Weekend shopping and the FINAL FOUR BABY!

On Friday, John and I drove to Louisville Kentucky for just one night. We had to get Kaleb on Saturday so we just decided to stay in Louisville and do a little shopping while we were there. We ate at Stoney River Friday night and it was awesome. It is a steak house and one of the best that I have been too. We do not have one here, so that was a nice treat. We ate at the Cheese Cake Factory for lunch on Saturday and oh my word, the Red Velvet Cheesecake is AMAZING. If you live near a Cheese Cake Factory, PLEASE go and get this. It is the best cheesecake I have ever had. I swear it melted in my mouth..lol.



Okay, moving right along, Since it was my birthday, I did decide to buy myself a few things, shocker, I know! I needed some new perfume so I bought some "Baby Grace" by Philosophy.



I have had it before and loved it, it is so light, fresh and clean, just like a baby! I actually love all of the scents by Philosophy but this is definitely one of my favorites. If you ever pass by a Philosophy counter, try it out and let me know what you think! They also have a new make up product called "The color of Grace Amazing Grace Shimmering Face Powder".



I have been looking for a nice highlighter for awhile and I was able to test it and I loved it. It really makes your face glow and gives you that dewey look! You know how much I love beauty products, so this was a great treat for me!

Lastly I bought this Vera Bradley travel organizer. I have wanted one forever and when I found it on sale, I broke down and bought it.



This is perfect to fill with everything you need while out of town, all of your everyday necessities, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. Then when you are ready to go somewhere all you have to do is throw this in your suitcase and your done! And I love that you can hang it on the door-Genius! This will be great for our trip next month. By the way, only a few more weeks until Disney. I am so excited, I can't wait!

So it was a great birthday weekend, thanks to everyone for the sweet gifts and cards. John bought me a beautiful new watch and Mama Sandy surprised me with a Burberry coat ( I will never wear another one, I love it) the kids gave me a card, m&m's and chocolate cupcakes! This is the only picture I have of my birthday weekend. It was taken at the Cheese Cake Factory with my I phone so it is not that great. I really need to invest in a smaller camera that I can carry in my purse. Suggestions anyone??



Last but definitely not least, the West Virginia Mountaineers are going to the FINAL FOUR baby! We defeated number one seed Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night. I was so proud of the Mountaineers, they played amazing. Kentucky is an awesome basketball team and they did have a bad night, but in WV's defense, they played their hearts out and were on fire! Our starting point guard fractured his foot last week and he was not even able to play. Our back up point guard Joe Mazulla played an awesome game scoring 17 points and surprised many by his performance. This is the first time in 51 years that WV has been in the Final Four! We play Duke on Saturday so hopefully we can pull out another victory! I am so proud to be a MOUNTAINEER!!

And just because, here is a picture of Kaleb and his "friend"..lol. It is great to have him back home!




Oh and Ayla is feeling much better, thanks to all of you that have asked! Here she is today before we left to go out. She loves her high top tennis shoes, she calls them her "Hannah Montana" shoes!! Have a great week everyone!

Stain Removal 101

This week at Kelly's Korner the topic for "Show Us Your Life" is cleaning secrets. I do not have any cleaning secrets, but I do have some laundry tips I thought I would share. I have actually had this post saved for a while and thought this would be a perfect time to share!

Okay so I am OCD about stains on my children's clothes...I think everyone that knows me, knows this by now.. but to justify my obsessive compulsive behaviors...hehe.. my children's clothes are an investment for me because I sell them on ebay when they outgrow them! Of course they have play clothes and with those, they could go and roll around in the mud if they wanted to... well not really, I mean maybe if it were dry mud...lol. So my friend Molly has shared some of her awesome stain removal "magic tricks" with me, and I would LOVE to share them with you.... you know cause I'm nice like that-ha!!



