3/30/11

a few goodies (of the mouth and head varieties)

This last weekend was a blast.  (I know that its either a little too early to be talking about the weekend or wayyyy too late, but, here you go anyway). Jeff was home all weekend and I just couldnt stand it.  He looked so different when I actually got to see him in the daylight.  
Then we had a couple of neighborhood hang outs on our porch where we drank and ate, and it was so relaxing.  I made a few different kinds of cookies and experimented with the butter cookies that I usually make and I am so glad I did.  I used regular sugar instead of powdered sugar and they were just a little sweeter and soooo good.  I also made my chocolate chip cookies.
 Jordan was talking in her blog about having a cookie that is "yours" and that people kind of know you will bring to events.  She has been on the search for one and she said she found one that is perfect for her.
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  I really never looked for one, I just happened to google the words "butter" and "chocolate chip cookies" and betty crocker just found me.  Then that recipe has vanished from the internet so I can braggingly call it my own and act like I am an amazing baker that just made it up.  I like that Jordan's is complex and has healthy things in it, like apple sauce and nuts and fruit.  She is complex and fun and someone who is full of surprises.  I think it fits her perfectly.  Mine, on the other hand, are pretty basic, not the prettiest, most creative or surprising cookies at the sweets table; they are ultra sweet in maybe a kind of annoying way (and I even swap semi sweet choc chips because, who likes those anyway, with milk choc so there really is no getting any sweeter with these things) and maybe a little over the top.  They can be a little bit too much and can get old kind of fast, but they are loyal and will always be a comfort.  I think that pretty much fits me and I am glad that it is my cookie.  Thanks for that idea jordan.  I just love it.
 Just a great weekend.  
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Then, after all that fun and baking and thinking about baking, I saw these.  So now you can guess whats in my oven right now.  And now that there are blonde oreos (my personal fave and I have now gotten my husband to occasionally choose them over the choc ones) I feel like there needs to be a blonde version of these (hello-I love a blonde and a brunette equally!).  So, I think those may be in my oven in about an hour.  I will let you know.
I also made a few things for the shop.
A few more baby hats, some felt crown from Avery's party, and a few crochet flower pins and headbands.
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(I didnt have a model so I used Avery's doll..dont judge me. 
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And dont we all agree that Allison needs to add the door hangers to the shop!? Arent they so cute! She is so talented!  And they could be for parties, babies, holidays, etc-she can do so much with this.  I am so excited about it.
Moral of the story-make the brownies.
(They are better than the cake batter bark.  just sayin)

3/29/11

crafts for Cooper

Cooper made his grand arrival today and everything went perfect!  Mom, dad and baby are doing just wonderful. 
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How happy does this picture make you?! What a beautiful little family of three. The wonderful Courtney Ryburn took pictures of Cooper being born. Go here to see more amazing pics and hear more details of the birth. 
Babies make me so happy and being up at the hospital today as one of my best friends gave birth just makes me giddy. I can't wipe the smile off my face. It was just a perfect day and I can't wait to love on little Cooper some more!
I wanted to make something handmade for when Cooper was born. I mean what kind of cheesy craft mom would I be if I didn't?! It took me a while to come up with what to make, boy crafts are a little bit harder for me. 
 Several months ago I was in the kitchen with Brittany having coffee. She pulled out this coffee mug and told me that when she bought it years ago it made her think of what her little baby's nursery might be like one day. It was a simple mug with three leaves and the word grow. Every time I pulled out that mug I thought of that story and it made me think of baby Cooper. I wanted to do a little something with that mug for Brittany to put in Cooper's room. 
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I bought a small square canvas and tried to copy the image as best I could by hand painting it onto the canvas. Then with my horrible hand writing I wrote a verse on the back. 
I also made a sign to hang on the Brittany's hospital door. I used canvas for this craft too, so between these two projects I now own 7 different sizes of blank canvas. I was never too sure on what size...
I used my silhouette machine to help me make this one and it was very easy. I designed the image on the silhouette and then printed it on green and blue card stock. I glued and sealed the card stock on the canvas with mod podge. I then took some chalk board paint and painted a square at the bottom of the canvas. That way Cooper's date, time, weight and height could be added in after he was born. I printed the wording on the chalk board paint with the silhouette as well. I thumb tacked black ribbon to the back and thats it! It was ready to be filled out and hung on the hospital door.
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Yay for baby Cooper! I love you so much!

