fun was bloomin all around us

the favor pots, which I filled with seed packets, snail and butterfly magnets, bug stickers, candy

one of the uber cute cookies!

grandma and the birthday girl

two out of three cakes. the lady bug was little missy's. I had an adorable pink and yellow flower too, but somehow it missed the picture natzi. =(

I had the entire fence around our back yard adorned in these paper flowers!

butterfly bowling... so hard to get a good picture, but they were soooo cute!

(colored water in bottles, with tissue paper wings and pipe cleaner antennae)

Brigham pinning the lady bug on the flower

our dragon fly, that just didn't want to die... until one of the dads took a bat to it!

the madness of diving for candy begun!!
and her ladybug cake... what do i do?




she figured it out!!

some garden decor....

the m &ms in the vase were such a tease !!

peanutbutter and jelly for the kids

bee,butterfly,and caterpillar grams w/ yummy dip

caterpillers, of course!

ants on a log

our garden spread. chicken salad sandwiches. macaroni salad in the pot,

pinwheel sandwiches that became snails with an olive head

the birthday girl on her actual day. went to lunch with grandma, and uncle monkey. the hat stayed on for about 1.32 seconds!!LOL

she got lots of 'girly' things from grandma... all of pink, of course!! LOL















she got cleaned up and opened so many cute, cute things. we are so blessed to have family and friends who love and support our little T !!!

and even a birthday girl can cry if she wants to......

look who's ONE !!!

so i tried to post this cute lil photo timeline of the last year... but after nearly an hour... and blogger STILLL wouldn't cooperate..... I decided to just do this sweet and simple one.

HAppy BIrthday my sweet baby girl Tatum. What an amazing blessing you have been in our lives this last year. We are so grateful that God chose you to be in our family.!!

a visitor, a doctor,and a garden party

as I was half awake, but reluctantly getting out from under my warm covers, because I had a very unexpected visit by my long lost aunt flo, and it was NOT an invitation sent, kind of visit.

didn't start the morning off well.. but I could hear the cartoons on in the living room. my adorable son, who quietly gets up around 8:30 each morning, and helps himself to a granola bar and juice that (daddy has set on the kitchen table, prior to leaving for work) was quite content.

I would say that this was an abnormality.. but alas.. it is not.

Yep, my kid wakes up before me everyday. and quietly entertains himself for about and hour before my alarm clock(his sister) starts to mutter her entrance into the morning.

God certainly knew what he was doing when I created my kids with extra sleeping capacity.

Back to my bed.. as I was debating whether to get up and take a shower before lil sis wakes up, I was greeted with a smiley face on the side of my bed.

"mama , are you sick?"

no, not reallly.

"mama, do you feel icky?"

well, kinda, yeah.

" I can go get you some yogurt. that will make you feel better"

me laughing

"really, I can go get it all by myself. I can get you a spoon too"

no, you don't have to

" well, do you want some medcin, medcin will make you feel better?"

no, thats ok, brigham

"do you want some water. if you're sick, then water will make you feel better"

(at this point, I am thinkin I should just let the doctor take care of me..lol !!)

ok, you can bring me some water

so, as I lie in my bed I can hear the little dude, put his little stool up to the bathroom sink, and then he proceeds to set a little CARS cup on my bedside table.

HOW CUTE IS THAT?

totally made my day. but yeah, still pretty ticked that I have to deal with an unwelcome house guest today.!! ugh.

I have been busy making chicken enchilladas and fried ice cream for our Lifegroups party tonight.

bet you can't guess what theme I went with for tonight.

let the margharitas start flowing.....mmmmm.

I'll leave you with my invitations for Tatum's party next weekend.

went with a garden theme! so last weekend I planted the heck out of my pots, so they'll all be busting with color, since my yard is not yet(other than tulips right now).

the flower are tucked inside the pots, and then you pull them out to read the party info. I used 'garden-ish' wording, so you'll have to click to make the pictures bigger to read.found those little making memories brads which will definately be used on her party LO.!

