BRINGING SOME MAGIC IN OUR LIVES {thank you Blockbuster}

Right before Thanksgiving, our local Blockbuster Video had their open house/family weekend. Our local store normally goes above & beyond most other retailers when it comes to making that "special" moment. I'll assure you -- this time they topped that scale once again.

When you walked in, their were balloons scattered across the entire store! The strings just long enough for a three year old to reach up & snagged one - or five.



Ontop of the free balloons, throughout the store was free candy & treats! What a ultimate surprise! They even had a free tattoo station that Ripsi took up, & got herself a temporary tweety bird one. ♥



Best of all, the had a MAGICIAN! Yes, a real live, completely amazing magician! I will assure you, my kids were more than thrilled! (I will admit, so was I!)






The main event for the show was cutting the store manager & our uncle Luke in half! ♥! Everyone had a fabulous time at the event! I am lucky to have such a community, family driven Blockbuster store in town. I really encourage everyone to show their support for all the great things they do for our small town. We will surely be renting many movies to help keep us warm during this Holiday season.

After the Magic Show, we continued our family fun Sunday by going out for some Nachos! Which is a fan favorite lately in my house. (well, & a cheesy roll up for baby sister.)







♥ delicious, perfect Sunday.

THREE TIMES THE LOVE.

I plan on finishing up finalizing the big birthday post this afternoon and instead of leaving you hanging a day, I figured I'd share a couple pictures. I fell in love with the idea of making sure to take a picture with the kids on their birthdays each year. After all the commotion & guests had left, I was able to pull Daycen aside.



He normally hates to get in front of the camera. However, I was able to bribe him that if he took a picture with me - I'd open that deluxe pack of Disney Car's.

After I spent some time clicking away with Daycen, I continued onto Ripsi. Who is always into getting her pictures taken!



Daycen has been playing side by side with his sister for very short periods of time lately. I actually was able to capture that moment to share with you guys...





The large track, thanks to my brother. Always leave it to uncles to give over the top birthday gifts.

Oh, and a sneak peek of Daycen's birthday theme...

THE BIG POOL { we're loving it }

I had over 80 of my favorite pictures taken this day at the Howard Johnson pool! With the holiday weekend passing us, I was able to get them edited, organized, & set in a story board for you guys to view! It's only a fraction of the pictures taken that afternoon, but at least you'll get a glimpse at the awesome time my family had.



Daycen has only been in a big pool once & even that time it was still slightly a kiddie pool! The second his toes touched the water, he was thrilled! All the memories came flashing back of all the wonderful times he's ever had with water & this one was going to top them all! This pool was over the top! Almost as big as Aripsemae's bows!



He loved it! Than again, with the scorching weather outside, wouldn't you as well?

That's what I figured would be the case with baby sister. Oh, was I wrong! The second she felt the water creeping up on her the whimpering began. The farther out you went, the louder & more frequent the pouting became. Yet, she did a great job for it being her absolutely first time in any water scene other than a small baby tub.







I think we'll be renting out a few hotel rooms in the next couple of months to treat ourselves to a little bit of secluded fun! That's the best thing about hotel pools, they normally aren't swarming with people like the public ones. I'd say, the money to avoid that is well worth it!

GETTING RID OF CRADLE CAP.

Both of my kids have been unluckily graced with a small condition called cradle cap. When Daycen had it at six months, one trip to the bathroom with some EVOO & he was shining like new! Baby sister on the other hand, she hasn't been so lucky. Actually, it had gotten so bad at a point that she itched the side of her face quite badly to sooth the area. She has undergone countless baths with EVOO, & store bought "cradle cap cure". She has had ointments & lotions prescribed for her skin around the hairline to keep her from itching.

As the days go, it gets better... but it doesn't go away.



I was told by my co-worker to try unrefined coconut oil. Her son had a really bad case too, & it cured it up right away. We haven't quite gotten to the point of trying this method yet. (even though, the jar waits anxiously.) It seems like the oil is a thick paste & I'm not entirely sure how to go about spreading it across her beautiful locks.






I'm just hoping it works. Summer is here, & she shouldn't have to go around town to all the festivals with little scales clumped in her hair. No wonder she has large crowd anxiety! I'd be embarrassed too! If the coconut oil doesn't work, does anyone else have a method to try that worked for you? We'd love any input, & Ripsi would be extremely grateful!

DO YOU CARE TO JOIN US?

Currently our kitchen & dining area is getting prepared for renovations, so we have taken our meal time to a smaller area in the house. By smaller, I mean, LITTLE! We've been gathering at the toddler sized table in the children's play area. My knees bump the edge consistently, & my back aches from bending down at such an angle. Thank goodness I am short though! My husband would probably have to sit on the floor with his long legs!