3/28/11

sandwich art

Ella is a very sporadically picky eater. Some days pizza is her favorite meal and the next day she'll gag on it and say she doesn't like it. Oh Ella... 
I can count on one hand the number of times that "ate most of" has been checked under lunch on Ella's school report. Most days when I pick her up from school her lunch looks just like it did when I dropped her off. Maybe she just likes to sit and watch all her friends eat, who knows! I am always thinking of ways to get creative with her food to help her eat. I have found that she loves a good presentation with her food. If her pancakes are in the shape of Mickey Mouse she will eat them, if each piece of chicken has a toothpick in it she enjoys them better, so I thought of a fun way to spice up the presentation of her turkey sandwich I packed in her lunch today.
My mom used to do this for me when I was little and I loved it. It's so easy and it even made packing Ella's lunch early this morning a little more fun.
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To make the bread paint just pour a little milk in a bowl and add a couple drops of food coloring. I use q-tips to paint on the bread and then toast it when you are done. And thats it! How fun is that! 
Hopefully Ella will like it, I will let ya know what her lunch report says today.

3/26/11

roommate dinner

Last night we had roommate dinner to celebrate Bob's last day of medical school!!! He finished up his final rotation on Friday. He starts residency mid June so he finally gets to have a little break for a couple of months. I am so happy for him!
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To make Bob's steak extra special I got a steak brand with the initials D and R for DR.  I don't think we got the brand hot enough because it was kinda hard to even see DR in his steak. 
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Bob had some fun writing us all pretend prescriptions on his Dr. notepad. Of course you can barely read his handwriting, typical Dr.
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I placed an envelope under each persons napkin. Inside everyones envelope was a list of symptoms. Throughout dinner each person read their symptoms to Bob and he had to diagnose each of us. He nailed it! Got all of them on his first try, way to go Dr. Bob! Brittany had Mono, I had PMS, Jordan had Dementia and Chris had Chlamydia (sorry Chris but I wanted to make sure Bob was ready for any situation) haha! Inside Bob's envelope was a golf certificate which will be used many times in these next few weeks.
I'm so proud of him and can't believe medical school is over. I am excited for this next stage in our lives. Residency here we come!


3/24/11

oh thursday

In lo of an original idea, since I am lacking in creativity at the moment, well, maybe I am lacking motivation more than creativity as I just cant get myself off of the proverbial couch, here are some web inspirations, yet again.
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how cute is Team Boo?? this new to me blogger cracks me up, inspires and makes me wet my pants she is so funny.  and I love her "dont be a drag, be a queen" series.  so cute.
and is it just me, or did anyone else take this in pill form in college trying to lose the freshman fifteen twentyfive??? i love that jane is continuing the trend into the 2000s!
I loved this on public schools.
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I am a coffee cake freak, so I def have to make this today (sans rubarb.  i am not a big fan)
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and this.  hello homemade goldfish.  i think these are so cute!
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i love this water party! and the food and sponges are so cute!
and who is excited about RUE magazine??!
ok guys.  hope thursday is as good as friday to yall!! Here's to hoping...

3/23/11

Missing out

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Well, we have just been partying.  What can we say?? Was that party just so amazing??? I mean, how does allison keep outdoing herself every year??!! She is incredible and we are just so sad we missed it.  Way to go al.  you knock it out of the park everytime.
We didnt get to party in Lubbock, but we did a little partying on our own.  We went on a little vacay with my fam and blair and then came home and did a little chuck e cheese.  It's no dance party, but we do what we can.  And there is no telling how many times sassy rode this ride.  We didnt think she actually put a token in, but we found like four pics when we were leaving and we were cracking up.  She and chuckie.  BFF4E.
Then my friend Julie threw the cutest dr suess party for her little girl Katelyn (that we missed, also, because we miss all the fun)
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She made EVERYTHING, including katelyn's dress!
And, the last, and most important thing we missed-
baby isla
Swweeettt Miss Isla Grace!!
Isnt she so beautiful, oh my gosh. I drove home again on monday just so I could hold her.  Jennifer and Joe ended up holding my babies more than I held Isla, but it was just so fun to see her.  and of course jennifer is gorgeous.  and I know you will all want to know about that cute bow-I am asking her as we speak.  I think Isla just makes it look so good!
ok.  I will be back with a few more internet faves later.  for now, just drool over that cute baby. gosh. she kills me.