I have been collecting for months (yes, I started planning when she was 6 months!!) flowers, and pots, and watering cans, and butterflies, and dragonflies, and bumblebees, and caterpillars, and lady bugs. I just picked up the cutest little toddler gardening back with tools at Target the other day. The colors are all bright, but mostly hot pink, bright green, yellow and orange.

I found fabric that I am going to make into table cloths. and the coolest dragonfly pinata that will be fluttering around outside!

Lucky for me, Hobby Lobby has been putting their garden stuff on 50% off(when do they not, though) and I have collected some decor there too.

and the little girl will be dressed for her party in this, and I have a cute little green dragonfly bow , that my mom got her on our Ga trip.

I've had this in my head for so long, I can not wait to see it all come together.

I can't wait to see my still toothless sweetiepie did into her cake!!

well, I am off to prep for our fiesta tonight. Andrew's graduation is this weekend, so I am baking a cake for him. His parents are coming on Friday afternoon. Brigham is beyond excited. Two visits in just over a month! very fun.

hope you are all having a good week. half way thru.. Whoooo hoooo!!

back to the ol' grind

Seriously. we totally had an awesome time away on our little mini vaca to the south!
almost all the family came in for it. it was an awesome celebration to witness the strenghth , patience and love between my grandparents. SIXTY FIVE YEARS!!! thats a long time!

The kids did fantastic on the drive. they both took their naps with no problem. Brigham was completely occupied with the many, many car games that my mom printed off here

Brigham even went on a bear hunt in the backseat!!( remember that old camp song?)

It brought back memories of all the stuff my brother and I did on long car rides.


I had hoped to meet up with Heather who lives just 45 min away from the gardens. and also my dear friend Jop who moved away to GA 2 years ago. Time just wasn't on my side, and there was lots of family time that needed to happen.
Sorry girls. hopefully this summer , we'll be back down that way!


But now its back to reality. Loads of laundry. getting up early to get to preschool and gymnastics.and I busily tried to get Tatum's party invitations out in the mail.



UGH.



I can't believe in 3 weeks my baby girl will be ONE! I'll post pics of them next time.Not everyone has received them yet.



Luckily, spring followed us home from Georgia! My tulips are blooming. Second wave of daffodils, and my hyacinths have popped to make my yard look fabulous.


This weekend I am planting all my pots. and probably getting a few things in the ground. Indiana weather is a little tricky to garden with.. you never know when that last freeze will hit ya!



I haven't edited the trip pics, yet(they're not even off my camera..lol) but here are some pics that I have been meaning to share..


here is the master bedroom / office now:
















my little cottage retreat ! I love my frames above the bed. they are wedding pics that I bordered with some melissa francis paper.












and here are some pics of the kids from a couple weeks ago:



































Hope you all enjoy your weekend! We've got lots on the to-do list as we prep for Andrew's graduation and Tatum's party!!, but hopefully we'll get a chance to enjoy a nice frothy beverage and relax a bit!

well its about dang time...

only took 11.34 months!!! LOL

she'd been tummy scootin for a little over a month, but never really felt the need to get up on all fours. she's been rocking for the last couple weeks. and by george she's got it!!

such focus and concentration is needed for this daring feat.

arms, shoulder width apart....

booty up in the air...

"look, one handed. been doing this all my life guys. and I even got mama's lens cap as a prize!"

lucky for us, she hasn't realized that speed can be added to this new found mobility. due time, I'm sure.

well, we're off for a mini vacation in South GA. going to a resort to meet up with my mom's side of the family. We're celebrating my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary. I can NOT imagine.

I think five years is a long time.. and I'm not even there yet!!LOL

I know I owe some pictures.. when we get back. promise =)

rain rain go away

its a rainy day here and thank goodness because my grass desperately needs it!
my daffodills are in full bloom all over my front gardens and its making me want spring in a very bad way!
our neighbors mowed their lawn this week, and that sound of the mower, combined with birds singing and the kids down the street screaming..... just sounds like summer!
Oh, I can not wait!!!