OK, I keep a bunch of "unusual" items in my laundry room for tackling stubborn stains....it wouldn't be my laundry room without them....MEAT TENDERIZER (unseasoned) I use this for any protein based stains blood,milk etc

WD-40 OR Dawn dish washing liquid...either of these will take care of grease spots on clothing. DO NOT use the WD-40 on silks

LEMON JUICE: put on a spot on a white top and sit in the sun...TA_DA! add a bit more lemon juice before laundering,works wonders on those formula stains


RUST SALT mixed with Lemon juice will take out mildew stains, soak dingy white socks in hot water(hotter the better) and lemon juice then launder like usual they come out bright whites


For ink pen or marker try alcohol or cheap hair spray (Aquanet is the best for this)





Okay, I also never put the children's clothing in the dryer (unless they are play clothes). I wash everything on the hand wash cycle and only a couple of things at time. This prevents piling and keeps the clothing in fantastic shape. It also helps if you use lingerie bags like these from Nordstroms...it has two sides and you can put two pieces of clothing (or more, if you would want to) in one bag! These prevent clothing from piling, snagging and if you have something with buttons, sequins, beads, etc these are perfect for that! Oh, these are great for tights, leggings and hose as well, they do not pile at all!





Okay, well I hope you have enjoyed all of these wonderful stain removal and laundering tips!! If you know of any others tricks, I would love to hear them!!

Oh, by the way, I just recently learned about the oxi-clean gel stick. It is awesome, it is great for grass stains, you MUST get one of these!!

Multitasking!

Who says you can not watch TWO shows at ONE time??? This cracked me up last week when I saw Brennan doing this. We bought him the fisher price kids dvd player for Christmas and he LOVES it. He knows how to put his movies in, how to rewind, fast forward, push play, stop etc...and so at certain times during the day he will sit in the stool in the kitchen (this is known as Brennan's chair now) and watch some of his movies. He rarely watches a whole dvd, I think he just likes putting them in and taking them out. Anyway, he is also addicted to my I phone and plays games and watches videos on it as well. We have a few videos on it for the kids and on this day Brennan was watching "Clifford, the Big Red Dog", on his dvd player and "Max and Ruby" on the I phone. It was so cute how he had the phone propped up on the dvd player. I thought this was so funny, John said he is a multitasker..lol.



So Ayla is finally feeling better, she has been sick all week and because of that we think her arthritis is bothering her. She has been crying about her left knee and holding her elbow so now that she is better hopefully her joints will feel better too. It stinks when she gets sick because we can not give her arthritis meds to her because she will have an even harder time fighting off the sickness, so we have to wait until she is well. Yesterday she started feeling like herself again and today she is doing even better so I think we are over the worse part! Tomorrow is my birthday so John and I are going to drive to Louisville KY and stay Friday night. We plan on having dinner and doing a little shopping! We will be home Saturday, so it is just a little one night get away..lol. My sister and brother in law have offered to stay with the kids Friday night so we can spend some time together for my birthday. We have to pick Kaleb up Saturday in KY also so that is another reason why we decided to go. So I will be MIA for a few days, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Dresser, Toy Story and Dancing with the Stars

Are you guys as excited as I am about "Toy Story" coming out on dvd tomorrow? I love these movies, I can remember watching them with Kaleb when he is little. I can't wait to take Ayla to see Toy Story 3 when it comes out in June. At target the combo packs (dvd/blue ray) are on sale for $22.99/ea but if you buy both (Toy Story 1 and 2) you get $10 off instantly. In addition to this you can use these coupons from the Disney site. Works out to $12.99 each.
There is also a 10 dollar coupon for the "Princess and the Frog" if you are interested. These will make great gifts for the Easter Basket!

So we, I mean John finished Kaleb's dresser yesterday. It really turned out nice, he put several coats of stain on it and with new hardware it is just like new! I love the retro/vintage feel it has to it! Actually, I think this dresser was made in the 70's. Like the lamps? We found those at Homegoods. Have you noticed that we are lamp people? There is just something about having matching lamps on a piece of furniture!! I will have to show you some pictures of our lamps, we do have some interesting ones!! Oh and I am loving how the middle panel opens up and there are three drawers that pull out. That is a really nice feature. So here are a couple of before and after pictures, what do you think?









Hope everyone has a great week! Ours has not started out so hot. Ayla woke up sick this morning and has been throwing up all day. I hope she is able to sleep tonight and I hope everyone else stays healthy!! Oh, I almost forgot, did anyone watch Dancing with the Stars? What a cast, it will definitely be interesting this year and did anyone else think Pamela Anderson was acting weird? She was definitely um not herself..lol!! Okay, I am tired so I am going to bed early tonight. It is only midnight!!!

