Top 10 Favorite Things - Weeks of 11/23 and 11/30

TOP ROW

1. Getting some paint samples up on the walls!  Only 5 more months til we can officially start painting

2. Someone is starting to take after his mom...I used to love taking things out of the cabinets too

3. Our Xmas Simpsons house - thanks mom!

4. I wish I had taken this pic w/the good camera....I love his expression

5. Snow day with Pappy - that is actually a boogie board he's riding

2ND ROW

6. 1992 Lindsey is LOVING the Salt N Peppa Geico ads - Note: Spinderella still looks REALLY good

7. Our Thanksgiving spread...the goat cheese mashed potatoes were delicious

8. Blake was the Star of the Week at school

9. My project for the month - turning our coat closet into a toy closet just in time for more toys to take over the house

10. I shouldn't have pasted this Bacon Mushroom Melt pic...now I reallllly want one

3RD ROW

11. New official Chucky walker

12. Best Black Friday purchase - these awesomely comfy and warm mocassins

13. Take that Christmas!!  I'm ready for ya

14. Joanne Gaines is on pinterest??? Who knew?

15. I'm late on this one, but the "Shake It Off' aerobic video mash up deserves a huge shout out

BOTTOM ROW

16. Breaking out my favorite candle ever - Winter from Bath & Body works...seriously - go buy this candle!

17. Christmas Personal project - our new wreaths; love how they go with the Colonial look of the house

18. "Property Brothers at Home" is great - the house they're working on is ridiculous and it has more brother banter per minute then a regular episode

19. Blake's new basketball jersey...he wore it all day long after his first practice

20. THIS is how you do Black Friday

Top Ten Favorite Things...Week of 11/16

TOP ROW
1. First trip to the Please Touch Museum...had a wonderful time w/my brother, SIL, and nieces
2. This is super nerdy but my free Color Deck fan from Sherwin Williams is one of my favorite things EVER
3. Getting to meet Olaf
4. A real girls night out with some of my favorite ladies!
5. No more Mr. Wobbly legs - my GOB is a walking machine (here he is getting some help from big bro)

BOTTOM ROW
6. Blake's been learning about one letter a week and bringing them home...so glad I finally got around to hanging them up....I have no idea what happened to the F, and the J is MIA
7. Soccer Season is over, but Blake came so far and I think had a great time with his dad
8. My new-sew Roman shade for the bathroom...once again thank you Young House Love
9. The Wegmans driving carts are perfect for shopping with both boys....I just wish they had more of them
10. Storytime at the Doylestown library 

Thanksgiving Craft time with Blake

Getting this one up before I have a chance to forget!  Since it's been way too cold to go anywhere, Blake and I took Tuesday to work on our Thanksgiving craft (before, you know, Thanksgiving).  I wanted something pretty simple, so I settled on this easy painted tree from Pinterest.  We traced Blake's arm in the morning, and then he actually was good long enough for me to paint the tree (!!), before he got to fingerpaint the leaves after lunchtime.

As you can see, Blake is more of a "march to your own drummer" kinda painter, so it didn't turn out exactly as I was thinking but hey - It does look like a tree!  Now it's chilling on the mantel w/some corn and pumpkins.  I asked Blake how it looked and he said "It looks GREAT mommy!" so I call that a MomWin

**Side note - one of the best recent purchases I've bought was a huge plastic table cloth roll from Party City for GOBs bday.  Now I just whip it out for craft time and throw it away afterwards.  Double MomWin!

In my last craft post I mentioned that I was trying to work on decorating my front door more, so that's what I'm calling my Thanksgving craft for the year.  I picked up these beautiful lanterns at AC Moore and sprayed them with Rust-O-Leum rust proof spraypaint since I don't think they're necessarily meant to be outside.  Blake and I went a little crazy at the pumpkin patch, where I also got a pretty purple Mum - note to self: next year get a heavy pot to put it in...it's looking a little worse for the wear after being blown off the porch MANY times this fall.  The thing I'm most proud of is my little box crate - which was my first attempt at staining something.  It was leftover from Blake's bday so I used some never used stain I had in the garage, stole from sealer from my dad, took an afternoon, and Voila....I love how it turned out and it's held up great throw the weather.

So that wraps up my fall crafts....next up - cooking Thanksgiving and then onward to getting ready for Xmas!

