Cupcakes Cupcakes Everywhere

The theme for Kate's birthday is CUPCAKES! When I was pregnant with her in one of my Knitting books One Skein they had knitted cupcakes and I so wanted to make them for her first birthday (remember she wasn't even born yet that's how insane I am) I put it in the back of my head telling myself they were too hard. Anyway I went to Archivers to find stuff for her invitation and of course the only thing I could find was cupcake crap I mean stuff! So I started Knitting cupcakes!
Here is her invite I went with little girls colors purple and pink (light)
This is the picture I took and used on the front of her card
Some of my knitted cupcakes on the cupcake stand on a cupcake placemat! If you want anything cupcakes go to Target they have a ton of stuff!
Than my Grandma Kate's Gigi (great grandma) googled cupcake hat and made Kate this beautiful birthday hat! Thank you Gigi!

Well tomorrow is the big day I will post edible cupcakes with the receipes and pictures of the Party Dress and the rest of the party!

Decorating Excuses

I love having people over so I get things done that I have been dragging my feet on! We had these pictures taken in October and I received them in November and I am just now getting them on the wall! I also love having deadlines so I can do some deep cleaning that needs to be done. Tomorrow is Kate's party (more for me than anything!) and I love having friends and family over! I can not wait for a bigger house so I can have more parties! Anyway, I have taken pictures in sections and than one all together. Thank you Wendy for spending so much time with me at Aaron brothers and Target and for the Aaron brothers guy wherever you are-great ideas!

For Christmas my BFF Susan gave me that wonderful tile and stand plus a tile for every holiday and one for everday! She knows how much I love my holidays! Thank you thank you!!!

OREO COOKIES

So I have a bad habit to admit I LOVE a late afternoon snack! It usually consists of cookies and milk, and I had a rule that they had to be homemade to save money and to maybe cut back on the amount of sugar I was consuming. As you can see I did not make those cookies- When I am desperate I will check to see if Oreos or Chips Ahoy are on sale and only then will I purchase. Anyway now that Dylan does not take a nap he looks forward to this afternoon ritual, as soon as I shut the door to Kate's room he is ready. SO we have not had Oreos for a long time and when I gave him his two he twisted them open and started scraping the filling out with his teeth. I asked where he learned that from because I am a serious dunker and he proceeded to tell me about his aunt Kerrie and cousins on News Years Day they had an Oreo eating contest. I was amazed at how much he remembered just by watching these girls eat their oreos!

First mom you have to open them and lick the centers clean, than you but it back together-but they cannot break and you dunk and drink!
The winner had to stick out their tongue when they were done!

Dylan's and Kate's Room

Well it is supposed to be the day before Kate's party but I just called everyone and moved the party to next week. She has had a fever with a runny nose since Sunday and I just kept hoping she would get better! She also received her 1st year shots on Monday-four one in each arm and each leg! We have not left the house since then and I am not completely ready to do her party anyway so I guess it is a good thing we are moving it. I made the cupcakes yesterday and the meat for the tacos, so I put everything in the freezer. I love doing birthday parties and I know the first is really for me, an excuse to get things done around the house and make a yummy dinner for our friends and family!
We finished their room last September (I know i am totally jumping subjects sorry) and I have been meaning to post pictures so here they are!

Kate's bed I made a clothesline and hung two tiny outfits my grandma made for her and her home from the hospital outfit that my friend Tracie gave me. I copied the letters from The Land of Nod http://www.landofnod.com/default.aspx?srccd=m126 I love this store!
Dylan on his bed with name and his coveted cork board. He loves having a place to hang anything he wants! I made his bed spread and Aunt Wendy made a similar one for Kate that I just realized I do not have in any of my pictures so I will post later, usually it is over the rocker but Debbie borrowed it to show a friend. I love showing things off we have made!
I also made this bag to place her stuff animals in - Tiny room you have to get creative! I love this fabric Nursery rhyme tulle (I think that is how you spell it)
This is Dylan's area to get all his treasures: piggy bank, jewelry box he made at Jenna's birthday party inside a necklace he made at Hannah's party and other jewelry he has received,ctr ring, and a couple other necklaces, snow globe we made, a bug box, a lava lamp and cup of goo he made at Ben's party, wind up music box twinkle twinkle and a pair of glasses he made at school. And all atop his loved book collection!
This is Kate's area a doll that was mine given to me years ago from tutu my mom cleaned her up and gave her back when Kate was born, two knitted bowls that my friend Brenda made me one has bag balm and one has her little hair bows with the KY jelly bottle the tutu I bought to take her nine month pictures in, piggy bank, flowers that my uncle Pete and his family gave me and her music she has to have to fall asleep.
I hope I did not bore anyone I was not going to give so many details but thought it would be fun to remember!

