:: Party Pictures ::

Just a quick post to share with you the link to our pictures from this week's party. Enjoy!

To view the pictures please click here!

:: Cupcake Drama ::

Where to begin...This weekend was our Birthday Party celebration for Grace and Ethan. We had a wonderful time and the party was fun for all. We spent the day at the Oil Ranch (pictures soon to follow). The party started in the a.m. hours so we did not have to endure the scorching/blistering Texas heat! In all it was a lot of fun and worth every moment. I can not believe we are the parents of a four year old and that our baby boy is now one.

I should get to the root of this blog...our cupcake adventure. Figuring out what to do for Grace and Ethan's cake was a bit of a mess. We devoted WAY too much time to this. It's actually harder than you'd think to find a cake that will work for both a girl and a boy. After going back and forth between making it ourselves and buying one Joey convinced me we should buy it to rid ourselves of some stress. He picked a bakery (The Cookie Jar Bakery on Westheimer) and I called to talk about pricing and place the order. After much thought we decided to order two cupcake cakes. One would be in pink and purple for Grace and the other would be a standard blue for Ethan - both in the shape of a cupcake.

Their website had a cute picture I referenced when ordering the cupcake cakes (see below): Unfortunately this is not what I received. I made mention to the cashier (who I guess was the only employee working at the time) about how the cake did not look like the picture I ordered. He gave me some line about how no two cakes are identical and I should not expect them too be exact. Feeling trapped because the party was the next morning we (OVER) paid for two cakes and left the bakery. About ten minutes down the road both Joey and I were irritated at the quality we were given so we called the bakery and returned to get our money back. Upon our arrival there was a long discussion - the cashier who previously promised to refund our money now said he didn't have permission from the owner. This obvious issue was disputed for another thirty minutes (give or take), the details of this are far too weird to type out. In the end, because we paid cash and couldn't just cancel the payment, we had to actually call the police to seek resolution. Before the officer arrived the cashier finally caved and gave us our money back (probably because Joey scared the heck out of him).

Needless to say we did eat their cupcakes (even though he didn't take them back after all the drama!) and we felt SO much better to have fought the fight and won! I would NEVER use this place again. They were so rude from moment one - having read some online reviews (after the fact of course) it seems other patrons have had the same experience. Below is a picture of the two cakes I received - obviously not what I ordered (above).

To solve our problem we purchased some pre-made HEB cupcakes that worked just fine. The kids didn't care one way or another - it was a shame the others didn't work out though. After visiting Magnolia's Bakery in NYC a few summers back (thanks to my cousin Patrick) Joey and I are somewhat cupcake snobs...there's nothing like Magnolia's. Since visiting in person we've had a couple batches shipped from NYC to Houston .... it's just not the same though.

:: Sneak Peek ::

So I thought I would share with you my latest task/personal assignment. At Christmas time last year a friend of mine showed me a book he made his daughter called the A, B, C's of You. Each page had a letter of the alphabet and pictures that corresponded. The idea was too cute for me not to try. I've been working on this since January and finished this week. I ordered the book as a gift from me to Grace for her birthday party this week but I am not sure if it will make it on time (everyone keep your fingers crossed!). Each page was done from scratch - most during my travel time away from home. In all I'm really pleased with it....more so that it's done though ;)
Note: Click on the album cover above to preview the entire book:

:: Eye To Eye ::

The innocence of a moment: So often these two don’t see eye to eye. The big one wants time to himself. The little one wants all of his time. To have his moment, he rides off and plays on his own. She, feelings on her sleeve, then whines about how he’s gone. Being the youngest of the grandchildren myself, (all 27 of them!) I try to convey the mentality of a nearly four year old little girl who only wants a fair shot at playing with the big kids. It doesn’t take much to make her little heart happy – just an ounce of attention and someone to listen. It’s a beautiful sight in a mothers eye when, for once, they do see eye to eye.

:: Quick Pic ::

My favorite new picture of Grace. Taken at Clair's birthday party.

:: Pop Goes The Weasel ::

Oh the things that happen while Mama is away! Joey called me at work yesterday laughing hysterically...Ethan had crawled into the play kitchen and would randomly pop his head out of the sink.

:: Hello Summer ::

With the start of summer Grace and Ethan said farewell to Mimie watching them during the weeks. Grace wanted to do something special so she painted this card and bought Mimie a bag of Circus Peanuts (one of Mimie's favorites). I took a moment to lightly draw the picture and Grace painted it with her paints. I asked if she wanted help but she was confident she could do it all by herself. She did a beautiful job (I think)! She has such a creative and imaginative soul.

:: Long Time No Post ::

Seems like forever since I've posted a note. Since my last posting I've spent a week in Nashville and we've attended three birthday parties. It's been a busy couple of weeks! Rather than hash out every detail I thought I'd post some pictures, Enjoy ;)

Lauren's 4th Birthday Party ~ My Little Pony


Claire's 1st Birthday - Lake Side Picnic
Seriously, this was so fun! The kids loved playing outside all afternoon.

Caleb's 10th Birthday Dinner
hint: there's a video on this one, be sure to press play