud they were and if you look at Luke's mouth you can see they thought it was yummy too as he still has chocolate frosting all over his mouth from licking the spatula... that definitely is my son!

My Space..

Not the My Space you may be thinking I meant, but truly a little piece of the Master Retreat that will be all mine...

I decided that I wanted a little area to be able to do all of my projects at because currently I am doing them on the kitchen table and that is just not cutting it lately. I just hate having to set up and take down everything (especially my sewing machine!) so the quest to find the things I need to set up the area begins. I have been looking on Craig's List for that perfect little craft desk, and I think I found one. It is a black desk that matches everything else in our bedroom including the desk we already have in the Master Retreat that has our computer on it. Originally the woman was asking $300 for the desk and a bookcase but I somehow managed to get her down to $100 just for the desk... so I need to make my decision on that.. Then I was looking online for storage options and I found these from Jenna Rose I love them... Aren't they fantastic? I really like the brown and teal ones, but unfortunately I don't see them For Sale in their online store so I will be keeping my eye out for those.

I was thinking of talking Kyle into taking the doors off the smaller closet next to the area I want to set my desk up at and then organizing everything in there..we will see how he responds to that project! I will keep you updated on my progress.