Lets Go To The Movies

As part of Grant's birthday extravaganza weekend we headed to the movie theater for Grant's first big sceen experience: on tap, what else, Toy Story 3! Grant was pretty excited, the only unfortunate thing was that the movie showing that worked with our schedule happened to be the 3D version so we had to keep making sure Grant was wearing his glasses because he would sit and watch for about 5 minutes then get antsy and want to take them off. The popcorn was gone before the opening credits and Grant proclamed it the "biggest TV I've ever seen"!

The Birthday Boy

I can hardly believe it but Grant turned 3 this weekend!

We had a great weekend surrounded by friends a family, Grant was very spoiled with love and lots of gifts and we are so thankful for it!

Grant has been into everything "Buzz and Woody" for a while now so with the new Toy Story movie just released I knew that would have to be our "mini-theme". Super lucky for us, most of the promotion stuff for Toy Story 3 is just a big 3 so with a little google image searching I was able to make our own decorations for next to nothing. Plus Rory found the PERFECT plate at the Disney Store so we were good to go!

(Geoff and I are both a little amazed that they would print these for us as they are blatant copyright infringements so if you happen to work for the legal department of pixar, please avert your eyes)

....more pictures coming soon....

Birthday Balloon Wreath

When I saw this posted on How Does She AND the Nap Time Crafts blog I knew it was something that I wanted to try, and with Grant's 3rd birthday coming this weekend I knew now was the time.

So off to Hobby Lobby it was to get a straw wreath, greenery pins and a lot of balloons. I knew I didn't want to cover the back of the wreath but since you'd see it through the storm door looking out I decided to spray paint it. Next, on to finger marring, urg, I mean, pinning in all those freakin' balloons!

How Does She used the big 12 inch balloons and you can see that its a bit floppy. Nap Time Crafts used the smaller balloons but they are much harder to find. I used a combination only because I started with the smaller and 2 things happened 1) my fingers were KILLING me and I thought any way to speed up the process would be good 2) I saw quickly that I was running out of the smaller balloons so I used some larger ones so they would last. I had to spread the work out over 3 different sessions a couple of days apart just because my fingers hurt so bad but I think it was worth it....

I AM IN LOVE WITH THE FINAL PRODUCT!

Geoff said it best when he said "you're going to use that over and over again, right?!?" heck yea! I love Grant to pieces but that project would have NOT been worth it for just one weekend, plus with as cute as it is I am glad we don't have long to wait before Geoff's special day.

Lindsay & Lila!

We had an extra special treat today! I woke up and got a wonderful text this morning that said "what are you up to this afternoon?" talk about an amazing surprise, Lindsay and Lila drove from Durham to spend the afternoon with Grant and I because both Brian and Geoff were going to be gone for the rest of the day.

Thanks to a sudden afternoon downpour we didn't do much other than sit in the living room and talk, but it was grown up talk (YAY) and oh-so-refreshing! Plus it was fun watching Grant deal with a baby -he was very good and wanted to share everything with her- and on our way to dinner we even got a sneak peek at what the backseat of the highlander will look like in a few short months!

What a refreshing and blessed day!

and To All a Goodnight!

...if you haven't had your "awwww" moment of the day today, this will certainly send you to bed on a good note!

Organic or Not?!?

Have you ever heard of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15? If not, you will probably be as delighted as I was a few weeks ago when I discovered this guide that exists to help make wise shopping decisions when I'm standing in the produce aisle trying to decide between the organic apple in one hand and the conventional apple in the other.

The Dirty Dozen
(Shown to contain the most pesticide residues; strive to buy organic)
1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Bell peppers
8. Spinach
9. Kale
10. Cherries
11. Potatoes
12. Grapes

The Clean 15
(Shown to be contaminated with far less pesticide residue; buying conventional is fine)
1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Sweet corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mangos
6. Sweet potatoes
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Cantaloupe
12. Watermelon
13. Grapefruit
14. Sweet Potato
15. Honeydew Melon

Maybe I'm a dork but I was so excited by this little find, the cheat sheet from the link above is now tucked in my wallet for when I need a supermarket peek. If you want to read all of the findings behind these lists check out this and this!

Cover the Walls in Fabric?

I finally got around to finishing one of my favorite crafts for the house and I had to share. Back in Oklahoma when Hobby Lobby was having one of their 90% off all clearance deals I found a HUGE chunky open back frame -think 3x5 feet- that I knew I just had to have. I had no idea what I was going to do with it (Geoff was wondering the same thing when I called and told him about my great deal.... a $430 frame for $43!) Well after trying it empty above the mantle, and hanging it with other frames inside it, I finally decided that it needed to be filled.

