Snow day project...one of them...

So, I was (of course I was) on Pinterest and came across a link that brought me to another link that led me to this super cute FREE printable that now has a home in a frame in my office!

Just thought I would share ;)

I just happened to have an 8x10 frame lying around. =)

This is the start of my gallery of artsy fartsy stuff that I love looking at wall in my office.

It's just a start =)

xo

Shell

Inspired by Cupcakes

I'll be the first to admit that I'm no Bakerella! I rarely bake anything actually, but for McKenna's birthday this year I made cupcakes! I had test kitchen a few days before I had to put our guests through the torment of dry, heinous baked goods from our kitchen; thank the baking gods I did. The first batch was a bit of a hot mess!

So, I googled the best way to turn a box cake mix into cupcakes, got my helper {sassy helper, might I add}, got set up and WaLa! Amazing cupcakes!

I followed the box cake directions, but after a little research learned that for the bomb.com cupcakes with a box mix, to replace the water with buttermilk and add an egg. Made the world of difference.

I even ventured out and filled them!!! Lemon Mousse filled cupcakes! Yummmm!!! I found the recipe for the mousse Here. I highly recommend! Great for newbies to the baking world like me!

She might be sassy, but I could eat those cheeks!!

Trying so hard to be patient...5 seconds later she was off in her bedroom. Short attention span, kind of like...um...her dad!

Look at that cute muffin top...I can relate! haha!

I even made some chocolate ones!! I only filled the yellow cupcakes with the Lemon Mousse though. The picture below was taken after they were all set up at the bowling alley.

So, this inspired me to make more cupcakes!

I was looking around on Pinterest {of course I was looking around on Pinterest} and found these cute little cakes! From this sweet and I mean sweet blog called with love from the oven

{Recipe }

I think I'm going to have to get busy this Valentines and make some to give away! I definitely do NOT need to keep them in my house...I just want to make them! Stay tuned for the results.

I might even have to try these...

{recipe}

Bowling Party!

Who knew that twelve 3-5 year olds would have so much fun bowling! Who knew how fun it would be {and hectic} to help/watch them bowl! If you have never had your kiddos birthday party at a bowling alley...well, you must! There are lots of fun, sweet, adorable pictures so I will keep the words to a minimum!

Here is how Kenna's bowling birthday party went down at Daffodil Bowl in Puyallup.

That happens to be a 6lb bowling ball...I promise I didn't throw a 13 lb'er at her for her first try. That will be our next round...when she is training for the Olympic bowling team.

SUCCESS!!!

She is proud!

I'm also so proud! I love this girl to pieces and can't imagine our lives without her!! So happy I get to be her mommy!

Now THAT my friends is a sincere BFF hug! I love how Kennedy calls McKenna her 'sister'.

We love our little Ms. K!

It's never a party without the token I-have-my-daddy-wrapped-around-my-finger photo op!

Here come Benny Boy!! McKenna's sweet little cousin Ben {melts my heart} and Kennedy's obession! That girl loves her a baby!!

Ben = what a stud!

The stud muffin and his hot mommy {my sister} Callie.

I love this picture so much! These girls are totally into it...sassy as can be, but they are into this bowling thing!!

Yep, we kind of took over the place...blessed to have these people in our lives. We love them and McKenna loves their kiddos!

Aww, twoo lub. McKenna was so excited that Cale was coming to her party! It's the sweetest thing to see her in full conversation mode with her little friends. Sweetness!

"That ball better make it down the lane...all the way, I mean!"

Cupcake time!

patiently waiting for me to find a lighter to light that #4! =)

"Really, you guys are really gonna sing happy birthday to me here???"

Haha...I honestly have no idea where she gets a look like that!

A few more sweet bowling pictures!

Little tiny Owen bowling! He was so enthusiastic!

Go Benny Boy!!

At home we opened some gifts!

All in all it was a great birthday celebration for our sweet 4 year old McKenna. She is amazing in every way {except when she's not...ha} and we are blessed to have such a wonderful kid!

Sometimes I look at her and can't believe I actually kept her alive! I mean, I barely keep a house plant alive! I believe that God gave us the perfect child for who we are and for our family.

I'm so excited to see her grow and become her own person, but it sad to watch everything change so quickly. I'm thankful for the people in our lives who are a positive influence on our daughter. I believe in the well known quote "it takes a village...". Yes it does and we are blessed to have met wonderful people in WA who care and love our girl.

Happy 4th Birthday Kenna girl!

Thank you to everyone who came out to help us celebrate!

xo

Shell

What next?

I have a hard time not having something on my agenda AT ALL TIMES! It makes my poor hubs crazy because I tend to drag him into my madness most times. Or I'll just work circles around him while he is trying to relax until he feels my energy and he feels the pressure to jump in! I love it when that happens!

