Old New, Borrowed, Blue...

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of throwing a bridal shower for my little sister.

We had a wonderful luncheon at

and I have to say that it was pretty much perfect. The entire staff at Sequoia Brewing Company was wonderful to work with! I had another place arranged and when I called to set up some of the details, the person at the other venue told me that she had never written my name down...even though she had the e-mails from me and the one she had written to me telling me that it was reserved for me...so I had to look and find a new place. So, after some moments of panic passed...and a few "choice" words about the other venue...I decided on Sequoia Brewing Company...and I think it really was a blessing in disguise! They made everything so easy, wonderful...and I cannot say enough positive things about them. The manager was super helpful, flexible, quick to respond to any questions I might have, and their staff was so friendly and helpful...LOVE THEM!!!!!!! They have a beautiful private room and I highly recommend them for any kind of event!

Family and Friends Recipe book, photo board, cupcakes from Creme de La Cake, 56 days until "I do" sign, and an R monogram that each guest signed and left a special message.

The OCD me has to point out something that I didn't notice until looking at these pictures...I am sooooooo upset that I put the letters on the banner in the wrong order...the white accents should have alternated corners...I don't know if anyone else noticed...but it drives me crazy now and I can't believe I didn't catch it before the event.

I had originally wanted the shower to be on their patio. The manager told me they had a private room, which I wasn't aware of, and I was a bit hesitant. After seeing it, I loved it. It was a great room with lots of windows to let light in and it has this amazing, rustic wood table!

I went completely away from my sister's colors...I hope she didn't mind. :) She loves the burlap and lace that is so popular right now, so I went with that.

I layered organza with a burlap table runner. Then I used an assortment of mason jars that I decorated with a variety of ribbons, lace, and twine. I purchased all of the flowers from Trader Joe's and Vons.

The place settings...

The favors...He "popped" the question and she said, "YES!"

(clear cup with a vinyl embellishment I added, filled with a yummy popcorn mix,

wrapped in a cello bag and tied with a bow)

The menu

(printed on cardstock with a raffia bow hot glued to the top)

The Bride's seat...with an arrangement specially picked by the cutest nephew in the whole word!

I have to do a bit of a side story to tell about these flowers. On Friday I picked up Landry and told him that we had to go to the store to get flowers for Auntie KK's party. When we pulled into the parking lot he asked if he could pick his own flowers for Auntie KK. Of course I said yes. We went in and I got the flowers I needed. Then I took him around in the cart and asked him to choose his. He said, "No mama. I get down and choose da fowers aw by mysewf." So I got him out of the cart, he walked around, and chose this bouquet "aw by hissewf!" Melted my heart!

The family and friends' recipe book...

Prior to the wedding I asked each guest to send me some of their favorite recipes and a photo of themself. Then I put it all together and made her a recipe book on Shutterfly. I have to say...it turned out really cute!

This was a photo board that I made for our game of "How Old is the Bride?" I collected pictures of Kaitlin as a child and numbered them. Each guest had to guess hold old Kaitlin was in the picture.

It turned into a very serious game!

One of the answer sheets...

We also played a game, "He Said, She Said." I sent a list of questions to Ron and Kaitlin and sked them to answer them. Then I read the question, along with one of the answers. The guests held up a mustache if they thought it was Ron's answer and the tiara if they thought it was Kaitlin's answer. I wish I would have gotten some pictures of the actual game...it was so fun. :)

 

Kait, I hope you had a wonderful day! I had so much fun planning all of the details and I hope it was everything you could have imagined...love you!!!

Fiesta Time!

As you know, our little man turned 3 years old on Monday! We couldn't let a birthday go by without a party...I was supposed to...that was my intention...small, family dinner is what I kept telling myself. Simple dinner. Small. Nothing fancy. Just a dinner, a cake, and a few presents.

Yup...that's what I said...but what I did...well...maybe not so simple. :) Here's my problem...I get these ideas and I just "have" to run with them. Really. I do. If not I kind of drive myself crazy. So, when we knew that Chad's parents were coming down...and other relatives were asking about when the party was going to be...which on a side note is so extremely flattering as a parent...people waiting to hear about when they get to celebrate your little one...nothing feels better...I knew that I wanted to do his party on Cinco de Mayo.

In the middle of dinner one night, an idea struck...and I was so excited about it I could hardly finish my dinner...actually, I'm not sure that I did. I had to run and get the sombrero...here is the result:

I just e-mailed that ADORABLE pic to our closest family members...even though I was super tempted to do invites...did I mention that this was all decided about 2 weeks before his birthday. For normal people this would be plenty of time. Not me...no joke, I started planning his 1st birthday party in September...and his 2nd birthday in November. Told you. I'm crazy. :) I also have to add that I am so thankful that I have a child who is always game for my shenanigans. :)

Party day came...and the house became a fiesta!



