Happy birthday to YOU....
Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday, dear JAIDEN,
Happy birthday to you!



My baby girl is 9-years old today! EEK! But what a beautiful, sweet, kind-hearted little girl she is! I sure am proud to be her momma!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, J!

Like father... like son?

Sean likes to joke ALL the time about getting Iain started in the family lawn business... but NOT at this young age of 17 months! ;)


Should I be worried? I mean, Iain IS already trying to walk in daddy's shoes! :)


ON the other hand, he's showing interest in the piano, too, and that's a "mommy" thing. Too bad he just bangs the keys loudly.


Of course, at this age, Iain bangs loudly on just about ANYthing - even Daddy when he's trying to fix a sink at my parents' house!


I guess, for now... daddy wins! Like father, like son!

Drumroll please!

And the winner of the HAPPY FAMILY giveaway (drawn at random by the random generator) is:


number 5.... which is Corinne E! CONGRATS, Corinne! I will send the information I have to Clelia at Happy Family, and she will be contacting you about sending you your awesome goodies!

Thanks to everyone who entered! :)

My HAPPY baby -- and a HAPPY BABY GIVEAWAY!

My now 16-month-old, Iain, is a picky eater. He seems to be following in my footsteps... eh, I mean tastebuds. He likes chocolately sweet things. And fruit. And bread. And when he does NOT like something, it is painfully clear. He pouts. He spits food out. And he swats at the spoon and throws his arms around. SO, I was quite interested to see how he would take to some food from Happy Baby that we were recently able to sample.


I decided to give Iain the banana yogurt melts one day as a snack. I knew he would love them, since he LOVES bananas... and he loves yogurt melts!

Here is his reaction to the first bite (kind of a pleasantly surprised YUM, if you ask me!):


Sure enough.... he sampled a few and then ran back for more!



A few days later, I decided to just get it over with and try to feed him the Happy Tots toddler mix of green beans, pears and peas, not thinking it would go very well. I held the pouch for him, just in case he swatted it out of my hands in disgust...


But I was completely wrong. Iain took one taste -- straight out of the pouch -- and practically inhaled the entire thing!


He LOVED it! I don't think I have ever seen him enjoy something that much (that wasn't dessert, that is!). I think he was shocked when it was gone....



He waved around the empty pouch, with kind of a "that's all?" look!



Iain also loved the spinach, mango and pear mixture.... and it was fun to see him feed himself by squeezing the pouch and sucking it down flat! (How neat... and how convenient!)



Needless to say, I was MORE than thrilled about the Happy Baby foods, and I am certainly a new fan... and customer! And so is Iain! :) And I am excited that the food is all organic, with 100% natural ingredients! (Yes, Iain is now eating healthier than ANY of us!)

Now... the best part is: YOU may get to sample some Happy Baby food, too!

The company has graciously offered a giveaway to one of my lucky readers! Here is a "peak" at what you might win: "A Healthy Start for a Happy Baby" starter kit, which includes: recipes, nutrition guide, Happy Bellies, Happy Puffs, Happy TOTS, Happy Melts and vouchers for frozen items (Happy Bites and Happy Baby). WOW -- I want to win! ;)

To enter the giveaway, please visit the Happy Baby website and then comment on this post about what food item(s) you think your child/ren would like the best! You will get one entry for your comment. And.... for an additional 2 entries, go to the Happy Baby Facebook fan page and "LIKE" them! Then comment here about doing so!

The winner will be selected at random on Friday, April 22!

GOOD LUCK!


*NOTE: I was not paid to say these wonderful things about Happy Baby or their products. The above post is entirely my own opinion (and my baby boy's), given at my own free will!

Pretty in pink

The dogwoods are in bloom, and we have a bunch of the white-blossomed trees growing wild in the woods behind our house. They are BEAUTIFUL, and they look like snow-covered trees... in he middle of March!

We also have a purposefully planted pink dogwood in the front yard. I can't say that I've ever been partial to them, but this tree is just doggone gorgeous! I can't get over how rich the blooms are... and how many of them there are!

I had to snap a few pictures before it's past its prime!

Plate Painting

My friends, Season and Shelly, and I (AKA the "Real Housewives of Chelsea, Alabama") recently went to Do It Yourself Crafts to paint some plates. Yep... PLATES! I saw this adorable, little bluebird plate design on the DIYC Facebook page, and it was just too cute to pass up, especially since we got an amazing deal from Living Social! ;) So, we headed over one night... and had a blast!
What amazing ideas they have in there! Here is an absolutely adorable idea for Christmas ornaments with kids' hand prints. I SO plan on creating this with Jaiden's and Iain's prints for Christmas 2011! PRECIOUS!


