a dump truck cake and a birthday!

Last week was Noah's third birthday and we celebrated with my dad and Noah's bf.  I went all out and made a dump truck birthday cake for him.  Before you get too impressed with my smooth as a baby's bottom icing and perfect piping {major HA! on that one} let me just tell you that I made this cake entirely out of cupcakes.  It was sooo easy and not to mention fun.  I used a Wilton cupcake kit that my friend found on clearance and then gave to me. It had instructions on how to make three different types of cakes, one of them being a dump truck. The kit also came with silicone cupcake liners in different shapes that you put together to form the cake design.

My favorite part about making this cake was picking out the candy to use for the "gravel" in the back of the truck.  I decided to go with m&m's and dots.  I also used half an m&m for the door handle on the truck

Of course Noah loved his cake and didn't mind that his momma has NO icing skillz what so ever! If you can't tell from the pictures Noah was singing happy birthday to himself while we sang.  This was the first birthday that Noah really knew what was going on and definitely soaked up every minute of it! 

And just for my own personal memory keeping.....................

You still like Lightening McQueen and Toy Story in case you can't tell from this picture! Not pictured are your bucket o' soliders and your rex flash light. ha!

You've recently discovered jigsaw puzzles and will seriously do them over and over again.  Looks like you take after your Mimi in that regard.  Your favorites right now are the Melissa and Doug puzzles in a box.

 

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You also love for me to read with you and your favorite author of the moment is Richard Scarry.  You love Cars, and trucks, and things that go and have already memorized where Goldbug is on each page.  You really like "Where's Waldo" sort of books like this one and can't seem to get enough of them.

If I send you to your room to pick out some shoes for the day then you ALWAYS comes back out wearing your beloved cowboy boots.  What I love most of all about you at this age is that you are chatting up a storm and I routinely refer to you as my chatty cathy because you are always a talkin.  Your papa, my dad, mentioned on his recent visit that you remind him a lot of me at this age and that made me smile.  We love you sweet boy!

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my curly hair essentials

01:: Humidity!!  Yeah I know that looks like a picture of a sun but pretend the sun represents humidity.  My curls love the humidity even though I am not a big fan myself. 

02:: Paul Mitchell Round Trip liquid curl definer  I have been using this lightweight gel off and on for the last three years.  If my hair is short I can use just this product but if it is longer {like it is now} then I need something more. See #4.

03:: Bobby Pins  I almost always have two bobby pins in my hair when I wear it curly so I can keep my hair out of my face.  I usually part my hair to one side and then take and pin one side back. I criss cross two bobby pins to make an "X" to get my hair to stay put. My hair is so darn thick that is the only way I can get bobby pins to even stay in place.

04:: Frizz Ease Style holding gel  This is a new product to me.  I have been using it for a few weeks now and I really like it.  I asked me friend Marisa a while back what she used in her curly hair and she introduced me to the frizz ease gel.  She also told me she mixes it with Round Trip {#2 up there!}.  I had never in my life mixed two hair products but I'm always up for an adventure.  The Round trip and the styling gel actually compliment each other nicely.  The Round Trip helps define while the gel gives you enough hold.  Be careful not to go overboard on the gel though.  Crunchy is not such a good look.

05:: Curling Iron{s} I have a 1/2 in and a 1in.  You might be wondering why in the heck a girl with curly hair would need a curling iron?  Well sometimes some of my curls don't behave like I want them to so I fake it.  Yeah, you heard me right.  I was complaining to my stylist last year about how sometimes I have a few pieces that just don't curl very well or that are all out straight.  She told me to curl them with my curling iron and no one would ever know.  Except for now of course.  Anyways, I used to have ringlets but now after two babies my curls have become much more relaxed.  I am now left with some curls and mostly beachy waves.  A lot of time I use my curling iron to help "freshen" up a few of my curls if I try to get two days out of them. But that's between you and me right?

06:: Curls Rock Curls Booster  I have been using this product for going on six years know.  I have used most all of the Curls Rock products but this one is my favorite.  I try to only wash my hair every other day so on day two I spray a little of this in my hair and give it a little scrunch.  I feel like it helps define my curls and sort of acts like a hair spray at the same time.  Again I have to be careful of how much of this product I use.  A little bit definitely goes a long way.

