Jackson's Mario Birthday Party

Friday we had Jackson's Mario Birthday Party with all his friends!

Check out these super cute invitations my very talented friend Leisha whipped out for me! I thought they were so cute... thanks leisha! Her son Sam just had a Mario birthday party so some of my ideas came from her! :) It was very hard to find Super Mario decorations so I made most of them... I made this birthday banner for him out of scrapbook paper, ribbon, and cardboard letters... it was super easy and cheap and I think it turned out so cute! I decorated our mantel with pictures of jackson's at each age 1 through 6... i had so much fun going back and looking at old pictures of him and seeing how much he has changed. My favorite picture is when he was 2 on the white ladder... he was such a cutie!I made each of the boys mario or luigi hats... here is the birthday boy sportin' his mario hat. I put their initial on the hats instead of a M or L... another cheap and easy idea. The hats were from Hobby Lobby for around 1.00 each and the circle is made from felt. I had to dye the green hats b.c i could not find green ones so I bought white ones and dyed them with green rit dye! I ordered each of the boys these water bottles from birthday party xpress and they used them at the party and took them home as a favor to keep! The boys ate pizza and then after they ate they went on a Mario vs Luigi scavenger hunt around out neighborhood. I made the scavenger hunt sheets on the computer and just copied and pasted the images. They had to find things that related to the game... super mario brothers.

Here they are ready for the scavenger hunt... team mario

team luigi... was a team member short so mr. ray joined their team..

They went door to door collecting their items... they loved it and had a blast! Team Luigi won! :)After the scavenger hunt we came back for cupcakes, ice cream and presents...How cute are these cupcakes... edgars never sises to amaze me... i was so exited when I picked them up... b.c I just told them to do red mushrooms... i never dreamed they would look so perfect! Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy... how is there a 7 on top??? they grow up too fast!

Jackson had a great time with all his buddies at his party! We were missing a few due to baseball but we still had a great time! Happy 7th Birthday Jackson-Man!

BBTN Girls Weekend... Part 1

So here it is the post I promised was coming... Friday night our BBTN girls weekend all started... we all met and ate dinner at Stones Throw in Mt. Laurel... formally Standard Bistro. It was sooo good. I had the shrimp and grits and it was to dye for... everyone raved about their dinner... so i think you are safe with any menu selection... It was so fun meeting everyone. None of us really knew each other (other than the b'ham girls) so we just sat outside and waited for a "mom car" to drive by and see if someone we had seen in a picture once... got out of the car and then we would get all excited and introduce ourselves... it was so fun! I have talked to many of these girls on the phone for two years and packed their orders for their sweet beautiful children and it was so nice to put a name with a face... melissa, mandy, andrea, and sarah... it was so good to put names with faces and hear about your families and just see you and spend time with you... Some of them i have followed their blog for sometime and it was so nice to actually get to meet them... paige and darby... you are way cool... just as i had expected!

dinner friday night at Stones Throw

Saturday it was POURING down rain... storms, tornado warnings the whole bit but that did not stop us... we all piled in 2 cars and headed to the SPA... yes it was a slice of heaven for sure! We all got massages, facials, and pedicures... we were all so relaxed. It was a perfect day for the spa... several of us said we did not know if the rain and thunder was "real" or on the cd... we were all so relaxed and i think we could all agree we would be just fine living the life of luxury... no pics from the spa... but trust me is was A-MAZ-ING!!!!

That afternoon we all went to the brand new super cool photo studio belonging to Suzanne King... she gave us a crash course in photography and taught us so much about out cameras... i took good notes and plan to play and process all that i learned real soon... i might even share a few things... then she gave us all a little liquid courage and took group shots and individual pictures of us all... it was great fun... lindsay i don't know if I will ever forget the things you said to make us laugh... oh my!

we have not received these pics yet but when we do... that will hopefully be part 2!

we then headed back to ashleys for dinner and tons of conversations... good food and good company... can't beat that!

Sunday we all went to worship at The Church of Brookhills...in our matching t-shirts... and look lots of pictures too... great message and great music... and we got to hear mandy... i love to hear her sing...

Few pics from church...

L to R: melissa... i loved talking with her, she is a doll; paige... our dinner conversation was amazing sat night... i just love you to pieces... her story is AMAZING as is she and her BEA-U-TI-FUL daughters... go check her our (paige's simple thoughts); darby... you get a whole 3 paragraphs below... me :)... andrea... my chiefer for the weekend... hey b'wood girls... does she look familiar... andrea patterson... pelham... ben mcclurkin (after brooke:)... hope you don't mind the trip down memory lane andrea... so fun to re connect and talk about same friends... mandy... precious girl... who has told me if i move to macon my children can wear smocked until their 12 years old and hair bows until their 15 yrs old... i might be packing my bags... :); ashley... the amazing organizer of this whole shindig... sarah... such a fun girl... not pictures amelia and lindsey... good ole b'ham girls... so fun to hang out outside of bbtn work "stuff"... love you girls...

last but certainly not least... Me and Darbs...

