Our Em

She is my little sister by seven years.  She is kindhearted.  She is Emmy to my boys.  She is the best daughter my parent's could ask for.  She is my Mother and my Father all wrapped up in one.  I have no idea what we would do without our Em.

She got all dressed up on Sunday and married the Man of her Dreams.  Right there where we all grew up.

 Right there where my parent's brought her home from the hospital.  Right there, in the exact place that we used to jump on the trampoline.

  Right there where we argued about who's turn it was to dump out all of the old leftover food.  Right there where we threw a softball and played in a tree-house all summer long.

 Right there where we drove our Dad's truck for the first time.  Right there where we ran inside excited about our first love and shed many tears when we realized it wasn't meant to be. 

Right there...she said I Do and was the most beautiful bride.  I am so honored to have been right there.  We love you Emmy!

Nothing Better...

When you're 3 and 1 there is nothing better than a picnic outside, Sesame Street on TV and a steady stream of bubbles on a warm spring day!  Its gorgeous today...y'all enjoy!

I Heart Faces- Yellow!

The theme this week over at I Heart Faces is Yellow!  This is absolutely a "cheat" since I snapped this pic at the I Heart Faces Workshop last weekend, but it's the only yellow picture I gots.  Yellow doesn't mix well with my kiddos complexion..You either do yellow or you don't...and mine don't. Ha!  This little boy was super sweet and super patient...and cookies always help!   Be sure to check out all of the other fantabulous yellow photo entries this week here.

A Little Sunday Style

Rubber pants are the only remedy for the harsh consequences of powerful antibiotics.  They're gorgeous buddy...you wear them well!

Luckiest Girl in the World!

I was on Cloud Nine yesterday, and feeling like the luckiest girl in the World.  I sat elbow to elbow with Angie Arthur and Amy Locurto, the founders of I Heart Faces. I tried to absorb as much knowledge as possible from Jessica Paige, Rachel Durik and Julie Rivera, all contributors at I Heart Faces.  A huge thanks to my super cool husband who encouraged me to attend this workshop and graciously took care of our boys while I spent the day with some amazing women.   My four year hobby, beginning shortly after the birth of Ryder, has spiraled into an expensive addiction. I'm thankful for days like yesterday that make me feel justified...at least temporarily.  Thank you to all of the girls at I Heart Faces for a day full of creativity, great tips and techniques, and awesome SWAG!  Y'all are the Best!

Because...

Because I love you so much...I don't care that your Daddy is choking as he looks at these pictures.   I'll hold on tight to the days that your feet are way too little to fill my boots.  I know I'll blink and barely remember you playing in my "lady shoes" and carrying my purse around while you waited on me to get ready in the mornings.  You look stunning in your "work clothes".Oh...and you know fully well that these things are only for "guirrels".    I'll cherish these sweet memories and one day have some very good material to show my future daughter-in-law.  You're my Bear and I love you THIS much!

Flashback Friday

It's Flashback Friday and one picture says it all.  I love this.  Look how little he was...I want to eat those little cheeks!  Sir...please stop growing!

Perfectly Perfect.

You are perfectly perfect my sweet little man.  Love you beyond words. 

Quick & Easy & Oh So Cheesy Mother's Day Idea

So I bought two little flower pots at Wal-Mart for $1.00 with intentions of doing something really cute with them for our Mom's on Mothers Day.  I envisioned my kids hand-prints painted on them and the Words Mother's Day 2011 neatly painted across the pot...of course things never go how I play them out in my head.  I went a totally different direction and used no paint at all.  This is what I came up with:

 (Disclaimer...this is really Cheesy, so beware...this may not be for you!)

You'll Need these things:

Important:  The candies (Reese's Pieces, 100 Grand, Mars, Almond Joy and Goobers) in the picture go with the print out.  If you don't want to use those candies...you'll need to change the wording of the print-out.

Cut your green floral block so that it will fit down inside of your pot.  Next...get out your glue gun and be sure not to horse around.  You could end up with a burn on your face if you're not careful..ahem...this is for my friend Dani!  ;)  Apply a strip of glue to your dowel and then attach the candy.  It won't melt the candy...I promise!  Next, stick them in your floral block (mine is covered up by some red paper shreds).

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat until you have a pretty arrangement.

I thought mine was missing something so I took a few cupcake liners and attached them to the dowel to make "flowers" intermingled with the candy.

Finally, print out this printable.   That's the cheesy part!  I cut out around the words in the shape of a tag after I had printed it.  That's just what I do....always a tag shape.

 Stick some Tulle or whatever kind of ribbon you have on hand through the tag and wrap it around your pot.  

 
That's it!  Perfect to go with a gift card or anything else you might have purchased...or even all by itself!I linked up to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party!  Go check out all of the other fun ideas!

Flashback Friday

Happy Friday!!!

Teacher Appreciation

Its Teacher Appreciation Week.  I'm not sure if you're even supposed to do Teacher Appreciation gifts for Pre-school Teachers, BUT...they do put up with my 3-year old and all of his antics 3 days a week which is well deserving of some love.  I found a cute idea over at Eighteen25 for some labels and re-created them on my computer.

I'll attach the print-outs at the end of this post.  You'll print them out onto an 8.5x11" piece of paper on your regular old printer.  They should look like this.

Next I cut them out into tag shapes like this.

Grab some ribbon (all I had was black tulle so that is what I used) and attach them to some A&W Rootbeer.  How easy is that!!

If you want to go real fancy...print out this.

Cut a rectangle around the words that is 6.25" Wide by 7" Tall.  Wrap it around a box of Reese's Pieces, using a glue stick to secure the paper to the box.   You're done!

Here is the A&W Printable. Here is the Appreciate You to Pieces.   Enjoy!!  I linked up to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-up Party  and  Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special! 

My Absent Brain

Sometimes my brain goes missing and I do mindless things like feed Plus One a banana with no bib.  I burn bread because sometimes my brain doesn't allow me to do more than one thing at a time.  My body makes all of the motions but in the end, I'm not quite sure how I got to the place I am at.  I'm blessed to have mindless minutes and at the end of a day that is filled with mashed bananas, banged up noggins and fruit loop lunches...I still have two amazing munchkins who remind me of what is truly good in life.

Oh My...that Pioneer Woman is GOOD!

I just made the MM Sandwich courtesy of the Pioneer Woman and Oh My Good Gravy.... it is quite possibly the best thing I've ever put in my mouth.

I stepped outside of my little cooking box with this recipe.  It calls for A LOT of mushrooms.  We don't eat mushrooms.  But I decided I was being slightly hypocritical if I expect my boys to try new foods and I won't.  Thank goodness I did.  This sandwich was amazing!  I modified the recipe slightly using Mrs. Baird's Grillin' Thins for our Bread and substituting White Wine for the Cooking Sherry.  Y'all have to try this recipe...you won't be sorry!

Tasty Tuesday...Beverage Edition

I thought about posting the Vegetable Lasagna I made from the Oh so Wonderful Pioneer Woman last night, but then decided you could just go visit her blog for the recipe.  It was amazing, just as everything she writes about is, and I highly recommend it!

Instead...I thought I'd pass along a drink recipe.  My Sister-in-Law served a  Peachy Iced Tea Sangria over the weekend and it was amazing!  Here are the Ingredients:

• 1 tub of Crystal Light peach tea
• 1 c orange juice
• 5 c water
• Garnish with Orange Slices
• (If you are wanting to spike this up a bit, reduce the Water to 4-1/2 C and add 1/2 C of Bourbon)