Thankful: 1.

I am thankful for this adorable, wild and crazy, loving, and wonderful family of mine. Each one if these boys holds a special place in my heart, but together they are my world.

Happy November and here's to a month of being thankful! :)

And P.S. I'm also thankful that there is no school today. Here's to sleeping in on the day after Halloween! (Or letting Andrew asleep in while I deal with a cranky pants baby who didn't get enough sleep last night!)

Xo! :)

insta-friday.

 This is the first time I am linking up to the InstaFriday party over at Life Rearranged!  So, so excited!  Hello to any new faces that I haven't met in blog-land quit yet.  I am happy to have you here!  Here's a sneak peek at my week... {and don't forget to oogle the cute photo of my four month old.  He is such a cutie in his monthly photo!}

 

 My oldest son got a great hit in his last basebll game- so proud of him and his team!!! They are in the playoffs and  not out of it yet!  He plays again tomorrow, so think good thoughts for the Angels. :)

 

 My littlest son had his four month check-up this week.  He is doing amazing and the doctor witnessed him laughing and smiling and talking.  Declan was is such a great mood... that is, until his shots.  Bummer.  It took a good two days to get him back to his happy, normal self.  But all is well now! :)  How cute is that face, right?!

 

 Southern California got rain this week!  It was so, so cozy.  I am such a sucker for wet, chilly weather, and it so rarely hits us here in Orange County.  But I fully enjoyed it, and even took Declan out to the front porch to listen to the raindrops coming down.  He was totally impressed.  Totally. :)

 

And one more photo of this happy face.  I mean, seriously... who wouldn't want to spend their day chatting with this little bug? :)

 

Happy Friday, xo! 

Blessed.

St. Patrick's Day.
Wearing green.
A few fun decorations.
A beach date with little boys.
Toes in the sand.
Chatting about leprechauns.
I feel blessed. :)

The Little Things

As busy mothers, sometimes it is hard to pick out the little things that make us happy on a daily basis.  We are running kids to school, feeding the baby, cleaning the house, making dinner, go, go, go all day long.  But we should all stop to see these little things, that while they may seem insignificant in a passing moment, are truly what our happiness is made of. :)

Here's what I stopped to smile at this week...

 

A happy baby at his two month doctor's appointment.  All smiles! 

...That is, until those crummy shots to the leg.  {sniff!} Made me so sad for this little man.

 

A wonderful husband who brings me flowers for no reason at all...

except to let me know he loves me. :)

 

 As a self-proclaimed TV addict, catching up on The Vampire Diaries was very happy for me this week.

{That is, until one of my favorites got killed.  Not cool, not cool at all.}

 Coffee.  {Need I say more?}  It's what gets me through the morning. :)

 Baby smooches!!! :)

{and for momma keeping it real with my crummy hair, roots and all, no makeup, looking like total crap.  A day in the life, people. ;) }

 Family game night!

{Seriously, who knew Risk could be so much fun?  And so addicting?}

 It was Andrew and my first time playing!  John was quite the teacher of world domination.

 

 

 One smart little cookie that I have raised.

Andrew got an A+ on his report about Teddy Roosevelt.  Go Andrew!!!!

You sure know how to make a momma proud. :)

 

What made you smile this week? :)

xo!

 

*Linking up with Falling for Friday :) Love her blog!!!

*Also linked to a new blog I just discovered. High Five for Friday! :)

Warm Days

I feel so lucky to live so close to the coast. We live four miles up the street from the beach, so this past weekend, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect for an evening trip to the beach. We tossed a few towels in the car, I grabbed my beach chair and a book, and took my boys down to enjoy the last couple of hours of sunshine.

Andrew splashed his toes in the water, played with shells and rocks, we shared some snacks, I started my new book, and we watched the sunset.

 

Oh yeah, and Declan slept right through it all. :) 

 

Thank you to the wonderful weekend weather, even though it's back to being a little chilly for the rest of the week. Feeling lucky to be a southern California girl right about now. :)

xo! 