(here it is the picture you blog stalkers have been waiting for :))

i think it goes with out saying that darby is a pretty famous blogger... i mean if you don't know who dabry... flythroughourwindow... is you probably have not been following blogs long... b.c i think EVERYONE on the planet knows who Darby is... anyway... i have been BEYOND excited since I found out in JANUARY that i was actually going to get to meet her.... yes i am a big ole darby fan... the bbtn girls make TOTAL fun of me for being SOOOO excited... they all gave me "pep talks" about how i could or could not act... ha :) So friday night we are sitting outside and she starts walking up to the table... I look at eunice and say "there she is... oh my goodness... there she is"... she kindly tells me to "get it together" b.c she doesn't get the whole blog thing... we had to show her what one was last week... she thought they were just for music... (love you unie...)... i could not even say anything at first... i was STAR STRUCK for sure... pretty much all of dinner... but by Saturday I was "over it"... meaning I could actually talk to her without getting all hot and sweaty and nervous feeling... i love that she blogged about climbing in her car and applying deodorant b.c she was so nervous... that makes two of us... anyways... she was absolutely precious... she is the most humble person i have ever met... anytime anyone mentioned her "famous" blog she would just shake her head and act like she had 9 readers not 9,000...people were stopping her at church on Sunday and asking to get their picture made with her it was hilarious... she was a BLAST... so sweet... just a great girl all around... i loved meeting her and all the other girls for that matter! Ashley... my friend... thank you is just not enough... we were treated like queens for sure! :) More pics coming soon... maybe... but until then i am done with blogging for a few days... it is birthday weekend for a very special little guy who is turning 7... sniff, sniff... so I am going to be a busy party planning mama!!! :)

BBTN Girls Weekend 2010...

this weekend was a BLAST... the food was DELICIOUS... the company was even BETTER... the spa day was RELAXING... the photography class was INFORMATIVE... new FRIENDSHIPS were made... TONS OF PICTURES were taken... on 8 different cameras the hospitality was AMAZING... ashley you are the BEST! and I OWE my husband the WORLD... BUT.... I am one TIRED momma... and i am going to bed with my kids... as in NOW! I promise to be back realllllly soon with pictures... yes THE picture... and one amazing write up about my fabulous weekend... but right now i don't think i can type a complete thought... good night! PS--- i now know why i have not been to an all girls weekend since college... yeah b/c i was a lot younger then and could handle it... ha! :) good night... zzzzzz~

My Flower Child

today i took brylee to this field of "flowers" really i think they are weeds... whatever they are they made for some good pictures... it was the easiest photo shoot i have ever done with her... she played and i took pictures for 10 minutes... here are some of my favorites...

Happy Hump Day!

The Three B's...

This week we had fun with "the three B's"! :)

B#1: Bowling - Monday the kids and daddy we out of school for a weather day so I took the day "off" to spend it with them.... what better thing to do on a day off than go bowling... brylee's technique was quite interesting... and I quote "she is very glad she does not play bowling b.c the shoes are not cute"... only brylee would care! In case you are wondering this is how you strike a pose when you get a strike! :) ... also brylee wins the award for having the first character shirt in our house... i have won the battle for almost seven years... but i lost it to the hello kitty shirt at target... boo hoo... we might just loose this shirt real soon! Jackson has the "bowling form" down... he was quit serious about his games of bowling! B # 2.... The Buzz at Chelsea Park... Wednesday Jackson's School participated in their annual fun run! In years past the school has always done it with a company but this year the PTO did the whole fun run and it was great... and the best thing all the money stays at the school... as apposed to the company getting 35% of it!

Ready to run!

Still running! I enjoyed spending the whole day at the school helping with the fun run. A few observations... - second grade teachers did not come off as being very nice... yikes... - only 3.. yes 1,2,3... third grade girls had ribbons in their hair... oh how i dread those days... - the poor third grade has hardly NO parents to cheer them on... poor kids the parents are tired by then I guess... but those were some serious runners... especially the boys - got to "love" those kindergartners... they are so needy... very specific about their Popsicle colors... i guess it matters when you are 5... and they have the largest cheering squad... the parents are all excited... their baby is doing everything for the first time! :) - the first grade lucked out running at 8:30 was not near as hot! :) - realized i did not miss mystery meat school lunches! :) B #3... My 32nd birthday... I am slowly climbing the 30 mountain... I guess I could say thank goodness I am not sliding down yet... My whole family went to eat at Mt Fuji for dinner and cake bits! I had a great time... thanks so much everyone for coming! Our newest birthday obsession... Cake Bites from Pastry Art in Homewood... OMG! they ARE THE BEST... PERIOD! The kids had a BLAST... they gave them these frozen fruity drinks and they thought they were the greatest!!! Everyone had to have a taste... They also got balloon animals made from our "cooker"... a snake and a dog in case you can't tellLet's just say it is a good thing I don't get embarrassed easily b.c their birthday celebrating was a bit much... ha! They turned the lights down in the restaurant, turned on the disc balls, and very loudly playing a birthday song... then they bring a drum out and bang it very loudly and start singing, and bring you fried ice cream and a firework for a candle... the kids LOVED it they thought it was BEYOND great! :)

I had a great birthday dinner... thank gogo and grandaddy, cathy and randy, kk, nonnie and poppie, and lane and missy for coming to celebrate with me... it was great... well and daddy and the kids too! :) Lovin' on Uncle Lane and Aunt Missy!