Kate's 1st Birthday!

So yesterday was Kate's official birthday, we had dinner at grandmas house a couple presents and of course cake! She was a little un sure when we were singing to her, but once the candle was out and the paper was off she went right for it!


She loves to hold things like her blanket or stuffed animal or doll close to her and shake her body around making a hmmm noise to give loves and apparently she felt the cupcake deserved some!

You can see two of her four top teeth she has been working on the last couple weeks! She was happily showing her hands to her dad wanting him to get her out!

So as many of you know I become obsessed with birthdays and a theme, Kate's theme is cupcakes and I will do a whole post on what I have been working on later, but anyway I decided that she needed an old fashioned party dress and I wanted an apron to match for her birthday party this Friday. So yesterday I spent the afternoon into the evening at Debbie's house working on it. It turned out wonderful and I really have to give Deb the credit! I wouldn't of been able to do it with out her! Thank you again! I will post pictures later!

Car Detectives

SO it is 10:40 pm Wednesday night and it is a bitter 7 degrees outside. Marc has been gone to his office since 6pm trying to figure out why his car won't start. I see lights out in the alley and bundle up to see if he needs help with anything, but lucky for me Kevin was with him and they have towed Marc's car home! This is the sight I see walking into the garage- Marc carrying a flashlight looking at the ground with Kevin following behind. As I look closer they are looking at a trail of fluid trying to figure out what is leaking! I wish so bad I had a camera in my head so I could capture every moment! They really want to get this car fixed so the crazy boys can go on a fishing trip this weekend and I can have MY car back. I am so lucky to have a talented husband who can fix ANYTHING! (And for all his brothers who are crazy enough to help so I do not have too!)

The Clark Family

Our friends The Clark family had another beautiful baby boy, Emerson. It was so fun to go to their new home and take pictures of their family. Thomas is so cute and he is going to be such a good big brother! Taking pictures like this really makes me want to be a "real photographer" when I grow up! Thank you so much for letting me practice on you guys!
I can not believe it has been almost a year and Kate was this tiny! Emerson has more hair than she will probably ever have :) Hopefully not!

Baby Emerson

Monday...

OK so to start one of my New Years resolutions I have to clean my house today. Erin wanted to know my cleaning schedule so I thought I would share with everyone! I like to do all the basic stuff vacuuming, dusting, moping and bathrooms all on Monday. I feel like after the weekend the house is a disaster. Probably because I am lazy so it gets out of control! Anyway Sunday night Marc and I "tidy" up- we put everything away so in the morning I can just start. Before Kate was born I was so good at this, not so much today but it will get done! This morning I woke up pretty tired got ready dropped Dylan off at school and came home to check blogs. I am so addicted! So back to the cleaning. Monday I will do all the laundry, vacuum the whole house, dust, mop the kitchen and bathrooms on my hands and knees and the rest of the upstairs is hardwood and I will mop those with a washcloth mop. Because the bedrooms and living room are hardwood I will vacuum and swifter under the beds and furniture to get all the dust. I will then clean the bathrooms. (Sometimes I do this after the kids are in bed and then I shower). I will also pick one thing that needs to be done that I do not do every week, like baseboards, wipe doors, windows, clean my shades, wipe out the fridge, wash curtains or dust the ceiling fans. I do not have a rotation I just do it when it looks like it needs it. Today I am doing ceiling fans.
During the week to keep it looking nice I vacuum the kitchen a couple times a day (I have the best cordless vacuum)! And I always try to keep the kitchen clean- wipe counters, keep up on the dishes and for little spills I will not re mop but I will use my clorox wipes on everything! There will be no sticky residue! I also use them in the bathroom once or twice during the week. Now if I just do not get to my cleaning on Monday I do quick cleaning with the wipes in the bathroom and the kitchen and bathroom floors and call it good until the next week. I do not think it will kill us. I also do our sheets once a month and our towels once a week. When I know I am going to do that I will do my other laundry over the weekend so I am caught up by Monday night.
I have not been this good in a year but it is my goal to get back to this. In fact Marc has probably done more laundry than me this past year! Poor guy! I really like my Monday cleaning to have a clean house the rest of the week and know we can play!:) If Marc is reading this he is probably shaking his head because we play all the time! Hope you all have a wonderful week!