Simple tissue flowers and a green 3 added some fun to the dinning area...green is Landry's favorite color for the moment.

Banner for the birthday boy!

Fun Mexican banners definitely added a festive feel to the kitchen...and patio, too!

Mini sombrero garland on the fire place

When I asked Landry what kind of cake he wanted he said, "green." Green...really? Then I asked if he wanted anything else on it..."candy...M&Ms...and lots of fire." Clearly I am not a cake decorator but I have to say that I think it turned out pretty cute. I also have to add that there is one orange M&M that was put on backwards...so you can see the logo...and it is driving me crazy. :)

Who is this cute boy...waiting for the party to get started?

We had to take a picture in front of the chalkboard...which is becoming one of my favorite holiday/party decor areas. Handsome is showing us how to do "free" fingers.

"I'm free now, Mommy...I all growed up now!"

I've got good news...and bad news...I'll start with the bad...my food pictures are not so hot. Like. At all. Sorry...everything looked much yummier and more festive in person.

Now the good news...you know one of my favorite parts of a party is naming my food. Really...it is like a fun game I play with myself. It really does bring me so much joy. Told you. I have issues! :)

Back to the food...I did a taco bar with all of the fixings!

If you didn't know...you can "google" any word and it will give you the Spanish version. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and remembered most of them...but there were some I had to "Google!"

After dinner...it was time for some "fire" - a.k.a. candles, singing, and cake!

Landry really didn't want us to sing to him...at his 2nd birthday he actually cried when everyone sang...but we told him that if he wanted cake and "fire"...we had to sing.

Hope he made a big wish!

 

We had a wonderful time celebrating our little man!

Chalk Time

Awhile back I found this fabulous idea on Pinterest...

http://www.projectdenneler.com/2011/05/plein-air-artists.html

One of Landry's favorite things to do outside is play with his sidewalk chalk. So, I knew this project would be a hit! I had an extra piece of wood in the garage so all I had to do was get some chalkboard paint.

After a coat of paint, some help from the hubby attaching it to the fence, we had...

Love it! More importantly...so did he!

I see many hours outside, lots of chalk dust, and many masterpieces!

Bring on the sunshine and warm weather!

One little tip...if you are going to do this project I highly recommend the brush on chalkboard paint and not the spray version. I used the spray on a different project and it is more of a piece of wood painted black as opposed to a chalkboard. :)

Potty Time...Excellent!!!

Potty training. What more can a parent say? People always tell you how hard the first few weeks of parenthood are. Have these people forgotten about potty training?

We have attempted this feat several times before.

Several.

Like...a lot of times.

It always went like this,

"Landry, let's wear underwear today and learn how to go potty on the toilet."

"No. I don't want to."

"C'mon. Lets sit on the potty and try."

Cue the tears. Massive crocodile tears. Lots of tears.

I read every tip I could find.

We tried candy treats, toy treats, going to the store to buy the underwear, standing, sitting, sinking Cheerios, everything.

I continued to search Pinterest. One day I came across this link and it just seemed to click. I read it and thought, "This is it. This is totally Landry!"

So, when we bought our last box of diapers at Costco we told Landry, "This is it. This is the last box of diapers. Once we run out...it is underwear time!" I was really hoping the box would get us to Spring Break...but it didn't.

Friday morning we pulled out the last diaper!

That was it...the last one.

We told Landry that Friday was the lst day for diapers.

Saturday would be potty day!

Saturday morning Landry got up and off came the diaper...on went the underwear! I followed the advice from the link and the first thing we did was make a list of everyone we know that wears underwear!

Making the list cracked Chad and I up! He thought of all the names on his own. His name was first, then Chad, me, and so on.

Then I showed him the "Potty Treats" on the shelf in the bathroom. He would get some treats every time he was able to keep his underwear dry and use the potty.

Within the first 10 minutes or so we had our first accident. But that was ok. Pretty soon...and after one more accident...and 9,867 "false alarm" dashes to the bathroom...we had this!

So proud of himself! Time for his treats!

I have to add in here...this morning he decided...and told me,

"I just tay here. Den when I actuawy go pee...I get M&Ms!"

The child cracks me up...and he did sit on the potty for at least 45 minutes...waiting! :)

We are so proud of him...and he is SOOOOO proud of himself!

I know that we are only 2 days in...and the true test is tomorrow at daycare...but so far, so good! I am skeptically optimistic since it has been quite easy so far.

Fingers crossed...we can keep this going!

Have I mentioned how much I love this little cheeseball?

LOVE HIM!!!!!