For some reason, Daycen seems to be eating a WHOLE lot better at this smaller table than he does at the kitchen table. I'm not sure if it's the whole height thing or if it just has to do with the fact that he feels more comfortable in his area. You know, it could be because a little Chihuahua isn't begging him for a taste of lunch as well.



Either way, he's eating good! This takes a bit of stress of stress off of me & allows me to focus on other things. Like finally making this house, a HOME We bought this place seven months ago & we have yet to really make it ours. I'm thrilled for the next couple weeks as we get elbow deep in creativity!

INTRODUCING THE NEWEST MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY. {making baby squash puree}

We graciously welcomed The Baby Bullet into our home to help transition our little Ripsi into the process of starting on solid foods! I'll have to tell you, we LOVE our bullet despite the fact that we were shorted a short cup & a batch tray (which, we called, it's on backorder & should be coming... soon?) Our steamer is also on backorder, so we've been taking the longer route to produce wonderfully tasting treats for our little girl.

The doctor recommended that when baby sister was ready, that we start with the yellow vegetable family. So, we headed to the grocery store & selected a medium sized yellow squash that came to 98 cents. We took it home and got to work slicing it into 1/4 inches slices.



While doing our cutting, we started a pot of boiling water on the stove. When it was time, we added our steamer basket (Can you tell me why these things has NO instructions on them? Am I just supposed to KNOW how to use them? I was informed, I don't know how to steam properly, but it worked perfectly fine & I wouldn't change a thing I did. Even the placement of my steamer basket. I urge you to attempt to shove that metal thing into one of Rachael Ray's pots, good luck, it's a tight squeeze.)



After about 7-10 minutes of steaming, our squash pieces were very tender & slightly beginning to lose their shape. It was just about time to move them over to the baby bullet. We just made a pit stop in between to feed some to Daycen who thought they were fantastic!



Once in the bullet, I added 1/4 cup of water & began to blend.

Blend. Blend. Blend. Blend.



Once completely smooth & pureed, I poured a small amount into a tiny bowl for Ripsi & filled three other storage cups full. If we would have purchased this amount in stores, it would have costed us $2.10! We saved $1.12 today by making it ourselves! The best thing about the Baby Bullet storage cups is the made on date! You just need to remember to change it - which is going to take some practice for me.



So, you ask... Did she like it? Was it worth it?

YES! She loved it!





She ate every last bit of squash that was in that little bowl... and than, like it was a Thanksgiving dinner she passed out on the couch, her belly full of delicious flavors.

EMBRACING OUR CREATIVITY.

We've been absent the past few days because we have been spending a lot of time elbow deep in fabrics, flowers, & ribbons! We've been creating beautiful ruffles, & glamorous hair pieces. We've been pumping ourselves up for an all day crafting event going on locally this weekend.



I haven't been doing all this crafting alone, I assure you. Aripsemae has been my little helper through the whole process. She'll hold my supplies, she'll choose fabrics & colors for the next piece, she'll model the final products, & most of all, she keeps me company. Oohing & Ahhing at all the new designs.



I love that she allows me to do things I love. Smitten Heart - designs that'll make your heart swoon. Affordable. Beautiful. Handmade with love.

EMBRACING THE DAY; DESPITE THIS ANNOYING SNOW.

Our mood today reflects the weather outside. It's cold, wild & unwanted, yet still very beautifully ironic because it can be melted at any moment. Both me & Daycen have woken up on the wrong side of the bed today, we've been at each other all morning. He is demanding. I am exhausted and fizzled out. I'm losing the battle & he's winning. (cups of milk surround him in the living room & Blue's Clues is blaring throughout the house. His socks are thrown carelessly on the floor, & his hair a tangled mess. I pretty much better just let him pick his own outfit for the day.)



Ripsi on the other hand, is a happy little girl (despite her slight constipation). She is in such a grand mood that she seems to glow, & to keep things lively, she continues to flash the monkey face at random moments to make me smile. Without her, we'd all crawl back into bed and start over tomorrow. Yet, she keeps reminding us that every day is something to embrace.



If you have a few extra moments today, put a smile on our face. Ripsi is in a photo contest her in our small town, with a fantastic prize! Just log onto Lindsey Marie Photography's blog & leave a comment voting for Ripsi! Be sure to vote for someone elses baby as well! Each person is to vote for two different babies otherwise the vote will not count. So, give us a little love & one of our competitors a little bit as well!

We'd be ever so grateful! We surely aren't doing so well in the contest as of current.

& Ripsi just doesn't understand why.