Ainsley's Birthday Party

I realize that once again, I am so stinkin' far behind that I wonder if I'll ever catch up. Huh, I am starting to see a trend here. Maybe I'll work on that character flaw. Maybe a New Year's resolution.....again? Ha!

Okay, onto the our sweet girl's birthday!

I made this balloon wreath for the front door, and I absolutely adore it. Let me know if you want the tutorial. Ainsley loves to feel of it.....oh, how that girl's smile can brighten a room!


Here is her birthday top I made. Totally forgot to get a picture of the shorts. Probably because I finished the morning of her party!!! Yep, I said it. I am usually not a procrastinator, really! ; )



Here we are night before birthday party making 48 sunflower cupcakes. I went with the sunflower theme and fall colors for her birthday. Turned out great. I used Oreo's as the center part for the flower and piped yellow petals.

Table partially decorated before we went to bed.

Decided it was time to call it a night and started cleaning up the kitchen. Now, you know I absolutely can not go to bed with a dirty kitchen. Tried it, makes me really crabby the next morning. Just tellin' ya like it is! : )

Oh, Michael's gonna kill me when he sees this one. Apparently we need to work on the modesty! ; ) Thought it was hilarious how comfortable she was.

Told ya.

Such a good daddy!! How many men would get in the floor and open gifts?

Not sure if she enjoyed the clothes or the tissue paper more.

Blowing out her 1 candle. Geez.....what's with the hunchback?

Kept waiting for her to dig in and a make a huge mess. Didn't happen. Maybe she's not a chocolate lover? Ugh.....can't stand the "L" word. How about chocoholic? Much better!! : )

Sweet girl, you have brought SO much joy to our lives! I can't imagine our days without your bright smile, and oh, that giggle. You truly are a miracle sent down from up above. Ainsley Paige, we love you more than you'll ever know!!

"I thank my God every time I remember you".

Philipians 1:3

A big helping of honesty.....

No pictures today. Not from the projects I'm working on. No firsts from Ainsley. No, nothing upbeat from me today. It's been another one of those days, no let's make that weeks. I'd like to say we're still getting in the groove of school starting back up and Tanner still getting over what seems to have been mono. But who knows...

I know that Satan is prowling around me and is ready to pounce at any second. I know this because I have been here before. That evil Satan will try and turn good into bad, if you let him. And because I am stubborn and don't like to give up....I will push forward.


"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms". Ephesians 6:12

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes".
Ephesians 6:11

Almost bithday girl....

Ainsley turns one on Thursday. Her party is next weekend. Had to bump it a week because of Labor Day. Which is great, gives me another week to get it all finished up. : )

Invitations have already been mailed out.

Now onto the birthday outfit. Decided to go with fall colors for her clothes and party theme. Needed a break from the pink and brown combo.

This is the top.

This will be her shorts. Actually thinking of maybe changing this up a bit. Time will tell.

Oh, and I have other birthday crafty thingies I've been working on. Will share those when I finish em up.

Germ Cover

I started this project back in June. I realize that it has taken me much longer than I'd like, but it was an unusal summer for us. For those of you who, like me, cringe at the thought of touching a shopping basket (much less putting your child in it), then you'll appreciate this one! : )

It is reversible. Only down side is it won't fit the basket at HEB. : (

She loves it!

No more nasty baskets...

Back to School...

Today is the first day of school for Tanner. He started 2nd grade this morning.

I had my alarm set for 5:30 this morning, but didn't need it. I woke up before it went off...but couldn't drag myself outta bed. With these two kiddos in the house I probably wouldn't have to bother with alarms! Why do you ask? Tanner got up at 5:45am. Said he was too excited. He is gonna be beyond tired by the time bedtime rolls around tonight.

I decided last year that no more school bus rides to/from school. He came home asking a whole bunch of questions. Needless to say, Ainsley and I took him to school this morning. He was all wrapped up in seeing his friends that he nearly forgot his backpack when he jumped outta the Yukon. Hopefully this enthusiasm will last all year, again!

Meet the Teacher

Friday the 20th we had Meet the Teacher at Tanner's school. He was not pumped about this at all! Which, if you Tanner at all, is very unlike him. Once we got inside and met his teacher, that all changed. He talked even more (wasn't sure that was possible) once we left! She (his teacher) has a rat! Oh, so gross! And all kinds of bugs! Any apprehension and reservations about school were gone in the blink of an eye! He was now ready for Monday!

Vacation (Part 5.....finally)

On our last full day of vacation we hit two new places (for us)! Yes, I know. I'm a creature of habit, so this adventure was even more exciting!

This amazing thing is a replica of Titanic. Built from the blueprints of the actual ship. There is a museum inside the boat. Of course, no cameras are allowed. Amazing, that's all I can say. Here is the web link, so you can take a gander at it yourself:

http://www.titanicpigeonforge.com/

For lunch we went to the Applewood Restaurant. Yummy!! This is where we had the most scrumptious, delectable, mouth-watering, fried nuggets, ahem......also known as apple fritters. Can ya tell how much we enjoyed those little pieces of heaven? I'll share the recipe with you soon. Your recipe collection would not be complete without it! Your welcome! ; )

Not only were there 2 restaurants, a gift shop, apple orchard but there was also a winery. Michael and I had our first wine tasting together. It was made with apple and raspberry! Oh it was tasty alright! So good we brought home 3 bottles. No joke!

Here is another link....just in case you were curious:

http://www.applewoodbarns.com/