Easy Birthday Treats

When Graham turned five I made these cute candy bar handouts. It was for 14 kids so it was a bit time consuming to do. Cute, sort of easy, and no mess for the teacher! So that was a plus.

But now I've switched over to something even easier....
TREAT BAGS!

I love making fun little treats for the boys to hand out at school. It's just a little extra thing to make their day special. Greg's class at preschool only has 10 kids so that made everything even easier to do! HOORAY!

I only put in four things. Since everything has to be wrapped, a Hostess cupcake, Spiderman fruit snacks (to go with the theme of his big party,) a balloon and a noisemaker. I picked up everything at Wal-Mart including the cellophane bags.I printed out a quick tag that read "Happy 4th Birthday Greg!" with a clip art picture of balloons.

I do this partly because my boys always come out of classes with birthday things and when I ask them, "Whose birthday was it?" - they have NO clue. So this way the moms know who had the birthday! I tied the tag on with some leftover ribbon (Remember this post? I have lots of it!)

Are your kids allowed to hand things out at school? What do you do?

Spiderman Birthday Party!

What a great day! He had preschool that morning and was the "Special Helper" for the day. They sang to him and he got a balloon. I'll post tomorrow about the treats he handed out to his classmates.

I made a crepe paper web on the ceiling for the big Spiderman" party. I think he laid underneath it and looked up singing the Spiderman song for about 15 minutes. Cute.

Greg has been counting the "sleeps" until his party! I was excited to sleep after it.
February is Lauren's birthday, Valentine's, my dad's birthday and then Greg's birthday - all within 12 days of each other! Ack!
Grandpa and Grandma got Greg a new Spiderman shirt that lights up when you move. It was a tad big on him but he loved it.

Pin the spider on the web. I asked Greg after the party if he peeked (since he did get it right dead on) Sly grin and "Yes, I did so how come I didn't win mom?"

The birthday boy and Graham. Thankfully I was able to get their haircuts inbetween school and the party. Poor planning and rushed on my part but those boys were looking a bit shaggy earlier in the day!

Bad lighting but I LOVE the expression on Greg's face when he opened up his Spiderman jet. We bought him light up Spiderman shoes too. I really am not a fan of cartoon clothing but he is already a size 10.5/11 so I think this might be his last chance to wear a shoe like this. I figured who is it going to hurt?
Smashing the creepy bust of Spiderman. What a weird pinata that I paid too much for. Geesh. I think I might end this party tradition here and figure out a plan B.

Cute boys shooting their webs!Here comes some Spidermen!!

It was a great day. We went to Chili's for dinner with my parents afterwards and just hung out. Greg told me that he "will try to stay four" for me.
Awww - I wish!

Happy 4th Birthday Gregory!

Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet Gregory John!!

I can hardly believe how big he is getting, it seems like he is growing right before my eyes and I can't keep up!

Feels like just last week we brought home this handsome brunette from the hospital. Greg was my easiest c-section and recovery. He was such a good baby, from day one slept like a champ and rarely made a fuss. He had a stork bite on each eyelid when he was born and they would turn bright red whenever he got tired. He came with built in signals! Those have long gone away now...along with the dark hair.

And we were left with a go with the flow, mellow blondie boy.This kid is always ready for a fun time and doesn't take attitude from anyone. He likes "cooo-kies." Especially at his favorite place, Grandma's house.

He thinks he is a pretty cool dude, here he is doing his "Rock Star Baby" pirate moves. I did not make this up. Greg makes me laugh every.single.day. He climbs into bed in the middle of every single night to snuggle. I know one night it's just going to stop and I will be happy to have our bed-back but I will miss him. He is so handsome. I think he looks a lot like Dan's Papa did when he was a young man. I know he likes to tease people like Papa used to. Greg likes getting his hair combed, brushing his teeth, getting his shoes and coat on "just so." And leave a drawer or door open? Not this kid. He is artsie like his mommy. We love to spend time doing crafts and making things. He loves music and always asks me to dance with him (swoon!) Making up silly songs is a favorite too. This boy works magic in my life. He comes up and gives me hugs right when I need them. He loves his brother, Graham and asks LuLu everyday "Do you need a kissie?" and smooches her. He has a sensitive soul and is a delight in our family.
God knew I needed Greg in my life as my son and my precious friend.
We love you Greggie John and hope you have a super fun birthday!
XOXO

What's Your Decorating Style?

Katherine told me about this fun quiz...go to www.sproost.com and see what your decorating style is! I think mine was pretty dead on...except I do like a bit more French Country and I tend to shy away from white (um, hello, I have boys!)

I was:

"Your personal style is a mix of 3 specific styles:"

55% Nantucket Style

27% Classic

18% Wine Country Style

What's your style?

Will Ms. Salt Please Take Chill Pill?

The Veruca Salt in me is coming out.

