a little sneak of Picnic in the Park {Grace's 6th Birthday}...

Grace is soooo excited about her upcoming birthday picnic and I'm having fun putting together a sweet party with an eclectic, vintage feel for the little pumpkin, but seriously what I'm doing most is pRAyINg for a sunny, 60°-70° day come March 10th - Ha!! {Oh me, oh my, I don't think I could have ever planned an outdoor wedding - the stress over the weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}

A little sneak peek...

Oh, I think I was born in the wrong era - hahahahaha!  Seriously though, I just love 'granny chic'!

That quilt is an early birthday gift {to me} from Noonie!! Looooooooooooooooove!!!!
Thanks, Noonie!

wAcKY wEDnEsdAY!

Just a teensy, weensy cRaZY...

Hope you're having a super silly + fun day at school, Grace!!! Love you, my sweet little pumpkin!
XOXO, Mama

three little pigs...by Hudson.

The story of the 3 little pigs holds such a special place in my heart. You can read about it {here}. So, of course, I was smitten the moment he came home with this sweet project...

And the wolf said...

I'll blow, and I'll blow, and I'll blow your house down!

This sweet little boy has wrapped himself around my heart in ways I could have never ever imagined... Mama loves you SO much, Hudson!

A couple of more sneak peeks {Lalaloopsy birthday hat}...

These Lulu & Co. custom hats are on their way to help two little girls celebrate their birthdays...

First up, a fun Lalaloopsy inspired birthday hat...made to match Mittens Fluff-n-Stuff...
{of course, as I was setting up the props to photograph the hat, I couldn't find Mittens aNyWHere in the 50+ collection of Lala minis Grace has amassed!!}

I love how the button matches the trim on the Lalaloopsy house :)

More fun polka-dots on the inside...
{I wish it hadn't been rainy day so I could have photographed these without the flash...the colors are even prettier in person!}

And we couldn't forget big sister!! She's having a Monster High birthday and this was my version of a coordinating hat in the requested hot pink & black color scheme...

More hot pink & black on the inside!

Hope your girls love them, L!!

And it can't be all work and no play, right???! These little guys have been keeping me company...yes, I only eat the pineapple ones - ha!!

More hat designs {here}.
Visit my etsy shop {here} and order via convo.
Current turnaround time is 3 weeks.
 

Sunday Sweetness

Lots of catching up to do, but for now, birthday hat orders are calling my name, so instead how about a couple of sweet pics from our Sunday...

The little pumpkin ready for church...the colors in her outfit remind me of easter eggs :)))

He shares my love for Cadbury eggs...
{yes, the jar was FULL yesterday!!}

A little Spring/birthday crafting...
{Ssshhh...I cheated a little...I just tweaked a Target wreath with flowers!!}

Hope you are spending your Sunday in the company of loved ones! 
 

picture day at school and a fun little hat

Grace had spring pictures at school today. I picked out a couple of outfits...all dresses without ruffle pants of any kind...and let her pick out the one she wanted to wear. You know how she can't stand pants!! I figured this way she might smile bigger (???) We'll see. But here's what she picked out...fUn!!

Hudson could care less about pictures, but if big sister is getting her picture taken, he runs and says, "Take my picture, I'm ready!" and jumps right in the middle of it all. Love him!! Of course, I still can't get him to look at me and smile 99% of the time - ha!! Oh, and no school pics for him today, this was just a comfy outfit :))))

And this is a little sneak peek for you, Rachel. I hope you love it!! It should arrive at your doorstep tomorrow Friday!

Oh, and a new development around here...more soon!

planning a...

...sweet little birthday party!

Yes, the little pumpkin decided several months ago that she wanted to have a birthday picnic, "I just want to eat out of little baskets and fly kites." A girl after my own heart, I tell ya! But given {our past experiences} with birthday themes, I kind of sat on it even though I loved her idea, thinking she might change her mind.

Then December came around and then January and my mind just wasn't on party planning. It was simply on helping my mom kick cancer's butt. Today is her first day of radiation, by the way, and I'd be ever so grateful for your prayers over the next 7 weeks. She's doing aMazINg considering everything she's been through! Thank you for all of the sweet messages of encouragement and for all the heartfelt prayers!!

Okay, so fast forward to 3 weeks before Grace's birthday - yikes! - and I'm finally in full party planning mode.  Along the way, there has been mention of mermaids, art parties, and the like, but she kept coming back to "picnic", so we're running with it!  

