We had fun last Saturday, cheering for our team and celebrating the last day of Ella's birthday week. She practiced her fake smile and was brave enough to ask another girl where she got her super-cute face stickers. Although these didn't last the whole game, she was pretty happy with them for awhile. We got to spend the day with our two favorite people, K & Cory. This is quite possibly my favorite football picture ever. Ella did a lot of snuggling and laying down in between cheering for the band, singing the fight song and hitting our neighbors in the head with a very excited red and white shaker. We're en route to these same red seats, anticipating cold Coke in a stadium cup, brand new shakers to start the day and another victory at Bryant Denny. Roll Tide! ...
ella
coming home.
I haven't blogged much about SD's new job, but he's been going strong since April. He works from home now, having pretty much taken over our bedroom {at least it's not my blogging desk!} and gets to take the girls to school in the morning and see them a lot more during the week than we were used to. He's still traveling some, but generally only once or twice a quarter. The girls miss him so much while he's gone, but we love hearing funny stories {like how he slept in on of the retirement homes or navigated Manhattan in a rental car} and getting random photo updates from him during the week. Last week, he was working out of their Connecticut facility for a few days, but flew in and out of NYC. Ella was thrilled to hear he saw the Statue of "Liverty" and other skyscrapers in the city. His ...
The Birthday Girl
My favorite little five year old was born on September 11th... on the 5th anniversary and it's hard to reconcile the two days. I thought all day yesterday about posting, but I didn't know which part to blog about. The part where I was a senior in college and watched the world change in the printmaking studio with fellow artists who were just as confused as I was or the part where a precious little girl made me a mommy. They are both such poignant moments in my life, game-changers, "marker" days as my pastor called them on Sunday. Both days, one ten years ago and the other five, left an indelible impression on me and will forever profoundly affect my future. So instead of attempting to tell two stories that are so very different, I devoted the majority of my day loving my little birthday ...
DIY Mermaid Birthday Party
If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times. Birthdays are my love language. No matter the cost or the countless hours spent planning, prepping, and crafting (and not sleeping), there is nothing better than making all of your girl's dreams come true! It's been so much fun sharing Ella's special day and all of the little projects that made her party just perfect. I know you've been waiting patiently and what you really want to see are those beautiful party pictures, right? As always, my beautiful sister documented all of the details for us and we couldn't be happier with how the photographs turned out. We hope you love our DIY Mermaid Birthday Party! Ella really wanted to "be" a mermaid for this party, so I did everything I could to make that happen. These photo invitations were ...
Birthdaypalooza: Mermaid Tails
Affiliate links appear in the following post. Although shopping the embedded links won’t cost you any additional dollars, it might mean that I earn a small commission on any purchases made. Your support of this blog is always appreciated! After seeing a mermaid towel for sale online, I couldn't help but think that Gran could clearly make one just as cute for a fraction of the cost. It only cost us $16 and 30 minutes one afternoon after school to whip this one up. We were halfway through the process before I realized we weren't taking pictures, so you'll have to bear with my very rudimentary illustrations. I really wanted to share the tutorial, pictures or not! We used these oversized bath towels for our mermaid tail. How adorable is this? Pin this post for later! ...
Birthdaypalooza: Pinata!
I'll admit that I kind of laughed when Ella told me she wanted a pinata at her party this year. I figure that since she didn't ask for very much we could certainly pull that off. I looked around on-line a bit and called some local stores, but I couldn't really find what I was looking for. Then I read this blog post and remembered this blog post. If they can do it, I can do it. Right? So I started with my computer, pinterest and a big cup of coffee in my favorite cup ever (yes it has a cross-stitched watermelon!), these supplies, and it doesn't hurt to have an assistant (even if he is a vampire -- remember on the vlog I was watching this while folding laundry? well i finished all three the next day during this little project). First, I cut out two large number fives and several ...
Birthdaypalooza: Pinspiration & Paper Products
To say that I got lots of inspiration from Pinterest would be an understatement. Although I didn't use every idea that I came across, I think I did a pretty good job of sticking to my color scheme and overall theme for the party. You can click here to visit my pinboard for Ella's birthday party. First up is always invitations. I was so proud of my idea this year, I was just worried that I couldn't pull it off! K took Ella's pictures against a white backdrop and I clipped the background out and cut her off at the waist. I illustrated the mermaid tail and other sea creatures in and around the invitation and could not be happier with how it turned out. We had them printed on a pearl cardstock, which really gave a sparkly and ethereal look to the paper suite. She was tickled to see herself ...
Birthdaypalooza: Party Time!
I knew that I wanted to convince Ella to have a pool party this year. She has gotten so good swimming and it's so HOT in Alabama right now! At first she wanted to have a Barbie party and y'all know I'm not a fan of character anything. I knew I could throw a tasteful Barbie party if I tried, but my ultimate goal was to steer clear. I saw this party and fell in love with the mermaid theme. When I rushed home to tell Ella my new idea, she was more than receptive. The idea of "being" a mermaid for her big day was so exciting. For the fourth year in a row, I was tasked with finding a new baker. I have always had great luck with the cake, but for whatever reason they are unable to do my next party. This year April "the cake girl" did such an awesome job recreating my inspiration image. The ...