So what about you? What are your curly hair essentials?

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a little gardening and lawn mowers

A few months ago Noah and I planted some tomatoes together.  Luckily I had my phone handy because I couldn't pass up capturing this moment. Publix had just sent him a chef's hat in the mail that day in case you were wondering about that.  He was eager to help so I put him in charge of filling our containers with potting soil.  What little boy doesn't like to play in the dirt?

  

We also planted some basil and rosemary.  Every time Noah walks near the rosemary he says, "Mmmmm, smells like mashed tatoes."  { I occasionally put fresh rosemary in our mashed potatoes so I guess that is what he is referring to.} I love walking out my door and having the smell of fresh rosemary and basil hit me every morning.  We have lots of maters popping up but I am still patiently waiting for them to turn from green to red.  I'm liable to eat them like an apple the instant they look good and ripe!

Usually while I water our plants Noah busies himself on the porch with chalk, his cars or animals.  Apparently elephants like to dine on azaleas with their dinosaurs buddies.  Who knew?

  

Remember the little tykes mower I got for $2 at a yard sale last fall?  We are definitely getting our monies worth out of that.  At least several times a week Noah likes to push it around the backyard.  Surprisingly, he will "mow" the yard for upwards of twenty minutes straight.  If only his mower actually cut the grass!

A while back when Daddy was mowing the yard for reals Noah of course had to break out his mower and follow in his foot steps.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of Noah trying to imitate his daddy.  I grabbed my camera and hurried outside to capture the moment.

I left Grammy inside the kitchen {don't worry I could see him the whole time and I was only outside for a second}.  He was watching us outside the whole time with his little face pressed up to the glass.

Grammy just started walking a month ago and it's so cute to see him tottle around. He loves to take the mower for a spin around the yard.  It has always been a little too heavy for him to push but now that he can walk he can manage.  My, my can it be possible that I have two toddlers on my hands?

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New York:: Day One

I have been meaning to write about my New York trip ever since I got back but alas life happened. It seems that if I don't blog about something within a week of it happening then I never do but I really wanted to write about my trip so here I go.  


 On a Thursday afternoon I made the almost two hour trek to the Atlanta airport by myself. {note to self: don't ever live this far from the airport again. seriously. never} My first flight was uneventful and landed me in Ohio.  I had a two hour layover so I spent that time reading a book.  What a luxury!  There were a ton of young families everywhere though and I found myself glancing up from the pages of my book to see what all the little ones were up to.  It made me miss our little guys terribly.  My next flight took me to my final destination of Harrisburg, PA and we actually landed thirty minutes early {that almost never happens!}  That was where my hubby was at this particular point in his three week trip for work. 


Hubby picked me up at the airport in a white stretch limo.  Um, actually it was a white 15 passenger van.  Romantic, no? He was traveling the East Coast with his boss and 10 international students {+two international spouses}, thus the reason for the sweet ride.  We headed to the closest ice cream shop we could find for a little late night ice cream date. {I can't remember the last time we have had an ice cream date just to the two of us.  It took me back to our dating days when we would stop by Braum's for a little treat}  I would show you a picture of the yummy ice cream I got but I scarfed it down instead of taking a picture of it. 

Friday morning we left bright and early to head to NY. Hubby had gotten me some new kicks {my favorite running shoes} at major discount at the exchange in VA so I was sporting them on the drive. A three hour drive is an excellent way to break in new shoes by the way. ha!! The drive was so peaceful and nice and before I knew it we were arriving in Manhattan.  Which was of course not peaceful.  We only had a few blocks to go to get to our hotel after we came through the tunnel but I seriously thought we might die via car wreck before we got there.  New Yorkers or should I say cab drivers definitely have an interesting approach to driving that's for sure. 

{We stayed at the Double Tree you see above}

 We arrived at our hotel which was smack dab in the middle of time square.  We had to all jump out in a hurry because as you can imagine it was really crowded and the vans weren't allowed to stay parked right at the curb for very long.  Hubby's boss ran into the lobby for a few minutes which left two vans and one driver {hubby}.  My husband said something about the fact that I might have to help him move the vans if his boss didn't come through the door at any second.  I was pretty much mentally hyperventilating and about to pee my pants at the thought of driving {a 15 passenger van no less} through time square.  Luckily I was saved at the last second and it didn't come down to that. Whew!