  

photo friday! :)

I have been stockpiling photos over the past two weeks and then I happened to stumble on the CUTEST new blog.  Photo Friday is the theme for today, and you can share the last things you took photos of.  Here is my past week or two in photos- and it's feeling great to catch up here!! :)   Andrew started third grade last week.  AH!  How did he become so grown up looking??!!  Where is my little boy??  He is loving his class, his school, everything about the new year so far.  That makes a momma very pleased. :)   He also started baseball!!  This is his first baseball team and he is so excited to play fall ball this year.  Here's to hoping he loves it, because I actually like watching baseball.  {As opposed to another certain sport that has started recently! ::cough::football::cough::}  So far so good, and he is so thrilled to play his first game on Sunday!!! :) :)   My shop is undergoing some exciting changes!!!  New packaging for the Queen Bee Market next week!  Do you like???  Everything will now have these fab brown paper labels on them, and I should be phasing them into the shop orders after the market as well.  Plus there are some new items that will be hitting the shop as well- these cute polka dot trees are TOO cute.  Seriously, I am in love with them! :)  They will be available in the shop soon, but contact me through Etsy if you can't live without them and I'll see what I can do! ;)   Another new item that will debut at the market next Saturday.  These fantastic new brown paper greeting cards!!!  This is one of my favorite songs and I love mason jars.  I just had to combine the two and voila!  Serious cuteness, in my opinion.  Hopefully some of you will agree! :)  These cards, along with some other mason jar card designs, will be in the shop after the market.   Speaking of the Queen Bee Market, are you local to Southern California?! Then stop by and see me at the event on Saturday, September 22nd from 9am to 3pm! Here is a great info blog to get you set on where you will be going for this event.  Hope to see some of you there!! :)   And...

 

Pop over to see more photos here!

 

Hope you all enjoy a fantastic weekend!

xo!

on to second grade.

My sweet little Andrew is already two weeks in to second grade.
Where does the time go?!
He was so excited in his new yellow tshirt with his new yellow shoes!
He has a fantastic teacher & his best friend is in his class.
We are happy to have a wonderful beginning to the school year!


Andrew & his proud mommy!! ;)


These little goofballs were so jazzed to be in the same class this year.
Best friends & happy guys, for sure! :)
Here's to a fantastic year in second grade!
xo!

PS.
Don't forget to enter the giveaway from yesterday! :)

love, boats, caterpillars, and a picnic. :)

Memorial Day was such a relaxing day for us! We usually don't do the whole beach thing like so many people in Southern California, but we did decide to head out to a gorgeous park. My boyfriend John, Andrew, and I packed a delicious picnic and drove out to Irvine Regional Park to spend the day. :)


Andrew was a wonderful photographer, snapping photos of John and I! :)


Our little picnic site was on a shady little knoll right by the water's edge. A gorgeous place to sit & enjoy the day, and the perfect spot for the boys to hop over to the boats for a little cruise around the lake! :)


We were invaded by caterpillars, which Andrew thought was fantastic. {Ok... I did, too! Those little guys are too cute!}


Another fine photo from my short little photographer man. ;) Love!


A beautiful day, spent with my favorite people. :)
Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day as well!
xo!

my baby is 7???!!!

Today my baby boy turns 7 years old.
Where did the last 7 years go, anyways?!
Time really does fly.

I am lucky to be the momma to such an amazing little man.
I am so proud of the person he is growing to be,
and he amazes me each and every day
with the funny things he says and does.

I love you, Andrew!
Happy birthday
to my very favorite child!
You make me smile every day. :)
Love, Mommy
xo!

PS.
Birthday party photos to come.
The party was a hit, let me tell you.
As you can see, Andrew totally enjoyed dressing up!
Stay tuned. :)

in search of ideas.

Yesterday, I shared with you some of my favorite photographs having to do with vintage carnivals. There was a method to the madness, and I'll tell you why.

In 26 days,

my baby boy turns 7!!!

{and yes, we are counting!}

That sounds SO much older than six, let me tell you.

