An Early Christmas

Due to scheduling conflicts, H and I won't be able to attend the Big Brothers Big Sisters Christmas party this Friday. :( I did buy her a gift(s) and I was too excited to wait until closer to Christmas to give it to her.

She was pretty excited about the green mini garland wrapped around her present.

In fact, she wore it as a necklace the rest of the night. She wanted to wear it as a belt, but I couldn't get the knot out. It was too funny.

She tried on the clothes and wore them the rest of the night.

All came from Gap. I'm obsessed with their children's and baby clothes this season.

The rest of the evening we spent crafting. I found a great fabric flower tutorial on Our Best Bites.


We made one for her back pack and one for a headband.


They were so fun to make and H loved picking out her fabric from all my remnants. We will definitely be doing this again.

Slime!

I'm always trying to come up with fun things to do with H, my BBBS little sister. Last week we made slime. It was so much fun! If you have kids or nieces and nephews I would definitely recommend this as a fun, easy activity.

I found the recipe on Our Best Bites--they have a great section on kid friendly recipes and fun kitchen activities. They also have a cook book coming out in February and it looks great!

Visit their site to see step by step instructional pictures and to find out what Borax looks like. (I had no idea.)

Homemade Slime aka GAK

1 teaspoon borax powder

1 1/2 C water, divided

4 oz (1/2 C) Elmer's glue, clear or white

food coloring

Add borax powder to 1 cup of water and stir to dissolve. Set aside. Pour glue into a medium mixing bowl and add 1/2 C water. Add a few drops of food coloring until desired color is reached and then stir to mix glue solution until smooth. Pour the borax mixture into the glue mixture and watch the solids start to form. Stir for a few moments and then use your hands to gather the mass. The mixture will be very soft and wet. Keep kneading until it firms up and feels dry. Discard excess liquid in bowl. The more you knead and play with the slime the firmer it will become. Store in a ziplock bag or air tight container and the slime will keep indefinitely.

I bought neon food coloring and it made such fun colors!

Last night H and I saw MegaMind. It is a very cute and funny movie!

I have to have the tv on while I'm working on blog designs. I have watched every season of Bones that is available instantly via the Wii from Netflix. I have now moved on to Friday Night Lights.

I started season two on Sunday and I'm slightly obsessed with it.

I have been thinking about adding bangs for a while and Miss Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) has further influenced that decision. I love her hair. Now, if only mine was thicker and longer.

I have faux side swept bangs. I have a cowlick and when I have short bangs they always split. I hate that. So my current faux bangs are long enough to tuck behind my ears. I want to give shorter bangs a try again. I'm sure I will regret it, but maybe, just maybe it will work this time. :)

I also want to find a great red lipstick like in the above picture. I've been looking, but I've yet to find it. Anyone know of a great shade for the palest of pale girls?

Monday night I took my BBBS Little to dinner at Cosi. We had the smores for dessert. She loved having the mini fire on our table.

We had house guests last night. Ty's sister and her family are on Fall Break and our house was halfway in between their house and their vacation destination, so they spent the night last night. A good way to avoid driving all day and wasting a vacation day. We love these two little munchkins so much and we always have fun!



Lucas took several pictures of me and Nuts. I'm sure Amy will have a good time deleting all of those. haha. I had a recruitment event yesterday evening and they were at the house when I got home. Lucas greeted me in his undies. Apparently, he doesn't like pants. :)

I wish I still got a Fall Break--those were the days.

The Sights, the Sounds, the Smells

I love the state fair. It is such a festive time and there is always excitement in the air. Sadly, Ty and I have never made it to the state fair together. He has always been studying and the last two years he has been on a surgery rotation, which means he is constantly working.

This year, I took my Little Sister to Disney on Ice. My parents took my brother, sister and me several times growing up and I always remember it being magical.

H was very excited about riding the swings.

After riding the swings several times and devouring a corn dog it was time for Disney on Ice!
I had randomly checked facebook earlier in the day, something that I rarely do, and saw that my cousin had posted that she was taking her son to Disney on Ice. She lives a little over an hour from me and it was so fun to be able to see her! Their seats were in the same area as ours and we even sat with them for the second half of the show.

My favorite characters: the pig from Toy Story and Lumiere the candelabra from Beauty and the Beast.
It was hard to snap pictures of the characters, because it was dark and smoky/foggy in the bldg.




After the show, H and I shared a funnel cake and then I took her home hyped up on sugar. haha.

weekend recap

My weekend started off on the right foot by hosting these fabulous ladies at my house.

It was my first time to meet Katie, Jessica, and Katie (not pictured, because she had to leave early). It was long overdue for Megan, Emily and Megan and I to get together. We all had such a great time catching up and getting to know each other. These are some amazing ladies.

On Saturday, my little sister and I went to the farmer's market. We went early in the morning before it got too terribly hot. (Although, I think it was 90 when we were there.) We sampled a lot of food, including some yummy salsa that I am kicking myself for not buying. Oh well, there is always next weekend.

I couldn't resist these blueberries for the turquoise container and overall prettiness.

Big Brothers Big Sisters

I signed up for Big Brothers Big Sisters in March. It is something that I have always wanted to be a part of, but always had an excuse. I realized that I was always going to have an excuse and decided to just bite the bullet and sign up. After an interview and references being called I was matched with a little. We agreed on a date and had our introductions with our case worker on May 19th.

I met my little's mom in the waiting room of BBBS and was immediately put at ease. AC was so easy to talk with and friendly. My little was in a meeting with the caseworker and soon after I arrived we were all invited into the caseworker's office for introductions.

Our picture for the BBBS bulletin board


Isn't she the cutest?! After hearing all of the rules and information, Little and I headed out for a cupcake and to get to know each other. As we were walking into the cupcake bakery, Little hesitantly told me she tried to dress cute for me. It was the sweetest thing ever. It just melted my heart. I think we were both nervous about meeting each other!

The goal is to try to get together 3-4 times a month. We went and saw a movie last week and have big plans on Saturday. Little has a facebook account and we have been sending each messages. She spent the weekend out of town and gave me a call to chat when she got back last night. I love that she is so outgoing! We are having so much fun together and I am looking forward to all of our future "dates"!