I am sorry for you Colorado folks who are getting like 5 inches of snow and temps still in the 30's!! YIKES!

Brigham is so bummed that he can't go outside today. I think he's got the bug too... we got teased with a couple beautiful days this week. So since its been non stop raining we have dug into our game closet....
candy land, go fish, hi ho cherry oh, and thomas counting games are a few of our faves.

so here is a fun little game for any of you scrapbookers out there...got this from the fabulous girls over at SCRAPFRIENDZY.

Take the challenge. and let me know what you IQ is??
ScrapIQ test

hope you're having a great day!

do you hurt like Jesus?

don't think this is going to be some profound spirtual post..... its just theology based on a 3 year old's mind...lol

So Andrew has been vamping up his workouts, and moved on to lifting weights over the weekend! A buddy of his who used to play pro-baseball worked up a lil' schedule for him.....

needless to say that after busting it out on Sat. and Monday.... my poor hubby came home from work yesterday.. in quite a state!!

He slowly walked into the living room, and then slowly lowered himself into our recliner...all the while grimising in pain.... about 2.4 seconds later, a 3 year old boy full of energy-because mama let him devour candy all day- who just wants to embrace his favorite person in the whole wide world- LEAPS onto daddy's lap.

I think our neighbors could hear the screams of agony, as the squirmy lil boy continued to maul at his father!!lol

Andrew calmly, said "Brig, get down.. daddy doesn't feel good"

"Brigham seriously, daddy's arms and neck and shoulders are in a lot of pain"

and Brig replied " are you as hurt as Jesus was when the bad people put him on the cross to died?

Andrew: " well, I suppose Jesus was in a little more pain "

and so after I gave my hubby some time to rest, I begged him to hang my new shabby chic curtain rod and curtains in Tatum's NEW nursery!!

WHOOOO HOOO.. like the girl is only going to be 11 months in a couple weeks, and she's finally getting her own room!!

We painted it over the weekend, and I have been shoppping like mad to pick up garden-ish and shabby chic kinda things to go in it!

I can't wait til' its finished.

Oh, yeah, and remember the insane moving of the office we did , um the day before Easter?.... well, its finished too!! I LOVE my new space.

As soon as I get the pics off my cam, I'll post some.

Also, I have been learning lots with my RXT baby... and have mastered a few things in photoshop..

I hope to have some pics to share with you all soon too!

Here are some pages I whipped up for the challenges over at SCRAPFRIENDZY.

thanks for checking out my pages!

have a great day =)

thanks Easter bunny!

for the miserable snotfilled, runny nose, achy back,watery eyes, scratchy throat, constant cough, and insane sinus headaches!!!

2 out of 3 of us woke up Sunday with it, and the little guy woke up to a snotcoverd face this morning!

but that didn't stop us from enjoying a rather brisk(but sunshiny) Easter celebration !

The bunny left a pile of carrots in our hallway... and then a messy trail of half eaten ones through the house leading to the prize!

Tatum and I suffered through a wonderful sermon on God's great love for us. My head was to

stuffed to sing( and not embarrass my self) and Tatum added her own comentary to the lesson with her 337 sneezes!!

We raced home, to get dinner started as I was hosting this year for my side of the family.

the table was set. the food mostly prepped.

my traditional lamb cake flopped(remember I have a cake biz???-actually it didn't come out of the pan very well this time... so glad it happened for family!), so we sliced it up and I made a trifle with fruit and pudding, etc. It was totally delish.. and pretty too . great idea honey!

my mom brought yummy ham and my favorite creamy corn/cheese dish.

I made several other things including some addicting garlic cheese biscuits.

all of this and I never even ate Easter dinner!! LOL

after things were served, and Tatum was fed... I curled up on the couch with a grand supply of kleenex!!

the bunny did leave eggs and Brigham had a blast running around picking them up! My brother .. aka Uncle Monkey brought him a very fitting

'monkey basket'.

and here is our sickly girl.. still trying to be happy.