Yes, we're having a Picnic in the Park 6th Birthday Party for the little pumpkin!  I've been digging through my stash of party supplies to put together a sweet, eclectic little party for my girly girl and all her little friends.  She loves to sit with me and plan out all the fun details - I love that about her!  So far she wants to add a potato sack race and even throw a little Easter Egg Hunt in the mix. 

As for me, I'm saying a daily prayer for good weather on March 10th and keeping my fingers crossed I can pull this off in exactly 19 days!

birthdays, birthdays...

We have LOTS of birthdays the first 3 months of the year...today was Lance's. Happy Birthday to the love of my life!

He's not as obnoxious as the rest of us are on our birthdays - ha! - actually, he likes to play it really low key, but we still love to celebrate him and the milestone of another year. Living to see another year is aLwAYs a gift!

I don't know if it was the later-than-usual lunch, waking up too early and being tired or just that they were not feeling their best, but we had a bit of a rough time at lunch, as you can see by the tears and teary-eyes :(.............

Moods started to perk up with the opening of gifts...

And by the time 12 of these lovelies came out...

 ...the littles were LOTS happier!  Thank you for treating us to lunch, Mimi!!

{Naps made everyone feel much better - hooray!}

I do find it funny that I have one prissy little miss...

...and one who is all about little boy humor!

Actually, they both laughed about this silly 'ole toy for hours on end.  Sometimes if you can't beat them, you just have to join them! Silliness goes a long way toward improving grouchy moods ;)

While 75% of our household took naps, I went on a little shopping excursion to look for birthday goodies for the little pumpkin's upcoming big day. I may not have found too many birthday goodies, but I did find some adorable Easter goodies!!!

And I may or may not have bought myself a little birthday treat too. Sssshhhh...

Happy Saturday!
 

happy valentine's day!

My two little love bugs ready for school this morning...

Yesterday I shared pics of {Hudson's valentine treats} for his friends and today it's Grace's turn!  I love these sweet tags from Ciao Bambino Designs!

The littles had so much fun this morning passing out yummy "pink" velvet cupcakes to their sweet teachers and some of the staff at their schools...my favorite was Mr. S, the security guard, who smiled so big when Grace handed him one of the little boxes and said, "For me??!"  I'm kind of sappy as it is, but it totally made my day!

Hudson with his sweet teacher, Mrs. Sandy!
{sorry for the blurry phone pic...I was juggling cupcakes - ha!}

Hudson with Ms. Kelli, who he looooves!  Ms. Kelli lost a loved one recently and we've been praying for her, her sister who shares my love of MJ clothing {he, he} and their entire family.  Sure hope the little cupcake could put a smile on her face, if even for just a second.

I'm kind of sad that Hudson's preschool didn't have a valentine party that the parents were invited to attend - I love those kinds of things!!  But he did come home with some fun goodies and with this super cute valentine for us - LOVE!!  It's a picture of him hiding behind the Mardi Gras mask he decorated...

I was able to stop by Grace's kindergarten class as they were enjoying their special valentine treats and snap some fun pictures...

I love how excited they get when they have a "visitor" :)))

More sweet faces...

Last week this plain bag came home with each of the Whale Kids to be decorated for Valentine's Day...I love how they all turned out!!  Such a fun way to take their treats home!

Here is Grace's!

They loooooooooooved getting into their goodies!!

Sweetest smile!

Such cuties!

I love checking out their artwork...this little groundhog Grace made was too cute!

And these little gumballs for the 100th day of school...super fun!!

After working all day on a rather boring project, hanging out with these guys for an hour sure made my heart happy!

 Grace and her BFF Savannah...

And on their way out, their sweet teacher Ms. V gave them these fun crayons!  Hers turned out much prettier than {mine} did, that's for sure!!  I love the bigger size.  She told me she used a whoopie pie pan...will have to try that next time!.......or maybe it's just a kindergarten teacher's touch?? She makes the most adorable crafts with them!!

I brought Noonie a little present...something that she's been looking for FoREveR!!

Yes, old-fashion jumping jacks!!

We decided we didn't want to fight the crowds for dinner so we celebrated at home, family style, with this heart-shaped pizza we bought from our fave take-n-bake pizza place as part of a fundraiser for Grace's school...

Hmmm...I don't know if I want this piece or not...

Hudson, it's yu-mmy!

....and although too sweet for Lance and I, the littles loved the s'mores pizza for dessert!
{yes, I made them change clothes!  This was a sticky, gooey mess!!}

Grace even took our picture on Valentine's Day! :)

Sure hope you had a sweet day!