Right now, I'm working on Mission Bowling Birthday party for McKenna! Her Birthday party is this Saturday and it's going to be cuter than snot seeing all those kiddos with the bumpers in the gutters and bowling ramps! I decided to get a little crafty with this party so I'll be busy with that this week. {pictures from the party to come soon}. I'm taking on the challenge of making my own yummy, filled-with-something cupcakes. I'm not a baker usually but I'm giving it a shot.

If you are coming to the party on Saturday and you are reading this, don't worry, I'll do test kitchen first ;)

As far as what's next...I'm thinking the bathroom.

Since we eventually want to knock down walls and build on to our T.T.C {teeny, tiny casa} I know it's not financially smart to sink too much $$ into this bathroom since we'll probably knock walls down later, but seriously, I need it to have a face lift!!! {sorry babe}

This is our bathroom when we closed on the house. It's a little cuter now, but not much!

I know you love the forest green accent tiles...I know I do {insert sarcasm}. The sad part is that it goes into the shower too.

{side note: the rug and shower curtain are not mine and are NOT there anymore. Just sayin'.}

So, here are a few pictures I'm drawing inspiration from. I need to get it all together in my brain and then execute the mission. {yes, I take it that serious}

This one is more of my DREAM bathroom with a claw foot tub. It's not happening for my bathroom "face lift" this time around, but one day it will be mine!!! muaahahaa.
I love this instead of wallpaper since that never seems to do well with the humidity in a small bathroom
I know, I know, I can't have the pattern above and this chevron patter in the same tiny bathroom, but I do love this rug.
Since our bathroom is so small I feel like shallow built ins like this would be so perfect. I love the towel baskets too.
Found this cute guy on Pinterest, but I have no idea where to get it! I just love it!

Love how rustic and functional floor caddy is. Found this guy on Pottery Barn's website.
mm, mmm, mmmm! How cute is this bathroom? Found this sweet inspiration here
I love the idea of a furniture piece like this turned into sink console. Of course I want to do it myself, but then really???
So clean, fresh and pretty.
So, there you have it! My bathroom inspirations. Let the count down begin as to when this will happen! If I blog it, it will come right???

4 years later...

Happy New Year!!

And Happy Birthday to our super sweet, smart and kind McKenna! Yes, I will gush while writing this blog post and I'll probably shed a tear as I think about her turning 4. I can't even begin to tell you the amount of baby pictures I have looked through in the last couple days thinking about how big she is getting and how sad and exciting it is to see her grow up. I know all you mommies out there can relate.

I am looking forward to watching her grow more and more each day into her own personality. It is true, she has Brian's crazy intelligence and my creativity...but she also has my sass and both of our stubbornness, so there is our challenge =)

2012 is going to be awesome either way, but this is how we have started our year so far...celebrating our girl's 4th birthday!

She woke up to her first big girl bike and a bunch of balloons, cause this girl...she loves her some balloons!! Look at that crazy bed head! I love it!!

I seriously want to eat those cheeks! I don't care how old she gets!!

Getting some love from Meema! Thank you Meema and Grandpa Jerry for

the safety gear now that this girl has wheels!

Next stop...Rainforest Cafe for Birthday lunch.

{her choice...she loves this joint!}

Boots joined us for her Birthday lunch. Here she is with to ladies that adore her more than words can say.

Brian and his Mom! It was so nice having Angie with us for a week! This was the first Birthday that she was able to celebrate with McKenna! It was very special. I'm blessed with an amazing Mother in law.

Take #2 on blowing the candles out. I have to admit, our server lit the candles again for us because I missed the photo op of the first huff and puff. Can you tell she is posing for this one? =)

That's what we do...we keep it classy with our birthday Sundae!

Next birthday activity for the day was Zoo lights at Point Defiance Zoo. Boots bought us tickets for Christmas and we made it on the very last day of Zoo Lights! It was the perfect way to end our Birthday celebration with our girl and the last night we got to spend with Angie as she flies back to Florida tomorrow morning.

It was pretty much an awesome day!

Other than the fact that Brian was pretty sick; he was a trooper and an amazing daddy for hanging in there with us through all the birthday activities today.

It wouldn't have been the same without him.

So, moving forward into the new year...I do think this will be an amazing year, but trust me when I say, I'm not unrealistic to think that this year won't bring it's share of heartache, frustrations and challenges. I'm just positive that as a family we will take better care; Better care of our health, our spiritual life the relationships in our lives, our marriage {more date nights!!} and our home! I'm looking forward to all of that!

So, happy New Year!! Thanks for keeping up with our life!

xo

Shelley