Tuesday, June 26, 2012

perfectly imperfect...

I decided to take a little venture into a new hobby because ya know being a full time Mom, house keeper-upper, errand runner and the like  just wasn't keeping me busy enough. 

I have my B to thank for this new idea....my new hobby is buying, fixing up, painting and re-selling furniture!!  It is the perfect hobby for this time of the year because Cullen can be outside with me in a well ventilated area and he is plenty entertained.  He has even taken up painting himself!  Every time he sees a paint brush now he grabs it and "paints" anything and everything, it's so cute.  Anyway, our street is not busy with traffic but there is a lot of new construction by us which means lots of big trucks driving by at all hours of the day so Cullen can hang out in his pack-n-play, wagon or stroller and watch all the trucks go by...while playing with his own trucks.  We usually only head out for an hour or so and then I go back out anytime he naps so everything has worked out great so far.  

Here are my first two projects....

before:

after:
and guess what....it already SOLD!!

before:
I don't have a picture of the top of this big hutch but I'm sure you'll get the idea

after:


 i attempted to stage the piece just for fun and extra pizzaz! 
 i was quite pleased with how it turned out!  shabby chic all the way!  i told B if our house had shabby chic decor i would want to keep this.
And there ya have it my first projects!  I just listed the big piece for sale.
I found some more fun items yesterday so we'll be spending the day outside again....actually, we're heading out there in 5 ;)

Hope ya'll are doing well!
p.s. winner will be drawn tomorrow for the earth's best giveaway and a new giveaway will be posted on thursday!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

clothes are optional...


It's been a little too warm around here for much of anything, including clothes ;)


We have been doing a lot of playing on the 3 season deck lately, Cullen's water table is out there and he always brings all kinds of toys out there as well. He just loves being outside and doing his own thing and he always loves an audience ;)

We haven't gone to the pool over these past few really warm days because it is insanely packed and I think that would make Cullen even more cautious about getting in the water.  C is a total water baby, loves playing in his water table and he'd spend the day in the bathtub if I would let him but he does not like going in the pool.  The water is only a foot deep so he can easily stand in it but he cries whenever we put him in, even if we are holding him :( We are just going to keep on trying and hope that eventually he will warm up to swimming/the pool.  

The couple of times we have gone to the pool it's been so hot that I usually just bring crackers, a food pouch and cereal for Cullen to eat.  The food pouches make sure he gets something nutritious to eat and I don't have to keep it cold so it works perfect!  Last time we went Cullen tried a new Earth's Best organic fruit and grain puree, he had the banana raspberry brown rice and he seemed to really like it!  

Here is a little bit about the new Earth's Best purees....

 Earth’s Best Organic Fruit and Grain Purees hit shelves last month! These purees are a delicious blend of organic fruit and hearty whole grains in a unique, portable, squeezable pouch perfect for babies 6 months and older.

The fiber in whole grains helps baby stay satisfied longer after meals and snacks and each variety contains 45% of the daily value of Vitamin C. Whole grains contain all three layers of the grain, making this new product naturally richer in vitamins and minerals as compared to baby foods manufactured with refined grains, where vitamins and minerals may be stripped away due to processing.
The new Earth's Best Organic Fruit and Grain Purees will be available in Apple Peach Oatmeal, Apple Plum Kamut, Banana Raspberry Brown Rice and Pear Apricot Barley.

I have a GIVEAWAY to offer one of you!  A sampler pack of the new purees!
Just leave a comment if you want to be entered, winner will be drawn in a week!


WINNER - LUCKY #4
Jennifer! I sent you an email

Monday, June 18, 2012

rings, bling and in between...

we went to visit my grandparents last weekend, i posted on why we made the impromptu visit below, and my grandma told me about an idea my aunt gave her and i just had to barrow it!  it's so unique and awesome! :)  AND this is something i have not seen on pinterest! i even looked after my grandma told me about the idea and couldn't find anything....woo hoo for original ideas!!

here is the before...

and the after...

it was a wooden stand to hold spools of sewing thread.  it comes as unfinished wood and i decided to spray paint mine a light aqua.  now it is a perfect holder for rings, earrings and other jewelry!!  it has 60 pegs so it can hold a lot!!  i got my stand at michael's, it was $15 and i had a 50% off coupon.  gotta love phone coupons!   i'm guessing my grandma will need a couple of these things, she has a massive collection of rings and other jewelry.  once she has hers all set up i will have to take pictures and show ya'll! 

now onto why we were visiting my grandparents last week.....

we went to visit my grandparents the other weekend as my grandpa had not been doing well, he has been struggling for a few years with lung issues.  he passed away on friday and he will be missed so very much.  i know he is done suffering now and in a much better place.  easier to type out than actually think about.  i am 100% thankful that my family and i made the trip to see my grandparents last weekend, if we hadn't we wouldn't have been able to say "good bye".  although i never once said good bye.  when we left, i gave my grandpa a hug and said i will see you soon because even if many years pass before i see him again, i know he will be looking down on us and i know i will see him again. 

my grandpa was a wonderful man and i actually lived with him three different times.  we have a very close family and when i was in second grade my family lived with my grandparents while we were waiting for the closing date on our house.  then when my grandparents built their new house they lived with us and then when my parents had to move out of state to start a new beginning for our family, my brother, sister and i lived with my grandparents for a few months.  everything always worked out perfectly and it gave us kids a chance to have a very close relationship with our grandparents! :)  my grandparents are young, they are 66 years old. my parents are 50.  i have been blessed to have such an incredibly close family and i don't take it for granted, ever.  even though my grandparents live 4 hours from us my grandma and i have always stayed in touch, we email a lot, talk on the phone and she has facebook so she can always see pictures of cullen and the rest of the fam :)

***************************************************
i hope you all had a great weekend celebrating father's day!  we had an awesome weekend! we went to the pool on father's day in the morning and then pulled weeds for a while once we were back home.  we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing because cullen took a 3 HOUR NAP!  that is unheard of around here!  then in the evening we went to my parents house for a few hours :)  here are a couple pictures from our weekend....




well, that's the end of my post that jumped from here to there and everywhere ;)  

p.s. reminder that shop cullen's closet is fully stocked! soon to come goodies from my closet!! & a giveaway on wednesday for more earth's best goodies!! 

