cooo-kie.

Not really sure there's anything this boy loves more...

little crafts.

My girlfriend's and I have bi-monthly play dates for our littles. And you know, it's for us mamas too. Each of us hosts twice a month and this month I'm large and in charge. So, seeing that I love holidays and any and every excuse to decorate for and celebrate them, I figured I would host a Valentine's craft play date! Naturally.

After turning to great wide world of Pinterest, I got the idea for painted foot hearts. I thought that it was a precious, easy craft that we could make and give to the daddies or grandparents for Valentine's Day. 

All you need for this craft is card stock, washable paint, a sponge brush, and anything else that you want to snazzy it up with. I bought little letter stamps and a gold stamp pad so we could personalize them and some glitter to add some pizazz (for the little ladies, of course). 

I also threw together some bevvies and snacks for the mamas. On the menu was sparkling water with fresh strawberries, strawberry yogurt covered pretzels, mini red velvet and vanilla cupcakes, and cream cheese, olive, and walnut mini heart sandwiches. Can you tell I'm pregnant?!

And while I think the babies enjoyed playing together and interacting more than they did crafting, everyone left with some precious footsie keepsakes. 

Olive doesn't seem that impressed.

And by the looks of it, we should be getting a wave of warmer weather next week (70 degrees next Friday!), so I think that our next play date is going to have to be an outing to the zoo! YAY for Spring!

fourth festivities.

No sun or lake fun for the Fourth this year. Waaaaaaah. We were pretty bummed about it, but didn't let it rain on our parade or dampen our spirits. Pun intended.

We started our day off right with a Fourth of July breakfast of champions: vanilla star-shaped pancakes topped with blueberries, strawberries, syrup and whipped cream. YUM.

The rest of the day was filled with star-spangled spritzers, red, white and blue brewskies, corn dip, smoked ribs, a visit from friends, and a game or two of washer toss.

After my boys were in bed, I watched the firework displays on the tube. Not as magical as seeing them in person, but they still made this girl happy and emotional (the meaning behind Independence Day + fireworks = sap fest). I love this nation and am thankful for our freedom...

...a freedom that allows me to live such a beautiful life with my beautiful boy and wonderful husband.



Our colors don't run in this household! Until next year...

doughnuts.

Do you ever wake up thinking "today is a doughnut day"? I do. And Sunday was one of those days. John was out of town Friday and Saturday so Brooks and I deemed Sunday as family-day. To satiate my craving we started the day with a piece (or three) of hot glazed heaven at Krispy Kreme.

It was Brooks' first trip to the Kreme and unfortunately for him, he is still too young to share a doughnut with daddy...even though they pretty much melt in your mouth. MMM. So while we ate, he chilled in his adorbs hat. No he didn't. As you can see from the above pictures, he just wanted to tear it apart and put it in his mouth. That's okay, buddy. If I couldn't eat a doughnut, I would probably try to eat the hat too...