Sunday, October 19, 2014

It's Two Soon!

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but this sweet, cuddly, teeny tiny baby girl you see right here? 
 
 
She's TWO!!!!!
 
I know!  How did this happen?  I swear, it was just yesterday she made her grand entrance into this world. 
 
It sure has been a great two years!  She is such a fun, energetic, bossy, determined, independent, super duper sweet, cuddly, amazing little girl.  And, let's not forget about how incredibly adorable she is!
 
 
I mean, seriously.  That face.  Those eyes.  That hair.  She's perfect!
 
To celebrate her second year of life, we had a small Rubber Ducky themed party for her.  Her favorite people came to help celebrate. 
 
 
My amazingly talented friend Marie not only joined us to celebrate, but made this amazing cake for Ashlyn.  It was perfect and adorable and delicious!
 

The kids (and adults!) had a great time playing and eating some yummy snacks.  Here are a few photos from Ashlyn's par-tay!
 

 





 
After the party both kids were exhausted!  They took naps and then we headed outside to play in the leaves and enjoy the beautiful fall day! 
 
          
 
One of Ashlyn's favorite foods is pasta so we decided that would be a great birthday dinner.  Judging by the pictures, I think she enjoyed it ;)
 





What a great day!
 
Ashlyn, you are so.much.fun!  You are so full of energy and life.  One of your new favorite phrases is "Ashlyn do it!" and "Do it myself!"  You're so independent, but so cuddly, loving and sweet.  I savor every minute that you spend cuddling on my lap.  You absolutely adore your big brother and love playing with him.  You are so quick to share toys with him - it's so sweet!  You are sassy and bossy and so hilarious!  You have the funniest stories to tell and, it's so hard to believe that we were once concerned with you not talking.  We don't worry about that anymore!  Between you and Redmond, there is never a quiet moment in our house :)  Daddy is quickly becoming your favorite person and you ask for him throughout the day.  The moment he walks in the door after work, you are on his lap or climbing on him.  You are one amazing little lady and we love watching you grow and become your own little person.  Happy Birthday!!!  We love you so much!!!







Friday, October 10, 2014

Five on Friday!

I'm back for another week of Five on Friday!

THE GOOD LIFE BLOG
 
Thanks so much Darci, April, Christina and Natasha for hosting!
 
This week has been......eventful.  I spent my Monday morning with both boiler and septic repairmen.  Great way to start my week!  But, we now have toilets that flush, a washer that doesn't leak and a heater that works.  Well worth it I suppose.

Anyhoo, let's get back to some of my favorite things from this week!
 
Number One:
 
  After being in our house for nearly 3 months, we finally started hanging art and photos on the wall.  What a difference it makes!


 
Number Two:
 
Leaf piles!
(Need I say more?)
 

Number Three:

  This guy.
He has really taken a backseat since we've had kids, but we couldn't ask for a better dog.  Love this doggy!


This is his "Blue Steel" face.
Number Four:
  Chili!  I've waited all Spring and Summer for chili.  And my chili recipe is quite tasty if I do say so myself...
 

Number Five:

 Crafting!  I've really become quite the craftster lately and I love it!  
(Wine brings out my "creative" side...)


There you have it!
Already looking forward to next week!!

Happy Friday!!!

○ Sara 

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Acorn Crafts



Our new house has a huge oak tree in the front yard.  Acorns were covering our driveway and yard and I decided they would be something fun and festive to be crafty with.
 
It took a few days to gather enough acorns.  It was quite the dangerous job too because squirrels throw acorns at you the acorns were always falling from the tree.  And trust me, those suckers hurt!
 
For my first attempt, I put some fake fall flowers in the center of a cylindrical vase and then filled it with acorns.  It was super cute. 

See??

 
Isn't it cute and fun and festive!?!?
 
I was so proud of my crafty, beautiful vase. 
 
So. Proud.
 
So proud until I walked by a couple days later and noticed all of the mold growing on the acorns.  Mold.   Lots of mold.  Dang.
 
I told my friend Marie about my crafting woes and, thanks to her amazing Googling (is that a word?  It is now.) ability, I learned I needed to bake the acorns to fully dry them out.
 
So, I headed outside once again and began collecting more acorns.  A lot more acorns had been thrown fallen, so I was able to collect a lot in no time.
 
I put the acorns on a baking sheet on top of a rack.  I baked them at 300 for about an hour checking on them every 20 minutes or so.  If you don't use a rack, you will want to flip them halfway through.
 
 
Then, I let them sit for about 24 hours to fully cool and dry.
 
I decided to go a different route with them this time.  I recently inherited some pretty awesome stuff from Jason's generous grandmother and thought this glass pitcher/vase should be on display...on display with a candle and acorns!

 
So, I picked up an LED candle (with a timer, of course), put that in, then surrounded it with acorns.
 
 
That's it!  Easy peasy and super cute! 
 
 
Do you have any DIY fall crafts? 

Saturday Night Fun...


Wine, sea shells, a glue gun and a little Grateful Dead playing in the background.
 
(Oh, and my sweet acorn-candle-holder-vase thingy in the background.)

Not too shabby if you ask me...

(Can't wait to share the finished product with you!)

Friday, October 3, 2014

Five on Friday

Hey all!  It's Friday!!  Hooray!!

I've been wanting to start hooking up with other blogs and I'm finally going to take the leap.  Wish me luck!!

I'm linking up with Darci over at The Good Life Blog for Five on Friday.  Here are my top five things from this week:

These two.  I know, I know, but seriously, how cute are they!?!?!?
This was taken at my family's annual Clambake at my grandparents farm last Sunday.  Love them!

 
I started back at the gym!  This was waaaaay overdue.  But, better late than never, right??
 

It's fall y'all!  Oh how I love fall.  The leaves, the food, the smells.  Ahhhh....
 
 
Speaking of fall foods, honey crisp apples are the most amazing fruit in all the land.  I heart them oh so much.


Lastly, I'm loving my mantel....well, I'm loving having places to decorate period actually.  But I especially love my mantel.


 

 

Phew!  That's it!! 
 
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!!