I'll have to take some more pics later b/c she was wearing MY old dress!!

I hope you all had great celebrations.

I saw this and thought it was totally cool.

what great witnesses they are.

may the luck of the irish be to ya'

tatum is a bit shy about bringing it to ya'

and here is the Brigman acting a bit o 'crazy

the kids and I celebrated at Chick filet for lunch with several moms from Lifegroup at our new church.

Have I mentioned how absolutely awesome our new church is?? Its a vineyard church and it toally rocks. seriously.

and then I made an irish meal for us.. and for our friends who just had a baby girl 9 days ago.

irish soda bread... totally delish.. shepard's pie and green salad.

for dessert I made key lime bars....no picture b/c they're all gone!!

we all wore green, and had green plates and green milk!

its just the little things that make a day special!

here's hoping that you found some luck today!

rocky mountain high

well, we're not technically in the Rockies, but we do have a fantastic view of them!
seriously, so gorgeous. its been bright blue skies and amazing sunshine since we got here.

the kids were incredible on the flight... I don't think Tatum realized she was not on my lap in the living room! and Brigham LOVED the tv in the plane. He was mezmorized by Dora and Spongebob(two shows, that he has actually never seen before!). Perhaps that was what made the trip so enjoyable. Five dollars , certainly worth it!

So we are trying to pack a lot in to the vaca.. but its been nice to lounge around too, and not look around and see the zillion things that I would have to do at home!

The Brigmiester and Miss T are certainly soaking up lots of attention from the grandparents!

and as I type this, the news is informing me that the midwest is experiencing blizzard conditions.
ahhhhhhh... so happy I'm here. it just might suck me in!!
its such a happy place.

on another note... any AI and LOST fans out there????
I am still rooting for my man Michael Johns. I seriously would be a groupie. He so rocks.
(my former boyfriend- eerily look a like, was kicked off,(jason yeager) or I would have had him at the top!)yeah, it was like soooo incredibly crazy how much he looked like a guy a dated!
we lost two out of three home town kids(amy davis, and luke menard) are from about 40 minutes away from us. Local Amanda Overmyer is still in it. She is actually just around the corner from us. She is definately a rocker.. we'll see if America wants that type as their idol.
so happy that danny was voted off.. I don't think I could have taken another night of his head sways or 'ish'..
and Losties... it just keeps getting better doesn't it? .loving the flashforwards and the addition of characters. I am bummed that claire doesn't make it.any thoughts?//

I have been a slacker once again at blogging, I had wanted to share pics from our mini vaca in Indianapolis last weekend. Hopefully I can get them all edited and post them next week.
I may try and update with Colorado pics, before we get home... we'll see how the week goes!
hope you're all having a great weekend!

check this out!

ok, here is a completely awesome scrappy site, full of inspiration, challenges, games and prizes!!

I was hooked from the first day these girls 'made it official'!!

they are a fabulously crazy group of scrappy chicks!

www.scrap-friendzy.blogspot.com

leave them a comment and tell them I sent ya!!
(but you have to be quick... do it TODAY!!!)

hope you all have a wonderful weekend. we're heading to the BIG city for swimming in the hotel, eating too much, and leaving messes that we don't have to clean up!! LOL

I've been tagged !!!

Ok, so Ronda tagged me, so here goes.