And last but certainly not least... my BEAUTIFUL flowers!!!! There is nothing like getting flowers as a complete and total surprise... Ashley and the BBTN girls sent me flowers to work on Thursday (kristen and I only work on thurs)... are they not beautiful?? Gerber daisies are my FAVORITE flower... I want them to live for forever! Thank you Ashley and BBTN girls... ya'll truly are THE BEST!!!!

wishing you all a wonderful weekend... i am off to bed... and my floors smell like lavender pine sol... where has that stuff been all my life... i am obsessed... if you don't mop your floors with it... go get a bottle tomorrow and get to moppin'... you will LOVE it... my house smells SO CLEAN!

a sale and a shout out...

For all you locals out there... if you and the family are looking for something fun to do on Saturday come on out to The Town of Mt. Laurel for their Spring Festival! There will be tons of booths (including BBTN and Favorite Laundry... all on sale! and bows too), great food, inflatables, and Snow White, Stars Wars, and Ghost Busters will be making apperances! It will be a great fun day! (no sure why the invite is small... sorry!) And last but not least... head on over here http://www.blessednames.com/blog/?p=1932 you just might see some one you know... what a sweet shout out from my "boss" and dear friend... stay tuned for more info about all the fun I will be taking part in next weekend! I am beyond excited! :) PS... thanks to my photographer (http://www.thehairstonfamily.blogspot.com/)... you did an awesome job capturing the picture I needed... by the way I had to send a picture that best portrayed my personality... what do ya'll think... ball park mom for sure! :)

Girls Weekend to the Beach...

We had a great "Girls Only" weekend at the beach! Nonnie, Brylee and I left bright and early Friday morning headed to Destin!!! We got there just in time for lunch and enjoyed some yummy seafood at The Boat Dock! Then we dropped by GoGo and Granddaddy's condo to see them and let Brylee play and swim until our room was ready! Brylee and Grandaddy had a blast playing in the ocean (i can't believe they were in it... it was waaayyy to cold for my blood), they even swam to the sand bar... brylee loved; she thought it was way cool to be out in the ocean and be able to touch! Brylee played in the sand and swam in the pool while Nonnie, GoGo and I soaked up the sun! Ahhh it was so nice to be at the beach!

sis jumping the waves... After our fun in the sun; Nonnie, Brylee and I went and checked in our room... we stayed at Baytowne Wharf... my favorite place to stay... I L-O-V-E that place... we enjoyed dinner and shopping at Baytowne that night! It was so nice outside to just walk around, shop, and eat dinner at Acme Oyster House outside! sister loving her frozen lemonade from fat tuesday's

After shopping and dinner she got to jump high on the "bouncy thing"... she loves this thing!having so much fun...

Saturday we were up bright and early for Miss Brylee to cheer. We met GoGo and Grandaddy at The Donut Hole for a yummy breakfast!

gogo, brylee, and nonnie after breakfast

Brylee and her team did a great job... obviously is overwhelming with all the crowds, lights, and loud music but they performed really well all things considered... and they are 5!

brylee and cara stunting...She was most excited about every one coming to watch her cheer! :) So excited that GoGo, Grandaddy and Nonnie were there on the front row cheering her on... and Charlotte too... she made fast friends with her! That is my BBF from kindergartens mom and her husband (couple far right) they were vacationing with GoGo and Grandaddy and were sweet enough to come see brylee cheer! thank you! :)

After cheering we ate lunch, did some shopping and headed back to the our place to enjoy the afternoon at the pool!

my favorite pic from the weekend... i love this little one to pieces...swimming is so fun!

posing with the dolphin in the fountain with her new bikini (thank you Nonnie)Saturday Night we ate dinner at The Crab Trap with Brylee and her team and their families for their end of the year party! All the girls had a blast! Go Fierce Feathers!!!

her team and their coaches! brylee and her certificate

coach stacey made them all frames... so cute!

After dinner we shopped some more... yeah! lord help me when she becomes a teenager...

Sunday we were up and at it again for another fun day of cheering and enjoying our beach trip!

They did much better today... at least they knew what to expect... and i was able to get a few smiles too... they did not win but they had fun and that is all that matters at this age! :) Yes I am very glad I did not have the 10 year old squalling in the parking lot b/c she did not win... wow!

After cheering it was time for lunch at The Back Porch (one of my favorite places to eat) and one last stop by the outlet malls before we headed back to the ham!

We had a great time at the beach! I loved spending the weekend with my baby girl... but we missed our boys (they had to stay home b.c of baseball)! We also had a great weekend with Nonnie... thank you for going with us... we had a blast with you and love you sooooo much! We were even "kind enough" to let GoGo stay with us Sat night instead of going back with her "crew"... we had fun with you too GoGo!