My Sweet Jackson

December 2006 Jackson started limping on his right leg. We assumed he had another torn ACL because two years earlier we had his left leg repaired and was told he would eventually need the other one done as well. So we called the surgeon and the week before New Years Marc and Audrey left with Jackson to do a consult surgery. Audrey was going to stay and observe so Marc was supposed to call me when he left so I would know when to pick her up. A couple hours went by and no call, so I called and was told he would be home soon and we would talk then. They got home and everyone was very upset. They got an extremely 140# groggy dog into the house and I was told he had bone cancer.
I can not believe how hard this is for me to write. I went back to my journal and calendar so I could find out the exact day we put him to sleep and for the month of January I wrote down nothing- not even the birth of Kate and her story! Wow I am glad no one is around to see me blubbering like a fool! Anyway Jackson lived with us for one more week- through the New Year and one cold morning my wonderful husband took him to the vet to be put to sleep. He was so excited to be going for another car ride and it tore me apart.
I was very upset and my poor sweet Dylan was so confused as to what was going on. To this day he brings up the topic of death and Jackson quite frequently. Just two days ago we found a Jackson hair and Dylan told me that he was up in heaven dropping them down to us. Anyway for those of you who did not know our Jackson he was a Bernese Mountain Golden Retriever mix, weighing in at 140# but believed he was a lap dog. He was very obedient and loved very much. Here are a few of my favorite photos of him.

My Rambling...

Sometimes lately it hits me that I am a mom, wife, home maker etc. I feel like I am living out a dream. I have always wanted this life for as long as I can remember and I have so much fun! But on days when my house is a complete disaster (like today) I have to clean it no one else is going to do it for me, or to get to things on time say church or school it is totally up to me to get up before everyone else and get ready then get two kids ready. AM I making sense? I had this thought last night as I was very white trash like putting my very alive Christmas tree on the front porch still in the stand because I could not look at it anymore! Or in the middle of the night getting up with a crying baby or having my 4 year old come home from school telling me all the new things he did that day.

I love being a mom and wish I was better organized to do even more things to make our lives more fulfilling! This morning Dylan slept in and I needed to get up before he crawled in bed with me and I was kind of sad! I hope we can continue that tradition for ever! Even if I have to take my shower and crawl back in bed for a couple minutes.

Yesterday was Uncle T Bones (Kevin's) birthday and so he and Steve came over for birthday dinner. We had pork tenderloin, salad and cheese rice a roni. It was very good but very late! We did not eat until 8 because the pork needed an hour and a half and it didn't get put in until 6:30. Oh well! After dinner Dylan gave Kevin his present a sugar cookie with little frosting we made the other day at Aunt Wendy's house.

Well I had better get going, I need to leave in a couple hours to go cash in one of my Christmas presents- laser hair removal! Yaaaa I am so excited! Have a wonderful day!

Happy New Year 2008!

We hope everyone had a wonderful New Year! On New Years Eve we went to the mall in the afternoon did a little shopping and had a late lunch at one of my favorites California Pizza Kitchen. That evening after Kate went to bed we played games with Dylan and made ice cream sundaes. We had lots of fun! Dylan and I went to bed around 10:30 and Marc rang in the New Year by himself, poor guy! Some of my New Year resolutions are:

* Have some sort of exercise incorporated into my live at least 3x a week
* Get back on my cleaning and meal schedule I was on before I had Kate-about time she is almost 1!
* I want to play with my kids more- I tend to read or play games with them more than pretend play
* Marc and I need to make more alone together- one date a month when we get a sitter
* Add updates to my blog more often so I can print it out at the end of the year and have a completed journal.

So the other day Dylan held up his hand and said, "see that mom? can you see that? I am getting hair on my hand so I must be getting really old!" I do not see any can you?

My moms friend Lori gave this dress to Kate when she was born and I just love it! She wore it to church so I had to get a picture- I did not realize she had ripped her bow out until it was too late! Cute girl! I think I have pictures of Dylan in all his outfits I have really been slacking with her. I think part of my problem is the more I learn about photography, snapshots are hard for me because the lighting in my house is so bad and I want them all to look perfect!
It is so fun having a girl! I am glad I am not the only one who thinks so! Aunt Kerrie was dying to paint her toes on Christmas eve, I am totally shocked she stayed still and didn't smear them!