I want my basement done, and I want it NOW.

Must.Be.Patient!!

Good things come to those who wait, right?!
(and for those who aren't sure who Ms. Salt is, sigh..well, not much I can say about THAT.)

It's My Party

No crying here though - Lauren was pleased as punch to be the star of the show that night!

Lauren and her Nanny, Sally. I need to get some more pictures of her in the shirt I made for her - it said "Miss February" on it in rhinestones. I thought it was so cute!

If you guessed right, she just got passed from Grandma, Nanny and back again all night! None of the three minded. With my mom and dad. Grandpa looks grumpy - maybe because there were about 25 kids there! (oh the NOISE!!) Her cake. I was a great mom with Graham and Greg and made their first cakes. Now I'm a less cranky mom because I let CostCo do it. Graham and Greg watching her dig in - she ate a TON of cake! So much we finally took it away from her so she wouldn't get sick!

Thank you to all of our sweet family and dear friends who came to celebrate.
It was such a fun night!

Happy 1st Birthday LuLu!!

Happy First Birthday
to
Miss Lauren Bridgette!!!

I can't believe that a year has gone by since this precious little girl came into our lives....Here she is pretending to sleep in her pretty bed.
She is not a good sleeper but we'll still keep her. She gave us all quite a scare at 7 weeks when she got RSV and had to go to the hospital for 3 days. It was so hard to see my baby not being able to breathe!Blessing Day - Dan gave her the sweetest blessing and we were thrilled to have Dan's mom and dad there with us. (They had been in Texas for both boys blessings!) Isn't Sally pretty? I think LuLu looks so much like her. I love buying this little one dresses - she is so much fun to dress up!And she is fun to snuggle when she lets you. This was her birthday present to me, to let mommy hold her a long, long time that night. I was so thrilled!
(And looking a lot like my brother Mike in this photo I think!) Lauren loved meeting so many cousins - this is her and her sweet cousin Kate. Just 5 weeks apart. If we lived in Atlanta I know they would be the best of friends and have a grand closet of clothes to share between them!Lauren is such a daddy's girl.
Her eyes just light up and sparkle every time she sees him!I would've been thrilled to have a 3rd boy (have you seen we make cute ones around here?)
But I had no idea how my heart would be opened when I had a daughter. See? She's like me and doesn't like scary things either.
She is so lucky to have these two guys looking after her. Graham and Greg adore her and have made her one of the gang. Smothered in kisses is an understatement with these two. She just took her first four steps yesterday! Right to mama (good girl!) We love you Missy LuLu!

You have brought so much joy to our home and I thank God everyday for sending you down to your daddy and I. Our family is truly complete with you.
I am so grateful to have you as my daughter and I hope someday a friend.

Teacher Valentine Treats

This is the craziest week of the year for me! Getting ready for Greg's birthday, then LuLu's is Thursday, basketball, Valentine's Parties, book club, a special night out with the boys Friday night, etc. ...love is in the air and it's made me feel a bit under the weather actually. A cold this weekend that came on yesterday afternoon and that I'm hoping will go away soon!

So although I stayed home feeling "eh" today I still wanted to get a head start on class Valentines for the kids. I made up three of these sweet bags for the their teachers. Just some taffy and a few foil chocolate hearts in a bag. Pretty ribbon with a tag wraps it up! It cost me hardly anything and the boys are excited to have something to hand to their teacher!

Now to get Graham to write his name on 24 Valentines. Six down....

Would You Like my Autograph?

No, no, just kidding. I hardly look like anyone famous. Although Monica Lewinsky and I sadly had the same haircut when that whole mess happened.

I just started a new recipe blog, just for fun, to keep track of all the fun recipes I've been trying lately. I'll certainly give credit where credit is due and there will be some of my very own on there.


Mulberry Girl's Recipes

Mr. Linky is on my side bar!
Happy Cooking! (or not, I'm sure some WON'T turn out very well!)

Gimme a Kissie!!!

Greg always comes up to LuLu and says "Gimme a Kissie!" She doesn't seem to mind. I think it's cute till he tries to hold her upside down.
I found these cute frames at the Dollar Spot at Target. It was about a week ago - did I pay $1.oo or $2.50? Can't recall. Either way - it was a great price for 3 cute frames. And they are not blurry in real life, I promise.

So I had to buy black ones for a little "Trick or Treat" action this fall!

Then I headed to the scrapbook store - see how I shop with three kids? I just grab all my indecisions and go. Do the major deciding at home. Otherwise I stand there forever trying to make up my mind and the boys start acting like ping pong balls in the isle.

I just cut out 3 little squares....

And a little sparklie "X"....

And gimme a kissie! Something fun that's quick and done!

Now I need something to replace that ugly lace fabric that is on top of my entertainment center. I think I need to go shopping for a new runner this weekend.