appreciation.

it feels nice to be appreciated.
i love to make people feel appreciated.
i hope that i've succeeded a few times in that.


Cool wrapping paper.
Like the stamps??
You can get them cheap... right here!!
(actually the alpha is already sold out... but there are still a lot of fun ones left!)

for mother's day, lilly made me a cute little gift at school, paper flowers.
i told her that they were the BEST kind for me, because they don't make me sneeze :)

Her card makes me giggle.
Partially because we are such a foodie family.
Partially because half the stuff I make she doesn't even like :)

Last week was teacher appreciation week.

I sent letters out to all the kids' parents asking for a small contribution, and we were able to fill up a tote bag full of goodies and gift cards for Lilly's teacher. I was amazed with how much we were able to get for her! Lilly's teacher is truly the best, she has set the bar very very high.

I had an embroidery order last week and was able to find these adorable little pea pod designs!!

a cool find at hobby lobby, makes for a fun mother's day gift. lilly choose pink of course.

ants from aunt melissa.

im sad to say i think most of them are not alive anymore :(

and the little man walking. such a goof.

and i appreciate blogger for letting me upload more than one picture at once now! maybe that feature has been there forever? i could have easily looked that one over.

have a great weekend everyone :)

busy.

so... i've been stitching. a lot.
makes me smile.


i've also been sending out a lot of stamp orders.
if you haven't already heard...

I have decided to close down Mandarin Pixie.

And I am ok :)

Actually, I am hoping to wean out the stamp store and keep going strong with the embroidery! Thank you to all of you who have, and continue to, support me and my hobbies :)

Have a great week!!

the little man.

the little man...

...is walking.

...is teething (2 molars and one bottom tooth).

...is cheesy.

...is 20 little peanut pounds.

...is really adorable.

...is ONE!!

we celebrated Cohen's 1st birthday last friday.

sometimes a year goes by so fast, doesn't it??

the last of the chair pictures!

i had to share a cheesy one too:)

and here are 2 of the 'formal' ones we took in the living room.

some presents made by mommy :)

And finally, some pictures from his big bday bash!

it was a martha inspired party.

inspired being the key word :)

martha's monkey cake would not be confused for a bear.

nor would it have a mullet :)

(there was a bit of a mudslide on the cake!)

either way, it was a fun day!!

have a wonderful weekend.

happy birthday to me (and more)

my bday was tuesday.

the best present was at 6:00 in the morning.

lilly crawling into bed with me and singing...

happy birthday mommy.

happy birthday mommy.
happy birthday to mommy.

happy birthday mommy.

unprompted. that was the best :)

then when daddy got home from work she gave me this.

oh my.

she really does melt my heart.

i also got these... from dan & kelli :)

and these... from my lovely sister :)

and these... from dave and the kids :)

and this...

a DQ cake. yumm.

i always forget how good DQ is :)

lilly thought it was quite amusing when she was couting the candles as dave put them on.

"mom? are you only 6?"

yes lilly. plus a few.

then dave says "we don't have enough candles for mommy's cake!"

which lilly found hilarious.

and speaking of bdays... my sister's boyfriend celebrated his bday a bit ago and check out this awesome cupcake that she made for him!!!!!!! there were 11 more... i'll try to get more pics to share soon! because they really are awesome.

i was asked to help with the crafting of a few other parts to his gifts...

and today... is cohen's bday.

the little man is one!!

here we are last year :)

you know there will be more pictures coming soon!

have a SUPER weekend!!

the rest.

here are the rest from the crop in march.
maybe ill get to scrap again someday soon.
or not :)

have a great week everyone!

layouts!

between earl and the office i have half an hour to stitch (and snip, and iron and tie bows).
and in between all of that i get a little time to blog too!

remember i said that i got to scrap a while ago.
here is some proof.

i think i'll be a very simple scrapper forever.

i am very ok with that!

...and now it is Friday morning :)

have a super weekend everyone!

10 things and a little video

today is a day where i need to list 10 things that make me smile.
because i always have plenty to smile about :)

1. redbox. one dollar movies!! wahooo!! (thanks christine!)
2. great deals at Kroger. spending $47 and saving $41. (thanks krysty!)
3. BIG embroidery orders. embroidery orders period.
4. impromptu cookouts
5. crossing things off my to-do list
6. pudding pies
7. mixed cds
8. lilly finding and loving my old walkman. (i'm not selling mine, that's just a picture i found!)
9. cohen learning how to point
10. infant's motrin

and a video :)
both the kids LOVE talking on the phone.
they ALWAYS make me smile :)

have a great weekend everyone!!