Good Friends, Part 2

10 years ago, the world lost a fun loving, ornery, kind, sweet guy...he also happens to be my husband's best friend and D's Godfather. We miss him and think about him often. Tonight we celebrate his life with his family and friends... he lived it to the fullest!

Cupcakes and Supper

I have the best friends a girl could ask for. It's been a SUPER busy, stressful few months at work and too cheer me up one friend dropped off delicious cupcakes! Not your normal out of the box cupcakes, but real cupcakes...Vanilla Malt, Red Velvet and Strawberry Shortcake -- YUM! Not only were they to die for, but they also kicked off a little family time...maybe we should eat cupcakes more often? Sorry, no photo...we ate them too fast!

And THEN, the next night another friend brought supper! YES! Do you know how great it is not to have to think about making supper?!? And not only did it feed the family, but the friends that Damon had over too. No photo again...have you ever seen teenage boys when they're hungry??

These two girls are simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I honestly don't know how I got so lucky!

Which brings me to this...the above said supper-bearing friend and I have known each other since college (you know, like a couple years ago). I would like to think we're pretty honest with each other, but apparently that's a new level of our friendship. Why do I say such a thing?!? What kind of friend lets you wear this to the umm bar...I mean library??? And really, what kind of friend doesn't take you shopping for a cute hat....really, Tweety?!?

Long Time, No Post

Well, hello there. I guess I haven't had anything interesting to say since this summer. I'm sure something happened between then and now. Little D started high school, I have a new client at work (that's keeping me BUSY!), the hubs is thinking about a side venture, I still love designing...which brings me to my latest creation for a friend at work. Her little girl turns one this month and she has the cutest cupcake shirt (or two, or three shirts!) and a tutu for her birthday. Don't you think she needed a cute invite too?!? (PS: I'm not this clever with words, but I can't remember who to give credit to -- so to whoever you are, thank you.)


I have a baby shower invite to post soon once I take a picture and one other piece to share. Hopefully I'll have it posted this week!

More photos to come from a weekend spent with T's brothers too! I know, I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!

Halloween Weekend

What a busy weekend...we weren't planning on being busy, it just happened that way. Damon headed to a friends house Friday night to scare trick or treaters. Not in a mean, I'm going to steal your candy, sort of way. One of his friends and his dad do this every year, so he joined the fun this year...the house has flashing lights, and other Halloween stuff so it's clear you are bound to get spooked. We got a call from the Fritz family and were lucky enough to have dinner, salad and dessert invitation! YUMMY! Cranberry something or other chicken, yummy salad and peanut butter and chocolate pie....all delish. Oh yeah, and we played cards...I don't want to talk about it, the men kicked our butts (as they do most times we play cards). Not sure why to card gods hate us so much?!? Or maybe the boys just cheat better?!?

Sunday we cleaned, mowed/mulched and then Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit. I sent the boys to Bass Pro Shop and mom and I went looking for dishes and a tree (do you see why I sent the boys to BPS?). Mom found a little tree she loved for her front step at our first stop, Earl May. Then we were off to Younks to look for dishes...and can you believe we found some! The best part...they were $139.99, BUT on clearance...so for the bargin price of $34 my mom picked up some dishes she loves. And as a bonus, I found these cute little salad plates (also on clearance!) that will look adorable with my white dishes in the Spring! When we finally met up with the boys we headed over to Samurai to have a little hibachi style dinner...really good!!

On the way home from dinner I remembered that my son did to me, what I did to my mom when I was younger. One of his teachers at school said milk and cookies would be perfect for reading time they have on Monday...(you see it coming, right?!?). So she asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to bring milk or cookies. My fabulous son said I'd make the cookies, yep, pretty sure I did this to my mom. So, 30 cookies later he has treats for class tomorrow. As much as I teased him about not volunteering to bring the milk, I love to do this kind of stuff for him. I can't believe how fast the years have gone by and I'm trying to cherish those we have left before he starts the next chapter in his life. He's a pretty good kid most of the time, has a good heart, a great sense of humor and is loyal to his family and friends. Not sure how I got so lucky, but I did. I love you Damon.