After the guys found a place to park the vans and we stored our luggage we set out on a double decker bus tour.  It was a nice way to see a lot of things in NY relatively quickly. I love that we got a little glimpse of Central Park.

I loved seeing lots of different types of architecture.

It was a nice day but a tad windy up on the second level of the tour bus.  I'm not sure why I am posting this picture because I look less than hot in it.  Obviously it will probably be in the running for Christmas card next year.  I used to be a pro at taking pictures of myself but apparently I left that skill back at college.  Anyways, hubby looks cute so we'll go with it.  

For dinner that night we went as group to Sardi's. "In the heart of New York 's Theater District, Sardi's has been the toast of Broadway for 82 years." Yeah, I pretty much stole that quote from their website. 

I didn't want to look like an idiot taking pictures of the restaurant's decor so I tried to discreetly bust out my iphone to get this shot.  As you can see they have signed picture of famous people that have eaten there all around the restaurant. Hubby usually brings each batch of students there when they travel to NY {He goes three times a year. Lucky duck!} 

After dinner we took a nighttime tour of NY and in the picture below you can see the tour guide that we had. He was pretty fun and made the tour very entertaining.  Good thing too because it was freezing!

Excuse my blurryness.  I'm not usually that fuzzy. 

 I can't imagine what it is like to be in Time Square on New Year's Eve.  I felt like it was crazy enough just on a Friday night!

I'm in the middle of Time Square and what am I taking pictures of?  Why, Target billboards of course.

Part of the tour took us into Brooklyn so we could look back at the NY skyline.  I am really glad we got to see that at night.  I know some of these pictures below are crazy out of focus/funky exposure but I still like them anyways. 

  

While in Brooklyn we passed by one of my favorite stores.  Unfortunately the inside of the Brooklyn Trader Joe's was not part of the tour.  What's up with that?

The whole time we were in Brooklyn I had a Beastie Boys song running through my head on repeat.  That's normal right?

  Stay tuned for Day two of NY + Philly.........

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tornados and thrifting tips

How was that for a title? 

You may have already heard but tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma on Monday.  Two touched down in Clevland County where my hometown is located.  Thankfully both of our parents {and their homes} went untouched.  Praise the Lord for that!  

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Watching the news coverage took me back a few years to my Sr. year of high school {11 years ago} when an F5 tornado tore through Moore Oklahoma {which is just a few minutes down the road from where I grew up}.  This is what I saw along the highway as we made our way from Norman to OKC on Prom Night.  The large church you can see in the background is right along the highway and I have passed by it thousands of times. I witnessed miles and miles of neighborhoods, restaurants, businesses, and hotels completely whipped out along I-35. Pretty scary stuff!

Not to totally change subjects on you or anything but.......

Follow me over to Marisa's blog today.
I'm sharing some tips and tricks for becoming a savvy thrift store shopper!

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home again.

Hello. I'm back home now from my whirlwind trip to NY and Philly.   I had such a lovely time.  My favorite part was going to a broadway show and eating multiple kid free meals!! 


 The boys did so good with my in-laws.  I don't think they even noticed that I was gone until I came home. My MIL baked my favorite cookies while I was gone and saved some for me.  I'm pretty sure I ate about six yesterday.  And my FIL did lots of yard work without being asked and cleaned/organized our outdoor barn/storage areas.  All I expected from them was to keep the littles alive but they went above and beyond. I really lucked out in the in-laws department.


Well I am off to go play catch-up and sort through the 300 pictures that I took.  Be back shortly with something fun!

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my bags are packed

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 I'm flying out tomorrow to meet my hubby in NY for a mini vacay.  He has been gone for two and half weeks and I am SO excited to see him.  This will be our first kid-free soiree since our honeymoon almost seven years ago.  I will be forever grateful to the in-laws.  They are driving sixteen hours from Oklahoma to hang with our littles for a few days. They're simply the best!


p.s. It's astonishing what you can fit in a suitcase when you don't need to take any kiddie stuff on your trip!  I have decided to just carry on my bag for several reasons and that baby is packed with more outfit changes than I could possible need or want.  I had the space so I just went for it!

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