Happy (early) Easter

Happy Easter friends...we are headed South for sunshine and warm weather ...be back next week!

Favorite Book

This is a favorite of ours this week!...My kids love it and I love that it was a book I had as a young girl!  Its sweet and silly with beautiful pictures....I hope the Easter Bunny puts one in your basket Sunday!

Bunny My Honey

Happy Holy week...!

"Remember the wonders He has done"

1 Chronicles 16:12

Wanted to share a little tee I made for Christian my bunny honey last week...I saw this idea on one of my new favorite blogs...www.southernbutter.blogspot.com

I found a clearance white tee for $3, googled a "bunny head" pattern, printed it out, traced it onto a linen-muslin fabric, cut-it out, pinned it to the tee and then used a pale blue thread to sew it (by hand) onto the shirt...it was a simple in and out stitch, its frayed on the edges which I like - it is not the neatest sewing I have ever done but I think it turned out really cute!

Playhouse Disney

While Mr. Campbell man was in school Friday, I treated the little ones to an afternnon outing to Playhouse Disney Live!  Christian is loving Mickey Mouse and Minnie too these days...I knoew he would love the whole show just beacuse it was "live" and full of music, sights and sounds!  Our good friends came along too, Brady and Holyn and their Mommy Jen!

Waiting...

 Oh my, so many sights and sounds!The Morris - small and charming ...perfect for kids shows!

Me and my baby...

Mickey and Minnie - by far Christian's favorite!Jen and Brady Farewell friends!

Back to the Gaithers for pizza, drinks (and cookies!)

Until next time...

Easter Goodies...

We LOVE Easter at our house!  And we have lots of totes filled with Easter goodies but this year in an effort to be a little bit more minimal and to keep things more simple and more focused on the real reason for the season- we only put out a very small amount of our bunnies, eggs and vintage "pretties"...next-up is making golden eggs!...

Happy Day

Look what came today...I love it!  A Danielle Stevens original necklace...my friend Gindy has one and I fell in love with it. She originally spotted it in In Style mag I believe. Bryan got it for me for my birthday last month and each one is hand-engraved so it took awhile...it is lovely and just made my day!  Thanks honey, it is beautiful! I love you!

Sick on St.Paddy's

Happy St.Paddy's...Hope you are doing something fun!  I am sick, Christian too but we are hangin' in...This runner makes me SOOO happy though!  I am ready to replace the carpet on our front stairs...I am between a zebra runner or a seagrass runner...I thought Bryan would be very opposed to the zebra but he is being very agreeable so do I get more practical/predicatble or more out of the box?  Our home is pretty traditional so I think the zebra print would be fun and unexpected.  Thats all I have for tonight...told ya I was sick and I have been without a camera battery for over a month so needless to say I have not had any new pics to share of the kids.  That is all about to be remedied though!

Sunday Stuff

Today was a good day...no big plans just doing stuff as it popped up...I did want to share a few small highlights of the day though!

The kids and I made these yummy PB&Chocolate eggs...we bought the kit from Hobby Lobby - it had everything in it...candy melts and mold.  If you are looking for a quick and easy fun Easter treat to make with this is it.  They are yummy and simple and quick and they look so cute.  Our kit had eggs and chicks in it too, 40% off $5.99 too...can't beat that!  They will look darling packaged in with Easter grass on a cute plate to give to friends, teachers or neighbors.

www.makenmold.com

Another fun project we did today were tissue paper flowers.  Again, super easy, super cute and perfect for kids to help with.  We actually made these flowers to use on the bulletin board at Campbell's school.  I decorate it/change it out for PTO - when I switch out the board again though, the cute flowers will be coming home with me!  Again, this was a kit I found at the Teacher's Supply Store - $5.99 for a kit that makes 7 flowers.  These would be so fun for a party too...or a craft at a kids party.

www.pacon.com

And for dinner I tried a new recipe - simple and yummy!  It is Spaghetti with Artichokes and Pancetta.  I served it with a chopped green salad, crusty bread and a nice Pinot Grigio!  Yummy!  You can get the recipe at http://www.foodandwine.com/ it is a Mario Batolli recipe. 

Hope your week starts off great!

Home...

"Start by making your own home a place where happiness and love abound, through your love for each member of your family and for your neighbor. Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home. Make them long to be with their families. So much sin could be avoided if our people really love their homes."



Mother Theresa
 
I just found this quote and I love it!...so true, so true! 

image cote de texas blog

This Texas family room re-do is sensational and what I am loving right now!