Top Ten Favorite Things - MEGA SIZED EDITION

I've been collecting favorite things for the last month and a half but just haven't gotten a chance to blog any of them....so here is a mid-fall dump of all the things that have made me smile recently : )

Back to the weekly updates next week - PROMISE

 

TOP ROW
1. Enjoying the beautiful fall weather by doing super Fall-ee things w/the Blake Monster
2. My dad's new frequent trips to London = lots of Cadbury chocolate for me
3. Mr. GOB learning to stand up
4. The beautiful red maples they planted outside of my house
5. Cash's decision to take up residence in the circus tent

2nd ROW
6. Having a fence!!!!!
7. Picnics outside the Doylestown Library....I used to go there when I was young so I love that I can take my boys there now
8. Celebrating GOBs bday at Chuck E Cheese...he was a little confused by his cake
9. Bare Essentials Eye Shadow - got a new 8 pack from my awesome mom...best eyeshadow I've ever used hands down
10.  Halloween w/the Monkey and the Lobster

3rd ROW
11. Craft Saturdays w/Blake - nice to spend 1:1 time together each week
12. Having a garage door opener!!!!
13. Awesome new hair color by my favorite stylist ever...when I get a chance to blow dry it it looks GREAT
14. Creepy Rob Lowe - just when I thought my love for him couldn't get any greater
15. Night out with Jon at this DELICIOUS restaurant in Doylestown.  Decided to be classy for once and not take pics of all of the food, but the B.E.L.T (pork belly, roasted tomato spread, grilled sourdough served over an Ostrich Egg Yolk!!) still makes my mouth water

BOTTOM ROW
16. I have been waiting since I started playing TAPPED OUT to have the catapult in my town square to launch cats from...and yes, that is George Washington chilling in the bottom corner
17. The day GOB was so tired he fell asleep sitting up, and then fell over
18. Finally getting some art up on the wall in GOBs room
19. Blake's new favorite saying - "I like you mommy"....heart melts every time
20. GOB's new favorite game - playing hide and seek in the tent....heart melts every time

What's For Dinner - Late Summer / Early Fall Roundup

Here's a few of my favorite bites from the last few months....going to be cooking Thanksgiving for me and the boys next week and very excited to try out a things I've never made before (+ the most amazing Pumpkin Pie ever)

Spinach and Artichoke Rollatini	Slow Cooker Hoisin Ribs w/Bacon Cornbread
Chick and Biscuit "Pigs in a Blanket"	Ruben Dip
Crawfish and Grits	Roasted Apple Pies
Chicken Milanese w/Bacon and Pancetta Potatoes

GOB's Big Top Birthday

The rain kinda washed out our plans of setting up a fun, sunny circus in our backyard....but Grayson's first birthday still turned out being a lot of fun.  I cooked up a big batch of chili to keep everyone nice and warm and we moved the carnival games to the garage.  I didn't capture as many pics of the day as I would have liked to but here's a few of our Big Top touches, and of the cutest ring master to take the stage!

Was really happy with the invites I whipped up for this one and for the teal/red color scheme

All of those empty boxes that had been taking up residence in the basement (which I totally cleaned up for the party - one stone + two birds = Booyah) came in SUPER handy for building our carnival games.  The kids got all tatted up and our tattoo parlor...I think Blake had 6 at one point

Jon did an awesome job building this great train out of some more boxes....the best find was a $20 pop up circus tent that I found at Ikea....it now lives in our living room and as you can see the Jerk Dog has decided that it would make the perfect home for him

And of course, here's my happy baby enjoying his BDay cake

I know I said it before but thank you to everyone who came out to make the day so special.

Getting Crafty

A big part of my New Year's March resolution was to start crafting things again.  It's been too long since I've sunk my teeth into these fun projects and it's time to start again.  I know it's not everyone's thing, but for me it's a real stress relief and gives me a much needed dose of self-accomplishment.

So I've set two goals for myself that I got to take for a spin over the last few months:

Goal #1:  Start to give people more hand-made presents.

My mom saw these cute pottery barn chalk tags in their catalog one day, so I thought - "Hey self, you can probably make those!" and got to work.  I think they turned out pretty cute...can't say that I saved that much money on them compared to the PB ones, but I got to test drive chalk board paint for the first time and was very happily surprised with the results!  Can't wait to put up a big chalk board in the mudroom for the boys to destroy

For my niece's bday, I stole borrowed this idea straight from my favorite DIY site (which, side note, they are discontinuing and I am still in deep denial about).  I bought her a Tinkerbell tea party set last year, so I thought this cake stand would be the perfect compliment.  I decided to stick to her favorite colors and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  It also gave me the excuse to set up my new table saw....turns out I LOVE POWER TOOLS.  I forgot to get a really good picture of the whole thing together before I gave it to her (of course) but got a good close up of some of my favorite cakes

Goal #2:  Take on one craft project each holiday/season for the house, and one with Blake

This fall, we went a little pumpkin crazy so we have quite a few painted pumpkins around the house that Blake made, and we took a craft class together - so I'm checking the second half of that one off the list.

