I Heart Yogurt :)

Nomnomnomnom. Frozen yogurt. Open mouth, insert spoon. ‘Nuf said.

 

We met up with Uncle Matt for some fro-yo and my little picky eater didn’t seem so picky anymore :)

  

I can’t wait for more summer yogurt snacks!

   

On a side note: we got to the fro-yo place 30 minutes before it opened (I forget that many places don’t open before 11…darn getting older!) so while we waited, I decided to take B to the McD’s outdoor playplace that I noticed on our same corner. It was actually AWESOME. Clean (relatively, but its a McD’s), open, friendly few kids playing…good times. Here’s the cutie flashing her pearls for Mommy:

   

I knew my adventure baby would eventually get stuck and/or lost in this crazy tube-fest at some point, so Matt and I just waited and listened for cries of help. They eventually came, of course, so I went right up there on my own! Go me! I got some adorable pics during our time in Tube City:

  

We escaped together down a tube slide I was just sure was going to end us both. It was fast! So much fun playing with my little adventurer :)

 

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

I’ve been cherishing every moment with my precious family recently as I’m starting to realize how much crunching our schedules will suffer once I start school in the fall (p.s. I got accepted to SMU with a scholarship! 99% likely I’ll be there come fall). Bridget and I have been here, there and everywhere enjoying life together and having endless amounts of fun. Here’s some of my favorite pics from the last few weeks:

After Kindermusik class a few weeks ago, I needed to come see Jonathan at work ‘cause I’d left something in his car. I thought I knew his lunch time (wrong), so we stopped by Celebrity Bakery to pick up a free cookie – yay for coupons!

Since my baby has gotten to be such a big girl, we decided to walk out to the patio and enjoy our cookie together in big girl chairs. She did so well! She also officially perfected her enunciation of “cookie” after this trip. Clearest word she knows! :)

       

Love this sweet face and beautiful baby blues!

Not sure when or why we took this, but we certainly look like we’re having fun, right? :) (ugh…notice we’ve picked up the pacifier as a fun toy recently? i’m not too scared about that…yet)

Bridget and I have spent some fun times playing at indoor playplaces in the last few weeks. I consider it practice for summertime when its too dang hot outside. I know that time will be here before we know it!

She doesn’t seem to have problems making friends:

    

And we definitely have an animal-lover on our hands. I’m such a proud Mommy! I can’t wait til she’s old enough to volunteer at the SPCA with Mommy like I did as a girl!

   

Trying to fit in with the “big kids”…   

But realizing this group is still more our speed:

 

We loved Pump it Up, Jr so much the first time, that we’ve met Dane and Stefanie there another few times since for a date. That place is awesome!!!

 

Look how stinkin’ sweet Dane is! He’s lovin’ this little girl and she loves him back. He’s going to be a great big brother in a few more weeks :)

    

Abby and Julie have made time for us, too, thank goodness! Isn’t Abby’s outfit adorable?! Oh, and since the start of Spring Break Bridget’s new favorite word is “ABBY!”. She says it all day long!

  

     

Hi Everyone!

  

And someone I know has a little crush! Abby loves her some Jonathan. All babies do because he has such expressive features and has that crazy beard, but Abby seriously is into him. It’s adorable :)

   

I’m already writing a few more posts while I have time but I’m going to wait to put them up. That way when I don’t have time to organize a bunch of pics, I’ll have something ready!

And I hope you’ve been enjoying your Spring Break :). Whether you’re still a teacher and are getting some much needed rest and relaxation, or you are just getting out in the world and soaking up some vitamin D thanks to our recent weather…Spring Break week is the best!

A reminder to be thankful!

I am so thankful for these people. And these people:

It's during times like these when devastating events are happening around the world that I'm reminded of how truly wonderful my life is and how thankful I am to have a healthy and happy family. While so many of us were sleeping last night, thousands of lives were changed forever by an event that no one could have stopped. Something like this could happen to any of us at any time and, while my heart hurts to all those lives affected by Japan's natural disaster, I will use this day to remind myself of all the amazing gifts I've been given and how I need to give thanks for each moment that I am allowed in this life. It certainly makes me want to run out of this office and grab my little one and hold her as tight as I can and shower her with kisses until she inevitably says, "Mommy!!!"...which means stop :).

