a million and one little projects

It's official. I've gone off the deep end. Maybe it's because red and aqua happens to be my favorite color combination or maybe because I can't believe my baby boy is about to turn the BIG 1, but whatever the reason, I'm in full party planning mode.
And oh, what fun it is for me!

I love the process...dreaming it up, finding creative ways (read: low cost) to pull it off, personalizing it just so, and then seeing it all come together. Love it! Thank goodness I've got great helpers! Noonie is sewing chalk mats for me and Mimi is bringing "green eggs and ham" to life for me! THANK YOU BOTH! I love all the little projects but truth is sometimes I bite off more than I can handle. We'll see how many projects I can finish but for now, this cute little bunting all the way from Australia is calling my name. It'll soon be personalized with Hudson's name and ready to hang. I like to hang the birthday child's banner about a week before the party just to get in festive mode and extend the celebration a bit longer.

Speaking of celebrations, Pop had a birthday this week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY POP!!!
We love you!

Today we had a special surprise at our usual Friday lunch date, Lance was able to get off work and join us!! To say the littles were excited is an understatement. We lunched at a quaint little burger joint ("quaint" and "burger joint" don't quite belong in the same sentence, do they? ;) in a fun new shopping area nearby. But it really was so pretty! Can't wait to see the little streets all decorated for Christmas this year!

After lunch, my sweet little chunky monkey was T-I-R-E-D and needed to nap ASAP, so we had dessert in the car. THE YuMmIEsT (and prettiest) little cupcakes. Here, take a look: Oh my, Vanilla Buttercream Heaven! So good, someone ate it by the mouthfuls! Finger lickin' good! We did a little shopping today too. Hudson needed pj's and what better place to get them than the Carter's Outlet where not only did we find the cutest dinosaur jammies (pictures later) but we also found a great little deal. This sweet dress was on sale for $10 and I think it'll be so cute with Grace's striped knit ruffles for Valentine's Day! Hard to tell from that picture, but it has the cutest little pockets too! And good thing it's a dress because the little pumpkin has informed me that pants are no good. She wants to wear dresses or skirts all the time :O TWIRLY dresses or skirts to be exact.

And a trip to JoAnns for some sewing needles yielded these fun little fabrics that will soon become a twirly skirt similar to this beloved Matilda Jane style the little pumpkin just adores. She's a girly girl, I tell you! And she keeps me on my toes, but she's oh, so much fun!

Alright, better run...a pack of wooden clothespins and a can of red spray paint are calling my name.