Peace

I love a good peace sign.

Found here.

They're super popular right now, but the majority are also super tacky.

Found here.

I got my love of peace signs from my Mom. And, actually, my sister shares it as well. Lately, anytime we find something fun that is peace related we tend to go ahead and buy three or at least let the others know about it... otherwise it might get "borrowed" the next time one of us visits the other. This is especially true if the peace sign in question belongs to my Mom.

Moms are pretty generous, aren't they? Mine always has been. And because of that I wanted to create a little something special for her to hang in her office. She just happened to be in the process of redecorating when I came up with this idea, so the timing was perfect. Clearly, it was a "sign"!

I got the idea from constantly coming across all of the fabulous DIY wreaths on the various craft blogs I subscribe to. This was what originally inspired me:

Found here.

Those felt flowers are literally the easiest thing in the world. I believe that link shows you how to do it and the instructions have been so overdone that I won't even bother going over them again. As for the wooden peace sign, I asked my stepdad to make it for me. He's got all the tools and I knew he'd be just the guy for the job. And together, this is what we created:

I love it! My Mom loves it! Heck, even my husband loves it. And he is pretty hard to impress, you guys!

Embrace the Camera: August 25

The whole family got in on the "embrace the camera" action this week. Whether they were aware of it or not... ha! It isn't easy taking pictures of teenage boys. Or toddlers. Or... me, really.

Saturday night we went to The Landing for dinner and some live music. A fairly well-known local band was playing and since they usually play bar gigs, we were excited to see them play outdoors in a smoke-free and family friendly environment. It was, however, hot as Hades out there.

The courtyard has fountain in the middle of it and it's usually full of kids splashing around. Haeden saw that thing and I knew there was no way we were going to be able to keep him away. So, I went with it and he loved it, of course. It reminded me that we haven't had any sprinkler time this summer and obviously he would love that, too, so we're going to have to break that out this coming weekend. Can't wait!

Showing Daddy the fountain.

No outing can be complete without a mini meltdown... all because he wasn't allowed to play on the stairs.

Embracing the camera with Mommy. Doesn't he look excited? ha!

Splashing around the outside...

I picked him up to show him that it was okay to get IN it a little more.

"I touched it Mommy, I touched it!"

The face!

Walking back with Daddy.

Checking out the waters, boats and bridges.

Brotherly love.

Oh, this is new. He told us he was a penguin! Look at his tongue... that's his concentration face!

"No more pictures!"

Twenty Eight

Surprise! Last Tuesday was my birthday. I am now twenty eight years young. Fun fact: I share my birthday with Madonna and it's also the anniversary of Elvis' death. People usually chuckle at the first fact and tell me they're not all that surprised (must be my cone bra) and then I think I just totally weird them out with the second. That shouldn't really surprise them either.

I know some people don't really make a big fuss over birthdays once they become an adult, but I can't claim to be one of them. I still look forward to my birthday and all the hoopla and attention that comes with it. It's MY day, you guys! MINE! Besides, there is cake. Who doesn't like cake?! And if you don't like cake, well, fine. But you must like presents, right?! Everyone loves presents!

Super delicious, super rich CAKE!

Some of the gang.

 Blowing out my candle. We had to search far and wide for that candle. Grandma's drawers are mini treasure troves!

NOM. NOM. NOM.

He loves his Oma. She loves him.

 Checking out the cuckoo clock behind them.

The boys got me a gnome. I named him Jasper.

Then I found this guy a couple of days later. He was on clearance at Michaels for $3.63. He is Jasper's new friend, Giles. Crystal has threatened to steal them so I might need to booby trap them. Any ideas?

The terrarium my hubby made for me. It's not complete yet, but I am LOVING it! Thanks, babe!

Adorable and delicious owl cupcakes from the gals at work. Chocolate + owls = best work (birth)day ever!

Not pictured, but very much appreciated is the shopping spree with my mom, jewelry from my dad and Mary and gorgeous owl necklace from my grandmother. A wonderful birthday. How are you guys going to top this next year?! Ha!

Ride em' Cowboy!

We came across an old mechanical horse the other day when we stopped for some delicious dinner at Larry's Giant Subs. The old fella had seen better days and was a bit of a clunker, but I knew there was no way we were getting by that thing without letting Haeden have a ride. Not that I'd want to, really. These things have a little place in my heart, so I was really just as delighted as he was to come upon it.

My dad was a bit of a "picker" when I was a kid. It wasn't nearly as glamorous as the current reality series would like to make it seem. In fact, I was totally embarrassed when my dad would pull over on the side of the road so that he could pick through someone else's trash.

But you know what they say... "one man's trash is another man's treasure". And sometimes that really is true. Thanks to dad's "hobby", we ended up with our very own mechanical horse and a video arcade game to boot! He taught my sister and I how to turn it on without feeding it quarters and it resulted in lots and lots of fun. Oh, and you better believe I still charged the neighborhood kids to ride that bad boy! That is, until I got caught anyway.

Dad, think you can find another one? I bet Haeden would be really appreciative! If not, a real, live pony will do, too. I think we could keep him in our backyard. It's totally big enough...