I went to Hobby Lobby and found a georgeous damask fabric that was the same shade of blue as our living room walls and bought a couple yards. I also got a piece of foam board and using a razor blade, cut it down to fit right inside of the picture frame. Using some spray adhesive I sprayed the front of the foam board and smoothed the fabric over it, then using a hot glue gun secured the edges that were hanging over the edges on the back.

Though the back isn't all that neat and tidy, the front is a huge piece of elegant art that makes a big statement for a little price. In order to keep the fabric covered foam board from slipping out of the frame I nailed in little nails on each side of the frame, on the back side, to serve as the picture stops that you would normal get with a finihsed frame. I LOVE the final result!

When Big Becomes Huge

It's official, we're in the third trimester! almost 29 weeks in and things are looking good.

At the next appointment we'll actually pick our c-section date (if he wants to come earlier we'll try the normal way but as to not have a repeat of Grant's entrance to the world we're scheduling an "emergency exit" day in week 39) crazy how fast its all going.

Well I am not one for a bunch of belly shots but after seeing these teenytiny bumps recently I felt like I have to show what happens when a 5 foot 1 body suddenly "remembers" what its suppose to do when growing a baby boy (i.e. inflate ALL OVER to the size I was went we went to the hospital to have Grant...) all that and I STILL have 2 1/2 months to get bigger...

and yes, I think we're going to have some interesting reactions as Grant learns to share the spotlight!

Bartlet Glen: Master Bedroom

Say It Ain't So

I mentioned that Grant is saying the darndest things and here are two examples from the last 5 minutes....

His new habit is to have full conversations with himself so that the conversation has no choice but going the way he wants it. In other words we hear things like this... "Mommy, Grant have cake now? Okay Grant have cake now thats a good idea" from 2 minutes ago
or
"Wow thats a low price!" I can't you tell the last time I saw the Staples price but Grant certainly remembers it. The funniest part is that he was flipping through the Target application on my iPhone when he said it!

and heres a picture of Grant being a big boy and dressing himself:

Alive and Kickin'

Hi blogger world!
We are all well, just been busy with life and finishing the house and all that jazz.

UPDATES
inside of house: Rooms are done so now its on to the nitty gritty of making sure I like the drapes, getting the accessories just so and actually putting pictures into all of the frames!
outside of house: Flowers and tomatoes in hanging baskets are doing nicely, yard/ getting grass to grow not so much... so we had our first date with the TruGreen guy today and hopefully we'll get some grass growing here in a month or so. We REALLY don't want to have to sod!
Geoff's work: French classes have begun, his teacher is Morrocan so he's learning a funky combination of French and Arabic. He jumped today for the first time since going to Airborne school but its something we have to get use to because he'll be doing it a lot with this airborne unit.
Grant: Talking up a storm! Making full sentences that are pretty funny! (Food Lion is the Strawberry store; anytime I say he's being helpful he says "I'm helpful and strong and get the job done" from Chuggington) Singing along to the radio and knowing all of the words to songs played on Sirius 60 the Highway, right now his favorite is the "Tractor song" bobbing his head "big green tractor, go slow go faster" Potty training is moving along not as fast as I was hoping but we're surviving.
Baby boy: growing like a weed, maybe I'll get the guts up to post a picture but lets just say I'm huge! I failed the glucose test and had a brief panic that I was getting gestational diabetes but after the 3 hour test all looked good. He's much more of a mover shaker and kicker than I remember Grant being so sleep is already a thing of the past. Crazy to think that he'll be here in less than 3 months!

Key Lime Awesomeness!

Geoff has stolen a page from Brian's playbook and been on a Key Lime kick recently so I thought I'd share some of the goodies we've found.

The first thing we tried was a boxed mix from the store, super easy (Geoff even made a batch, now THATs a test of its simplicity) and super yummy...

Next came a premade cake from the frozen desserts section. I didn't like that we were FORCED to each the whole thing within a day or two because it doesn't keep well but it reminded me of the Key Lime cake that Longhorns serves as a seasonal special and that is a very good thing!

But todays creation takes the cake!

We had to go semi-homemade and man would Sandra Lee be proud. Here's the recipe:

1 box Lemon Cake mix (Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme)

1 1/3 cup Vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 box -3oz- Lime gelatin (Jello powder)

3/4 cup Orange Juice

mix together and bake according to box directions!

I found a recipe online for icing but decided just to modify my go to Buttercream recipe instead. So after adios-ing vanilla and hola-ing Nellie's fresh KeyLime juice we had some mouth watering icing. Just incase you want it the online recipe was:

1/2 cup butter

1 block -8oz- cream cheese

3 tbl Lime juice

4 cups Powdered sugar

Hopefully there will be some left when Geoff gets home from work so i can share his reaction but I make no promises!