Finally off the list!

I have FINALLY crossed off "HANG CURTAINS ON BACK PORCH" off of my never ending "to do list!"


I LOVE how they turned out and my back porch is my FAVORITE spot of the whole house!

I LOVE how our huge 6 ft fence blocks us from seeing anything outside of our little oasis!
(Now if only we could block the sound.....)

I LOVE how the curtains are always blowing because no matter how hot it is outside, there seems to always be a slight breeze on our porch!

I LOVE that I can sit out there and watch the dogs run, the kids play, and just relax!



(These are just temp curtains, so they are a tad bit too short!)








We hung them up the night before Kacey's big backyard Garden Tea Party! (that is the reason for the sparkle butterfly fabric ties on the curtains!) I really believe that they make it feel more like a room!

Next on my outdoor "to do list"
-hang either a fan or a chandelier (totally want a chandelier......but a fan is sort of a MUST in FL)
-hang shutters outside of the window (above little bench)
-Chad wants to do pavers in a few areas outside of the porch

No biggie.....should be all crossed off the list in the next year.... :)

xoxo

6 Years of Fun!

My "baby girl" turned 6 on Friday! I was in shock the whole day as she continued to remind me that she is SIX!!!!

When I was in the hospital after delivering Kacey, my sister and mom went out to a fancy little boutique and purchased this BEAUTIFUL birthday hat! We have made it our tradition to take her picture every year on her birthday in it! It honestly makes me smile to see how much she has changed over the years.....but she still has the most beautiful smile!

I can't imagine being more proud of my little girl!!!!!

xoxo

Feels like just yesterday!

It honestly feels like just yesterday that I was laying in Kacey's new nursery and just waiting for her arrival!!!!!

I LOVED the color of her room, Spa Blue! I think I sat in there at least once a day during my pregnancy! It just made me so happy!

6 years ago TODAY I went into labor with my sweet little Kacey!

That does not mean today is her birthday....no it doesn't! It just means that I was a week late and STILL was in labor for 23 hours.......and had an epidural that didn't work........but it was ALL worth it!

This picture still makes me laugh at that huge belly! This was taken before heading to the hospital! OUCH!!!!!

xoxo

Inspired

This picture just makes me feel like I am sooo close to having my living room just the way I want it!!!!! I have been on the hunt for the perfect fabric for curtains and I just can't commit to anything!

This picture made me realize that I should just stick with white.....maybe even the little trim detail in this picture would work too!

I know myself enough to know that patterns freak me out! I LOVE patterns on other people, in pictures of their homes, and in my kid's rooms.....but for me........I stick with plain fabrics and plain clothes! It just works for me! (probably the reason why I stick with plain fabric pillows in my shop!)

image from country living

Now, if only I could figure out how I want to hang the curtains in my living/dining combo of a room! The windows are different heights and it seriously keeps me up at night planning what to do with them! (yes, I am aware that is sad that I lose sleep over this issue!:)

xoxo

Tea Party Sneak Peek

We had an AMAZING Garden Tea Party for Kacey's 6th Birthday this weekend!!!!!!!! It was a great time, and she couldn't be more excited about how it all worked out!





Here is a little sneak peek of the party!


More pics to come.....
xoxo

Powered by....

Today I am powered by Starbucks Iced Coffee Via! MMMM!!!!!!!!!!

On my list of things to do today to get ready for Kacey's birthday party tomorrow (most are already checked off!)

-separate 500 little pearl and crystal beads into 7 cups so that each girl can make their own bracelet for themselves and their doll
-paint 7 wooden pictures frames so that they can decorate them at the party
-made about 12 tissue paper pom pom balls
-make a 3 tier cake (why oh why do i let her pick her cakes!!!!)
-grocery shop at 2 diff stores because I did NOT like the produce they had at the first one
-GET CHAD TO COME HOME FROM WORK EARLY AND HANG THESE DARN CURTAIN RODS ON THE BACK PORCH!
-make tons of pink lemonade
-make fruit dip (recipe to come....SOOO much better if you make it the night before)
-clean entire house
-get ready for one of Kacey's friends to come over and spend the night tonight!!!!!!!!
-head to the post office to send out orders


I LOVE you Starbucks Via.....and I thank you for this sudden burst of energy!

xoxo

Family

Family is the most important thing to me, and I get sooo sad at how fast my babies are growing up!

I am thankful EVERY day that I have so many amazing pictures to look at of my family over the years! I tell Maria all the time that she has the ability to freeze a moment of our lives so that I will be able to revisit whenever I need to!

As I get ready to celebrate another year older for Kacey and send her off to Kindergarten in just a few weeks....I find myself NEEDING to look back at pictures of the past 6 years! Just to hold onto her as my baby girl for a bit longer!

I am SOOO thankful for Maria's amazing talent of capturing each stage!


Check out Maria's blog today to see more from our shoot!

I am off to CONTINUE working on party goodies, packaging up orders to ship out, and keeping the kids busy!
xoxo,

Cake Time

Every year I get excited about making Kacey's Birthday Cake! I am NOT a cook, or a baker, but I just LOVE coming up with something that I know she will love.

I know it would be so much easier to just go to the store and buy her a cake, but I think she really enjoys that I make them as well!