Vintage Lucy Giveaway

Okay one of my new found loves is the Etsy store "Vintage Lucy's". The owner makes the cutest, sweetest and funkiest (is that even a word) vintage designs on children's clothing. If you are not familiar with Vintage Lucy's, please go here to the Etsy store and enjoy! I have ordered these two shirts recently and I can not wait to get them! She does more than just children's clothing, she offers an array of things, in fact, she has about 700 items in her store now!





I let Ayla help pick them out and I was not surprised considering her love for babies. For all of you Matilda Jane fans, they also match the MJ perry ruffles and the hello shorties!! I would love to eventually buy this dress below, it is so dang cute and these shirts are adorable!!








So why am I telling you about Vintage Lucy's? Well one reason is because I love it and want to share the love with you and the other reason is the owner has just started a new blog and she is having a GIVEAWAY! If you would like a chance to win a cute shirt, tank or dress, go HERE to enter!

Sunny Days are Here Again!

Okay I know I have been a bad blogger lately but the weather has been so beautiful and we have been playing outside non stop! I have a feeling my blog will be neglected a little this summer..lol. It seems like the only time I have to blog lately is late at night and I have been so exhausted that I have just went straight to bed. Today was gorgeous, around 75 degrees here.I was on the road all day taking Kaleb to meet his Dad in Lexington Kentucky. It is spring break this week so his dad arranged a few fun things to do . They are going to Atlanta on Wednesday to watch the Atlanta Falcons play and then flying to Chicago on Thursday to watch the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat play. Kaleb was excited, he is a big basketball fan and he got to take a friend with him so I am sure they will have a great time.




After I got home this afternoon, I played outside with the kids all evening. We just bought an older dresser off of a co-worker and John spent the afternoon sanding it down and staining it. Kaleb needed a new dresser so we found this one at a great price and decided to refinish it. It is solid wood and a nice piece of furniture so hopefully it will turn out okay. The three panels in the middle open and there are three drawers that pull out. Pretty neat hu? Kind of reminds me of the Brady Bunch a little..lol! But not to worry , it will be the updated Brady Bunch dresser when we are done!!




Oh and the funniest thing happened after I was home. Out of the blue Ayla looked at me and said, "Mom you are out of control", and I said, "What do you mean I am out of control", as to which she replied, "Look at all of those clothes in the closet, you are out of control"... I started laughing because I knew she was probably repeating what her Daddy had said as he was getting her dressed this morning. So I had Ayla repeat what she had said to John and he started laughing...BUSTED!! I told him it wasn't really as bad as it looks, I have a system with Ayla's closet, he just doesn't know what it is (wink, wink).

So Brennan has been in dire need of a hair cut lately, John took him to the barber shop yesterday afternoon and as soon as he sat him in the chair he threw a fit. The barber refused to cut his hair so John brought him home and cut his hair all by himself and he didn't even move. So here is his new hair cut, isn't he handsome? I could just smother him with kisses all day and all night..lol!!



Hope everyone is having a great weekend, is anyone watching March Madness? We are huge basketball fans so we are watching every chance we get! So far our team is still in it. Oh and actually West Virginia won the Big East Championship last week!! Today while I was in Kentucky, almost everyone I saw was wearing blue and white. I didn't realize until later that they were playing tonight so then it made sense. Kentucky has some die hard fans, I know that. We are fans of Kentucky too because one of their players, William Patterson is from West Virginia!

Have a great Sunday!

THE Easter Bunny Picture!

Ayla's first picture with the Easter Bunny!

We had to return some things at the mall on Saturday and when we got there, we realized that the Easter Bunny was there as well. Ayla just had to see the Easter Bunny, so we waited for an hour because he was taking an hour break when we got there. She told me that she wanted to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap and get her picture taken. I kept asking if she was sure because last year we just looked at waved at him from a distance. Soooooo, we waited in line for at least 30 minutes and when it was finally her time to visit she all of a sudden wanted nothing to do with him. It was kind of funny, she was walking real slow up to see him and I had to talk her into sitting BESIDE him and not on his lap. John got it all on video, it was so funny. So she did actually sit beside him for a few seconds but she did NOT want him to touch her AT ALL. I was able to take one picture with my camera because I was not going to pay the outrageous price that they charge and this is what I got .....

