matilda jane party

i recently had a matilda jane trunk show at my house. i have always love their clothes and i was pretty pumped to get the kids easter outfits. it was one of those maybe i'll splurge a little every 4 years for an outfit kind of thing. for me anyway. $$$$$

but it was still fun. we invited lots of moms and daughters. my friend from undeniably sweet events set up a beautiful sweetscape :) it was pretty awesome and with record time... cleared out!

there were children running wildly about with cake pops in their mouths, mommies getting a chance to sit and visit, and cute clothes to boot!

it was a lovely afternoon.

viva las vegas

guess who won tickets to this concert???? yep. me.

i was SO excited. i had received this email and was bound and determined to get tickets. even if i had to buy them. that's what it quickly turned into as i got there and realized no one was budging at all. you HAD to buy product, which i was open to if it were products that i wanted, but alas it was not.

on my final try, i decided to go to the seminar where they would randomly give out tickets in a crowd of several hundred. not my luck. i'm not into contact things, or competing for things in large crowds AND i never have luck when it comes to these things. i did once win a ceramic bowl because my name was helen. i also won a ladmo bag, but was too embarrassed to get it and sent up a sibling. anyway....

as the guy started the seminar with a music video... he staged having audio issues...and then ingrid walked up and gave a live performance of one of her songs. i couldn't believe it. i was so happy. then they announced for the crowd to check under their chairs for a random ticket taped underneath.

WAHOO! i had one under my chair!!!!!!

it was meant to be. she was so awesome and funny. i loved every minute. paully went with me. he loved it too.

back up a little......

paul and i flew out to vegas for a photography expo. i met up with my dear old friend i hadn't seen in years. we had fun, but there was never enough time to catch up. i think 2 full days of talking still wouldn't have been enough time. i love that when you can do that with friends you haven't seen in a long time.

we had intended to take tons of pics...

but there were only a few self portraits before we left the room and a few out and about. oh well :)

the first night she won tickets to a hypnotist show. she and paul volunteered to be hypnotized. they both tried, but it didn't work. they both faked it until they couldn't anymore. it was pretty hilarious anyway.

this was after the show.

we did take her to the hoffbrauhaus for the first time. it's always a good time there. and who doesn't like a little jager schnitzel and spatzle????
YUMMY!!!

i learned a lot at the show and had a wonderful time with my partner in crime. i wish we had unlimited funds. we could have done some damage with those expo deals. lenses, props, video equip., etc......... oh yeah!!!!

sar's shower

we had a surprise shower for my little sis the other day. i told her to get all dolled up and that i needed her for a photo shoot. i think she had some suspicions... but oh well.

the theme was gray, yellow & white. (the colors of her nursery)

lent had already started, those homemade cinnamon rolls and blueberry tart were KILLING me.

she got loads of cute baby girl stuff. now the countdown is on!

i'm excited!!!

feb. dinner club

now this was a few weeks ago, but i def. don't want to forget this beautiful romantic evening our dear friends put on. with it so close to valentine's day, they decided to make the theme about our own "valentines" and weddings. we could come dressed as a bride, wear our own wedding dresses (not gonna happen for me :( at this point in time anyway...) or something along those lines. we were to bring our wedding albums. and we were to come prepared to tell the group 3 reasons why we would marry our spouses again today. it was such a fun and sweet evening. it was nice seeing everyone get all mushy. it made us all smile :)

i found a (designer) white dress, at last chance, with a slash on the torso. it was $12.97 with 75% off. now that's my kind of deal. i just threw together some fabric flowers, stitched them over the rip... and voila! a bride stuffed into my new wedding dress! i liked the style it was kind of 80's meets modern victorian. whateves. it was $3.


we had our own special chalkboard heart with our names combined beautifully written across.
i heart grosgrain.
romantic tablescape.
funny picture.
lots of laughter.
delish.
ummm. more delish. i wish you could taste this cake. it was AMAZING!
pellie. has a nice ring doesn't it?

ummm pop

bad dog.

so, we've begun another lenten season. i like this time of self reflection. checking myself (vice-wise), sacrificing, doing extra things for others, etc.

i'm not that original this year. it's usually some combination of the same 5 things.

this year it's:

1. no alcohol

2. no sugar

3. no nail biting

you can see the no sugar thing is well over due.......

darn that fry's private selection sea salt carmel truffle. i just don't know how it disappears so fast.

anyway. i'm ready for the challenge.

these little monkeys love the new soda fountains at firehouse. wekumdafiahou.
baby R calls anything in the whipped cream, cookie batter, yogurt family... really anything.... umm.

i unt umm. he says. a lot.

he also likes lollipops. he found a bag of "pops" around valentines day and hasn't been the same since.

so you could imagine his delight when he discovered cake pops.

ummm Pop! ummm Pop!!!

so daddy bought him one.

he couldn't believe it.
he was even attempting to pose for me. this is his "show me your smile" face.

a random pic of S, sleeping in the car. baby R must have been screaming.
happy lent! 42 days till Easter!!!!

my coca-cola model

i just had to get this dress from target. i couldn't resist something so retro. i also bought a similar one for D. oh yes. another photo shoot will happen. she was excited to look like kit, her american girl doll.

thx mom. for being the assistant.

love is in the air...

literally.

paully sent me this pic the other day from his drive home.

i am enjoying listening to this as i cut out hearts for little S. boy are the girls gonna be surprised when they get home.

bless you

best part of the day:

my little angel son, whose favorite phrase to say to me is "shush" followed by "go away",

i know, really sweet, but i told you that we all think it's so horrible and funny that we laugh and, well, we all know what happens in those circumstances, anyway.....

i was getting him ready for bed, rubbing lotion on his little legs and distracting him with a story about fire trucks, when i had to sneeze.

AHHH CHOOOOOO!!!

and you know what little boy did?

he smiled at me, with that same grinning smile that his dad does, and said in the sweetest voice...

Bless You.

well i was so pleasantly surprised i just kissed and kissed him and thanked him. he liked that. then he pointed to the fire truck, reminding me to get back on track.

i blessed him and kissed him and put him to bed.

now i'm making no bake choc. peanut butter cookies to celebrate.

and no one is here to stop me.

p.s. hot off the press... just heard that anthro has a brand of jeans called whoa nelly. goll. i swear. when will they stop stalking me???

love bug

little S is the only girl in her preschool class. so we had to find the perfect valentines to make for the big exchange. luckily, we found them. thank you pinterest. i wish i could say that we were inspired by these, but we just completely copied them. she even gives you a free template print out. awesome!




S liked the butterflies and the ladybug.


she even made one for her little brother. he liked them. a lot.