Erin's bridal shower

Erin's shower has already come and gone.  :(  

But, it was a lot of fun and will hopefully make for some sweet memories for Erin.  :)  

We ate lots of sweets.

I didn't get a close up of the macarons or the amazing cake Jennifer made...and I can't stop kicking myself!  The cake was a lemon bundt with a lavender glaze and sprinkled with lavender buds.  It was soooo good and flowery and feminine and perfect for a girly party.  

She also made lavender sachet party favors out of vintage style hankies that filled the house with the heavenly scent of lavender.  Last night I slept with mine on my bedside table right next to my face and it was divine.

Tanner, Erin's fiance, stopped in before the shower.  I'm sure he would have loved to stay but you know the rules...he had to spend the afternoon with the guys and kids...elsewhere.

But not before he got a little snuggle time on Erin's lap.  Silly boy.  :)

We all spent a few hours together playing silly games and razzing Erin as she open each of her gifts.  It was a lingerie shower so all the gifts were really more for Tanner but Erin is a great sport with a good sense of humor. We also loved pouring out an abundance of gratuitous advice.  There were a lot of years worth of experiences and successful marriages represented in my living room yesterday and I pray that God preserves and blesses Erin and Tanners marriage just as much.

After the party was over the guys and kids came back and we ended the night with a simple meal of sandwiches and chips while my mom danced in the dining room to bluegrass music with every willing dance partner in the house.  Wish I had a picture of that too.  Good times.  :)

Today is turning out the be the laziest day I've had in a long time.  Overnight we got buried in snow and it's still coming down so I declared it a snow day and canceled school.  The kids and I are still in our pajamas at noon and we're eating leftover chocolates as I type.  Today I'm mom of the year.

I cleaned up and took a few pictures of the living room this morning because, naturally, I forgot to yesterday.

We're taking the next two weeks off from working on the house but after the wedding we plan to move everything back out of the living room, chandelier and all, and get back to work.  The living room has been our work room with a table saw as the centerpiece and that's worked out really well, so I only get to enjoy this room like it is for a little while.  That's not so bad though because up next will be the new bathroom.  Yippee!

Battle of the sexes

Last month Isaiah and I celebrated our birthdays with a camo theme.  Jeff gave me a big bouquet of pretty flowers and as bright and colorful as they were they just couldn't balance out the camouflage.

It's every woman's dream is to celebrate her birthday with camouflage.

That really is what you want though when you share your birthday with the sweetest boy on the planet!

Madison tried jumping in at the last second to blow out a few of his candles for him but she was a little too late.  So much love!

We bought a wood stove last month too since the house has doubled in size and the pellet stove doesn't quite cut it anymore.  It's a dream come true for Jeff.  At first I wasn't too excited about having another stove in the house because they always look like they belong on a train or in a man's hunting shack deep in the woods or used for repelling women but I went along with the idea and started looking for a stove I like.  Turns out they only exist in Europe and cost an arm and a leg.  So we agreed on the simplest looking American made stove we could find and then I went to work trying to figure out a way to pretty it up.

Our first fire.

I figured we needed a visual distraction from the newest train like unit in the house and decided on cement tiles.  I've loved them since I first laid eyes on them.  They're so unique and beautiful they're more like art!  You know how you're not supposed to overwhelm newborns with too much color and light because it overwhelms their senses?  That's what happens to me when I'm fabric shopping or hunting for the perfect tiles.  I love them ALL...to the point that my head starts spinning and I feel like I'm going to have a stroke or something.  Let me tell you, it was one of the hardest decisions of my life.  I felt like the bachelorette and I had to eliminate all kinds of gorgeous tiles from the competition.  

Wouldn't it be nice if that's really as hard as life ever got?  I finally settled on these beauties and Jeff and I got to work installing them.  They're a little trickier to work with than normal tiles but easier than we expected them to be.

Ahhh.  Now I actually love it!  (And so does Jeff.  Win, win!)

My sister's bridal shower is coming up this weekend so between coats of paint and chop sawing (I've learned how to use many a power tool lately) I've been baking things like these adorable French macarons.  I can't wait for her shower!  I told my other sister I'm going to be lost and sad once the shower is over and Jeff wonders if I'm actually doing all this for Erin or for myself.  Hmmm...both.  It's too much fun not to enjoy the whole process.

This is the current state of the room we're having the shower in in 5 days so I need to get crackin'!