communion, cast and crossroads

Last week felt like the longest week of the year. My husband had to travel out of town for work so on top of juggling three children I had to: bring one to Tball (opening day and practice,) arrange for my daughter to attend communion practice, volunteer at school, head to a dermatologist appointment (where they found a second potential skin cancer,) attend a family morning share at school, bring one child to the doctor, pick one up from school early on two different days, oh and clean, shop, cook and plan a communion party for my daughter which also happened to fall on my 42nd birthday. To top it all off, for some strange reason one of the children woke every day at 5:30am and  my daughter fell off the monkey bars on Friday evening and has a buckle fracture on her wrist. She just got a cast on this morning. I am still exhausted and trying to catch up, but who has time really. This week it's teacher appreciation and I've helped plan a little something special each day for both of the teachers of my school aged children.  After hosting parties for the past four weeks straight, the communion party on Saturday felt like a triumph and the end of a good race.


Communion:

 

(For party favors every guest took a vase with a flower)

Cast:

Crossroads:

Next month it will be five years since I started blogging! I am starting to feel like I have come to a crossroads and am considering moving in a different direction. Perhaps I may create a website and focus more on starting a business. I'm not really sure. I just feel like it's time for a change. My children are growing up so fast. In a blink of an eye they'll be off to college and I want to be present and in the moment. Of course I will still celebrate every single holiday and special occasion, maybe I just won't need to take 100 pictures after for the blog. I will certainly let you know when or if I make any major decisions so that if you are interested you can follow along on my journey. Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog. For your kind emails. For your comments and interest in my projects. I've certainly enjoyed having a space to share all of my ideas.

a pearl party

We had another crazy weekend. On Friday evening we went to a wonderful performance of "The Wizard of Oz, on Saturday we celebrated my mom's 80th birthday and on Sunday my son had Opening Day for Tball! I wish I could say that things were going to slow down, but this weekend is my birthday and my daughters first communion, on the same day! I can't complain for even one second, because we have been celebrating such fun and special people and occasions.
My dad (who will be 90 in July) organized a very small, low key birthday for my mom at their lake house. I am talking fried chicken on paper plates, which was just what my mom wanted, but I couldn't let the day get away from me without adding a few personal details. I brought a salad and some desserts (coconut cupcakes and tiny almond sugar cookies in the shape of "80's.") I also made some favors, which were shimmery white chocolates that resembled pearls. I put them in some pretty ring boxes and tied them with ribbon. For her gift, we organized some "pearls of wisdom" or advice she had given to friends and family. My mother, the most modest woman on the face of the earth was a little embarrassed by the gesture, but I can't tell you how much we have all enjoyed reading them. Maybe this was more a gift for me than for her. We also got her a Mikimoto Pearl bracelet! You only turn 80 once, right? It was a lovely day spent with her immediate family, just as she wanted.  Hope you all had a lovely weekend too!

that's a wrap

From snowflakes, to bunnies to BIRTHDAY'S!!! My lovely mom is celebrating her 80th on Saturday. We are getting her some fancy pearls because she loves jewelry and to go with them I asked friends and family to share some of mom's "pearls of wisdom" with us. I printed them on some fancy paper and placed them in a beautiful mother of pearl jewelry box! I attached the quote "Real friendship, like real poetry, is extremely rare- and precious as a pearl!"  She has requested a small family picnic at their lake house for her special day, but we are hoping to surprise with a few special gifts and memories as well.

happy easter

I feel like we went from snowflakes to bunnies in a week! The children were off from school the entire week leading up to Easter which made it a little challenging trying to get everything ready, but we managed to get it all done. On Friday, the children colored eggs and had a fun Easter themed lunch. On Saturday, they participated in two egg hunts, one in town and one at my parents lake house. Then we hosted my parents and brother and his family for a delicious lamb dinner and the cousins all watched "Hop" before heading to bed. On Easter Sunday the kids found their baskets and we had a leisurely breakfast. Hope you all have a lovely weekend too.

Friday

Saturday

(I folded the napkins into bunnies)

(I did a pink/green table with a variety of pink flowers in green mason jars.)

(Jellybean wine and bunny pretzels)

(Every year my mom makes an adorable lamb cake!)

(Special popcorn for watching "Hop!")

Sunday

 

(She was excited to get bunny bucks!)

 

 

 

that's a wrap

Here are some Easter baskets I made for some old friends we will be vising with on Friday. For the 8 year old girl, I filled her basket with a book, a notebook, some stickers, crayons and gumballs among other things. And for the mom I went with a navy/anchor theme and included a bottle of wine called "Jelly Bean" that I thought was fitting for the occasion. These were really fun to put together and I am already looking forward to our morning together.

mrs. cottontail

I just wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our family! She is a mini lop ear bunny, named Mrs. Cottontail. We are all completely smitten with her, in fact I often find myself snuggling with her long after the children are in bed. She is so quiet and very low maintenance, which is the perfect pet for us. I am having a blast thinking of new places to photograph her. Below is one in my daughters Easter basket and the other with a ceramic carrot. We are thrilled to have our very own Easter bunny this year!

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ready, set, let it go

My daughter had a lovely birthday on Friday! She started the day with her traditional m&m pancake, breakfast in bed. That was followed by opening her eight gifts and taking a few pictures before she headed off to school. I dropped off  a special lunch for her at school and she ended the day with a pizza, pajama, and movie party with friends!

 

My daughter decided early on that she wanted a "Frozen" party. So we made some snowflake and glitter invitations and put them in clear envelopes. I think it set the perfect tone for her party. As I mentioned in my last post, we asked that in lieu of gifts her friends bring donations for the pajama project.

 

 

As anyone who throws a party at home knows, a lot of work goes into it. So I took a lot of pictures to remember all of the details. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed creating them.

 

 

 

 

As the girls arrived we had coloring pages and bracelets to assemble.

 

 

Since everyone we know has seen the movie "Frozen" at least a dozen times, I thought it would be fun for the girls to play a game of bingo while they watched. They used jelly beans as the markers.

In the basement I set up a snack bar with candy, popcorn, snow cones, pretzels and cotton candy ice cream cones!

For favors we gave out flip flops, nail polish, and files and little bags with a picture of Olaf on them that said "Keep calm and think of summer!"

 

To end the party, the girls sang happy birthday to my special girl and enjoyed a cupcake push up pop.

It was a wonderful day, filled with great memories. I'm going to spend the rest of the day taking down the snow and putting up the bunnies and start to get ready for Easter this weekend!

that's a wrap

Tomorrow is my daughter's eighth birthday!!!  She wanted a "Frozen" themed party, so instead of my house being decorated with bunnies and chicks for Easter, it's decorated with snowflakes and white feather trees! 

My daughter really wants a pet bunny for her birthday which we are hopefully picking out this weekend. So, for her big day tomorrow, I thought it would be fun for her to open 8 small gifts. I put them all in white boxes and wrapped them differently, but in the same color scheme and I love how they came out!  She has ordered m&m pancakes for breakfast, a tradition on her birthday. Tomorrow evening a small group of friends are coming over to view the movie and eat some pizza in their pajamas. We asked her friends not to bring gifts, but instead to bring a donation of pajamas or books for the Pajama Program.