happy birthday, megan

this past week was megan's (my aunt) 50th birthday. we had a lot planned for her big day and one of the surprises was brooke flying in from san diego. (it wasnt the same without shanna and winda! but we made do)

the birthday girl. we have had quite the love/hate relationship over the years. (when i was 14, i was sent to spend the summer in north carolina with her so she could try and tame my wild ways.... lets just say the trip ended with a hairbrush being chucked across the room) but we are the best of friends now and i love her so much. xoxo!

coo coo ca choo

sully looks a little nuts in this picture. but he is a little nuts. it has been one major roller coaster since this little nugget came around. but i wouldnt have it any other way. he is such a prize.
sully is a little over seven months now and:
-looooooooves tagg and louis
-will put anything down his hatch
-rolls like a champ
-sits up
-is honestly, the happiest little boy ever

and speaking of nuts.... here is tagg. in all of his glory. (his face on the "wasnt really so" part is priceless)

still cant decide...

if this springtime wreath i made a couple of days ago is cute or if it looks like it came from my mom's attic circa 1992. i am not really a big butterfly person (mariah and i probably cant be besties) but i went out of my comfort bubble and i kind of like it. happy spring.

cant we just watch a show?

nope. my family has to turn eeeeeverything into a party. at the last second, we decided to turn our weekly bachelor viewing nite into a party to celebrete the final rose. naturally, we had to get roses and a silver platter to put them on. we dont need no stinkin chris harrison.

the treats. becky's chocolate dipped strawberries should be illegal. and megan's crab salad bites with avocado and balsamic reduction werent too shabby either. but the real delight were the lunchables! ha. no, but really the reason we had those is because we heard that the ONLY two things in the kitchen at the bachelor house are lunchables and wine. no wonder chantel gained a couple lbs....

BRAD MADE AN APPEARANCE! ok. seriously, if you know craig than you know that he is not the dress-up type guy. there was some major bribing to get him to show up in a suit and hand out roses.

here i am, all dressed up and ready for my rose ceremony. but first, i had to say goodbye to my kids. had to leave them to try and find them a baby daddy.

megan is so disturbing. and the most disturbing part? the camera wasnt working so they had to hold this pose for about two minutes. i thought craig was going to kill me. although he doesnt look too grossed out here.....

ha! but i got the final rose. awwwwww.

all the ladies with our roses and "champagne". what a fun nite! and watching the actual show was quite entertaining as well. go team emily. (although after watching the bachelor: after the final rose, i am not sure there will be a team emily+brad much longer...)

all striped out.

i was sitting around the house with my two little men when i realized what i had dressed us ALL in. as my mom says, "we all have our uniforms." mine happens to be stripes.

on our way to take tagg to meet miss debbie, his new (hopefully! if we get in....) teacher for preschool this fall. verrrrry excited.

pompom tutorial

i have made these pompoms soooo many times that i could make them in my sleep (if i ever got any. thanks, sully). but for those you who havent had the pleasure of making one of these tissue paper treats.... here you go.

1. layer eight to ten sheets of tissue paper on top of each other and place length wise.

2. make 1 1/2-inch-wide accordion folds. press down on each crease to make distinct folds.

3. find the center of the folded tissue by folding the stack in half.

4. a)fold a piece of thin wire (i thought a pipe cleaner would show up better for pictures. and it worked just as well) around the center of the tissue paper. b) twist the wire tightly to secure itself around the tissue. c) bend the extra ends of wire into a ring. (this will make hanging the tissue ball a breeze)

5. with some pretty decent scissors, trim both edges of the tissue stack into rounded (or pointy) shapes.

6. placing the wire ring face down, start pulling the layers towards the center, one at a time. pick one side and finish it all before going to the other half.

the key to a perfect, full tissue pompom? pulling each layer as tight to the center as possible.

this is after pulling one side.

pull the other half towards the same center (dont try to pull the other half in the other direction to make a ball. the ball will come after you have fluffed). this is what it will look like after pulling both sides. notice the unsightly :) flat top....

its because the top layers need to be pulled in more tightly to the center. this is before (the flat top)

and this is after the top layers were pulled up and in, making a full pompom.

feel free to fluff up the layers to make the pompom look round and full. but to be honest, the less man-handling, the better. and finally, tie a piece of fishing line to the wire ring to hang.

there. now you can fill your life with tissue pompoms.

sully bully.

its probably not very cute that "bully" is part of sully's nickname. but you cant dictate nicknames. they just happen. i kind of cant get enough of this face.

my family was worried that sully would have a hard time getting attention because his older brother demands quite a bit..... um....that will not be a problem. sully makes his little voice heard.

my gerber baby. he is such a doll. inside and out.