But after many discussions with Andrew, the theme of his birthday party has been decided...

Andrew's Carnival!!

So now I am reaching out to all of you creative people who are surely full of fantastic ideas for me to incorporate into this backyard carnival of fun! We want to make it old fashioned and fun, with vintage games and silly prizes, popcorn and hot dogs, the boys wearing funky top hats and tossing ping pong balls into bowls of goldfish. {Yes, for real, there will be goldfish.}

So, I need your help!!

Ideas? Fun games to create? Decor items?

Let me have it, friends. Comment away!

I am in planning mode and need all the help I can get!

And PS.

Is this THE cutest cake in the world?!

Too bad we aren't having the theme be "superheroes"!

Or maybe it's a good thing....?

It will save me a bundle not having this cake made for my son. :)

Now I am off to throw a snazzy Easter party in Andrew's classroom...

I hope you all enjoy a fantastic Friday

& wonderful start to your holiday weekend!

xo!

happy weekend.

Spring break is in full force around here.

We are so enjoying Andrew's time off from school

and he has finally reached his "relaxed" state...

getting toys out and playing happily in his room, nice & calm.

I love this mood of his. :)

Little trips up to my boyfriend's house have rounded out a very nice week so far for us.

{And it's not even over yet! Another week of break is upon us!}

It makes me really look forward to summer as well!

Happy weekend, friends!

xo!

{photo via weheartit}

a change of plans.

The inspiration post will have to wait until next Thursday.
There was a slight change of plans as of yesterday evening.

Andrew got his first set of stitches!!
He was riding his bike in the neighborhood and crashed into a palm tree.
Sounds not-so-bad?
Well...
the sharp pointy palm tree leaves seriously sliced into Andrew's cheek!!
Enough that an urgent trip to the emergency room was in order!
So off we went...

Yuck, yuck, yuck!!!
This had to hurt.
Poor little Andrew was so brave,
and sat for hours in the emergency room
waiting for someone to stitch him up.


Eventually someone came to the rescue!


Andrew thought he was going to be fully put to sleep for the procedure,
so he was shocked when he learned this was an awake sort of thing. :)
He did wonderfully though, so so brave!!!

And seven blue stitches later....

...here is my little boy!!
His new nickname is "Stitch."
I've been using it, and he thinks it is quite funny.
He is in no pain, on some antibiotics to curb any infections,
and is in very happy spirits that he gets a few days off from school.
His only concern is looking in the mirror.
That is not jazzed about.
We will avoid all mirrors for a while... :)

We told Andrew to tell his friends that a werewolf attacked him.
The palm tree story is cute,
but the wound looks pretty animal-like to me.
:)

So I hope everyone else is staying well and not enduring any ER trips.
We will be safely relaxing today, no crazy palm tree bike rides for us.
Happy Thursday!!
xo!

sweet & happy.

I love when Andrew is quietly crafting.
So sweet and he is so darn happy with a few markers, a bit of paper, and stickers.
I love to snag up some of those dollar goodies at Michael's or JoAnn's to keep on hand for afternoons that we need a little craft time. Andrew loves to be surprised by these goodies, too! Perfect idea for rainy days when momma needs to clean the house as well! ;)


That face is just the sweetest, right?!
Andrew, be still my heart.
Love, love, love. :)

And here is another sweet little item to hit the shop...

I adore these brown paper cardstock heart cutouts! :)
SO many ways to use these...
you might need a pack or two in your crafting collection.
I know Mr. Andrew already snagged some from my office. :)

Happy crafting, and stay tuned tomorrow for my inspiration post!
{Did you make anything inspired by bicycles this week? I did!! Can't wait to share!}
xo!

momentous!!

My child slept all.night.long.
without waking up and coughing!!!!!
This is a very happy day for this momma. :)

Oh yeah.
And I have a date tonight with my fab boyfriend
who I haven't seen since Sunday.

Like I said....
Happy, happy, happy.

I hope you all enjoy the very happiest of Fridays as well!
xo!