Blogging in real life

I follow this great sewing and craft blog, Make It and Love It. Ashley, the blog's author and mastermind behind tons of great projects, decided to host a blogger meet up in Denver, as she lives in Colorado. She was totally the inspiration and idea behind my bedroom makeover a couple of years ago.

I thought, what the heck, this could be fun, I should go! I rounded up a couple of willing friends, and we went.

There some fun make-and-take projects, munchies and delish cupcakes, chatting, a Q&A with Ashley, and prizes. It was fun to meet a blogging "celebrity." Here she is answering some questions-

Me, Ash and Lyndsey with Ashley. I am short.

And I won the grand prize! A Martha Stewart tote filled with a bunch of her newest paints, brushes and stencils. Love it!

More pics from the event HERE.

Let's get Seussical

"Good morning! Happy Dr. Seuss' Birthday!" Connor said to me when he awakened this morning. With no school plus Dr. Seuss' Birthday, I knew it had to be good.

We started with - what else? - green eggs and ham for breakfast. After breakfast, the children all grabbed one of their favorite Seuss books, and I found them all engrossed in their books. I kindly asked them to sit close together while continuing to read so I could snap it.

Then Brian took the three older children to see the movie The Lorax. I packed them with bags of Hop on Pop(corn) and pink ink yink drink (pink lemonade) to enjoy. Brian had purchased tix the night before, but with all the free 2 year olds who showed up, there were no seats left. So they got a free upgrade to the subsequent 3-D IMAX showing. They really liked the movie. I really like Isabel's upside down glasses.

Michael's has some darling Seuss decor, so I snagged this cute banner. I have my eye on a few more items, but need my 40% off coupon, or else wait for the markdown.

My friends Kristie and Paula and their kiddos came over for the afternoon, and I made some Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes. These were red velvet with cream cheese frosting and blue cotton candy. Fun and easy and cute, except I had to hunt for the cotton candy. I let the kids apply the hair themselves; they had fun doing this.

And some artwork by the children: Connor's interpretation of The Lorax after seeing the movie, and Isabel's Sneetches and Cat in the Hat drawings (which I thought were rather impressive free-hand drawings for a kindergartner!).

Out with the old, in with the new

January makes me happy. I love Christmas, but I love putting it away too. It could be that perhaps our Januaries are often mild and sunny. Or that it means the Stock Show, Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day and Easter are lined up on the horizon. Or that it's a new year with new possibilities. Or all of the above.

December ended on a fun note. One evening I met up for dinner with a bunch of girls from my single days. We still keep in touch, despite being spread between three states. I turned the dinner into a surprise baby shower for my dear friend Wendie, who is expecting her first baby - a boy - in April. So much fun to celebrate her and her baby! I made blue velvet cupcakes for the occasion, which were phenomenal and oh so pretty.

We had a fun pre-New Year's Eve get together with my dear friends Kristie, Elizabeth and Paula and our families. It was much fun, as always-
and it's especially fun to see our darling little daughters playing together and becoming good friends too-

Isabel wanted to show grandma the outfit she wore (thanks for the gift!)-

On New Year's Eve we had a early party with the children, which basically consisted of a family toast to the new year with amazing fizzy citrus fruit slushes-

and then we left the children with a sitter and an early bed time and headed to a friend's house for a couples game night. This was a blast! Such a good time. And we actually made it to midnight to ring in the new year. I love game nights; they always remind me of how smart and funny my hubby is.

2011 was a year of milestones for us. Connor turned 8, was baptized and started Cub Scouts. Mason turned 1. Lucas turned 4 and started preschool. Isabel started kindergarten and turned 6. Brian and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.

And now we are in 2012. I believe in setting goals, not making resolutions. I think it's no secret that Brian really wants/needs to get out of the newspaper industry and into something with a more promising and stable future. He's had a tumultuous year work-wise, and we've been on the search. So, our main goal for this year is an employment change. There are other goals. But none consume me as much as this one. I've been searching everywhere for that darn crystal ball, and just can't seem to find it anywhere. But I do hope a change is somewhere out there.

So here's to a new year! I hope y'all will continue to make blogging one of your goals. I do love it so.

My birthday

Sharing a birthday with Brian is pretty much cool every day of the year... except October 29. This year, my fun friends threw me a birthday party costume dinner, and it was fabulous! I loved going out with the girls and just celebrating me. No offense to my husband. I love him. But I loved having my own celebration.

I dressed as a geisha. I made the skirt out of a tablecloth I found at a thrift store, and found the shirt at the same thrift store and pieced the rest of it together. It was great to see everyone's costumes! I have some amazingly talented and creative friends. We went to Hacienda, and I was seriously spoiled all around. A night to remember for sure. And perhaps the start of a new birthday tradition!

