Thankful Sunday!

....This was a "learning" week, in the LOYALTY AND GOSSIP department.  ;)

• I LOVE, LOVE, and am ABSOLUTELY GRATEFUL to a friend's show of loyalty towards me...  There is seriously NOTHING better than knowing that a friend, "has your back."  :D
• friends setting "others" straight.... pheeewwww....  we all know how much I hate doing that!  ;)
• This week I am also thankful for party planning,
• and recipe research
• ...and weekends off
• ....and quality time with the kids
• ...and serious, well sorta, they were "grown-up" conversations with friends!  ;)
• quality time with the kids
• sleepovers, movie nights and popcorn
• walks in the wagon, and exploring!
• phone calls,
• Meeting miss Laynie for the first time!  :)
• waiting to meet Miss Khloe, and the rest of the babies!
• Pinterest
• park dates
• friends
• crafting
• and card making
• quality time with my sister
• my nook,
• ...and my new book
• ..and donuts, God knows I had waaaaayyy more than my share this week!  ;)
• ...and playdoh
• and beautiful skies
• music, and songs
• Uplifting quotes....  lots and lots of them!  ;)  I can't wait to share them!!  :)

and this quote....  such a true statement, that I wish I could carry with me, EVERYWHERE so people could see it!  ;)

Thankful Sunday!!

It's been a while, I feel like life and the holidays got in the way!  I ran out of time, every week!

 But it's time to resume with the Thankful Sunday posts!!!  :)

It's time to go back to "making" time for these oh so important posts!

This week I am thankful for a job, or two ;)

and for impromptu staying up until all hours of the night, evenings with the friends, spent talking, catching up, listening, reassuring, reminiscing and party planning with my longest and bestest friends...  Those are truly the moments I LOVE!!  Love you girlies!  :)

for the chance to bake for my friends

for the love of a child/children

for God keeping me safe, and for new fuel pumps

for my dad

and Michael....  and his lesson on the "mechanics" of a fuel pump..  haha!
for my mom and her home cooked meals  :)

and for family movie nights, there isn't anywhere else I would of wanted to be on saturday night...  and the movie was GREAT too!!  :)

for pictures, and my blog/online memory keeper!

for kid hugs
and phone calls, and out of the blue txts.
and friends, I am always grateful for loyal, honest, believe in "me" friends
for pictures, and photography
and for crafts!  ;) 
and for books, and my new nook...  :)
and for naps on saturday afternoons,
and for relaxing, sports, blog, picture filled sundays!
I think that's all for now...  until next week...   Here's to hoping we all have LOTS to be thankful for....  :)

My first etsy purchase! :)

anyone who knows me, knows that I am not an internet shopper, it scares me, the "what if's" that come with it scare me A LOT!!  I have purchased some stuff online but it makes me nervous! have I said that before?  ;) 

The other day I was "surfing" the web for cake ideas, and accidentally ended up on etsy...  I saw something and LOVED it...  ugh...  I wanted it, I needed it, I instantly thought, WHAT THE HELL!  I'm gonna go for it, so I did, I ordered it, and paid with my paypal account...  YEP!  I'm official now!  ;)  haha!  Then I waited patiently for my purchase to arrive!  ;)  And when it did arrive I was beside myself!  The package it came in was so cute, and the necklace that was inside was even better in person!!  :)

I LOVED my new purchase!  And I can honestly say, if EVERYTHING off of etsy is this CUTE!  Then I'm "all aboard!"  ;)

Grateful!

This morning I got to drive to work and enjoy the wonderful sky/and clouds, hiding the sun "painting"  on my way to work...  I've always said that this is my favorite time of the day...  It's a perfect time for me to be thankful, a great time to take in all of the weekend's events, a good time to think, and plan, and a PERFECT time for me to be alone with God... 

I had so much to be thankful for this morning too... This weekend we got a much "NEEDED" visit from Bee, Rome and the girls... We did so much in such a short amount of time... But it was a GREAT time!! :)

There is no doubt that anytime I spend time with the kids, any kids, I learn a lesson...  It's usually a big one too!!  I didn't know how to put that lesson into words until I ran across this saying on Pintrest...

I am  ALWAYS amazed at the stuff V tells Lulu, when they come to my house...  It's GREAT to see the stuff she remembers, it's NEVER about what we've bought her, although she remembers that too..  ;)  It's ALWAYS about the stuff that she does here, you know Disneyland, and Playing at the Park, and going to the Penny Pickles Museum, and the special breakfasts that my mom makes for them, huevos and frijoles are their favorites...  And playing with my parents, that always melts my heart, the love those girl's have for my parents is GREAT, and it's definitely as BIG as the love my parents have for them!! :)
And the LOVE they have for us, is AMAZING! Almost as big as ours is for them!  ;)
Make memories, LOTS of them, they're important...  And looking at things through a child's eye will always give you a different perspective, oh and go with the flow, ALWAYS go with the flow!  ;)Those are the lesson's I learned from the girl's this time!  :)

I can't wait to see them again....  V assured me it would be soon, she said her b-day is coming up, and we will be going to D-land to celebrate!!  ;)  I LOVE the way she thinks!  :)

The best of me.. a review.... :)

the heart-rending story of two small-town former high school sweethearts from opposite sides of the tracks. Now middle-aged, they've taken wildly divergent paths, but neither has lived the life they imagined . . . and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever altered their world. When they are both called back to their hometown for the funeral of the mentor who once gave them shelter, they will be forced to confront the choices each has made, and ask whether love can truly rewrite the past.

