Happy 4th Birthday Libby and Drew!

I've been gone for awhile, but wanted to share the photos from Libby and Drew's 4th Birthday! I can't believe how fast time has flown and that I have 4-year-olds now. Phew! We have had lots of celebrations- one at home with just the 4 of us, a birthday party with daycare and preschool friends, and a trip to Louisiana for another round of presents and cake with family.

For our home family party, I made a cake myself and it was TONS of work. I tried it as a test run for the party at the park and decided that a sheet cake from Costco with embellishments from toys we had at home would be a better option! It definitely was and I still got lots of compliments on it. ;)

We had their party at Burke Lake Park last weekend and it was so much fun. There is a train, carousel, and playground there along with a pavilion for us to have cake, ice cream, and snacks. It was a Mickey and Minnie Mouse theme and of course, I planned it for several weeks before it actually arrived. With the help of my wonderful Cricut scrapbooking cutting machine, I was able to make several things, including the favor bags, centerpieces, and banner. Everything else was courtesy of Party City and Costco.

Preschool Birthday Party

It's Libby and Drew's first birthday party at preschool (for their big FOURTH birthday)!

Getting Organized with Free Software

I read lots of blogs- LOTS. Most are about home design on the cheap, but I also follow ones that include recipes and hints for organizing your life. Well, I am so happy I found a post from one of them talking about some free software/websites that can help.

Have you ever found a recipe or some other article online, printed it out to save it, and then lost it or eventually threw it away to get rid of clutter before you even used it? I have done this many times.

Have you ever used your email account as your own personal storage space by emailing yourself these said articles and recipes? I do this quite often so I can access them from our laptop, home desktop, and work laptop, too. But most of the time, it gets lost in the 1000 other messages in my inbox only never to be found again!

If you're like me, you'll be happy to use these 2 things: Evernote and Dropbox.

Evernote is a free program that you access from signing up for a free account on their website. It is a free storage program for articles, webpages, recipes, and even your own notes you create (like to-do lists). You can organize them into different folders, search your mailboxes, and even have it "capture" all the text and images from a webpage you are viewing! It's really, really cool.
Here's a screen shot of my notes:

Dropbox is a really neat thing as well. You sign up for an account and for free can get 2 GB of free storage space. For this one, you download some software and automatically a folder called "Dropbox" appears on your computer as a choice whenever you save something. I dragged a bunch of photos and Cayenne Paper things I'm working on to it. Then, I can access it from any computer and even your smartphone. I love their slogan "It's like a magic pocket"! You consolidate everything there and can even share it with others. So, if I download a whole bunch of photos that I want to share with family, I can do that easily. You can buy more storage space, but I'll be fine with the 2 GB right now since it's free. I'm excited because it will be so easy to backup my work laptop because I'm getting a brand new one next week!

Here's my Dropbox:

Meeska, Mooska!

That's right- Libby and Drew have decided on a birthday party theme that suits both of them - Mickey and Minnie! I am happy b/c it will be really cute, but also because they were previously choosing Princess and Pirates. Not that those themes aren't fine- just that it would require a lot more planning on my craftiness part. ;)

We're going to have the party at Burke Lake Park this year. We went there when Libby and Drew were still babies and had a great time (unfortunately, they don't remember). But it is a nice place with a train and carousel right next to a nice playground. They have a cute little gazebo to rent out near the ice cream parlor. So, we're going to have lots of fun! Plus, being at the park, it really isn't that expensive at all.

Ok, so I'm so excited to start the planning! I just love this part!!! I'm ordering some cute Mickey and Minnie shirts from one of my vendors, Patty. Libby is going back and forth between a swing top and a regular t-shirt. She is so opinionated funny. Luckily, Drew just wants a t-shirt with Mickey. So, here's what I'm planning.. going back and forth between a cake or cupcakes. But I think blowing out candles on a cake is more fun, right? Plus I'll just order one from the bakery b/c I'm sure they have something Mickey. Well, the big mistake was looking on my favorite site, www.etsy.com It's a site for all things handmade. And there are some seriously crafty people on there!!! I just searched for "mickey party" and got all kinds of options ideas. I have a Cricut machine, which cuts different shapes and words out of paper. It's really cool. I found the Mickey cartridges for really cheap and can't wait for them to arrive.

More details to come...

I'm Having Flashbacks

I went to Home Goods, perhaps one of my top favorite stores, and saw something very familiar. Doesn't it look familiar to you? If not, take a look here to refresh your memory.

It's Carnival Time!

Mardi Gras is just around the corner and it is a time when we really miss NOLA since it's just a regular Tuesday in Virginia. I usually don't decorate for it here but this month we are hosting our Louisiana Supper Club,  so I decided to get the decorations out of the basement!

I had more things than I remembered and the kids have been putting beads everywhere! I had a wreath I didn't like, so I ripped it apart and remade it into this one. Darrell thought it looked a little "busy", but that was exactly what I intended for a Mardi Gras wreath.

I didn't spend 1 penny on it and even represented many krewes with their beads and doubloons: Orpheus (Mandeville), Caesar, Bacchus, Endymion, and Juno.

