Spring Tie Line Up listed in my etsy shop!

Today I posted pictures of my "Spring Collection" of neck ties on facebook (Confetti Creations) and etsy.  Sounds so fancy, doesn't it?

Almost all of them are  bright and springy, but there are a few browns and a red so those aren't quite so spring related, but they are all new and I love them all, especially #2...this picture does it NO justice at all.

Which one is your favorite?  For just $10 each, maybe more then one will be your favorite?

Get your Easter/Spring/FUN neck ties today...very limited quantities so I'd hurry.  Free shipping through Friday at midnight, using code:  FREESHIP

Mall Shopping

I went to the mall today, just Ethan and I.  I only went into two stores, but I scored some great deals!  (Well, 3, but Wet Seal did not have the kind of headband I was looking for, so that quick trip doesn't count)

The best part?  I discovered by letting Ethan play Angry Birds Rio on my phone, he would stand quietly by me while I looked in peace!
Next time, I am bringing a stroller so he can be pushed around while I look, instead of me steering him around the store.

And I've got to say, other then plain or striped polos, there is slim pickin' for older boys in the shirt department.  Most of the tee shirts are so ugly and make me want to scream.

It's a battle, shopping for boys, but one I guess I will have to fight...at least I don't have to worry about too short skirts and tops that even respectable hookers might blush to wear. 

The Dresser

Before Brennan was born, my mother found a dresser somewhere and gave it to me to put in Baby Bean's room. It fit perfectly and Bart had a great time painting it (haha, um, no he didn't) and I had a great time finding just the "right" knobs for it.  Blue stars and yellow crescent moons to go with the space theme of the nursery.

Well, it is a small dresser and I have finally replaced all the kids dressers with larger ones.  Not necessarily newer or nicer ones, but larger ones, and for these wild boys, the "hand me ups" dressers work great.

And I am ready to give the dresser away. Even have someone who will come pick it up as soon as I send a FB message with my address.

But...giving it away is like giving away the last little bit of babyhood. The last memory of any of my children as a tiny baby...even though Ethan never even used the dresser, and it was never in his nursery, it is still strongly tied to my babies in my mind.

Isn't that the silliest thing? To not contact the lady I said I'd give it to and leave it in my crowded hallway because it represents my children growing up?

I need to hop on pinterest and find a project for it...so it will never leave!  Though really, we have no need for it and it is taking up room that could be filled with other bits of greatness, like lego cities and dirty sock piles and maybe even old school papers.  It does need to go, but it sure fills my heart with an odd emptiness to think of it no longer being a part of my boys lives anymore.

What a week!

This week was jam packed with things to do.
Valentine's Party 1 (at home):  Check
Valentine's Party 2 (at Jack's school, room mother for the event):  Check
Feed the missionaries on Valentine's night:  Check
Bake and Decorate FOUR cakes:  Check, Check, Check, Check
Have a fun girls night out to celebrate Kris turning 30:  Check
Bart wake up with an MS flair up this morning: Check

Quite a week...but it was organized chaos, so overall, a good one!

I love how awesome every cake turned out!  It was a great week for sure, even if it was rather complicated at times...

A few quick pics

Many thanks to Megan for these pictures from today's party...

Ethan and Mommy!

I MUSTACHE you a question...will you be my Valentine?

Carson and Ethan, best buddies!  Aren't they so cute!?!

It was a fun party...at least I thought so, as I ate peanut butter chocolate cake, rice krispies, cookies, brownies, marshmallows dipped in chocolate...a sugar coma was had by all.  :)

