2 Months

Can you believe that Christmas is only 2 months away. I love everything about Christmas, but one of my favorite things about Christmas is getting Christmas cards. It makes my heart sad when I hear people say that they are cutting out the Christmas card. I mean there is really nothing more exciting than going to the mailbox on a crisp December day and finding it full of Christmas cards. The folks at Shutterfly have made this so much easier.

If you have not tried Shutterfly, you must go over there immediately. They are my go to site for all things photo. This year they have so many fabulous cards to choose from. I went over there to check them out and I just can't pick. I mean who does not love a beautiful photo card.
Here are some of my favs!

I adore the bright colors.

Great for 2 seperate pictures.


Plaid and Monogram-Need I say more!

Shutterfly also has fabulous calendars,gifts,and they do a fablous job on prints. I am telling you this could be your one stop shop for all your Christmas must haves. Happy Shopping!

Happy 2nd Birthday Madison

A month ago(September 22) Madison turned two. It seems so hard to believe that she is two. She is full of spunk! We celebrated her birthday at McDonalds. This was the back up plan. We were supposed to have it at a park but due to days of rain, we decided to use plan B. The kids were in full overload with all the play place toys. Madison is all about horses now, so she had a My L*tt*e Pony Party. I must say, they are not as cute as they were when I was little. Now they have these crazy big eyes and they are all plastic.

Anyway we celebrate with cake and lots of gifts.

The cake had a little mishap on the way to the party.

The Birthday Girl

Enjoying  a little pre-party lunch

Brother with the birthday girl

Excited about her new necklace from Aunt Weez

She had fun opening the gifts.

Putting everything in her new bag.

Farewell Training Wheels

Logan picked up a new trick a few weeks ago and was excited to show me what it was.  He is now a member of the no training wheels on my bike club. BTW- I don't think I joined that club until I was at least 7!  He decided one day that he wanted to ride his bike without training wheels, so they cam off and off he rode into the sunset. He had one accident but that was because he tried riding with his snowbooks on and they were not secured so they got caught. Other than that incident, he has been going and super fast at that! I must say it makes me a little sad that he is growing up so fast, but when you see that smile on his face, it all disappears. So we now have a three year old riding on two wheels. CRAZY!

And he's off

Pondering the fact that he is three and riding a two wheeler

This is what happens when you ride your bike in snow boots!

Final Birthday Of The Summer

We are always sad to see my dad's birthday come(not really, just stay with me) because it always signals the start of school. We always try to party it before starting back to work. We got together at my grandmas house for some dinner, pie(not cake) and time together. Of course it was super hot but we spent the last few hours of summer vacation outside playing with the kids.

Madison enjoys playing with my old dolls.

Ready for a party

The kids and my dad had cupcakes with candles to blow out.

Where are you going?

It's not my party, but I'll cry if I want to!

Let me try out this bike.

Here brother let me give you a push!

Love Is In The Air

No not for me! I had the honor of throwing a bridal shower for one of my friends at church.  I decided I was going to do this at the end of June and thought the first part of August would be the perfect time before their September wedding. For some reason I always forget how stressful the beginning of the year is.  Luckily for me, I work best under pressure, so I was doing my BEST work that week. I went with her  colors which were blue and silver. Thanks to Pinterest for lots of wonderful ideas.

We had a luncheon after church, which consisted of shredded chicken sandwiches, carrots and dip, strawberry salad, chips and pasta salad. It was a great time for everyone to just get together and enjoy each others company. We topped off the day with cake and blue punch.

The Cake Table

This cake is nothing fancy, but it is oh so yummy!

A close up of the cake table

Blue Punch

The bride to be and her mom

She was blessed with many wonderful gifts

The beautiful bride behind the cake table.

Can I Get A Little Bit of Help?

My family usually avoids me when it comes to the first few weeks of August. Why? I start recruting helpers for school. Apparently my brother was not quick enough(or maybe because I was watching one of his kids for the night) but he got suckered into helping. I remember my first year of teaching I had all of family helping slowly it has dwindled down to almost none because they know what is in store! Anyway Cory brought the kids up and we pulled some things from the top of my cabinets(it was NOT hard). While we were busy working, the kids were busy tearing apart playing in my classroom. As a reward for being good, they got to go outside and play on the playground. It ending working out really well.

Happy Birthday Madison!

It was two years ago that  I became and aunt to a spunky little girl. She holds her own againest her brother, all while wearing a dress and a bow. She has a sweet side but can also throw a temper tantrum like no one else. She loves to talk on the phone and her favorite question is, What doin?  It is amazing how much she has grown and changed over the past two years. She is totally into horses right now. My family says she is a clone of me (except for her sassy attitude)! I can't wait to spend another year watching her grow and learn more new things.

Happy Birthday!!!