simply delish

Mr. F works near a Paradise Bakery and since I was early picking him up from work one day I just couldn't resist stopping by and treating myself and the little ones to some yummies.

It's the simple things that make life worth living for.

As a side note, I'm running a big race today so wish me luck!

a swimsuit love affair

Recently I've been looking for a good bathing suit. It has to have good support, the color needs to be flattering on me, as well as the style, and it must be modest. In my search I came upon these one piece swimsuits from jcrew and there's not a single one I don't love.

In fact, I have been drooling over their simple beauty.

My favorite is the teal one, and I think that's the color I'd pick too.

I'll just have to to save my pennies to buy it.

{valentine} party ♥

This year I gave a Valentine's Party for my kids. Partly because we won't be having a b-day party for Avery in April because we'll be out of town, but mostly to have fun on Valentine's Day and make some memories with family and friends.

So this is what we did . .

Everyone brought {Valentines} to exchange.

Instead of buying Valentines Elliot used some leftover from last year and I helped Avery print some free online and I used some to decorate the valentines boxes.

(tweet, zebra, sweetheart, be mine, love, elephant)

♥ ♥

My sister, Julie, was in charge of {face painting}.

Even I couldn't resist some hearts on my face.

I think Elliot's heart was perfect for about 30 seconds. Ha!

♥ ♥

What's a party without some {cookie} decorating?

I'm still cleaning up sprinkles but it was worth it!

♥ ♥

To practice my sewing skills and make this party

a little more memorable I made {bows} for the girls

and {bow ties} for the boys.

The girls looked so adorable!

And the boys looked so handsome!

♥ ♥

All in all everyone had so much fun (even the moms).

I'm definitely doing it again next year.

I hope you had a memorable day too!

Valentine date night

It was so nice of my brother to watch our kids Saturday night so we could have a Valentine date. Our dates are few and far between.

After Andrew finished his school work I changed out of my scrubs to a more date-material-outfit and even wiggled into my goal jeans. You know - the ones you keep in case you loose 5 lbs. They were a squeeze but I think it was worth it ;)

We thought we'd eat somewhere different - some where we've never been, so we went to a Tai restaurant. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but it's on the south side of Main st., west of the MAC.

Our food was so yummy!

Andrew got fried rice with pineapples, raisins, and cashews.

I got a garlic chicken dish with rice on the side.

As much as I loved the flavor of my dish it was a little too spicy so we ended up switching.

For dessert we headed down the street to good old DQ and shared a cone.

♥ chocolate chocolate dipped ♥

♥ Mmmm . . .

If you have never had a choc. choc. dipped cone from DQ don't wait another day.
This is what I always crave when I go off sugar for a month.

This and a five layer brownie from Sweetcakes.

After DQ Andrew had a really fun idea. We went to Goodwill and had $5 to spend on each other. We could get an unlimited number of items but we couldn't show each other what we got until we got in the car. There was a 20 min. time limit. So the whole not showing what we got each other thing didn't work too well since we kept bumping into each other in the store. Plus I didn't have my wallet so we had to pay together, but we had fun anyway.

Since we had our Valentine date on Saturday today (the actual Valentine's Day) is low-key but I did have a Valentine Party for my kids and all their friends this morning. It was a blast. More pictures later.

♥

chore chart

I have recently been infected with conjunctivitis {bummer} and have been staying at home in order to not make others sick.

Being home has enabled me to get some projects done that I've been wanting to do for a long time like make Elliot a chore chart.

First, I got Elliot new bedding to motivate him and me.

Then I searched online for free chore charts.

There were a lot of good choices so this was very easy. I picked this one because it reflects Elliot and matches his room.

If you want a personalized chore chart there are some great ones on etsy like this one.

I plan on reprinting this chore chart, framing it, and using dry-erase markers to save on paper and color ink.

Elliot's so excited to sleep with new bedding and I'm excited he actually wants to clean up after himself.

The hardest part will be staying on top of it :)

Andrew { phases }

I think I mentioned before about how Andrew goes through "phases". Well, we all do but his are more obvious, and sometimes funny,

A few months ago it was just hammocks. Now it's anything related to Mountain Man Rondevu.

He recently made this knife in preparation for it.

He is so proud of his knife I can't help but be happy for him even though I'm seriously anti-weapon. Good for him!

When you worked so hard and put a lot of thought, time, and energy into something you can't help but love it and be proud of it.

I even feel that way about something as trivial as a hair clip I made for Avery.

No wonder I love my kids so much. They just take so much time, money, energy, and they were made by love.

I just love my family!

{ you can }

Do you ever just not want to try something just because you know someone will do it way better than you or you just know it won't turn out like you want it to so you don't even try?

I get that feeling a lot and I've really been trying to tackle it.

Who cares it my sewing isn't the greatest? It brings me joy!

Who cares if I'm not the best runner? I compete in races because it's fun and I can!

So what if my parties are cheesy? It makes my kids happy!

Some times it doesn't matter if you're not the best at something.

There will always be someone better at something than you.

Just do it because it brings joy to your life.

Because it makes you happy.

Because you can!