This was her waiting in line, she was so happy and excited!!





and this is her when she finally saw the Easter Bunny....




she is like, get your hands off of me...lol. So she wanted to leave as soon as she sat down and then as we were walking out to our car she started crying saying that she wanted to go see the Easter Bunny again..lol! I thought this picture was priceless, we will have to go back and see if Brennan will set beside the Easter Bunny, but I have a feeling that he will NOT. These days he barely gets out of my sight, he is such a mommy's boy!!

Liberty of London at Target!

I am sure everyone knows by now about Target carrying the "Liberty of London" print. Up until now, you had to pay big bucks to own any of this clothing. Well Target has came through for us again and is offering Liberty of London items at Target prices. I knew it would be released today so I went to Target eary this morning to get Ayla a few outfits. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, you never know until you see it in person, but I LOVE EVERYTHING!!! If I could afford it, I would have bought it all. So of course, I had Ayla do a litle fashion show for you so you can see how cute it is and so you can hurry up and get to Target. No kidding, this line is flying off of the shelves! Oh, and it is not just kids clothing, they have bags (which I got), wallets, hats, gloves and even bedding with this print. They also have Women's clothing which I briefly looked at but what I did see I really liked! So here is Ayla in her new Liberty of London!

This first dress is GORGEOUS and is my favorite. I think this may be her Easter dress with a little white cardigan!





and how perfect would this be for July 4th.. Love the navy and red colors!!





oh and they even have rompers.. this one is so cute, it is smocked and it has two little pockets on the front....



and this is a little halter set, it has the navy print on the pockets but you can't see it in the pictures..



We also got her another romper and another short set but she was done modeling for the night..lol. Oh and here is my bag that I bought, I thought it would be perfect to carry on the plane with all of the kids things in it next month. I love the print and color, this was the only one left so I didn't even get to see the other ones they had. The lady checking us out said that people were at Target at 8 this morning buying Liberty of London items, she said they had sold a ton already and this was at 11 this morning.... so if you like anything go NOW...lol! Here is a picture of the bag....






So what do you think? Do you love Target as much as I do??

Mystery Solved!

One day last week John came home from work to have lunch at the house. After he went back to work I realized that it was getting very cold in the house. I went and looked at the thermostat and to my surprise it read 69 degrees which put it into emergency mode, which explained why it was cold. We normally leave it on 72-73 degrees during the Winter months. I know I didn't change it so I just assumed that John had set it lower because maybe it was warmer outside that day, after all, I was the only other person home, Kaleb was at school and Ayla and Brennan can't reach it sooo...John was the ONLY person who could have changed it. When John got home later I asked him if he changed the thermostat and he said "no". I was baffled, I just didn't know who could have done it if he did not. John suggested that maybe Ayla or Brennan did it. Nope no way, I was not hearing it, they could NOT reach it and besides I would see them if they tried to do something like that.....so the VERY next day, this is what I saw





MYSTERY SOLVED!

Yes my precious two year old had been carrying his trash can from his room and standing on it to push the buttons, I couldn't help but to laugh! So, I had to have a very serious conversation with him because he was making me look bad. See what happens when you take up for your children? They prove you wrong every time...lol. But I do have to give him credit, he was smart enough to figure out a way to actually reach the buttons and do it when I was NOT looking!! Life with a two year old, gotta love it!!

HOLD ON TO YOUR DREAM, THE JEFFREY GOTTFURCHT CHILDREN'S ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION

This week at Kelly's Korner, the topic for "Show us Your Life" is favorite charities. I found this foundation a few weeks ago and it means the world to me. This foundation works by granting wishes for children who have Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. My husband and I are going to be donating to this organization and if you feel led to do the same, I will attach the link below. Thank you for reading about something that means so much to me!

About Our Mission

The Foundation is a wish-granting organization whose mission is to make dreams and wishes a reality for children living with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.