Thanksgiving Invites

I know, I know...it's been forever since I've posted. I have so much to show you it's unreal, but today it's only going to be the most current item I've worked on as I have 8 people staying at my house tonight and 30 others that I need to hand out Race for the Cure stuff too, plus I need to drop my dog off at my dog sitter's (my friend Sarah's!), take the sewing machine to Cheryl (sure hope it works), mail the invites (see below), respond to work email, put away the cleaning supplies, switch loads of laundry, charge my camera battery, figure out what I'm wearing tomorrow (layers and layers of clothes), and set up sleeping arrangements...whew. It will be a fun weekend and we will announce to Trish what we raised for our fundraiser. It comes at a perfect time as she has to have another eye surgery (another $600 out of pocket) and I think she was starting to get overwhelmed with how her medical bills were piling up.

Anywho, my parents needed a design for a Thanksgiving invitation and this is what I came up with. I was rather proud of myself not only in the record time I completed it, but that I figured out how to get the printing to bleed off the edge of the envelopes through the printer.

I blurred out their names and address (I've had randoms leave comments) because I don't really need any unexpected guests showing up on Thanksgiving. But the return address had my parents name in the orange thing and their address below...sorta mimics the actual invitation. Then on the invitation it says Let's give thanks and the party info. They are simple, but I loved them and loved that the envelopes match (I'm a dork like that).

I am truly blessed.

In today's world where bigger, brighter, better seems to be a theme that we all get lost in from time to time...I am guilty just as the next person. But yesterday, I was reminded that it isn't about who has the biggest house, it's about how much love that house is filled with. It's not about the fastest car, it's about where that car takes you - do you use it to see your family, your friends, to take your kids to their favorite park/practice/friend's house?

After I got out of the shower yesterday, there was a note on the mirror that was revealed by the steam : "Happy Bday Mom!" Say it with me now...awwww! How sweet is that?!? It was right there in that moment, when I realized that it's what I already have that really matters. Then my parents come down from the big MC. They had just spoiled Damon and a friend for 4 days - entertaining them and letting them do whatever they wanted to do - and now they drove down for my birthday! They gave me a card that said this :

Things a Daughter Teaches Her Parents

that raising your own princess beats any fairy tail;

that a lot of great big people can be wrapped around one little finger;

that a daughter's smile is better than sunshine;

that you can never have too many hugs or memories...(or phones);

that time flies unless your daughter is on a date;

that a girl can make her parents happy, proud, confused, and a little bit crazy all at the same time;

that letter go is a whole lot harder than it looks;

and most of all, that there's a kind of joy that only comes from watching an adorable little girl grow into a lovely and much-loved woman.

I also get a little sad that school is starting for many, many reasons, but most of all because my baby will be in high school. I don't think I'm ready for this.

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma Pete

Terry's aunt, cousins and their families flew in from Washington to celebrate Grandma Pete's 90th birthday party. It's been almost 8 years since we've all been together, but we picked up where we left off. So much fun!

A few of the highlights :

1. Making s'more on the stove (yep, it IS possible with an electric stove)
2. Girls day pedicures (Grandma's first pedicure ever)
3. Boys day golfing
4. Grilled food 3 days in a row (tired of burgers and hot dogs!)
5. Swimming at the pool (Kings Pointe, in Holstein, and Valley View) - Leo's belly flop and the guys doing flips (or trying!)
6. Cameron peeing outside the dugout at his brother's game
7. Girls going to "pick up the pizza" -- the boys didn't catch on that it was code for DRINKS FIRST!
8. Trish calling her sex on the beach drink : sex in the city, sex in the town, or whatever it was.
9. Shawn's kids all in tears because they were the first to leave
10. Did we mention s'mores on the stove...The Washington Crew's new favorite thing!

Terry and one of his back flips :

Hailey, Grandma Pete, Annie and Cassidy at our Girls Day pedicure :
Damon and the birthday girl :
Damon and Brandon :
Damon and Alex :
The Boathouse was a quick detour before we picked up pizza (Trish, Traci, Becka, Me, Jenny) :