Thanks to all you girls for the memories!

The actual day of our birthday low-key: Brian had to work a long day, but I loved all the calls from family and friends, and I made a compromise birthday cake: coconut tres leches cake. Yum. No matter how you slice it, here we are, another year older.

Girl fun

Isabel has a lot of fun friends. And she had a particularly fun play date on Friday with her friends Syndey and Addy, which culminated in a concert performance to one of the songs on the Tangled soundtrack. Such girl fun! It floods me with memories of so many dance parties when I was younger. And older. And Addy's headbanging is my favorite.

The Belle of the Ball

Last month Brian and I attended a Gone With the Wind party with a bunch of friends. We had a lovely evening, and I appreciate all the details that went into planning and hostessing the party (hors d-oeuvres on the lawn, a southern-themed dinner and desserts, GWTW quotes at each table, coordinating music, darling Young Women as servers in B&W damask aprons and kerchiefs in their hair).

We were asked to dress formal or period formal; I opted for the latter and rented a southern-type gown. Brian went present day. It worked.

We drove to the "plantation" with our friends Eric and Teresa. Teresa was stunning as she channeled Carol Burnett wearing a curtain.

All the belles of the ball. Unfortunately we didn't think to do pictures until after the sun went down-

After dinner and dessert there was dancing. Oh yes, there was dancing. And I had a marvelous time. Although it must be said that dancing in a hoop skirt was a new challenge. Thanks to all for giving us a lovely evening!

Old and new

Isabel was my latest teether as a baby (10 months when she got her first tooth), and because she's so tiny (although I'm sure that has nothing to do with it), I had assumed she wouldn't lose her first teeth until she was much older, like 7. (Connor got his first teeth at 5 1/2 months and lost his first tooth at 6 1/2). So imagine my surprise when, at her dental appointment in May, I was informed that she had two wiggly teeth. I had not even thought to check for loose teeth. My bad.

Last Friday, she lost the first of those two wiggly teeth. Like most things with her, it had to be on her own time. She has SERIOUS hangups about pain and body issues (as did I when I was young); some people have a term for this: hypochondria. There. I said it. Or rather, wrote it. Anyways, I knew her tooth would have to literally fall out because there is no way in this ever-loving world that she was going to let us pull it. At least not without sedation.

So as we were getting ready to head out the door, she comes running toward me, literally shaking all over her body, and excitedly informs me that she just lost a tooth. And so it is. Out with the old tooth, in with a new tooth. Out with the old smile, in with a new smile. I have to admit I wasn't ready for my little girl to take such a big step.

Shortly after the tooth adventure, we met my dearest friends Kristie, Elizabeth and Paula at Chick Fil A for Cow Appreciation day, an annual event where anyone who dresses like a cow gets a free meal at the restaurant. We all donned our black and white tails, ears and spots and met for a fun, free lunch. Then we headed to Kristie's neighborhood pool for an afternoon of swimming. Although I see these friends at least once a month, sometimes more, all the kiddos don't get together often. When we all met more than 9 years ago, we had 4 children between us and the oldest was 7. We've now had 14 children between us and the oldest is 16! It's really something amazing to watch my friends' children grow, and to watch my friends grow as mothers. We continue to be "old" friends, but we continually share new experiences. I love this. Note: the "black eyes" you see are residual cow makeup. Love these kids!

And to bring the tooth count up-to-date, last night Isabel lost her 2nd tooth, and now she really has a new smile! She rather enjoys sticking her tongue in the space; I rather enjoy her newfound hissing lisp.

The 4th of July

We had such a fun 4th of July this year! We attended our local parade, and then hosted a bbq/backyard party/fireworks viewing with some friends and my brother JJ.

I had the time wrong; the parade started at 1, not 12. So yeah... we had some extra family bonding time as we waited 2 hours in all for a parade that lasted 30 minutes. But those kids... such troopers! They loved the parade (what child doesn't love a parade?)

Our get-together was so much fun. We had bought a badminton set; such memories of childhood! I played all the time on those long Minnesota summer evenings when I was growing up, and forgot how much fun it is! We've had a blast with it.

From the front of our house we watched the neighbors light off tons of big (aka illegal) fireworks. The kids loved them, but most found it really, really loud. Which is why they ended up in the back of a truck. But not Lucas. He found he liked it close and loud all the way. And then from behind our house we could watch the city's fireworks display. Awesome!

The kids thought staying up until 10:30 was major excitement. All in all, it was a great day spent celebrating our nation's birthday and reflecting on how truly blessed we are to live in the United States of America. So very grateful.