For my project, I found this picture on Pinterest....fast, cheap, easy = GO.  So I took one slow morning, a lot of googly eyes and a glue gun and churned out this for my front door.  I've had a few eyes fall off on windy days, so in retrospect I should have used super glue from the get go, but have been able to get them all back on with no problem.  I'm also really concentrating on putting together simple but pretty arrangements around the front door.  I never really concentrated on that in the Townhouse besides hanging a wreath, but this new house deserves the finest in life!

So that's my early fall craft round up;  I've got a few more brewing already for the Thanksgiving season....now gotta push myself to remember to blog about them earlier!

Happy 1st Birthday Grayson!!!

A few days late, but wanted to make sure that I give my littlest man his very own Happy Birthday post. If you've never met this little man, please believe me when I say that he is the happiest baby ever! It's hard to find a picture where he does not have a huge smile from ear to ear because his natural response to every situation is to be happy. I've gotten to spend almost every day of the last year with this little guy and he can make the sun shine on even the cloudiest day. I am incredibly lucky to have this teeny beany in my life and am looking forward to his smile through all of his next big steps in year number 2. 

 So Happy Happy Happy birthday Grayson...my little smily peanut 

 

Top Ten Favorite Things......Week of 9/8

Top Row
1. The League is finally back!  Wednesday date night at 10pm for me and Jon - GO
2. Finally got a chance to check out the new Container Store in KOP...I could spend a day in there
3. Getting this picture of my freespirited boys while at the Container Store
4. Comfortable Flats w/a little sass for the fall - Check
5. Finding a huge box of these awesome single packs of Guacamole at Costco

Bottom Row
6. First week of Fantasy Football = 1-0 in all 3 of my leagues....Suck It
7. Beautiful flowers from my boys....the big ones are from Jon, the little yellow one in the front is from Blake
8. Sometimes just getting piping hot fries from McDonalds can change your whole day
9. Happy Third Birthday to my beautiful niece Adalyn! I hope she likes the cake set I made her
10. I love these three guys - but finally getting a weekday morning and afternoon to myself for the first time in 11 months felt REALLLLLY GOOOOOOOD

Things GOB would rather play with than a house full of toys.....

DVD Boxes

Water Bottles

Cardboard Boxes

Cords, Cords, and more Cords

Doorstops

The Mail

His Clothes

Top Ten Favorite Things....Week of 8/25

Top Row 1. For some reason the Ikea instructions for what to do when you inevitably have issues amuses me to no end 2. Sneaking in a few more pool days with the boys before the Fall weather starts 3. The Spicy Tuna Martini at Wegmans Pub.....AMAZING 4. Another project off the list - getting towel hooks up in the bathroom;  I've come to the conclusion that I HATE towel bars and am now on a mission to remove all traces from my bathrooms 5. First trip to Sesame Place....think Blake had a really good time Bottom Row 6. Impromptu Lunch Date with my girls (and the Blake Monster) 7. Dinner out at Wegmans - sounds incredible, but this is the first time the 4 of us went out alone together to dinner since GOB was born!  Long overdue 8. Finally getting ALL of the boys clothes organized by size...now I can finish my basement project 9. Naked Baby in a Box!!! 10. Found the fabric for my bathroom curtains....now to add that project to the list

Top Ten Favorite Things...Week of 8/18

Top Row
1. My new lego Ralph figure courtesy of Chris...complete with his "Choo-Choo-Choos You" valentine
2. Starting to look like a kitchen...and we can finally easily open our drawers
3. Took my new table saw out for it's first test drive....I didn't die, so I guess I set it up right
4. No Explanation Needed
5. Thanks to Jon for discovering a really good new pizza place, within walking distance!  This could be dangerous

Bottom Row
6. Setting up my grandfather's old Encylopedias in the bedroom....Jon swears he's going to make the boys use them for their homework instead of Google
7. Loving the sudden outpouring of Brotherly love from Blake to Grayson
8. 3 Drafts down....now let's get some FOOTBALL started
9. Conquering the Doylestown Kid's Castle
10. My beautiful new Lotus Charm bracelet from my sister-in-law Karen..I could use all the energy I can get

Top Ten Favorite Things....Week of 8/10

Top Row
1. Bringing the boys to Allentown and introducing them to DCI for the first time
2. The Tile shop Montgomeryville is open!!
3. The kickass new trees and bushes that the landscaper installed
4. My new kitchen towel bar...don't let it deceive you, this thing was a real bitch to put in
5. Tried out a new bathroom cleaner based on some recommendations...loving how it cleans and the smell

Bottom Row
6. Celebrating my dad's birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese...this ride didn't give out any tickets, but kept all three kids entertained for at least 10 minutes
7. My little GOB growing up way to fast....standing up and now starting to cruise the living room
8. Filling up my Photo Carousel from Pottery Barn
9. Making it through the weekend watching the boys by myself, and actually having a fun time doing it!
10. Our new couch from IKEA, which is already a really expensive dog bed

Top Ten Favorite Things - June/July Roundup

Welcome back Suckers Avid Readers

(sorry...have been watching a lot of "The League" lately getting ready for Football Season).  