With her birthday party in a few days, it is fun for me to go back and look at all the cakes I have made for her parties and I can't help but laugh! :)

So cute on her 1st birthday!

We had a NEMO party for her 1st birthday party!

This cake makes me laugh the most! Man, what ever happened to JoJo! Kacey loved that show!

Her 3rd Birthday cake, Cinderella! I actually made cupcakes at the last min for the kids because I wasn't really ready to cut this cake yet!

This was BY FAR the hardest cake!!!!!!! I made it as a surprise and she was SO excited!

Last year for her 5th Birthday she had a pool party......but she requested a wedding cake! This is what I came up with! I think it was my favorite!

This year for her 6th birthday party....which is a Garden Tea Party, she has requested a "wedding cake that kind of looks like it has flowers and butterflies all over it!"

xoxo

Avocado Love

I have a new love for Avocado!


I never really tried it, or wanted to try it, and now that I have....I am in LOVE!

I recently found this amazing recipe in Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade Magazine (July/Aug issue) and I LOVE it!!!!!




Turkey, Tomato, and Avocado Open-Faced Sandwich

Ingredients:
2 avocados, peeled and pitted,
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 t. sea salt,
1/2 t. ground black pepper,
4 white bread slices,
8 oz. thinly sliced turkey,
2 large tomatoes, cut into 12 slices

Directions:In small bowl, mash 1 avocado. Add mayonnaise, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/4 t. pepper, stirring until smooth. Spread mixture evenly on 1 side of bread slices. Top each with 2 oz. turkey and 3 tomato slices. Cut remaining avocado lengthwise into strips. arrange 2 to 3 avocado strips on top of tomato. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper. serves 4

PERFECT SUMMER DINNER!!!!!!!!!!
xoxo

Party Planning

Kacey's 6th Birthday Party is coming up, and I thought I should share some of the details that she has picked out!

I seriously have a little Party Planner on my hands!!!!!

She picked out these invites all by herself, the color choice, the style, everything!

My SUPER talented friend, Ashley, made them! Check out her shop here! I LOVE everything in her shop! She even made my blog banner, business cards, and logo design! LOVE!

Kacey was SOOO excited and proud when the invites arrived! We addressed them all, and then she was THRILLED that the Post Office had butterfly stamps for her to add!



These stir sticks are going to be placed on her cake, used as tea cup stir sticks, and just added as decoration around the party! Kacey has already used a few of them in her lemonade this week to "test" them out!

I can't wait until the big party! I am SO excited to see Kacey's face and how excited she is to see all of her buddies and how all of her Party Planning ideas have come together!

xoxo

Outdoor Curtains

I LOVE white curtains flowing outside on the patio!

I just really enjoy sitting on our back porch while the kids play, the dogs run, and Chad is grilling. We have a very large patio and want to make it feel more like a ROOM, than just a part of the yard!

We purchased some curtains last weekend, and I got CHEAP curtain rods from Ikea.

I think we are going to go for the Pottery Barn rods instead because we have a stucco home, and I don't want to end up redoing them down the road and being left with holes in the wall.

I can't wait until this project is finished!!!!!

Hopefully pictures to come!

xoxo

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

In just two short weeks my little girl is having her 6th Birthday Party, and she is BEYOND excited!!!!!!!!!

She has planned and picked out EVERYTHING!!!!!

The last detail that she wanted was to convince us to let her get her ears pierced BEFORE her birthday party so that she could show them to all of her friends! We decided to take her to get them done.....thinking she would chicken out! (because I DID chicken out when I got mine done! I even convinced my mom to get a 2nd hold JUST so that I could watch what it was like. She got them done......and I ran out of the store! ha!)

She was SO excited.......UNTIL they pierced them!!!!!!

She was still very brave, but did mention a few times, "That was NOT just a pinch, that REALLY hurt!"

She did immediately cheer up when they showed her how beautiful the little pink diamond flowers that she picked out looked!

This little girl is VERY proud of her new earrings! She even said, "I just feel like I am 6 years old already!"

Afterwards we went to the cookie store to celebrate!

Collin announced, "Man, I thought you were going to run out of that store screaming! That looked like it hurt!"

Too cute!

In just two weeks my baby girl will be having a really BIG girl birthday party.......and in 3 weeks I will be the proud mom of a 6 year old!

Where on earth did the time go?!?!

xoxo

Fireworks

We had a GREAT 4th of July weekend!!!!!!!!!!

Despite all of the rain that we had here in Florida, we had a fun and festive 4th with our family and friends!

We went to Sparklebration and the kids LOVED it!!!!!

Horses, Cotton Candy, glow sticks, friends, Bounce Houses, Slides, and LOTS OF FIREWORKS!




I am SOOO bummed that we didn't get to take any pictures once our friends met us there, but the rain was coming down and I couldn't risk my camera! (why oh why don't they make all cameras waterproof?!?)

5 kids.....6 adults.....lots of rain......late night fireworks......and no complaining!

Hope you all had a great 4th as well!
xoxo

Happy 4th

I hope you all have a fun filled weekend with family, friends, and food!!!!!!!!!



We have a GREAT weekend planned! I am soooo ready for Chad to be home from work and get this thing started!!!

xoxo