Valances

Aren't these valances phenomenal?  My aunt made them for my cousin.  I love the fabric. I love the cut.  They look amazing!  That woman sure knows her way around a sewing machine! 

She makes all kinds of wonderful things!  She made these adorable dresses for my girls.

Don't you love the apple print? How cute to would this be to wear on the first day of school?

The Deer Lease

Over the weekend my girls went with Tuck to the deer lease for the very first time.  Tuck's sister and her son, and his dad "Poppa" were there as well.  The girls had the time of their lives!  Both of them are still talking about all the animals they saw, and things their Poppa was doing.  Tuck got some great pictures to bring home to me.

Happy Veteran's Day

Tell a Veteran and/or serviceman thank you today.  It means more to them to hear that then you would expect.  In my family we have to celebrate 2 days in a row Marine Corp birthday November 10th and Veteran's Day November 11th. They deserve it though.

If you don't know a veteran or service person, or would just like to send an extra special thank you out there.  Go to http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1024.html  and send a thank you card to a serviceman.

Pros & Cons of Today

Pro-This morning I found Bowbas laying in her bed awake.  It was early, she was snuggly, and she just wasn't ready to leave her bed. It was adorable and lovey.  The image has been running through my head all day. Happiness.
Con-I cannot hear out of my right ear.  This cold I got 1 week ago today has spread to my ears.  Ear infections cause me no pain and I (usually) do not know I have one until my ear drum ruptures.  It is horrible.  Well today I can't hear and I can feel alittle pressure so...to the doctor I must go.
Pro-The doctor's office is open until 7 pm so I can get meds and hopefully not have a rupture in the middle of the night
Con-It's very quiet and slow at work today causing me to have all the time in the world to think about my ear
Pro-I had lunch with my mom and it was yummy
Con-I am on day 7 of never ending coughing
Pro-I have yummy cough drops
Con-It will be dark outside by 5:30 pm
Pro-My family and I are going to enjoy some technology free time again tonight (night 2 rocked, FYI)

Hopefully tomorrow the ear pressure and cough will have calmed down, and the only con of my day will be that I can't snuggle in bed with my babies all day.

Tablecloth Fun!

I just got an e-mail from my cousin's wife, and I just had to share! 

Seriously?  How stinkin' adorable is this tablecloth? 

 I know my girls would love this! You can find them here.

Technology Free Time

I am recommending this to every family. The other night while we were eating dinner my two littles and my husband were so preoccupied with the TV.  I put my foot down right then and there.  Between my girls being little movie buffs, Tuck with his laptop games and xbox, and me trying to get their attention away from these things...finally giving up...and watching TV, I had enough.  I told them right then and there every single night we will have a technology free time.  We are starting out small.  One hour with no TV, no cell phones, no computers, no video games, nada.  One hour is not too much to ask.  I am sure we go without technology for more than an hour, but only outside of the house...never at home.  I feel like all 3 TV's are always on!
Last night was our first try at this technology free time, and it-was-awesome!  We exceeded our 1 hour rule and went 2.5 hours with no technology.  It was wonderful and the attitudes of everyone in the family was amazing! First, we played hide and seek in the house.  Tuck and I would hide, and the girls would count to ten then look for us. When they found us, we would count and then "look" for them.  Look is in quotes because they hid under the kitchen table every single time.  We laughed and had so much fun!  Then we ate dinner and no one was trying to peek over at the TV. Everyone was smiling the entire time at dinner. Then the babies took a bath and Tuck watched over them, while I folded and put away laundry.  It was the first night in a long time that there wasn't a struggle with bedtime. No one cried that they were not ready for bed, and we didn't hear "Mama, I need to go potty"  300 million times after we tucked them into bed.  It was the most wonderful evening, and I hope you will give it a try too!  Our society has become very dependent on technology, especially with all the fun stuff that cell phones do these days.  It seems like no one ever puts their cell phone down or turns the TV off. Tonight, we will be painting!

Another feature!

Today Bowbas' giraffe party is the party of the day at Catch My Party!  And Teeter Bees' elephant party is a featured party!  Go check it out!  If you click on the party there are details of how I did all the homemade projects and where I got inspiration from, and lots of pictures!

Christmas Wish List

I always have a really hard time thinking of things I want for Christmas.  My favorite part of the holidays is giving, the festivities, the food, the baking, and the look on girls' faces on Christmas morning.  I'm not knocking receiving at all, but I love giving.  I love the feeling that I get when someone realizes you really thought about them.  With that said, I do not usually give giftcards. 
Anyway...I thought of a couple things I might enjoy receiving this year.  Surprise, surprise, they're all baking/cooking related.

1. A Kitchenaid Icecream Maker Attachment.  How much fun would it be to make homemade icecream for my girls and their friends during the summer?

2. A tortilla press from Williams-Sonoma.  I would LOVE to make homemade tortillas. 

3. The Bakerlla Cake Pops Book.  I have wanted this since before it came out.  I had planned to go to her book signing here in Dallas, but it fell on the same day as Tuck's big night.

4. A kitchen torch.  To make creme brulees and other yumminess

Gift Tags

How adorable are these plantable gift tags?  Perfect to put on your gifts for the holidays and it can double as part of the gift!  Each tag, when planted, will grow wildflowers.  I love it!

Featured!

Guess what!  I've been featured for the first time ever, and I am really excited about it!  I am featured on Half Baked-The Cake Blog.

She featured Bowbas's birthday party.  You can see my post about her giraffe party here.  Thank you Half Baked for featuring my blog!

New Layout

Check out the new layout!  I am so excited about the new background, the new tabs, the new header, everything!  I think it looks great!  Do you like it?

Room Inspirations

I am loving these yellow and pink rooms.