It's Baseball Time!

Well, the week of Opening Day for Dylan's t-ball team started out a little rocky.  St. Patrick's Day was so much fun for the boys.  They loved getting dressed up in their green & just had a "party" kind of mentality when they got home from school.  They were playing, wrestling, laughing like crazy...then I heard it....BONK!...both were in big time tears!  So we ended the night like this....

For some reason, I feel this won't be the last St. Patty's Day I see them like this....

Opening Day was Saturday and boy was Dylan ready!  He was so ready for a game day!  Parade! Bounce Houses! The boys were goofing around before they had to line up for the start of the parade. 

Smiling at the parade! 

Blake enjoyed the parade once he figured out there was CANDY being thrown out!! 

Throw more! I'm ready!!

Lined up on the field waiting for Opening Day ceremonies to begin.

Bounce House Obstacle Course fun!

Swing batter!

Ready to take off from second!

Playing first base...he was so excited!

Darn! Almost got him! ;)

Team banner made by yours truly :)

That's one excited toothless smile!  I can't get enough of it!

Play ball!!

Blake's 2nd Birthday Party

Finally! I'm only several weeks late in posting these pictures! Blake had his second birthday party and it was everything Mickey Mouse.  He woke up from his nap & wasn't too sure what has transpired while he was asleep...

But it didn't take long for him to get in the "party" mood! 

 As with all of my parties that I plan for my boys, this weekend was no different...RAIN! Always raining on the day of their party.  No problem. We improvised and had a Bubble Bonanza in the garage!

They didn't seem to mind one bit!  The wind from the storm helped them to create even larger bubbles!

 

The entire street was filled with bubbles!

Next the kids all decided to decorate their "Mickey" cookies.  Dylan enjoying his cookie before deciding he'd pass it onto Papa....the boy just doesn't care for sweets...wish I had that problem!

Blake enjoying his cookie.  Now this one gets his sweet tooth from his mama! He didn't miss one bite!

Having fun with friends....Mickey High Five! 

Cake time! 

Cake!!! 

Opening up some presents... 

Even though it rained on our party, yet again, the kids didn't seem to mind one bit.  Blake had a blast & that's all that matters!  Happy Birthday, Blakers!

It's A Mickey Mouse Party!

My little baby is growing up! We celebrated his second birthday last weekend.  Blake's very favorite thing in the world right now is Mickey Mouse...so of course we had EVERYTHING Mickey Mouse!  Here are some pictures of the set up & tomorrow I'll post pics from the party.

Decorating Mickey Mouse Cookies

Mickey Ears for All!

Mickey Mouse Toilet Paper Bowling

Mickey Mouse Marshmallow Toss

This Chalkboard is going to go up in Blake's "hideaway fort" in his room!

Coloring station

Entry table

Just woke up & ready for some fun!

Easy Non-Candy Valentines

I'm not a huge fan of sending candy loaded Valentines to school with my boys.  So I always try to find creative non-candy ideas to send them to school with so that they do not add to the inevitable sugar rush.  They always come home with so much candy after every school party, especially Halloween & Valentines.  This year Dylan decided he liked the parachuting men idea the most.  I picked up a couple baggies of them from the local party store & printed off some bag toppers....and voila!

 

Super easy, cute & best part about it...Dylan gets to help in it!  It's not one of the "typical" Pinterest Valentine projects that kids don't get to help out in & mom does all the work.

 

He loaded up the bags, helped fold the toppers & attached!

 

I think he enjoyed signing his name on the backs of them the most. :)

Blake has been on a sunglasses kick lately so I figured what a better gift than that!? I grabbed a bag of cheap ones from the same party store, threw them in the baggies (Blake's still a little young to help out, so Dylan was happy to step up to the plate & do it for him).  I designed the toppers for the bags & printed them out.

 

Dylan had to help sign Blake's name to the backs of them as well. :)

 

All-in-all...super easy, fun & most importantly, one less piece of candy for everyone tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

 

Valentine's Decorating {Part 2}

 Today is Day 2 of sharing my new Valentine's decorations (all Pinterest inspired, of course!)

First up is my "be mine" sign.  I had some old scrap wood in the garage from a previous project and had the paint & frame holder. I printed out the letters & heart, then cut out & traced them on the piece of wood.  

Next up I made up moss covered LOVE letters.  I had never worked with moss before.  I knew going in that it would be messy (which it was) but I had no idea it would be so easy to work with. I bought a sheet of the sticky back moss (which wasn't really very sticky at all).  Then I traced the letters on the back of the moss, cut to size & glued on with hot glue. 

I "love" the way it turned out..hehe..I think I see several more mossy projects in the near future. It will be great for spring! 

The "hugs" and "kisses" pillows are two of my favorites.  It is showing up almost white in the picture but in fact the fabric is more of a natural/outdoor fabric.  I printed out the letters, cut them out & traced onto the fabric.  

And lastly, I added just a few subtle touches around the house such as these Valentine marshmallows in a glass jar.

Finally, we have a post-Christmas/not-so-naked looking house!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Decorating

I hate taking down all my Christmas decorations.  One, because it's a huge pain...I have a TON.  And two, because it makes the house seem so empty.  So this year I decided to get a jump start on my Valentine crafting & decorating to fill the void left from the removal of all things Christmas.

First up was replacing my Christmas wreath.  I searched & searched on Pinterest to find something I liked for a Valentine's wreath.  I couldn't really find anything I really liked.  So many were so cheesy.  I found a couple of ideas that I liked & made my own "hybrid" Valentine's inspired wreath.

Next up...I found an idea (Pinterest inspired, of course) of making a heart out of buttons.  I thought the idea was cute.  I started with a square block of wood, put it on some "I love you" paper & then sanded & aged the edges.   Arranging the buttons turned out to be more difficult than it seemed.  I thought it would be a breeze...then found myself arranging & then re-arranging for about an hour!

Next up....my (Pinterest inspired) Candy Heart Tree.  I started out with a foam cone & a bunch of candy conversation hearts.  I (because I am ridiculously OCD) separated out the colors and formed a pattern around the cone.  Now, of course, you don't have to do this & could just as easily put them on at random...but, again, I'm just that OCD.

I severely miscalculated just how long I thought this project would take.  For some reason I had it in my head it would only take about an hour to complete.  Three hours later I found myself still sitting on the floor with glue gun web-like strings everywhere and finally finishing up.  It was messy, it took much longer than anticipated, but I love the way it turned out. 

I've got some more projects I've finished up & will post more tomorrow!