Thursday, June 14, 2012

FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY !

Here are a collection of pictures from Cullen's first birthday party!! It was Mickey Mouse themed and turned out perfect!! 
the adorable smash cake was made by a sweet blog friend --> KELLY 
thank you girly, we all LOVED it!! :)  
only wish i could have actually met you!! 
my mom said you were a sweet, pretty girl!

for some of the tables i used wrapping paper as a table cloth. what a brilliant idea, whoever came up with that! 

the balloon wreath that weighed about 30 pounds and consumed about 700 balloons and the giant mickey! both were a huge hit, the balloon wreath was loved by all adults and the children had a blast attacking mickey.  
i also ordred a bunch of latex helium balloons but with only an hour of time for set up i never got around to doing anything with them and they were all 30 tied to one chair the entire party ;)  oh well, live and learn :) 




C was not havin' the cake at all!! 
daddy B liked the cake though!
 C's favorite present...he still plays with this thing every day! :)
 love how he sits! he is such a big boy now!
 me, my momma and sis
 gma and C bear


the centerpieces were pinterest inspired and quite simple to make, i love how they turned out.  there was also a bunch of hand punched out mickey confetti on the tables, thanks to my sis!
 we had a hot diggity-dog hot dot bar! 
i think my bloggy bestie patty inspired that idea and she found a pin on pinterest to cook hotdogs in a crock-pot, best idea ever!  thanks friend!!

 I had a photographer for Cullen's birthday and I think it was the best decision I made for the party.  It was one of my sister's friends and she also took all of Cullen's one year pics, I loved how they turned out and knew she was perfect fit to come take party pics.  I didn't have to worry about taking any pictures nor did I have to always ask for people to pose for pics.  If we are facebook friends I'm sure you saw the rest of the other 100 pictures ;)  
So much fun to plan and I think C had a blast walking around with his cousins and friends!
Did I mention on here yet that Cullen is walking/running everywhere now?!  And of course he is as sweet and adorable as ever....he is a total boy and totally mischievous! ha!!

p.s. i opened up "shop cullen's closet" again and this time with FREE SHIPPING! go check it out and pass along the word to your friends and family who might be looking for low priced/ cheap brand name baby boy clothes, thanks all!! :)

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

catching up...

i was so convinced life would certainly slow down after totally moving in and then after cullen's birthday....well life's pace seems to just continue as quickly as before!

the weekend following cullen's birthday party (which i will be posting pics of soon) was memorial weekend. i went to dinner that friday night for the first time without cullen since having him! i had never eaten out without him and it was nice to have girl/momma chat for 2 hours totally uninterrupted, it was also nice for C and B to have some time alone together. saturday we had billy's family over for a BBQ and we went to skills sports training, the business billy co-owns, so we could all hang out and play around in there. 

clearly culley had a good time, he was so tuckered out when we got home that is how he fell asleep, on the floor!
sunday we went to my parents for a BBQ and then monday evening i had some gals over that i used to work with for wine and snacks.  

this past week, i'm not even sure what all we did but the week flew by...of course!  i cooked one night, i never cook anymore and i miss making meals and eating din with B but he is gone almost every night until 8 or so and by that time i don't feel like cooking or eating a big meal especially since it's summer time.  the meal i made was based off a recipe from the trader joes website, drumksticks topped with the bottled sauce in the pic. below, i baked them for 25 mins and then coated them with crushed honey sesame cashews and then baked an additional 10.  i had never cooked drummies before and they were tasty!

i also ordered some more stuff for our house. every time we buy more stuff i'm certain that is all we will need and then i think of something else.  right now we are waiting on some decor for the kitchen and a floor lamp for the living room.  we also almost have our bedroom totally complete, i will post pics once it's finished.

my sister came over on friday and we brought cullen to the swimming pool behind our house.  there wasn't hardly anyone there and we all three had a great time!  i ended up fried! the pic below is my fried toe-mater tummy, 4 days prior! i had no idea i was burnt, guess i'll be using C's sunblock next time we head to the pool! because honestly i don't remember the last time i burned, yet again i don't recall the last time i laid outside for more than an hour...

friday night my sis and i ordered some 5 guys to go, i'd never had it before.  it was delicious!! & later that evening we made drinks with "kinky" vodka, also delicious!!

saturday my sis and i decided to go to lunch and go shopping.  there was a major road detour and we got totally lost so by the time we finally made it to the area we wanted to be in, we needed an adult beverage ;)  we had a beer and breakfast on an outdoor patio for lunch, it was perfectly yummy!  we went shopping for a while afterwards...
C was such a sweet boy, all day, as always :)
we carved our names and C's into the wood since everyone else did too ;)
saturday night my sis spent the night again so we needed more booze! ha! we decided to get loopy vodka which tastes exactly like fruit loops! we hung out with B and had a few drinks.  sunday morning my sis and i ended our weekend together perfectly, with a bloody mary, num! i love weekend's with my sis!

as soon as i have C's birthday party pics back from the photographer i will post them and i have 3 giveaways that go along with those posts!  

p.s. if you follow me on instagram chances are you saw lots of these pics already ;)  hope everyone is wonderful!  i think i'll have free time soon to actually read blogs.
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