Though Jonathan has had an incredibly busy couple of weeks at work and our time has been so limited, I am grateful to have a partner in life like him. When I woke up and immediately heard the news of the tsunami today, I thought about the 5 weeks Jonathan spent in Japan with the Glenn Miller Band a few months before we were married. For a split second, I felt the emptiness that I believe would have consumed me had a disaster like today's occured during his stay on the other side of the world. Thankfully, after a mere moment that fear was replaced with calm knowing that he was safely at work changing lives, as always. I'm reminded to cherish every moment with him as if it could be our last. This thought will definitely cause me to rethink our evenings of sitting in front of the TV watching meaningless shows about topics that mean nothing to our lives (now, I'm not saying I'm going to stop watching TV! But quality time it is not). It's time to start living life to the fullest. Though that's something I strive for each and every day, occasionally I need a shock to my system to remind me of this goal.

Snuggle extra close tonight. Tell your loved ones you love them. Enjoy every moment and be thankful for what you have! Love to you all :).

My surprise statement piece!

First of all, hi! Yes, its been a while since I’ve written. I know you guys can all agree that the longer you stay away from the blog, the harder it is to start up because you have SO MUCH to say. Bleh! Tons of new Bridget pics to come, as well as her…wait for it…18 month picture (insert sniffles from me here). For now, I’ve been dying to show my new crafty project. Well, here it goes:

I saw the coolest craft idea on my friend, Stacy’s blog last month. Check her out! You’ll love all the pics of her adorable son, Jack :) Actually, she had a number of cool ideas and I had to narrow it down to just one for now since things have been so crazy around here. Thanks so much for the ideas, Stacy!

You all may already know about it, but I had never heard of these “book paper wreaths” and think they are so cool. Best part? It cost me a whopping $1.00. Wahoo! A wreath this size could cost me hundreds on Etsy on in a shop, so I’m thrilled to have my $1.00 prize hanging over one of my mantels.

Of course, I’d planned on having a nice wreath to replace my winter scene that, yes, was still hanging on the door due to this wild weather we’ve been experiencing. It also just so happened that I was hosting a book club at my house that week and thought the book page wreath would be the perfect welcome wagon for our guests. Sadly, it took me a little too long to make so I didn’t get it done in time for the event :(. Good thing, because it ended up being ENORMOUS and way too big to fit behind our storm door. Here’s how to make your own, and even a tip for making it a little smaller :)

Materials:

Old book (I used a law volume from my Dad’s office that was being replaced)

Glue gun

LOTS of glue sticks (with mine, I used about 20)

Ribbon for hanging

Round wreath (foam is best, but I had about 10 mins alone to run to Dollar Tree and they only had grapevine wreaths so that’s what I used. It’s the only thing I didn’t already have!)

I hear a 9 in wreath works great for size. I was limited so I had to get a 10 or 12 one. Hmmm…reasons for its gynormous size :)

Step 1: Tear out your book pages (If you have a paper cutter, you can cut off an inch or so off the long side of the pages to keep your depth in check…again…reasons for my huge wreath!)

 

Step 2: Roll your pages into tubes and place a dab of hot glue on the open end to help seal (there are tons of other ways to shape your pages, all of which change the look of the wreath. just google some how-tos to see what you like best. this technique seemed the easiest for me so I went with it!)

Step 3: Glue the bottom of your roll and stick flat on your wreath. Continue all the way around the circle until you have your first layer. When complete, turn over the whole thing.

This will serve as your back layer.

Step 4: Continue in the same manner with additional layers, though all middle layers will require you to fold the bottom of the paper roll so you can accommodate as many layers as possible. That makes your wreath as full as it can be!

Step 5: Keep filling, and filling, and filling, and gluing, and gluing, and gluing (since mine was so big, it took about 2 hours total to complete)….and then….tah-dah!

(Step 6: oops! I forgot to mention that I attached some ribbon that I had at home to the back of the wreath to hang it. I’d like to reinforce it with some hanging wire, but for now its hanging fine just with hot glue)

       

I think its so pretty and fits PERFECTLY on my big mantel. Whee!

 

Here’s a few examples of other wreaths I’ve seen online:

I’d love to do this sheet music one for Jonathan’s office at school (of course, it would hang on his female boss’ side of the room…let’s be real)

Wow! This one certainly took a lot of time. Maybe that’s why its $65 on Etsy :) Super cute, though!