3/20/11

Ella's Dance Party!

I mean, BEST party ever!
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We stayed up till 1am the night before puffing pom-pom balls, dipping mini apples and hanging silhouettes. This party could not have happened without the help of so many wonderful friends and family! (and of course it couldn't have been captured more beautifully without the amazing Brittany and her camera skills)
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I love how the dancing silhouettes turned out! Go here for a how to.
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Each guest went home with a c.d of some of Ella's fav dance tunes ranging from nsync to mama mia:)
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If the kids wanted a break from dancing I had a table set up where they could trace their body striking a dance move and then decorate it.
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Everything came together so great and all the kids had so much fun dancing. The dance floor and pa system that I rented form Spoil Me Rotten made the party. (and DJ Bob of course!)
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How can you have a dance party without your very own mini flash mob?! Somehow I talked my sweet friends into doing this with me. Practicing the week before was all worth it, lots of good laughs! We took most of the moves from Just Dance on the Wii and mixed them together. At the beginning of the party Bob announced that the adults had a little surprise and thats when we busted out our cool dance moves. You can see it here.

3/17/11

Ella's dancing cutout

When I started making the silhouettes for Ella's party I kept trying to think of a way to get an actual silhouette of Ella dancing. Well, Brittany got this fantastic picture when Ella was dancing and I thought it would be perfect to blow up into a body cutout. You know, kind of like a silhouette but with color. It was perfect! I ordered it from 25kids.com and it arrived today. Ella had no idea what was in the package and her face was priceless when I pulled it out. I was cracking up! She went from excited to confused and maybe even a little scared.
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I love it!

we matched!

Woo-hoo!!!
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Bob matched at his number one choice! We are staying in Texas and we are SO excited!
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We all "matched" in green and headed to the Match Day Celebration this morning. Ella loved it! She spotted the cupcakes as soon as we walked in the door. She was probably hungry too since she didn't touch the green eggs I made for breakfast. She clapped for every one as their name was called and got so excited when we opened the envelope. Such an exciting morning! 
Now only if our house would sell... Anybody moving to Lubbock and want to buy a fantastic house?! If so click here!

BIG day!

Happy St. Patty Day! 
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This is also Happy Match Day for Bob!!! We find out this afternoon where Bob will be doing residency! I am so proud of him and so excited! 

3/15/11

party planning and what not

I don't know why Brittany and I always end up sitting on the floor for hours at a time but thats what we have been doing a lot of lately. Brittany is a champ being 9 months prego and all! With Ella's bday party coming up this weekend we have been crafting it up over here and the floor just seems to be where we work best. 
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Brittany designed the water bottle labels for me on photoshop and they turned out so great! (She's amazing!) We laminated them with packing tape before taping them around the bottle. She also designed the cutest c.d. covers for me which will be everyones party favor. I successfully burned more than the limited 5 c.d.s on iTunes too! I pulled the songs I wanted from Bob's computer and burned them on a c.d. then I imported them onto my computer. They pulled up as tracks on my computer instead of iTune songs so I think thats how it let me burn so many.
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Today Brittany and I played around with my silhouette machine, I'm still figuring out how to use it. We made a couple of freezer paper onesies for Cooper, and just in case he makes his arrive before Ella's party he has a dancing onesie to wear. We also played around with the magnet paper which was so fun! I made some cupcakes and a paper doll magnet for Ella to play with on the fridge. I got the sizing a little (or maybe a lot) off for the clothes but Ella didn't seem to notice. 
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SO excited for Ella's party this weekend but also so excited that papasans are doubling over here! I can't wait for Cooper to be here! March 29th is the big day! (if not sooner!)
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