SERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY.

SERIOUSLY?! Where has the time gone?!  I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of people who have come up to me reprimanding my blogging hiatus.  Last night at a baby shower for one of my dearest friends {Meggie & Clay Nelson} I was reminded, yet again, that someone had "a bone to pick with me" about SinkOrrSwim...thank you Kate Ivey for giving me a little push!  I am going to be so very mad at myself that I haven't posted updates on how my sweet kiddos are growing up and changing before my very eyes!!  Olivia is now 6 1/2 months old {fun facts: eating stage 2 foods, sleeping like a champ, & army crawling EVERYWHERE}, Kenwood is 2 1/2 {fun facts: every bit of the terrible twos most of the time, his favorite movie right now is "Wizards" aka Wizard of OZ}--I love them both soooo much! Those little rascals!! We spent ALOT of time with family this summer, here is a little photo re-cap!

Memorial Day @ Lake Eufala

Reading books with Gracie

Father's Day 2011

Lake Eufala 2011

Driving "Donald's" Boat

  FIRST ride on the tube aka "BOAT" with daddy!

At the "beach" playing in the sand!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday with cousin Grady

Mom, Dillon, & my two sisters: Cam & Jenn

 a few of the rugrats...Caden, Grady, & Woody

 Lazy summer day inside--it's WAY TOO HOT!

I cannot wait to blow this up when they are in high school and blackmail them....

hahahahaha such a gay picture, but they sure are cute!

Miss Livi Kate is getting very curious these days--Owen is EXTREMELY protective of this little girl!

Miss Smiles....ALL.THE.TIME....happiest baby award!

MY SWEETEST BLESSINGS: this pretty much sums them up--Woody is all up in her biz about 99% of the time...and she thinks he's SOOO cool :)

Phone Covers!! I'm so excited!!

Ummm...I found this AWESOME site that I can upload my design work to and place it on an iphone cover!! Yippee! I've seen a few of these cute ones around (My best friend Sara has one) and I got my wheels a'turnin! Go figure :)  Here is an idea of what to do!! Obviously, in the chevron...bc I'm obsessed with that pattern these days...along with the clover trellis, but I didn't have time to play around with that pattern yet!

Lately....

Well, well, well.  I have been a BUSY girl!!! With managing real estate and having two precious kiddos, my life consists of ALOT of chaos, but ALOT of fun!!!  Livi Kate is growing like a weed! She is SO alert and smiley ALL THE TIME.  I could not ask for a better baby...and she sleeps! The majority of my days, Kenwood is up before her and I end up waking her up for the day.  Just a little angel!

My little "Thunder Girl" in her colors on game day! (Beat the Mavs)

Kenwood had his last day of Mother's Day Out today for a few weeks until the summer session starts.  It should be a task. :)  I love that little boy so much it hurts, but sometimes he can certainly be a handful--especially if I have any errands on my agenda!!  Today, I was hurrying him to get ready so we could go to "school", and he looked at me...through his hand up (palm towards me in a "STOP" position) and said very firmly: "OK mommy, PATIENCE!"  He is learning so much from us everyday, better put my money where my mouth is :)  Two nights ago he put Daddy in "TIME-OUT" for playing rough...to which I proceeded to explain to Dillon that he did in fact need to go to "TIME-OUT" in order to show Kenwood the rules....later that night the little rascal somehow broke his child-lock off the door knob in his room and HID it in his bed.  He is a smart little sucker.  Love that ornery boy!

ALL-boy: scraped knees, wasp sting on his face (which he barely even noticed), and conked out with a sandwich in hand:

Stella & Dot-Sara Michael

I mentioned that my friend is a Stella & Dot STAR stylist, right?  Well, the jewelry is SO super cute!!  Go check it out, and if you buy something tell her you heard about it from me so I can get some free stuff! Also--BOOK A TRUNK SHOW with her!!  They are so fun, and you get tons of free stuff. Go for it people, you know you want to! :)

Here is an ad I helped her with for a recital program-she has the greatest ideas for advertising! Way better than anything I could've come up with, and I was an ADVERTISING major! Ha. 

Stella & Dot has this kind of blue/green theme and this clover design signature, so of course I had to make something that coordinated for her to write "thank-you's" and stuff to her clients....they turned out so cute!!

BOOK A TRUNK SHOW!! I WANT FREE STUFF :) K. Thanks. 

Recent stuff

Here are a few things I've designed recently in my "free time"... it is SO fun. 

 Oh, and my best friend Sara is addicted to this stuff too, I think :)  Stay tuned for my next post about her awesome Stella & Dot jewelry line.  Here are a few pics of some of the stuff I actually currently HAVE at my house...I did some pretty cool gift tag stickers for a friend of mine that turned out darling--I wish I would've taken a picture of them! Darn it. 

Summer shower invitation-yes I blurred the address you creepers.

My friend's birth announcement for her little boy

Livi Kate's Birth Announcement

This is how the "family stationary" turned out that I posted earlier...

It's perfect for EVERYTHING-love it!

Can you see the close-up of the "linen-finish"? So perfect. 

Low-Calorie Parmesan Pesto Chicken

This entire recipe is only 350 calories per serving, 2 servings-- YUMMMMM

2 6oz Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)-165cal each
1/4 cup Buitonis Basil Pesto (all-natural, made with EVOO)-270calories
1/4 cup shaved parmesan cheese (or shredded, whatever you have!)-100 calories

Coat the chicken breasts with the Basil Pesto Sauce:

Cover with foil and bake @ 375 for 25-30minutes.  When chicken is done, remove foil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese---place back in oven for about 5 minutes for cheese to melt.  

Easy cheezy....ENJOY!!!!!

Resurrection Rolls

found this great idea here we'll definitely do this next year when Kenwood will understand a little bit better!

Resurrection Rolls: An Easy Easter Treat

March 8, 2010 By Homegrown Mom Filed Under: Creating Family Times, Homegrown Kids

Mine are always far more mishapen than these...

Ingredients:

One can of crescent roll dough

8 large marshmallows (or one for each roll you’ll be making)

Melted butter

Cinnamon sugar

Bible or Easter storybook

Assemble rolls and read the story:

1. Read John 19 while the oven is pre-heating according to the package directions. If you’re really on top of things, spend the week before reading John 12-18 with your kids.

2. Unroll the crescent rolls. Explain that this is like the cloth they wrapped Jesus in.

3. Give your child a marshmallow and explain that it represents Jesus… all white and pure because He was without sin.

4. Roll the marshmallows in the melted butter. This symbolizes the embalming oils.

5. Roll the marshmallows in the cinnamon sugar. This is like the spices used to prepare his body for burial.

6. Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll cloth, pinching the dough together securely. Don’t worry about the shape so much, they’ll taste the same no matter how you roll or bundle them. This represents how they would have wrapped Jesus’ body. I like to brush them with more melted butter, but it’s not necessary.

7. Put the rolls in the oven (symbolizing the tomb) and bake for the amount of time specified on the package.

8. While the rolls are baking, read John 20:1-18.

9. Open the tomb and remove the rolls. When they’re cool enough to handle, break one open and discover what happened to the marshmallow. Jesus is risen! At this point, I also read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. Jesus is coming again!