The Rules:You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name.


so my whole name is Anne Elizabeth Miller... yes, I go by my middle name. So I am thinking I could try and get away with using the shorter anne.. lol !! but then again , that wouldn't be playing fairly, now would it? I am sure it would make the game more fun, for me to use the longer of the two... so here goes...nine facts about me......
E- easy going. totally
L-loyal- I will always be there for you. even if you hurt me or make me mad. I try and be an example of Christ's love to forgive..(and I am then at peace) and move forward. I don't know that I have ever held a grudge.
I-irresistable, so I have been told by my husband
Z-zany, ok, its hard to find 'z' words.. but I'm a nut. so zany it is.
A-alluring. ok, this is from my husband. but I can actually see his point. He says that people are easily drawn to me. I have to say, this seems to be true for at least the last 15 years of my life!
B-busty. this is definately true, as I had to purchase a bra size 38 EE after Tatum was born! YIKES!
E-empathetic. I am very caring and concerned about people and their emotions. I tend to overthink what I am going to say, just because I am concerned the it may hurt them.
T-trustworthy. for sure. I have always been the person that people come to share things with. I've been told that I am very easy to talk to. So I ususally end up hearing lots of people's stuff. I don't even share stuff with my hubby. I can sense if the information told to me is on a level of confidentiality, even if the person doesn't make it known.so, yeah.. you can trust me with anything!
H-humble. I have never liked the spotlight. never good at recieving recognition or awards(since highschool, even!) I don't like to brag about things.Trying to be better in this area, though, and realize that its ok to share the good things we are blessed with.
**disclaimer** I am not even good about coming up with ways to describe me(the humble thing), so I went to my husband for help in describing me!

so now I have to TAG nine people.. here ya'll go:
HeatherC, Janette, Kat, Kelly, Kim, LisaD.,Nichole, Ally, Revlie

hope you have fun playing!

thank goodness for blogging..

because if I wouldn't have been reading Heather's blog, then I would not have been directed to
Ashley's blog and I would not have seen this:A "Dear John" letter to my fat ass...
Dear Fat Ass,
It is time that I end our relationship. I don't like you anymore. Actually, I hate you. It is you... Not me. Call me shallow, but I just can't stand the sight of you any longer. You are unattractive. You make my clothes feel tight, and that is just plain rude. You make me cringe whenever I catch a glimpse of you. Since I know that you plan to hang around for as long as you can, seeing as though you are a total stalker, I have decided to call in some reinforcements. I'd like to introduce you to my friends Diet and Exercise. *Fat Ass, Diet. Diet, Fat Ass.* *Fat Ass, Exercise. Exercise, Fat Ass.*
As you can see you have some tough competition. Diet and Exercise will whomp your ass, Fat Ass. I am determined to make you go away. I plan to kick you to the curb like a loser boyfriend. See ya. Buh bye! Sayonara. Au revoir. Adios. Don't let the door hit you in the ass. Oh wait... You are an ass...
...and No. We CAN'T be friends.
Ashley
PS - Tell your friends Saddle Bags and Muffin Top that I don't want them coming around here anymore either. I never liked them anyway.

I definately know my name could be inserted at the bottom.. as I sit at the computer eating chocolate chip pancakes for dinner*.

*husband has class tonight, baby had smooshed carrots and pears/ brig is eating the last of the corndog, snap peas , and pinapple from earlier this week. and yes, I got the pancakes from yesterday's breakfast ...I am thinking a trip to the grocery is needed =P

photos of love

so this is what I sent out to friends and family for valentines this year!!

I had so much fun doing a photo shoot with my ***new camera****, that my husband got me!!!

(if you don't know the story, then read the post before this one!!). He is the best!!

and here are the shots that didn't make the card...but are just laying on my scrap table , begging to be played with =)

and about 50 others like this. these were completely untouched with natural light.

I am in the process of finally learning the basics of PS(which I have had forever, and am finally ready to learn).=P

thanks so much for all your wonderful comments to my last post. I am not very good at sharing news like that, or blessings that we recieve and such. Always feel like I am being pridefull, or bragging. I am trying to be better about that.. and let people into sharing my joys . So thank you for all your sweet words, and especially about my husband. Yeah, I think I'll keep him!

He just reminded me that we've been together for 8 years!!! we'll be celebrating our 5th anniversary this summer!!

I look foward to sharing more pictures with you, and be patient with me as I learn this new toy..

