First Day of School

 Summer's over and we are now embarking on a new school year.  I now have a third and first grader. When did this happen?!?  They are just growing like weeds!

My big Third grader...

My "little" big first grader

All ready to go...

 Ugh, They are just so dang cute!
Although I feel a little sad knowing these two cuties are going to be growing more independent, I must admit, I have big plans of my own for that 6 hour break everyday...  

A baby shower & FREE printables too!

I had my sister Beckie's baby shower at my house and I had a blast putting it all together!  I went with a "Sweet Baby" theme because I have been a wee bit obsessed with owls lately.  

I got my inspiration here, then I tweaked some things with Photoshop and these super cute printables.  

First things first.

I'll put links to the free stuff at the bottom of the post, here's what I did with it all...

These favors were so easy to do!  Popcorn and butter toffee peanuts in a zip-lock baggie.  Then I printed the bag label on some card stock, folded it in half and stapled it over the top.  

Just print and frame!

I had random birds nests throughout the house and little cupcake toppers too!

The spread, and yes, I labeled everything because that's how I roll.

The sweets table...my favorite part.

My beautiful sister and her friend Shelby.

 

The "Thomas" gals.

Beckie and Karista

Aunt Tammy and my sister Julie

2 excited Aunties and 1 excited Mamma

Everything turned out great and I really had a lot of fun with it.
Now for the goods...FREE printables!

To download the 5X7 frameable signs click here
To download the something tweet table sign click here 
To download the party favor tags click here

The Tooth Fairy

With Aaron losing so many teeth lately, the tooth fairy has been making frequent visits to our house.   So naturally, Aaron has had some burning questions.  He decided to leave her a note...and yes, she answered all  his questions...in her teeny tiny handwriting of course.

Our little snaggle-toothed Aaron

As Aaron pointed out, I'm sure it was very difficult for her to answer these questions holding such a big pencil...

Dillan's Beach

This summer we were fortunate enough to go on a family vacation for my Mom's 60th birthday.  We went to Dillan's beach and had a great time!  It was definitely not the warmest of beaches and we did get caught in quite the wind storm, but we had fun nonetheless...

Mr. Cool in his element.

One thing the wind is good for...Kites!

They could have played catch the waves all day.

Yep, you look pretty darn cool too.

Auntie Auntie is a bit of a regular at Dillan's beach.

Jeremy pulled the boys back and forth for what seemed like hours on the board.  They LOVED it!

Aaron loved soaking up the warmth of the sand.

My prego sister catching a cat nap.

My 60 year old Mom with my "little" brother.

Loving every minute

My man doing the baywatch run...

Keeping this lawn ornament safe became a bit of an obsession for Beckie during the wind storm.

Kite flying and picnics on the deck

Soaking up the rays with my snuggly boy

H+J

Our little Family

  

Red, White and Blue Bundt Cake

Oh my goodness!
I can't tell you how delish this cake was.
Confession time...I even had a piece for breakfast.
 Nothing like cake and morning coffee.
Yummmm...

Ingredients:

Cake

1 {18 1/4 ounce} package red velvet cake mix

1 {4 ounce} package instant chocolate {or vanilla} pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 {8 ounce} package cream cheese, softened

4 ounces butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Sprinkles of choice for the occasion

Directions:

Cake

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease your bundt pan with butter and lightly dust with flour or cocoa powder, tap out excess, set aside.  Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Mix on low for 1 minute, scraping the sides.  Then mix on medium for 2 minutes.  The batter will be very thick.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth it out.  Bake for 45-55 minutes or until its not jiggly anymore.  Cool in pan for about 15 minutes then invert onto wire rack and let it cool completely.  Top with your favorite frosting recipe and sprinkles. I personally prefer cream cheese frosting...

Frosting

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.  Drizzle over your bundt cake generously and enjoy!

***Also, you could easily change the sprinkles to something Christmas-y and have a beautiful holiday cake or some birthday confetti too!***

Happy 4th of July!

Another fun filled day of festivities for Independence day.  We are so fortunate to live in such a great neighborhood.  The fourth of July is always so much fun!

This year we kicked it off with swimming and BBQing, then we did a neighborhood water balloon fight.

I'm always amazed how quickly hundreds of water balloons disappear...

This one is always a favorite to those NOT on the ground...

All our little ducks on a row for the show.

What a fun day!

Artists

 If there is one thing that makes these little guys happy, its when I say YES to paint!  They love creating things and I do love to make them happy...I don't always love the mess, but these smiles are worth it...