Annnnnnd, here is just the cutest little crab I have ever seen! How clever! (And I don't even like the beach!)


Now, keep in mind that we started out with an all- white plate. Then we painted both sides black and started working on some really neat techniques. One thing that impressed me was that we cut out the little birdie shape from regular, old paper and outlined the shape on the plate. After painting in the bird, we put paint on the paper itself and then put THAT on top of the bird we just painted. It created a really cool texture!
Here is my finished product.


The plate is displayed on the top shelf of the hutch in my dining room. And I LOVE how it goes along with my favorite Willow Tree angel!

Why I Can't Hate Valentine's Day

Those who know me well know that I do NOT like Valentine's Day. I just think it's a dumb holiday. Now, I'll buy the chocolates, cards, stuffed bears and candies for Jaiden and Iain and Sean. And I do love getting cards or chocolate... ANY time. ;) But I don't really plan anything special. Nor do I expect anything special! So, it's always fun to see what Sean has up his sleeve for such a non-celebrated day....

To explain this year's gift, I need to backtrack a bit and share a photo of the "Cookies By Design" cookie bouquet I ordered for Sean for our anniversary last month. If you have not had these cookies before, they are VERY tasty... but they are also kind of pricey. And we always joke about how much each cookie costs if you break it down.... *yikes!


SO, this year for Valentine's Day, I got a "Cookies By Sean" cookie bouquet. Yes, he made these. And cut them out (AFTER baking them) with Jaiden's sandwich shapers (that's why they are kind of randomly shaped like dinosaurs, dolphins and hearts!)! Then he painstakingly iced them with homemade icing and decorating gel (that explains the drippy smiley face) and displayed them on stakes for me!


Looks just like the other cookie bouquet, doesn't it? No? Well, that's ok. It really is the thought that counts. Really! And I love that I have such a thoughtful husband who would take the time to do something like this for me! Even on such a dumb holiday! :)

The REAL Housewives of Chelsea, Alabama

My good friends (and neighbors, lucky me!), Season and Shelly and I had a girls' night IN the other night. We planned an evening of junk food, crafts... and makeovers! :) It was a whole lot of fun! We tried some "daring" new makeup looks, just for the heck of it. And we worked on scrapbooks and wedding favors for my sister-in-law's upcoming March wedding. We also had fun just being girls... and mommies... and housewives! ;) Shelly even made us some oh-so-cute aprons and t-shirts with a hilariously funny design: the REAL housewives of Chelsea, Alabama! :)

And, yes, I am wielding a play sword; yes, Season is rocking the karaoke microphone; and, yes, Shelly is working the vacuum. That's pretty much as REAL as life gets for us, folks! :)

I Made it To REAL SIMPLE Magazine

If you know me, you know that I LOVE Real Simple magazine. I have been an avid follower, fan and subscriber since the very first issue... and I am THRILLED beyond words that they chose ME to be in an article about being organized!

You can see it now, in the February 2011 issue. (And you can read more about it HERE on my Get Neater blog!)

Indoor fun!

We were "snowed" in today... ok, we were slushed and iced in, but, nevertheless, the whole family had a day at home, together.

Sean and Jaiden mainly played video games. And I mainly cleaned up the remaining Christmas stuff. And that's when the fun started.... first with empty boxes...


...and then with one of Iain's new toys!


Ah, the simple pleasures!

Jaiden's SNOWMAN Christmas party

Jaiden's class had a Christmas party before their vacation started, and I helped with the "theme." I chose snowmen, because I discovered some really cute, not-too-difficult-to-make decorations!

First, I made some snowball garland using paper cutouts with pretty Christmas paper and snowman stamps strung on some different lengths of thread with white pom poms (snowballs). I guess I could have used cotton balls, but the pom poms are a bit more sturdy and they kept their place on the thread very well! I tied each strand to a paperclip and just stuck them in the ceiling! (I could have made tons more, but the classroom is so busy, I figured they would just get lost... which they kind of did, anyway. But they sure were cute!)


Next, I made cupcakes and cupcake toppers (to match the garland, with the same Christmas paper and snowman stamps.)


I also made snowman pops.... These cute (and tasty) treats were created with jumbo marshmallows, white icing, Rollos (for the hat) and flat and colored sprinkles for the eyes and nose (with a little corn syrup to make them stick)! I just stuck the marshmallows on a candy stick and wrapped them up in cellophane bags after they were decorated! I tied them all with raffia ribbons and attached a name tag for each child.


It all turned out very cute, but I think the kids were more interested in opening their gifts!