(and of course the new lens that will be purchased) with our tax money!!... the obsession has begun.. LOL

have a great night =)

my husband rocks

Yep. he totally does. and I don't think that I have properly thanked him yet.
perhaps on Thursday (wink).
Two weeks ago:
I chaotically hurried out the door to drop Brigham off at preschool, and then my plan was to head to the grocery store. we were out of everything!

as I am walking out the door(late of course already!) Andrew calls and wants me to stop by his work after my trip to the store.
fine.

So I get to preschool and there is an envelope in Brig's cubby. I glanced, but didn't pick it up, thinking, I'll just collect it when I pick up. One of the teachers came out, making sure I saw it.
Politely thanking her, she said '" make sure you open it."
Ok, I said, "probly when I get home."
She says , "Um NO, I think you better open it when you get in the car."

As I get Tatum in the car, I open the envelope. It reads:



good morning. i hope you listened to me when I told you to get up, shower, and get dressed for the day because I am sending you on a little journey. 33 years is a long time to build memoires, but as you get older those memoires start to fade. This journey is about memories that are not yet made, so let's get started. Located the photo in the envelope, this is your first clue. On this journey you will receive a new envelope at each destination. Use the photo in each enevelope to find the next destination, this first one should be easy.

**use the $20 gift card to buy 2 mocha lattes and another coffee for yourself.

have fun, and remember I LOVE YOU!!!!



so the picture was of Starbucks..

and when I went to the drive thru and ordered, they asked if i was on a scavenger hunt.

and they gave me the next envelope.

which read:

its too cold to go to the park, so here's the next best thing. now that you have little pick me up, its time for a little drop off. take the two mocha's to the next location. hurry up, they're getting cold!



the picture in the clue was of our good friends' the Parks, house.

little did I know I was to drop the mochas off as a thank you for watching Tatum(as I was told to drop her off as well!)



So I won't bore you with all the other clues, but he sent me to several other locations. Each one with a clue.. a picture (that he had secretly taken and deleveloped) and paired up with a cute little jingle.

He had thought to have Tatum taken care of , so I could hop in and out of the car, as I picked up my next clues.

Some of the places were to visit with friends. One of the stops was at his really good friend from work wife's house. She just had triplets. So I got to meet them. and he knew that she shared a birthday with me(I did not know this), so at the previous place, he set me up with a gift bag and a card (with a sticky note to sign the card). So off I went to her house with gift in hand!

I can't believe he totally thought of everything.

SO after several friend's homes, he directed me downtown, and into several of my favorite shops. There was even a gift waiting for me at one of the counters, but the note said . DO NOT OPEN YET!

My final clue read:



remember of what this journey was for, making memoires of course, and there still is more. don't stop now, you're journey's not through, at the next place, as for John, he'll know what to do.



and this is what John gave me:



oh, yeah!! the rebel XT !!!!
it has permantly been stuck to my face for the past two weeks!!
I have just barely begun to learn about it.... but holy cow.... it is just beautiful! and now you can see why my husband rocks.
and for the scavenger hunt, well, I think he deserves the husband of the year award!!

Now if I can just get my butt in gear to learn photo shop, I should have some amazing pictures to play with!!

Thanks for the comments.. so glad to know who is reading this thing! I know I am horrible about updates, I'll try a be better.. life with two, is busy, and we're doing so much.. its just hard to find time!!LOL

speaking of.. I am prepping for a little valentines party we are having here at the house. about 7-8 of brigham's little friends and their mommys are coming over!
hope you all have a great day !!!

its been awhile..

life has been crazy full , but totally fun. so many blog worth stuff going on!! I still haven't told you all about what my awesome husband did for me for my birthday!!


but, I am wondering if anyone even reads this thing???

please do me a favor- If you are a faithful reader, or even just stop by every so often.. would you please let me know who you are!!

( I was told (thanks Rita) that I could click a box that would enable nonblogger readers to post.. so if that has kept you quiet.. I fixed it , so You all can say hey too!!)


hope you're having a great day!
I am off to several hours of scrapping at the LSS!!