After a brief summer hiatus, I'm back!  I've added a few posts on some of my faves including Blake's Bday, some crafty time, and yummy food....but here's what you've all come to see - my latest top ten list.  So please enjoy some of the highlights from the last two months and stay tuned for next week for an all new list

Top Row
1. Grown Up night out at Morton's for our 5th Anniversary
2. My nieces in their adorable Frozen Nightgowns
3. Finally getting to take a fancy Family picture
4. These shortbread cookies from Wegmans - OMG they are the Bomb Diggity!!!  Go get some right now!!
5. My little GOB crawling and sitting up by himself...watch out ladies he's on the move

Bottom Row
6. Getting to cook in my new kitchen with the Blake monster...we've got pizza and pancakes down
7. Spending a lot of time outside this summer with the boys; pretty proud of my sidewalk chalk monsters
8. Visiting the National Aquarium with the boys - Blake's love of fish will never die
9. Some late night fun on Long Beach Island - easily the most relaxing moment of the last year was sitting on the beach right before sunset watching Blake play
10. Getting to make small, steady improvements to the new house - like this awesome soon to be light fixture that I found at Home Goods

Happy 3rd Birthday Blake!!

Looking back on the last year, it seems almost impossible how much has happened to my little monster (oh yeah...we're REALLLLY into monsters now).

You learned to talk, go to the potty, sleep in a big boy bed, and started to do things "all by yourself"

You became a big brother, moved into a new house, and started at a new school

Through all of the ups and downs, and tantrums, and muddy footprints tracked through the house.....I never get tired of being your mom and watching you grow every day!  It's worth every tough step through the day to feel your good night hugs and kisses and hear you say "Goodnight Mommy"

I love you more then you will ever know and I can't wait to see what big changes year 3 has to bring!!

Happy Happy Birthday to my Big Boy Blake

Blake's "Bug Food" Party

I asked Blake many many times over the months leading up to his birthday what kind of party he wanted, and almost every time he said a "BugFood" Party (which to Blake means a party that has bugs and lots of food he can snack on) so that's what we rolled with.  He spent about 98.9% of the time in the blow up pool, so I'm not sure how much Bug or Food he took in, but here's some of my favorite things I put together for his 3rd birthday.

It took me a while to come up with the invite, but one day while reading GOB's squishy "Hungry Hungry Caterpillar" book, the light-bulb switched on - could there be a more perfect image for a BugFood party?  Blake looooves the HHC, but I didn't want to do such a specific party theme, so I thought just going with it on the invite would be a great idea.

I knew that I wanted to do the classic Oreo Dirt cupcakes for dessert, and I saw this really cute pic on Pinterest where someone used plastic terra cotta pots to hold them.  I couldn't find any plastic ones, so I just used mini real terra cotta pots and took the cupcakes out before I gave them to the kids.  M&Ms became my crawling bugs, and I made a special Red and Green HHC one just for the birthday boy.

The favors were really easy this year as me and my mom lucked into finding these butterfly nets and bug-catchers early in the summer in the Target $1 bins (gotta love it!)  Then I used plastic sandwich bags, clothespins, and M&Ms to make butterflies, and let the kids take any of the bugs they found that day home with them.

I set up two little activity stations for the tiny ones - a dig for bug station where we just buried a lot of plastic bugs in the sand table, and a "Make your own wings Station".  I just cut up a bunch of paper plates and put out different shapes, paint, and markers that they could use to decorate.  The wings came out so cute I may have to use that idea again when I eventually force host a dream "Harry Potter" birthday party for one of the boys.

Some Red and Green decorations rounded out the theme and Voila! - a relatively stress free set up that made for one awesome birthday party!!  Just hope I will be singing the same tune come GOB's first bday bash in October...

Early Summer Recipe Round Up

I am absolutely LOVING my new kitchen!!! The splurge to get the updated layout was completely worth it for me, and makes putting together big meals so much more manageable!  Been collecting pics of some of the best meals I've cooked since we've been in the new house so here's a round-up of what's been cooking:

Crab Cake Sliders

Father's Day Dinner: Asian BBQ Ribs, Stuffed Potato Skins, Soy Broccoli w/Chili Peppers

Lemon Ziti and Balsamic Asparagus

Three Pepper Linguini w Burrata Cheese

Fried Egg Open Face BLTs (These are now one of my staples)

Greek Pizza

Cheese Fry Topped Burgers