Pressure

It seems that everywhere you turn, there is pressure.  Not necessarily peer pressure, but at the same time, it is.
When I take a quick look at pinterest of any of these "craft sharing blogs" I feel immensely uncreative and overwhelmed. Now, don't get me wrong, I love these sites, but sometimes, I just have to back off all things creative and deal with the reality of the NOW.  This is especially true around the holidays.  Gathering up the amazing ideas of lovely people and putting them into one place is enough to make me want to cry at how cheesy and cheap my little hearts hanging over my dining room door look, at how gauwdy my pictures one my boys Valentine's for their teachers look, and at how imperfect my heart shaped cake is compared to theirs.
This week I've got a lot going on.  I can't be perfect in all of them.  So, I let go the grand-e-ous ideas having a preschool Valentine's Day party for Ethan and his perfectly behaved friends on Valentine's Day morning, and am settling instead for a relaxing play date where I demand each mother bring a sweet to share (and we can exchange them, thus reducing some pressure to make a great dessert for supper on this most holy of days...what?  We are LDS, it's a Hallmark holiday all the way, but a fun one!).  It will be simple.  It will be classic.  It will be PERFECT and PRESSURE free.
I am having a great time preparing for Jackson's class party (yes, same day as morning play date)...I think I've got it organized quite well.  I think for this party, I will not feel pressure, because I've taken care of all the details.  But, I've felt pressured to get the details just right so that the actual event will be as stress free as possible with 30 *yes, my son has THIRTY kids in his kindergarten class* and that is a big deal.  I've seen lots of cute parties for kids Jack's age and loved them.  Heard things other mothers are doing for their kindergarten aged children's classes.  Oh, well, we won't have a cupid coming to take pictures with each child and deliver a box of imported chocolates at our party.  But, we will have homemade cards for their mom or dad, bingo, and "heart attack" (pin the tail on the donkey).  And I bet the kids LOVE it as much as any persnickety party with perfectly matching tags, labels, and water bottles.

Do you ever read those blogs out there and wonder where the moms get the money, time, and energy to do it all?  Take the pressure off...those moms are on crack or stealing their kids ADHD meds and make their husbands work all day and night to earn the money to create those parties and supplies and things they do.  :)  We don't want to be crackhead moms with work-aholic husbands, now do we?

No?

Good, then go enjoy your store bought cookies you bought on the way to my house for my play date and relax.  Just make sure you bought the Loft house cookies, because really, why do they even bake any other kind of cookie to sell?  No pressure, though.


P.S.  It's late, so if this blog post doesn't make sense to me in the a.m., I guess I will delete it.  Oh, the pressure!

What the SNOW?

We've had the  mildest winter yet (we have been here since 2007) here in Omaha, NE...so when the skies opened up and dumped snow on us Saturday, the boys were ECSTATIC!

The snow still has the boys giddy, two days later (which is good, because there is a lot of it!) and it is so cute to watch them play and have fun in such a winter wonderland.

Ethan seems to think a yard stick is a great toy lately and had it out in the snow.  This mostly meant he flicked small chunks of snow onto our lovely snow free driveway, which meant I mostly fussed at him to STOP ruining such a lovely snow free driveway.  I gave up after a few minutes though and moved on to checking out Brennan's progress on his fort.
Now, Brennan did not build a door into his fort, claiming he can just jump over the top and get into it.
This is very true as his fort is only a few inches (maybe 12?) tall and easy to do.

He started by clearing the floor around the base so he'd have a snow free place to sit and wait to attack Jackson.  Yep.  he built that fort for the single purpose of hiding and attacking Jackson with snowballs.
However, Jackson is one smart boy and went inside before Brennan finished his masterpiece.  :)

The only sad part about all this snow (for the boys)?  It happened on Saturday, so by Monday morning, all the roads were nice and clear and there were no snow days from school.

Bowties

Isn't this little guy so stinkin' cute?  Thanks to his mother for sharing this shot she got of him sporting the already sold out red/white striped bow tie...but you can see all the other Valentine's Day bow ties in my etsy shop.

I love it when my boys wear a bow tie.  I think they are just about the cutest kids, ever, and when they put that bow tie on....BAM it gets even cuter!
Brennan actually likes to wear a bow tie more then a neck tie...so he was very excited to see that I am making bow ties for my etsy shop and the Millard West Craft Fair (3/31).
I wonder which one he will pick to be his newest bow tie in his collection?  I've got 17 new prints for him to choose from.
Which one is YOUR favorite?

And...p.s.:  If you love a bow tie but think only one of your little dudes would wear it, but think the other would wear a necktie, many of those fabrics will also become neckties and be posted in just a few weeks!  Perfect for Easter!