Spring might have actually "sprung" here...our version anyway (ie no snow, some sun and 50's w/ a giant hope of reaching 60 degrees by weeks end) and I am determined to de-clutter, room by room as well as touch-up paint, clean windows and slipcover a few things (in white!!!!).  Our house has a french-country vibe...which I have loved/do love - lots of toile, yellows/golds, deep red dining room, hardwoods...you get the idea, people always tell me upon entering that home feels "warm and cozy"..."inviting" - I love that!  Whats a home for if not to welcome friends and provide refuge and comfort for you and your family...but  I need a change!!!! I tell ya what, I am obsessed with white slipcovers right now...I want to freshen everything-up, I want some soft blues, sea shells and grasscloth rugs, I want things to feel simpler, calmer, more serene...I want less clutter, fewer "things"...I want beauttiful, soft lighting and sparkly chandaliers, smell good candles and lots of white fresh flowers around...not too long a list, huh?!  Ha!!!...I'm on a mission and I'm on a budget...a small budget!  I'm finishing work on the kids'rooms in the next few days, then our bedroom re-do/spring clean/de-clutter/freshen-up starts...what a wonderful gift to yourself and your husband don't you think?  A beautiful bedroom....?!

A couple of dreamy bedrooms to admire...

 This bed...need I say more?!

 Love the setee and the white window panels and the perfectly white, perfectly stacked pillows!

Love the hardwoods, the velvet setee and the double doors open to what looks like a gorgeous master bath!

 This is a fun collage...a great combination!

Happy Spring friends!

Babies' Blanket

Christian and his "mankie".

..all my babies have blankets - even 8 year old Campbell!  Actually, he has two!  They are each very different and they each love them differently - it warms my heart to see them all snuggled-up at night with their warm blankets.  I admit too, I like to smell them, hold them and curl up with them too!  Tell me you do that too, I can't be the only weird Mom, right?  So just for fun and just because I want to remember the little things one day...here are the blankie basics!


Christian - you call yours "mankie".  it is blue and silky with a minky dot border.  you suck your left thumb (but only in bed, with said blankie!) to the point of rawness (gross but true~!) and you like to play with the tag too )(just like daddy did as a little boy!) you look like Linus as it trails behind you...


Charlotte - "bunny" or "bunny honey" as you sometimes call "HER" is so precious to you...i am pretty sure you would give up food before you gave up bunny!  you have had her since you were only a few weeks old - she was a sweet shade of yellow made from minky dot with your monogram and a soft bunny head attached.  a "cach-cach" bunny that is no longer made so fortunately/unfortunately she is a one-of-a-kind!  you have loved her so long and so hard she is more like a soft shade of brown, her head is pilled and her silky other side was reduced to strings which we had to cut off after too many finger tangles! you suck your right thumb and would probably do it 24.7. if I let you...not sure how we will ever break your habit...pretty sure you might be off to college with bunny and thumb in mouth!


Campbell - 2 blankies, there were 3 at one time but we are one down now. you call them "michaels"...not sure why, always have!  there is "chickie (little ducks on it) michael" and "yellow michael" - they were some of your baby receiving blankets...they are all torn and frayed around the edges but are sooo soft and although you have never relied on them for sleep like your baby sis and brother...they have always been a source of comfort to you and I think they still are.  they also served as many a superhero cape along the way!

Your blankies are just as unique as each of you... and may they always make you feel warm and safe and secure and remind you of home...I love you!

Revas

As of yesterday I am now the proud owner!!!

Party Favor

I was proud of my "original" idea...(I thought!) - this is a super cute girly-girl version though... (yellow version by http://www.creativehostess.co.uk/)

Time to Play...

Our playroom has been a real labor of love...I actually worked on the already finished (but very dated) basement most of last Summer!  I wanted it to be a place where Campbell could do schoolwork while Charlotte and Christian played...in my "perfect world", right?!, beacuse that rarely happens down here...all 3 in harmony!  But it is a great space and we are so lucky to have it...an art area, lots of room to play, lots of storage, a table to play games on, a really comfy sofa with personalized floor pillows and fleece blankies to curl-up with lots of books (or a good movie!)...My favorite part of the whole room is the canvases that they each painted...just precious! It took a lot of paint and alot of organization but I think it turned out great and the kids have their own place and I have a place for all the toys!  And just for the record - it NEVER looks this clean!

Why are my pictures so weird?  And I still cannot find out how to spell check?!