Valentine's Day

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

Scott's in Florida but Grace and I had a fun day full of Valentine stuff. I have lots of photos to share but I just wanted to post this one real quick.

This was once we got home from Ballet. It was red and pink week at ballet so I had to go outside the norm of her usual ballet attire! She got lots of compliments while at ballet. :)

Girls Night Out

To celebrate Grace being paci free, she and I had a girls night out! Our first stop was to the mall for dinner and chick-fil-a and a visit to Build-A-Bear. Because she was such a paci girl I couldn't see myself just throwing them away or them just sitting in a box. On this day, Grace had been paci free for 17 days. I figured since we had gone this long without one that she wouldn't be too distraught when she saw them again. She was such a big girl!

Step One: Picking out the animal she wanted. Grace chose a rabbit. There are probably 20 different animals to choose from that range from $15-$30 from all kinds of bears to smurfs to rabbits to penguins.

Step Two: There are lots of different sounds that you can stuff into your animal. Basically its a button that you can put in their foot or hand and once you press it it makes a noise. There are noises such as hearbeats, laughter, smooches, songs, etc. Grace chose not to put a noise maker in her bunny but she did have fun listening to the different sounds.

Step 3: Time to stuff!

We put ALL EIGHT pacis in first...

Then you put a small heart in your animal...

And then its time to step on the pedal and fill our bunny with stuffing.

Step 4: Bunny needs a bath!

Step 5 consisted of picking out clothes for her bunny. Grace chose a ballerina tutu.

Step 6: Making bunny's gift certificate!

...and giving her a name. Grace calls her bunny, Sadie!

All Done!

After our fun at Build-A-Bear we went to see Beauty & the Beast in 3D!

And because I love photo strips we had to take advantage of the one at the theater to show off our silly 3D glasses!

At home and snuggled up tight!

Family Photo Session, Part 1

My friend, Laurie Crutchfield, came to Columbia do some family portrait of us back in November. We hadn't had photos of us since Grace was 6 months old so I knew it was time! Scott gets on me when I mention having someone photograph us. I have the camera, why can't I just give it to someone and have them snap a photo? Its not that simple. Grace doesn't smile for me like she did for Laurie. :)

Ever since I took Tucker, Sailor, & Cutter's photos down in Gum Neck, I knew I wanted to have our photos done there too around the old barn and grape vines. I wanted to share some of them with you but I'll split them up into two posts. There are so many that I LOVE! I will never be able to thank Laurie enough for taking these images for us.

















I just ordered one of the above images as a 20x30 gallery wrap canvas for our house! {*Squeal*} I had purchased a groupon from Canvas on Demand months ago because I was certain I'd want to have some canvas' made from this session. Boy was I right! I can't wait to get it and hang it!

Random Cell Phone Photos

Just a few random photos of Grace recently!

She's into trying to scare people. Here she is waiting for her Daddy to come in so she can jump out and say boo! ;)





My princess...





Grace loves when we go through the car wash...



The weather has been unseasonably warm, so we've spent some time at the park...



Our trip to Build A Bear! I'll have more on this soon!


This is Grace's favorite place to hang out while I work.

A Creative Flop

Another idea that I've seen on pinterest that I pinned to my Cupid <3 board, was how to make cupcakes in the shape of hearts. Anyone that knows me, knows how much I LOVE a cupcake, so to think I could  make them into heart shape cupcakes, made me giddy! The final product, not to much! :(

However, I didn't click on the link to read about the process I just put the marble in to make the cupcake effect, filled my liners, baked and BUST! I'd put too much cupcake batter into the liners so I lost the whole heart effect on 90% of my cupcakes. But I did try and make them as "hearty-looking" as possible, but it still wasn't a good heart. I guess if I want heart-shaped cupcakes I'll just need to buy myself a heart-shaped cupcake pan!

Here you can read Megret's blog on the correct way to fill your liners and see what her final product looked like. I was told my final product "looked like Grace took a bite out of them" and "looks more like pac-men".

Oh well, we live and we learn! :)

48 Questions

Just a few random things...

1. What time did you wake up this morning?
6 AM.

2. How do you like your steak?
Medium Well

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Beauty and the Beast in 3D last Friday

4. What’s your favorite TV show?
Private Practice

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I'm happy where I'm living!

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Cinnamon Rolls

7. What is your favorite food?
Spaghetti

8. Foods you dislike?
Chitlins, liver...

9. Favorite place to eat
Any of our grandparents kitchens!

10. Favorite dressing
Ranch, but it has to be homemade.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
Suburban! So thankful!

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Right now it would be leggings. They're so comfortable!

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Italy, Paris, New Zealand, this list can go on...

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Depends in my mood.

15. Where would you want to retire?
The same place I was raised.

16. Favorite time of day?
Just before bedtime

17. Where were you born?
Edenton, North Carolina

18. What’s your favorite sport to watch?
Football or Basketball

19. What’s your favorite fragrance?
Victoria Secret's Love Spell

20. What’s your favorite face cream?:
I wish I had one...

21. Favorite baby/kids product?
Melissa and Doug puzzles, a lot of the Leapfrog products (leappad, tag junior, leapfrog DVDs)

22. People watcher?
Love to people watch but I don't stare.

23. Are you a morning person or night owl?
Night owl!

24. Do you have any pets?
No.

25. Any new/exciting news to share?
Yes, but it's a secret so I can't! Yet. ;)

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
A teacher.

27. What is your favorite memory?
The day I had Grace.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
No cats please! I guess dog, but only if it stayed outside.

29. Are you married?
No.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
95% of the time.

31. Been in a car accident?
Yes. Thankful none were too serious.

32. Any pet peeves?
Disrespectful children, Bad manners (smacking, slurping), Liars

33. Favorite pizza toppings?
Pepperoni and Pineapple

34. Favorite flower?
Sunflower

35. Favorite ice cream?
Chocolate

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Chick-fil-a / Bojangles

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
Written and driven: 0.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Aunt Scarlet

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Oh this is hard. I'd have to choose Target so I could get clothes and home stuff at the same time. Or TJ Maxx will do too!

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Can't think of anything. I'm a planner.

41. Like your job?
Love it. Being a photographer is very rewarding.

42. Broccoli?
Sure.

43. What was your favorite vacation?
When Scott and I went to the Bahamas in 2003.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Grace

45. What are you listening to right now? Grace's music: 5 Little Monkeys

46. What is your favorite color?
I'm in a grey and mustard phase right now.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
Zero.

48. Coffee drinker?
No thanks!

And because no post is complete without a photo- here's a picture that Grace took of me last week.



Since we're on the road all the time I guess this is her view most of the time.

Gettin' Crafty!

I saw this Valentine's Day decor on Pinterest, and just had to try it out for myself!

Supplies:
Two Vases one that fits into the other.
Candy Hearts
Flowers & water

I had the two vases so all I had to purchase were the Candy Hearts and the flower arrangement. I used 12 boxes of Candy Hearts. They were 4 boxes for $1 at the Dollar Tree! And I think I spent $7 on the flowers from Walmart!

Directions:
Fill small vase with 3/4 of water and cover top with saran wrap. Place the small vase inside the larger vase. If they were the same height that's wonderful, if not try and get them as close as possible. Pour the candy hearts into the vase. They may need guidance filling the space between the two vases. Add flowers and your done!








(please excuse the yucky cell phone photos)

I think this idea can be used with many things, for many seasons. Another idea for valentines would be to use Red roses and Red Hots.

Other fun crafts with Candy Hearts:
Topiary Tree
Filler for Candle Holders - See 2nd photo down
Bingo Game or Candle Holder