Anticipation...

So, tonight is the last night I have to wait...

My hubby has been planning a surprise for my birthday for several months now and tomorrow I FINALLY get to know what it is!

Yeah!

I cannot wait!

I think tonight might be hard for me to sleep...you know, the feeling you had as a kid on Christmas Eve, or the nights that you put a tooth under your pillow. Those nights that you know something BIG and EXCITING is going to happen the next morning!

All I know about the surprise is that it is a trip and that another couple is going with us.

I don't know...
where we are going...
how long we will be there...
what we will be doing there....
what I'm packing...(yes - I'm not even packing my own bag)

He has planned EVERYTHING! Everything to the last detail.

Now you see why I have anticipation! It's been killing me!

But the wait is almost over.... and I am SOOOO glad!

Valentine Mailboxes: A Tutorial

I saw these tiny mailboxes at Target... and I just HAD to HAVE them!

I figured I would come up with something to use them for - I did!

I made little valentines for my family!

What you will need:

small mailboxes

(Target had these in ther $1 section at the front of the store) or you can pick them up at thrift stores sometimes too.

Valentine Scrapbook Paper

Mod Podge Glue

Paintbrush (for glue)

scissors

This project really only took me about an hour to complete. Not to hard at all...even for those of us that are CRAZY busy!

I began by cutting my paper into a strip that was 4 inces wide. Next, glue the strip of paper onto the base of the mailbox. Note: I did have to cut a small hole out for it to fit around the flag of the mailbox.

Once all my mailboxes were "wrapped" in paper, I made little nametags to glue on each one using stickers and scrap paper from my scrapbooking supplies. I securely glued each name on my mailboxes and presto ~ valentine mailboxes for each member of my family!

So, you may ask....what are you gonna use these for?

Well... They are positioned on the mantle of our fireplace...

AND...I will be secretely placing little valentine notes or gifts in their mailbox on occasion and putting the flag up to notify them that they have "mail"! This will continue up until Valentine's Day!

Just a fun way to say "I LOVE YOU" to the most special people in my life!

Makeup Blunder

This is what happens when you leave your makeup in reach of your three year old.

Whoops!

Amatuer

I don't think I have said anything about my new camera. I got a new "fancy" camera for Christmas!
It is a Canon Rebel XSi

I LOVE it! I'm still learning though! It is hard to understand...so many different settings and such and I'm still trying to figure them all out. Usually when I get a really cool pic, I'm always like "how did I do that?" But, I'm sure I will get the hang of it as time goes on! My friend Dana is much better at taking pics than I am. She is just starting her own photography business up and she is great! So, if you are interested in taking some new family photos...give her a shout - I'm sure she would be thrilled to do it! Her email is danamaize@gmail.com.

I can't imagine doing photography for "REAL"! I would be so stressed out to know that I was expected to get some good photos. With me, it's a "we'll try it out and hope for a couple good ones" attitude!

However, I've had the opportunity to take some pics to practice.

A while back my friend Hilary let me practice on her cute kiddos...

I got some baby Drake time...

And then this last weekend, my friend Julie wanted to take some "belly" pics before her new baby came.

I am definitely an amatuer, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

A Lazy Saturday

I was so excited for this last Saturday to come...

we had NO plans.... NONE, NADA, NOTHING to do!

Those are the BEST days ever! I was determined and succeeded at getting my house cleaned on Friday so I could just relax and bum around on Saturday and not think about how I should be up and cleaning something up.

Chris and I were trying to figure out what we were going to do on our "day off" and I suggested watching old 80's movies... lots of which I hadn't ever seen.

Yep, I'm talkin the classic 80's movies..

Footloose...

La Bamba...

Flashdance...

Pretty in Pink....

The Breakfast Club...

Sixteen Candles...

Fast Times at Ridgemont High...

Goonies...

The Lost Boys...

Say Anything...

We were excited...well, I was! I hadn't seen any of these and Chris ended up renting about half of them.

Other than watching movies...we hung out as a family...

..in our pj's.

we did fun crafts....

and painted...

and played Lite Brite...

but mostly... we did NOTHING!

It was GREAT!

America's Next Top Model

I swear, she is just so darn cute!

And, she came up with most of those poses on her own!

I can't believe she is 3! Where has the time gone?