Hopefully our neighboprd will get the idea. They are pretty used to LSU and Saints flags on our house from September on! And last year when the Saints won the Superbowl, we had our flag out for a LONG time!

Man of Steel

In case you didn't know, Darrell and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on Feb. 5th! I love that our anniversary is before Valentine's Day because we usually get to spend it together while avoiding all the other couples out on Valentine's night. Brenda, Libby and Drew's sitter, offered to babysit them that night. We took her up on it!

We went to Fairfax Corner that rainy and freezing cold night for dinner and a movie. We decided to try out a new Italian restaurant, Ozzie's Corner Italian, by a local chain of really good restaurants. They did not disappoint! We started with a drink in the bar and I had the yummiest Limoncello Martini. I wish I would have taken a photo of it b/c it was beautiful and delicious, too. The only problem is that I couldn't really taste the alcohol too much. That's when I knew to stop at one! Darrell had a draft beer and right when we finished, we sat at our table.

I had meatballs and Darrell had Chicken Parmesan. In case you ever need to answer random trivia questions about Darrell, know that he almost always orders that dish in any even sort-of Italian restaurant! Both were delicious and we had a nice time just catching up.

After that, we went to see the recently Oscar nominated movie "The King's Speech" and it was great. It is about King George VI of England, who was also a stutterer. Colin Firth played the part and Geoffrey Rush was his speech therapist. Both deserve an Oscar because they were great in each role.

When we went to pick up the kids at 11:00, I snuck up to the door thinking they'd definitely be asleep. WRONG! They had so much fun playing and making brownies and watching "Beverly Hills Chihuahua II" and running around with Brenda's daughter, Brianna. Drew was excited to see me but wouldn't you know Libby started screaming that she didn't want to come home with us! She is something else.

Another neat fact about Darrell is that he never forgets an occasion, always has a card ready for me, and usually is clever enough to give me the traditional anniversary gift for each year (Year 1=paper, etc.) He didn't disappoint this year. Would you know that year 10 is steel. I thought he'd never be able to find something and I wasn't interested in a new set of pots! Guess what that little rascal did... he showed up with those cabinet organizers I had my eye on. I was surprised and it was perfect! It's installed and is now it stores the kids' plastic dishes. Easily accessible for them and durable, too. My man of steel is the best! ;)

Yummy Fiber One Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Libby has had an upset tummy lately, most likely from all of the candy and junk that's been around for Valentine's Day (and it's not even here yet). They had a preschool class party on Friday and treats at daycare afterward. But Monday is the real party for daycare.

I found a recipe for Oatmeal Raisin cookies and decided to try them out. I was surprised b/c they are really, really good! Not too sweet but not like a piece of high fiber bark! Just right. I made them big and they were yummy and crumbly with a nice cold glass of milk. Mmmmmm. Try them!

1 c. softened butter (I used half margarine and half butter)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs. milk
1 large egg
2 c. flour (I used whole wheat)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 c. quick cooking oats (I only had about 2 cups)
1/2 c. Fiber One original cereal (crushed)
1 1/3 c. raisins
* I threw in about 1/2 c. of peanut butter chips that I had along with a couple of tbs. of applesauce to keep them moist

Heat oven to 425. Cream butter, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and milk. Sift together flour, soda, and cinnamon and add gradually. Add cereal and oats and stir just until blended. Fold in raisins and peanut butter chips. Drop onto cookie sheets (I made big mounds)and bake for 12-14 mins. Enjoy!

I'm linking up to:

Will You Be My Valentine?

Libby and Drew, I will ALWAYS be your Valentine! I love you bunches and bunches-- to the moon and back!

xoxo,
Mama

Family Room Re-Do

I realized I never showed photos of my family room re-do from this summer. The walls before (and I'll try to surface photos) were a peachy color that has bothered me since we moved in. We honestly never had the time to paint and I finally decided to do it, much to Darrell's chagrin. I went thrifting and with the help of a few blogs, like the fabulous Nester, I got a few ideas and stayed on a budget. I splurged on Benjamin Moore paint because I've really had the most success with it. I added lots of thrift store finds (most of what is on the mantle and the solid, HEAVY fleur-de-lis sconces above it - yeah, those were $2.95 each at Goodwill!!) and some cute things from Home Goods (the green bird in the tree cabinet, the toile ottoman seat), and Michaels (the candles, the white flower vase and feathers).

The color is a soft green, which was surprisingly easy to find (it can be tricky not to end up like a baby's nursery). It's #493 Harbour Town by Benjamin Moore. I went to Joann and found some sun/shade fabric for 70% off and voila- my window mistreatments were born! I have since bought some ivory bed sheets to hang behind them since they are pretty sheer in the sunlight. The center valance and matching throw pillows (green and brown) are from Lowe's.

My next project is to paint the buffet behind the couch. I bought it for $100 at an auction 4 years ago. I sort of wanna ditch it, but it does hold tons of stuff that wouldn't fit anywhere else. Any ideas of what color? I might use Nester's Favorite Tan by Sherwin Williams. Still need to ponder this one...

I'm linking up with The Nester's linky party about paint colors, so take a look!