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!

LoveTubs -- in the news!

Just kind of a fun thing: my LoveTubs made it to the December issue of Birmingham Magazine!

Where Lost Socks Go... at Christmastime

I've always known that our washing machine and/or dryer "eat" our socks. I can't count how many socks have just disappeared over the years. But with a baby in the house, socks now disappear on a daily basis!
Usually, Iain pulls his socks off and leaves them on the floor. But I guess he got a bit more creative of late! The other day, I noticed that he had pulled his socks of and was carrying them around the house. And when he got tired of them, I started looking to round them up.
I found one on the rug in the den, under the table. The other one, however, was nowhere to be found. Nowhere! I mean, I went all over the house, checking under furniture, in his toy basket, in the dog's toy basket, etc., etc.... I had almost given up.
Then a friend stopped by... and I discovered the sock's unique hiding place.

I guess Iain dropped it off there on the Christmas wreath (on our front door) when I was saying "goodbye" to a friend who had left earlier in the day! Hey - it matches the decor.... right!?!?

Santa pictures: 2010

So... I'm thinking that Iain is NOT a fan of Santa Claus! Can you tell from this picture??!!!?!?!

Jaiden's picture turned out perfectly lovely! And she was VERY excited that the "real" Santa Claus came to our neighborhood this year for pictures! She even looks like she's matching the Santa look, with the red top and black belt! GREAT picture!

But... Iain was just not a happy camper. He was already tired from taking our first, official family pictures before the Santa visit. It was also about an hour past time for his afternoon nap!

Oh, well! It's a memory! :)