From desk to end table

Remember that old computer desk?  The one we got rid of?  Well, we didn't get rid of all of it. 

Remember the table legs I ordered for this?  And remember how they ended up in New York and then Washington?  Well because of that mishap, I got some table legs for free.  Yes.  FREE.

Now combine the desk and the legs and you get this:

 

You like?  

I LOVE.

I would describe this color as SO me.  The whole time I was painting.  I just kept saying how much I loved this color.  And even after it's dried, assembled and in my house.  I still love it.

A close-up of the loveliness.



It's a good thing I like this color because I have LOTS left over.

But don't worry.  I have already made myself a list of things that need to be painted this color.

Starting with some picture frames....

Big girl party

This girl had a party.  A big girl party. 

Wanna know what we did?

First, we got some balloons to decorate with.

Next,  we helped daddy make a cake.

Then after dinner we put two candles in our big girl cake and sang "Happy big girl party to you".

And blew out the candles all by ourself.

Next, we got all of our binkys out and had one last suck.

Then we put them in an envelope (that we decorated with stickers) to send to the babies that need them.

 And took our package to the post office

And mailed it.

Our big girl is doing great!  In fact, even better than I could have hoped.  There was one moment when we were walking out of the Post Office where she asked for her binky (it was close to bedtime) and we said, "You just mailed them to babies that need them. Remember?"  And she had this look of "Oh crap.  What did I just do?"  But then she was fine and since has gone to bed like a champ. Her naps are getting back to normal as well.  Whew. 

We officially have a potty trained, toddler bed sleeping, binky-less BIG girl. 

It's kind of sad for me to think that she really is a big girl and not a baby, but I have to admit this big girl phase definitely has it's perks.

[Note: The idea for this came from an extremely creative sister who had a similar party for her little boy. I just changed a few things and obviously made it a girl party.]

Time for an upgrade

I bought our desk (from target) with some high school graduation money.  I'm sure it was no more than 50 bucks.  But it has served me well.  (All through college, and four more years past that.)  

I have been wanting to upgrade for a while now.  But well....it still worked.  So it stayed.  Our computer room was always in a back room (or in our bedroom) so not many people got to see our awesome desk. Now, our den is towards the front of the house (and there is no door) so all got to see our lovely, rickety, drawer-less desk. While the drawer randomly fell out of it's spot, never to be fixed again, our keyboard tray has been "missing" since our first move, 6 1/2 years ago.   

I think it's safe to say we were in need of an upgrade.

Here it is.  Our awesome, rickety, drawer-less, messy desk.  (I told myself that it didn't matter what it looked like since it's a before picture, but who I am I kidding?  This picture drives me crazy!  I can't stand the clutter.  And just so you know, not all of those things really stay on the desk.  We were moving, people.  So any random item that didn't have a "home" yet, wound up on the desk.)  

Are those cords driving you nuts?  They are me.  Ready for the upgrade?

Wala! 

No more cords.  No more clutter.

And a pretty cute desk if I do say so myself.  If you can call a desk cute.

Now, wait 'til you see the project we made out of our old desk.  You'll love it. 

 Well, at least I do!

Mother's day

We did in fact celebrate mother's day and here I am finally documenting that we did.

I am working on getting out of my blogging funk.  (Ha.  I just wrote gunk instead of funk.  I hope I don't have to get out of my blogging gunk.... oh dear.)Anyway, whatever it is, I will try and do better.  In fact I have a few posts in the works already.

On to the Mother's day details.

Any day is a good day when your two favorite people give you these:



and this balloon.  She was so excited to give me the balloon that she came walking proudly into the store I was shopping at (I was banished to shop at a different store than Dan and Alayna for awhile:) and said, "Here Mom, this is for you!"  and handed me the balloon.  It was so cute to see a little floating balloon coming at me through the isles. 

Unfortunately this balloon had a short life due to a battle with a fan.  Oops.  I'll remember that from now on. 

 Dan gave me permission to order the camera bag I have been eyeing.  I am seriously so excited about my new bag.  It's perfect!

And I would be a terrible mother if I didn't take a picture with my favorite 2 1/2 year old.  As a bonus present, she decided to smile for the camera.  Sweet!

I couldn't pick just one so here are two of my favs.

A is for Alayna

Here's a little video from the other day.  I had a proud mommy moment and had to document.  :) 

Another one of her A's. 

And lest you think she is perfect, I added this video of her crying because she was having a hard time writing an A.  She is one determined little girl.  I wonder where she got that characteristic from....  She comes by it honestly, I guess.  Every time she would go to write the letter A and it didn't turn out, this is what would happen: 

Complete and utter frustration.  Don't you worry Layna, just as soon as your coordination gets a little better, you will be writing A's like you can't believe.

P.S.  THANK YOU to everyone that commented and emailed casserole recipes!  You saved the day.   I did indeed make my first casserole this weekend.  And it turned out great.  Or at least I think it did.  I didn't try it because it was for the funeral and I think they would have noticed if a corner was missing.  But it sure smelled good.  Who knows, I might turn into a casserole making fool....

I hate to admit this

BUT, I have yet to make a casserole in my married life.

Gasp.

I am a little ashamed.  In fact I almost didn't tell you, but I have this problem, you see.

There is a funeral this Saturday and I signed up to bring a casserole for the luncheon. Honestly, if there was an option to bring something else, I would have, but alas, this is all that was needed.  So, I guess now is time for me to branch out and make one.

Maybe the reason I haven't made one yet is simply because our family is small and I don't what all the leftovers?  Anyway, whatever the reasons, I need to make a good, easy casserole.  Do you have any favorite recipes?  Please share.  Thanks!

From,
the soon-to-make-her-first-casserole mom.

P.S. I'll let you know how it turns out.

How we celebrated

First we came out and saw what the Easter bunny and Grandma and Grandpa L. brought us.   I'd say she got some fun things.  And she would say the same thing too. 

One of her very favorite gifts was this hat: 

Once we checked out the loot, it was time for an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  I am still loving the fact that we actually have a backyard (small as it may be).  It's the simple joys, people.

Mom, I found one! 

Once she found all the eggs, it didn't take long for the candy to find its way into her mouth.  Get a load of that hair. Crazy!

Our final festivity: Dying Eggs.

This was her reaction when she put her first egg in the dye. 

Just a little cheese for Mom.  In fact she got quite good at saying cheese.  By the end, she would put her egg in the dye and say cheese without even looking up.  She knows the routine. 

I believe that is what she is doing in this pic....saying cheese.

After the eggs were dry, we colored...

and put stickers on them.

Then we had some rootbeer floats to celebrate a job well done. 

Cheers!