I LOVE, LOVE getting books for my birthday, and lucky for me, Nicholas Sparks, My all time favorite author, usually releases a new book...  RIGHT before my birthday...  So every year I know what to expect!  ;)  and this year was no different...  Thanks little sister for the awesome book...  I LOVED it!  I'm thinking this is one of my all-time favorites...  Who am I kidding?  They're all my favorites!!  ;)  So if you have a chance you should read this one...  Who doesn't love a good love story?  and let me assure you, it was definitely a good one!  :)  

A fun baby shower for miss Khloe!

I have LOTS AND LOTS of friends that are pregnant...  This means, LOTS AND LOTS of baby showers...  Today was Julie and Khloe's turn!  Jessica and Kati did an awesome job with the shower...  and I was lucky to get to help out with the treats!!  You can read all about the decor/party on Jessica's party blog!
as usual there are  a lot of pics...  then again how could there not be?  thanks for sharing yours Jessica!  :)

Isn't this zebra clothesline adorable, I thought so...  and it was complete with a handmade little beanie that our friend DeBran made!!  so so cute!!  :)

The treat table...  LOVE, LOVE the way the cake looked...  I think this one is really one of my favorites!  :)

...Pretty fresh flower centerpieces....  :)  I LOVE this flower, such a cute color!!  :)

Kati made these YUMMY and oh so cute cookies....  :)

...and I made the cake!  :)

...and the cupcakes!  :)

...the "other" treat table...  you really can NEVER have too many!!  ;)

They had a delicious lunch spread...  croissant sandwiches...

....veggies, muffins, and lots of salad's....  Perfect for a sunday lunch!

....the girl's, playing a game....  ;)

...time for a group shot...  Prom pose anyone??  ;)

haha!!  why not??  ;)

The hostesses with the mostesses and me!!  :)

digging thru our purses for a game, and eating...  nothing wrong with that!!  ;)

This picture made me laugh...  She was all alone out there, ready to eat...  I joined her shortly after...  we take our food seriously!!  haha!!  :)

Jessica brought out this good looking dessert plate...  and YES!  all the treats were just as good as they looked!!  :)

Time for cake....  :) 

getting ready to cut it.....  :)

Thank you Jessica for taking this picture!!  Looks yummy!!  :)

...and a few more!!  ;)

"visiting" around the cake!!  ;)

Me and Miss Julie, the momma to be!!  :)

I hope  you enjoyed your baby shower and treats Julie!!  and I can't wait to meet Miss Khloe in Person!!  :) 

Happy 30th birthday Gaby! :)

My little sister turned 30 today!!  YIKES!  typing that just confirmed the fact that I am old!  ;)

She requested birthday cupcakes for her celebration, so I went ahead and baked her up some!!  ;)  My mom helped me make the toppers...  cute huh??  I LOVED the way they turned out!  :)

Happy Birthday little sister!!  WE <3 YOU!!!  :)

Mike set up a dinner celebration at BJ's....  :)  The turnout was GREAT! 

The birthday girl with a cupcake and her birthday wine glass...  Great thinking Misty!!  :)

Cousin's for Life!!!  I think that's what Liza said??  haha!!  ;) 

...and the birthday pizzoki arrived a little while after we finished eating and talking!  ;)  I've always thought those things were so cute!!  ;)  I LOVE Owen's smile in the background... :)

The girls!  :)  Smile everyone!  :)  Haha!  Looks like Violette wants NOTHING to do with our picture!  ;)

Gaby and the kiddos!  LOVE this picture!  :)

Gaby and some of her BFF's... 

Look at the cute momma to be!!  :D 

Gaby and Ka'cee!  :)

Gaby and M!

This picture cracks me up!  Bella actually requested it, and then pretended like she wanted nothing to do with it!  kids.....  ;)

...and then she said we needed to take one with "daddy,"  and THAT'S the smile I was looking for!!  ;)

The rest are phone pics!  ;) 

The BIRTHDAY girl again!  she looks excited to be turning 30.... NO??  ;)

We lined up the cupcakes down the middle of the tables...  and that was absolute torture for the kids...  ooopppsss...  I said we should of just let them eat one or two??  ;)

mmmm..... a mojito and cupcakes...  that's my kind of night!  BJ's has the BEST mojitos....  If you've never had one, you totally should!  :)

Happy to you sister!!  :)

I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!  Here's to wishing you AMAZING 30's!!  :)

My reward..... ;)

After two and a half REALLY long weeks full of holidays and work, with only 2 days off somewhere in between, I finally had a weekend off!!  A WHOLE WEEKEND!!!  OMG!!  I never get weekends off unless I request them..  This one was a "gift," ok maybe not a gift, but the schedule worked out in a way that they HAD to give me the weekend off...  YIIPPEEE!!!  It's what kept me going for the last day or 2...  ;)

And it was the PERFECT weekend to have off, my sister turned 30 on the saturday and we were having a baby shower for my friend julie on sunday..  which meant LOTS of baking for me!! :)  so that's how I relaxed on my weekend off, I baked and celebrated!!  :)  AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!  :)

these pictures came from my phone...  I will upload the better looking one's from the camera on their "special" blogs!  ;)

Happy 30th birthday cupcakes...  :)

....and there was a special cake for miss Kloe too!!  :) 
Here's the "before" picture....  ;)

...and the "still putting it together," pic!!  :)

...Making the crowns that were going to top the cupcakes!!  ;)

...and I ended up making a BIG one to use as a "centerpiece" for the cake!  :)
...and the final product....  pictures aren't bad for having come from my phone!!  ;)
and the FINAL product!!

 I don't know why, but I think this is one of my favorites!!  :)

....and cupcakes, it was definitely a weekend filled with cupcakes!!  lots and lots of cupcakes!  ;)

Here's to hoping that 2012 brings me more of these "surprise" WHOLE weekend off's......  ;)