About JGCAF

The Jeffrey Gottfurcht Children’s Arthritis Foundation (the “Foundation”) was founded in September 2009 by Jeffrey Gottfurcht. Eight years ago at the age of 27, Jeffrey was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. He had periodically experienced swollen fingers and wrists and had stiff joints throughout his late teens and early 20’s: he thought these were merely an allergic reactions. Finally, a Rheumatoid Arthritis specialist at Stanford confirmed the diagnosis. In 2009, Jeffrey’s symptoms significantly advanced and he learned that he would be functionally immobile within a few years. An avid mountain climber, Jeffrey decided he could not just give in and with a can-do attitude committed to training for and climbing Mount Everest in 2010, thereby fulfilling his number 1 dream. Jeffrey wanted to share his determination to fight Rheumatoid Arthritis while bringing joy, strength and support to others afflicted with this lifelong disease. Jeffrey chose to focus on fulfilling the dreams of children suffering from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis because as a father of 3, he understands the importance of creating positive memories in a child’s life. The Foundation hopes to inspire, educate and generate awareness while those suffering with this lifelong disease optimistically await a cure.

Granting Wishes

The Foundation’s mandate is to fulfill the dreams of children afflicted with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Referrals for dreams will come from parents, guardians, members of the medical community, support-related websites and children suffering from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. The Foundation’s Dream Team will select the dreams that are prudent and possible to make a reality. The Foundation’s president will visit the child and present the dream come true. Wishes should fall under the following categories: 1) “I wish I could go…”, 2) “I wish I could meet…”, 3) “I wish to be…”, and 4) “I wish to have…”.

Please watch the videos of two children who this organization has helped and made it possibel for their "wish" come true!







The Jeffrey Gottfurcht Children's Arthritis Foundation

Bedroom Makeover and a Surprise!

The weekends are just too short!! We didn't do too much this weekend, John was on call and had to work Saturday so Ayla and I did a little shopping. Speaking of which, I put a new Matilda Jane skirt on Ayla before we left. I paired it with a long sleeve pink shirt that matched and a pair of polka dot leggings. There is a polka dot ruffle in the skirt so I thought it looked cute. Well, Ayla liked the polka dot leggings but she ALSO wanted to wear a polka dot shirt (which she does have, and I can't believe she remembered) anyway, she cried for at least 20 minutes because I would not let her wear the polka dot shirt. She said that the pink shirt did NOT match. She is into matching and her clothes have to match at ALL times. It is so funny, she also has to have perfume on and her cross necklace on when we go out. It is so amazing the little things they pick up. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures before we left on Saturday. You can tell by the first couple of pictures that she was STILL upset about not wearing the polka dot shirt...lol.









We also have been doing a little mini makeover of our bedroom. We upgraded to a king bed several weeks ago and so we had to get new bedding. Then we decided to paint because the old paint did not match the new bedding (there's that word again) and we bought a few new accessories etc. The only thing left to do now is get new blinds and curtains. At the last minute we decided to paint one wall a burnt orange color as an "accent wall" to bring out the orange chair and accessories in the room. I really like how it turned out, I love a little color in a room!! What do you think? Well it's really not orange but you get the picture. The pictures are not that great because they were taken at night without any natural light.









After the "orange wall"







I just realized that I did not take any pictures of our night stands so I just went and took a few!







and finally some pictures in the picture frames...lol!

And for the surprise, guess where we are going next month? Oh, okay you do not have to guess, I will just tell you!! We are going to ...............




DISNEY WORLD!!!

We are all so excited! We are meeting friends there and they have four year old twins and that is all Ayla is talking about these days. Take my advice on this, never tell a three year old that she is going to Disney in APRIL because they do not understand that APRIL is still over 4 weeks away. No kidding, she asks every single day if today is the day we are going to Disney. We were in the car a few days ago and she saw the green interstate signs and she said, "Look daddy it says this way to Disney", we couldn't believe it, we both just started laughing. Just today I was getting ready to go to the post office and I asked her if she wanted to go with me and she said, "No I am just going to wait for daddy to get home so I can go to Disney with him"..lol. So I kind of wish I never said anything to her BUT it is so cute to see her SO EXCITED.

I hope everyone had a great weekend, I am off now to watch the "Bachelor Wedding".

Also, I have some of Ayla and Brennan's clothes listed on Ebay right now, if you are interested and want a link to my auctions just send me an email! I am listing some of Ayla's cute custom outfits!