Summertime

Its the first day of summer and I love it. Even though we have to get through this June gloom over here, I know that the sunshine, beach days, pool fun, and numerous BBQ's are on the way.

I love Sam Cooke's version of one of my all time favorite songs. It makes me daydream about swinging on a porch (or sometimes its a tire swing hanging from a weeping willow;), barefoot in a sundress, drinking some lemonade all while watching my boys play in the sprinklers. The only sound is their laughter & the bugs.

Until the Hubs whisks us away to this place in my head (he's originally from a little boonie town in the south...so he dreams these little dreams too), I'll play this while making some jewelry-and really fantastic play dough sculptures;)

Happy Friday -Happy Father's Day!!

The stars lined up for Lo and I when it comes to a lot of things...most importantly...our hubs:)

When looking for a song today for all those papas, daddy's, dads, pops, & dadas out there, it was hard to find one that wasn't about daddy leaving, dying, or preaching. I am fortunate enough to know a lot of fantastic dads. Papas that genuinely love being papas and do diapers, tub time, playtime, time outs, etc...not because they have to or should, but because they want to.

Here's to all of you great fathers-single or part of a team- Happy Father's Day...Let's Mambo!!!

All Aboard!!!

The boy wonder is turning 3 next month (it’s flying by waaay too fast!). I think I’m pretty lucky so far…he hasn’t become completely obsessed with anything yet. He loooves everything. He loves garbage trucks, constructions trucks, airplanes, cars (both fast and slow…really doesn’t matter), pink & purple sparkly things (he's secure with his feminine side, as are we:), dinos and trains-just to name a few.

One of his favorite things to do is take a train ride…just like every other kiddo. So when thinking about his 3^rd birthday theme…trains were it. Believe me…I know the day is coming when I wont have a say in picking the theme to his party (or anything else right?) so I cherish these days-big time.

So…here I go again. I began looking for non Thomas the Train party décor. He likes Thomas…but doesn’t love Thomas, so to me that meant “look for something different and impossible!”

Hello trainparty.com!! I fell in love with this sight. Everything you can think of for a train party…all under one cyber roof. Best of all…they had Thomas but not only Thomas…actually, a lot of non Thomas. Our theme is old west vintage trains…and yep, everything from vintage train toys & whistles to train cookies, lollipops, costumes and décor. This site mixed with my party throwing obsession ideas…boy wonder & friends are sure to have the best time this side of the tracks.

Happy Friday!

Today is the start of a crazy busy weekend for me and the family. My youngest, my baby, will be graduating from preschool today. I can't believe my wild and crazy girl is going to be in kindergarten! Then we have birthday parties, ice skating and her first dance recital. The end of the school year madness begins! Thought I'd share a few things I've done this week.

Since my daughter's birthday is in the end of July, she celebrated her birthday in class this week. We saw these Despicable Me cupcakes on Pinterest. The originals were the twinkies on top of cupcakes, but I thought a cupcake plus a twinkie might be a bit much for a classroom full of preschoolers, so we just put them on top of some 'nilla wafers. The kids loved them and thought they were hilarious.

And the flowers are for my daughter's teachers. I found the tumbler glasses at Target (so loving the Calypso line! the clothes, the home stuff, its all sooo cute!) Then it was over to Trader Joe's for some flowers and voila, a pretty, summery bouquet. Wish I could have taken a picture of these in natural light, because the colors are gorgeous!

Hope you have a great weekend and we'll see ya next week!

Kids Bowl Free!

Summer is fast approaching, as is the repressive heat. Escape it this year at the bowling alley! Apparently summer is the slow season for bowling alleys, so in a huge nation wide promo tons of alleys are taking part in the Kids Bowl Free program. Kids bowl free, up to two games a day all summer long. And there's an option to buy a family pass for $24.95 for up to four adults to bowl all summer as well. Such an awesome deal! Find a participating bowling alley and more information here.

BowlARama print by Allee Creative Works, find it here.

Happy Friday!

I am back from the abyss that is a 24 hour tummy bug. So this week's video is for The Husband for taking care of me and our babies till I got better. Thanks babe!

Hope you all have a happy and *healthy* weekend!!

Teacher Appreciation

My son's class already gave his teacher a big teacher appreciation gift and have collected money for an end of the year gift as well, but I like to write his teacher's a heartfelt note and add a little something to it. She's taken care of my son all year long, I feel like just a little something to express my gratitude is the least we can do. Here's a few DIY ideas and some small tokens to buy:

1. Bow Tie Paper Clips Tutorial from How About Orange
2. Apple Sweater by Rachel's Hands, $7
3. Postage Stamp Coasters Tutorial via DesignSponge
4. Glass Magnet Tutorial by Oh My! Handmade Goodness
5. Mini Journal Notepads by Campfire Designs, $4