When Does Your Summer Start?

Ever since I was a little girl I always considered the last day of school the first day of summer. Makes sense, I think. It is the first day of summer vacation! Though now I know that summer doesn't officially start for almost another month (it's June 21st this year), I still can't help considering it summer!

For me summer means picnics and swimming. It means getting a tan and not minding getting sprayed with a hose on a hot day. It means I can start wearing my flip flops and sun dresses without looking silly!! Oh, and of course it means barbeque's and outdoor parties!!! And well, all of these have happened already this year and the weather is beautiful!

So I'm declaring my Summer Officially Here!! I just can't take anymore cold weather!! :)

Fabulous Handmade items being GivenAway!!

Do you love handmade items?? How about giveaways?? I know I do!! I have recently fallen in love with Etsy. Etsy is a site where you can buy all things handmade!! It's wonderful. There so many talented artists and designers on the site. You can buy things for baby or jewlery, handbags, and bath products for yourself!!

And if you love Etsy as much as I do you need to check out this blog: Etsy It Up!! This blog features new Etsy shops all the time and there are always great giveaways too!


Here are some of the great giveaways going on now!!


You can enter to win a Personalized Sterling Silver Guitar Pick from Birth Designs.

This would make a great father's day gift!!

And you need to check out their store as well. My favorite piece is the Mother's Circle necklace. It's gorgeous!




You can also enter to win this beautiful bright blue floral bag made by Girl Des Vignes. This bag is values at $58.

And there are lots of other fabulous, must have bags in thier Etsy shop!!


There is also a handmade stroller liner to be given away!

The stroller liner is one of many wonderfully made items from the shop Lollipop Designs.

You have got to stop over and check this shop out. I love the personalized car seat covers. They're great!

What a Mess!!

The other night our 4 year old had fallen asleep on the couch after a long day, so the house was quieter than usual. And Jellybean was trying to entertain himself. He disappeared back into the nursery, which I didn't even think twice about because he goes back there to play all the time. After a few minutes of almost total silence I went back to check on him and this is what I walked in on!!!




He had stripped down to nothing and grabbed a bag of baby diapers and the baby powder. The babies diapers were pulled out of the bag and all around him and he was covered in baby powder, as was the changing table and everything surrounding the changing table!!

While my first instinct was to scream, I'm very proud to say that I kept my composure, grabbed the camera, took a few shoots and then drug him to the bathtub. I'm still finding baby powder in little hiding spots on that changing table. But at least I'm learning to sit back and enjoy the messes now! :)

An Inspirational Video to Help Pick You Up!

Have you ever had a time in your life when you feel like you've fallen and smacked your face so hard on the ground that you just can't get back up? I know that I have, many times, while caring for my three little men. I love my boys so much, but there are days that I just feel beaten down and I don't know how I'm going to keep going. If you have ever had a day like that you need to watch this wonderful inspirational video!! It's about 5 minutes, so make sure you watch it when you have time to see the whole thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY

Baby Bear Smiled!

Ok, so I know this isn't as exciting for everyone else as it is for me... but hey, it's his first major milestone!! Last night he started smiling, on purpose! I swear, it wasn't gas!! You still have to get fairly close to him so he can focus on you, but when I'd draw him up close to me (or squat down and stick my face in his), he'd start cooing and smiling! I was so proud!! Just had to share with someone!

The Boys' Trip to Africa....

My 4 year old decided to go on a trip to Africa yesterday afternoon. And no, no one we know has ever gone a trip to Africa!I'm still not sure where it came from. When I asked him where he'd heard of going to Africa he looked at me like I was stupid and replied, "I just made it up Mom! It's called get in a boat and go on a trip to Africa. It's a game, Mom." And he sounded so annoyed!

He then recruited his brother to help him pack everything on the boat... aka the middle of my living room floor. They then drug all their toys out to the center of the room for their trip. And I cant forget my laundry basket which they used as the passenger part of the boat!

A child's imagination will never cease to amaze me!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I remember getting so excited about Cinco de Mayo in college. I knew that it meant May 5th in Spanish and was some sort of Mexican holiday. I could never remember what the holiday was exactly, but I remember thinking it was like the Mexican Independence Day... and more importantly, an excuse to drink!!

Well, a few years out of college I decided to look into what Cinco de Mayo really meant. Here's what I found out in a nutshell: It is Spanish for 5th of May, but it is NOT a Mexican Independence Day (that's September 16). It is however, a holiday to celebrate Mexico's victory over the French on May 5, 1862.

The most interesting thing to me was that it is not a federal holiday in Mexico, but rather a holiday that one can choose to observe. Yet it is celebrated widely in the US and other countries to observe Mexican heritage. I would have never guessed that!

It is nice that we take a day to celebrate Mexican heritage here in the states... though I venture to guess that today is more like another excuse to throw a party to more Americans. Either way, Happy Cinco de Mayo!