Bowling Party!

As a few of you know, my dear friend, Krista has recently launched a party planning business. If you haven't checked out her site yet, you should! She is talented. Hoopla Events can plan your next birthday party, fundraiser, wedding or even your backyard get together this summer. I'm pretty excited about her business and have felt so fortunate to be involved in a lot of the things she's been doing. I think I even have a name now...a stylist. And you know how happy that makes me right? I love helping her and I love seeing the end result of what she does.

When I was talking with her about Taylor's 9th birthday and explaining that she wanted a bowling themed party, Krista's eyes lit up as this was on her list of parties she wanted to have photographed for future clients to look at. I took that as my green light to plan a fun party for Taylor and to help her out. Krista was amazing in helping me gather all the little things I wanted for the party; from the party printables right down to the straws! Together, I think we pulled off a pretty adorable party!

Before I show you all the details I have to give a HUGE thank you to my newest friend, Stacy! Stacy is one of Krista's photographers and she drove from Gig Harbor to our house on a Saturday to take pictures of the party and the best part for me? She took some absolutely, melt my heart, breathtaking pictures of my girl. Stacy is a part time photographer, full time mama and has the hugest, kindest heart ever! Be sure to check out her business Lauren Oliver Photography. Thanks again Stacy!

All printables you see for this party were made by Amanda's Parties To Go.

These adorable milk (they are plastic!) jugs were found at Smash Cake! They have adorable things!

These adorable cookies were made locally by the very talented Sugar Canvas Boutique Bakery! Be sure to like them on Facebook!

This was Taylor's favorite thing! Everyone signed the bowling pin and it now is on her shelf in her bedroom.

And this was my favorite part! Photo Booths make everything silly and happy and FUN!

Our beautiful almost 9 year old! Stacy thank you, thank you!

A happy day! This mama loves her girl!

Thanks again to Krista and Stacy for helping me make Taylor's day such a special one! XOXO

First Grade Tea Party!

Last Monday, Maddie invited us to her end of year tea party. It was a big deal. So big that Maddie wore a dress AND did her hair! So big that both mom and dad took a half day to be there with her. It was so worth it. Our baby is growing up and she is turning into this amazing little human; she's smart, witty, gorgeous and confident.

 

The tea party started with an adorable performance by Maddie and her classmates. They sang a funny and cute version of I'm a Little Tea Pot. 

 

 After the performance, Maddie got to share with us her writing!

 But not before I took way too many pictures of her!

 The tea party fell on a Monday which was perfect! My mom and Carolyn both got to come and see her perform!




 Meet Kylie and Willow! Maddie's 2 BFF's from school, her partners in crime. Trouble with a capital T!

 Her teacher also threw in a bit of Mother's Day at the tea as well. Loved what Maddie had to say about me!
 Here is a sample of Maddie girls writing. Hard to believe she's writing about dogs :)

 We did eventually drink a bit of tea as well! Such a fun afternoon celebrating Maddie and all her hard work in first grade this year! She has come SO far since the beginning of the year! We are so proud of her! We love you Maddie!

Parenting.....

I've got this weird thing about holidays. I struggle with them. Like, lets say, Valetine's Day. You know, it's supposed to be romantic and spontaneous and oh so lovey dovey right? And then, it arrives, and I get into this funk and it doesn't turn out just how I thought it should. It's the same with all the major holidays for me; Thanksgiving, Christmas.Today was no exception. I struggled. It bothered me all weekend. I felt it looming over me, waiting to set in on me. It came, even though my day was good. Donuts, coffee, flower shopping, crafting, and doing projects around the house (all of which I asked to do). I feel like I almost have to put on a big show that all is great and that this is the BEST day ever when really my best days being a mom come when I least expect it. Like, for instance, when Maddie runs across the room and jumps into my arms and hugs me tight. Or when Taylor rushes to me after school to tell me her newest joke she learned at school. When they grab my hand and don't let go. I guess my point is that this "day" we call Mother's Day isn't always what it's cracked up to be and that for me, I need to remember that I'm a mom celebrating my girls milestones, ups and downs with them 365 days a year.

Being a mom is hard work. I feel like I'm constantly on a roller coaster. We are up for a moment, a day, week or even a month and then we go down so quickly and the pace changes so rapidly that I feel like I've fallen off the track. It's hard getting back on that track; knowing what's right for the girls. How to handle different situations. My eldest is struggling right now- in fact, together we fell so far off the roller coaster track on Saturday that I wasn't sure we'd be able to find our way back. But that's what us mom's do. We get back up, dust off our pants and hop back on the roller coaster- for there is nothing greater than the love for our chidren.

 

 

 

Together we can step back on course; learning from our mistakes and doing our best to correct them. Knowing that she's only 8 helps me too. I'm trying to let her BE herself- I don't want to mold her into someone I want her to be. Being patient is hard. But loving her is Oh so easy.



These two women help me a lot. They provide encouragement, advice and let me vent without casting any judgement. Most importantly, they remind me that I too, was 8 once and that I turned out pretty well.

I'm blessed beyond belief to have two healthy, beautiful, intelligent children. My love for them runs  deep and is so strong. Not just today, on Mother's Day, but every day. Always and Forever.

Pencil Vase with Sunflowers! A quick and easy Teacher Appreciation Gift!

 Teacher Appreciation is this week! I got an email a few days back asking if I might be willing to take one of the days to help make the teachers at the girls school feel loved. Even though I am a teacher, my girls are being taught by teachers as well and I know that a card that simply says Thank You can go a long way so I couldn't turn this opportunity down. Thankfully, they go to a very small school and only have 12 teachers total!

**Disclaimer...I will say this is a quick and easy (and inexpensive!) gift UNLESS you are making more than 2! By the 12th one, I'd had it with the whole thing!**

Here are the supplies that you need:

 1. An empty can (and your hot glue gun!)

 2. Pencils. I got these at the Dollar Store.

 3. Ribbon. I found these on clearance for $2.00 at Michaels.

How to Make your Pencil Vase:

Step 1: After my first few cans, I stopped and wrapped yellow paper around the can. This helped prevent ugly spots when those last few pencils didn't match up in the back! So, I'd suggest wrapping your cans first.

Step 2: Take your hot glue gun and start gluing pencils around the can (I used about 37 per can). They won't look extremely pretty- you'll see that they start to go sideways and that there are bare spots in the back. Don't worry. Once you put the ribbon around it and add the flowers it all looks amazing!

Step 3: Either make or find (like I did!) http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/ your tag that you'd like to go around your vase. Then, cut and measure your ribbon to wrap one time around the vase. Hot glue it onto it.

Step 4: Back your tag (if you'd like) and then stick that in the center of the vase on top of the ribbon.

 

Step 5: Now the fun part! Add the flowers! I got all my flowers from Trader Joes. They were $3.99 for 5 sunflowers.

I'm hoping these let our BH teachers know just how much we love them! Be sure to thank a teacher this week!