Monthly Archives: May 2013

Turning Six…..

This year Landon and I got to share a special day together.  His birthday is May 12th and this year it just happened to fall on Mother’s Day!!   But, so that everyone could spend the day with their moms, we had his birthday party the day before!

When it comes time for birthday parties, I usually let the boys pick their themes.  Well, for Landon’s sixth birthday, he wanted to take all of his friends fishing.  Now I love to fish but I am not sure that I wanted to go fishing with a bunch of little kids.  Could you imagine what that would be like?  I can only imagine kids getting hooked by the hook, the lines becoming a big tangled mess and maybe even some boredom!!

So, I brought the fishing to him with some cute little fishing themed goodies!

For the party favors, I made a can of worms for bait and tied a bag of Swedish Fish to the can for the Catch!

I found these cute little clear plastic paint cans at ACMoore, used blue grosgrain ribbon, cut out some little green circles, and used glue dots to attach everything to the bucket.

IMG_6596IMG_6598IMG_6601IMG_6609I then filled the cans with Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers!   I used some curly ribbons to attach the bag of fish to the can handles and attached a little Thank You Note from Landon!  So, I debated on what to use as a fishing pole for my cupcake toppers.  So I stuck with stuff I had at home…wire for jewelry making, skewers that I cut the sharp ends off of and some embroidery floss for the fishing line.

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Using some jewelry making tools, I cut the wire into small pieces and curled them to create a hook.

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I put the fishing pole together and then added either a Swedish Fish or a Sour Brite Crawler.  The hooks weren’t too sharp and I did the warn the parents before the cupcakes were given to the kids!  The kids really liked eating the worms and fish off of the fake hooks though!

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My cupcakes were decorated to look like the edge of a pond or lake.  I even added some fish to the water on some of them.

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I think the kids really enjoyed all of the fishing goodies!  I had a lot of fun making them, but I always enjoy making the kids birthday cakes or cupcakes.  And I really liked how the party favors turned out!

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The Six Year Old had a great birthday this year!  He got lots of great gifts including a skate board with all of the protective gear, lots more Legos and a new set of golf clubs!!!  He’s such a wonderful kid (and so is Benjamin)!!!  It’s just really hard to believe that he is already six.  I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday!

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Until next time, have a great day!!!

Sunny Skies bring….

….Beautiful bits of Nature!!!

I love this time of year, when baby animals are born and flowers start to bloom!

This morning, I happened to walk by the window upstairs and caught a glimpse of a doe laying in the grass. It wasn’t until I got my camera, did I see a buck laying in the grass not far behind her.  And then while taking some pictures, another guy walked up!

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This afternoon, the kids and I were outside enjoying the sunshine when I saw Maggie sniffing around a tree near the house and then I heard a little scurrying underneath the limbs of the tree. It was the little bunny rabbit that has been torturing the dogs for the last week or so. Unfortunately, his brother or sister did not make it. He was found under one of our bushes this past weekend.

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I became quite the photographer after these pictures of the bunny!   Which, I am still afraid that he may not survive.  I did indeed contact the town to see if they had any suggestions for maybe relocating this little guy.  Unfortunately, their response did not offer any suggestions because it’s a wild animal and will either survive or not.  But anyways, I went on to photograph some other things throughout my backyard.

In the boys outdoor toy box, I discovered this big pile of leaves and sticks and such, so I picked it up hoping that something wasn’t living in it.  But guess what?  It was a birds nest, with eggs inside.  So, as soon as I realized what it was, it went back into it’s place and I am hoping that Mommy bird will come back to her lovely little pink and white eggs.

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For some reason, this little guy likes to hang out in or around the sand box.  I know this is good because he keeps the spiders and other pesky insects away, but then to think he’s probably peeing all over the sand.  But oh well, he is a helpful little guy.  I have had to strongly encourage my children not to bother him, because if they were to get a hold of him, he may have bulging eyes and his life will probably be over.  Of course, I don’t tell them that, but I do tell that he likes to eat the bugs.   In the past, we used to put them in a bucket and guide them towards the shrubs in the natural area, but last year we discovered a snake living in the shrubs and we assumed it was because we were supplying him with the frogs that we were putting there.

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We absolutely love our backyard.  If we never move, the backyard will be the reason we stay.  That and the cul-da-sac that we live in!  But our backyard is our favorite part of owning this house!  With the help of a landscape design friend, Victor did an awesome job, minus one plant that we can’t stand, the Nandina shrub.  It’s apparently in the bamboo family and it spreads and shoots up, everywhere and quickly.

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We do have some very lovely plants though, especially the ones that bloom with pretty flowers.  I did discover today that our first day lily bloomed and there are many many more to come!   We have a very nice ice plant that has beautiful purple flowers and a few other plants that are in bloom.  Oh, and our hostas are full and will probably get much bigger!

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I am so happy for the sunshine!   The weather has been a little blah lately, but I am hoping that warm weather and sunny skies are on the way!Hope everyone is having a very happy May.  My oldest will be turning 6 this Sunday and will be finished with Kindergarten at the end of May.  Until next time…….

I Love the USA Blog Hop

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I am super excited to have been chosen to participate in a really fun Blog Hop! This Blog Hop is in celebration of the USA! And who doesn’t love the USA?! As a new blogger, this is my first ever blog hop and I have some really cute ideas brewing in my head!

Now that classes have finished up for the semester, I have a little extra time to get to creating.

I met up with Laura Kelly the other day to retrieve my awesome blog hop box filled with goodies! When I got home, I opened it to find a bunch of awesome goodies!

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My box included:
Laura Kelly’s Patriotic fabric
Button’s Galore & More Buttons
Fiskars Sewing scissors set and pinking shears
Coates and Clark thread
J&P Coats Embroidery floss
Mod Podge
Apple Barrel Acrylic Paints and Gloss
Coats Phoomp for Fabric
A custom Laura Kelly Sharpie marker

Now, to get my creative juices flowing and get started.  Check back soon!  The actual blog hop event takes place June 10-14!

And until next time……….