unneccessary necessary post: SHOES

there are probably 100 other things God would rather me post about, but the other night these shoes were capturing my attention while hubby was out of town tonight. can't sleep when he is away.

and they are all from PAYLESS (each shoe pic is linked). I'm on these at the next BOGO or before. Aren't all of them precious &amp. Don't know if you are this way....I am so proud to tell others where I find my deals: Hudson's, Wal-mart, 1/2 of 1/2, Forever 21. zero shame. only feel shame when i pay too much.

spring break

spend alot of time at my mom & dad's in canton over spring break. sisters & their kiddos were in town. 

cousins ruthie & charlie lovin life. we ate lots of ice cream & bday cake (except those who gave up sweets for lent). there are five March bdays in our fam.

henry has gotten berserk over puzzles. cousin clara is helping him sort it out.

rob is the oldest cousin (13). so patient with the little ones. giving a 2 year old a piggy back ride is not easy. he's the best 13 yr old i know-solid, kind & sweet.

 charlie-my little sister polly's youngest. he & ruthie are a couple of months apart. they are a bit like oil & vinegar, they are going to work it out.

spazzing out to capture a moment, i hit this "stitch" feature on my camera that turned out neat.

little finds from our nature walk. 

susan's painting

A piece for my friend Susan who needs prayer and this sweet reminder from her God right now (I will never leave you, never forsake you. hebrews 13:5) She has recently lost her husband and then a long-time co-worker & friend (also my dad's law partner). Please pray for sweet Susan.

Please pray for my dad-he had be working alongside Bill for 25 years. He died suddenly a couple of weeks ago.

ruthie's sunshine party

So for the past few weeks, YELLOW has been all around! And lots of talk about Ruthie's SHUNSHINE PARTY. It was impossible NOT to be happy about planning Ruthie's sunshine party. A very special day celebrating our ray of sunshine.

^ Ruthie's cake: A simple 1 layer yellow cake from Kroger. I added yellow sprinkles to top and made the rays with candy sticks & some cheapy sunglasses. ^

 

^Yellow "vases"-I spray painted wine bottles & added ribbon/button detail.^ Found this vintage yellow/white table cloth at my mom's house-my treasure trove! 

MENU: goldfish, peeps, lemon drops, yellow jelly bellies, pimento cheese & PBJ finger sandwiches, pineapple/cantaloupe skewers, nilla wafers, old fashioned yellow/orange candy sticks. Fun tip to keep food cold, a last minute improv: I put a layer of popsicles (in the clear plastic sleeve) in the bottom of my dish that had the fruit skewers. I used yellow/orange popsicles.

 

I now like my letter press cookie cutters. I found the sugar cookie recipe that works with them great. Thanks Rebekah. No sad faces after they came out of the oven. Don't you love seeing ruthie drooling over the candy & cookies.

 

^ The crafts: Sunshine paper plates & then paper sunglasses. White paper plates are so cheap & such a good starter for a craft. We will keep these in stock from now on! ^

 

A little foam crown I fancied up with plastic jewels. Then forgot to have Ruthie wear it for "happy birthday".

^ Made these circle/ribbon thingies... Found a sunflower calendar on clearance and cup the pages in circles, made 2 slits to weave the ribbon through it. A simple decor idea you could do with any size ribbon or circles. These yellow lanterns my sis found at dollar tree & I spiffed up with hanging ribbon from the bottom of it.

Not a super pic of it, but I made Ruthie's shirt. I printed a little sunshine on canvas with fabric backing. No sewing over here, so it is rigged up with fabric glue and a little hand stitching. One time wear shirt, but Ruthie loved her shunshine shirt.

^ Favors: lemon drops & candy stick.

^ This was a book that my sister Meg gave Ruthie for her bday. Quirky, cute little book-Ruthie is lovin' it.

the SUNSHINE PARTY PLAYLIST (you were prob wondering-right?)

Blue Sky: The Allman Brothers Band
Here Comes the Sun: The Beatles
Ain't No Sunshine: Bill Withers
Blue Skies Again: Jessica Lea Mayfield
Walking On Sunshine: Katrina & The Waves
Keep On the Sunny Side: The Low Anthem
Sunshine: Matt Costa
Sunday Sun: Neil Diamond
You Are My Sunshine: Ray Charles
A Place in the Sun: Stevie Wonder
You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Stevie Wonder
Island In the Sun: Weezer

I was so sad about saying goodbye to all this yellow after the party, I decided to paint our bathroom a bright happy yellow. Literally I started painting the Saturday afternoon after the party. Tim was a sport and went with it, no "crazy lady" comments.

wedding bliss

How to order one of these:
1-Mail or drop by the invite
2-Let me know certain colors, flowers, bride's style preference, any watercolor invite you like from my blog
3-$25 for watercolor invite & $30 (with matte). This include gift wrap.
4-Tax & shipping not included. $5 to ship to bride.

you're my blue sky, you're my sunny day

Having soooo much fun over here. Getting ready for Ruthie's 2nd birthday! A sunshine party. All this yellow is doing my soul good. I'll post pictures after we celebrate this ray of sunshine. She has no idea how much joy she brings to our family.

wal-mark

i have a love/hate relationship with the wal-mark (someone's grandma calls it this-can't remember?). i feel i need to shop there because of the prices (don't do coupons very well). but i think it sucks a bit of life from me each time i'm there. but the other morning i went sans kiddos & i wandered into the jewelry section.

i have not shame buying shoes, clothing & accessories from wal-mart, may be my best chance of having something new. anyway, the jewelry was really fun & totally cheap. Here are some iphone pics of ones I liked-had self control & got only one.

feeling the love

Henry displaying the valentines for his classmates! My friend Jennifer gave the me the choo-choo choose line-thanks!

Gigi (my mom) brought by our entertainment for the day-2 valentine balloons! Ruthie sporting her new vtine sunglasses.

conversation hearts

Okay, here is a follow-up on this post. A Henry/Sarah review of the Williams Sonoma cookie cutters with letters.

 

We rolled them out. Okay, I used the Becky Crocker sugar cookie mix (didn't use the recipe suggested Williams Sonoma cookie recipe). I was out of flour (go figure) so we rolled the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper (versus sprinkling flour on the roller & dough).

 

The letters were frustrating to slide in the cookie press part-think I worked up a sweat. Again since no flour to be located & no answer at 2 neighbor's houses. I sprayed the cookie cutter & letters with cooking spray. This worked pretty well. The directions suggested dipping the cutter into flour so not to stick to dough.

^ And everything was great UNTIL we pulled them out of the oven ^ If I wasn't on a sugar high, I may have cried. So after reading product review comments (of course after the fact). It is best if you use the recipe on the box, but I don't think they make very soft cookies-more of a shortbread cookie. BUT, it did work this way, stamping them AFTER they baked.

 

Okay, I did find a way that it worked for me & my Betty Crocker mix.....I used just the cookie cutter part & didn't not press down on the letter stamp & then bake the cookies as usual...Then after they come out and cool for a minute or so-THEN press the letter stamp into them. So when they are still a little soft and would allow for a stamp. 

GENERAL SUGAR COOKIE TIPS (I'm pretending I'm knowing stuff here, literally I've only bake a few batches of fo real sugar cookies, but this is what I found):

-Make sure you soften the butter (don't liquify it)

-If batter is sticking to the rolling pin, flour it or sandwich it b/w 2 pieces of parchment

-Put batter in the fridge b/w batches

-So not to tear the unbaked cookies in the transfer...Roll the dough out on parchment paper, cut the cookies (leaving cooking space b/w each). Then remove the scraps. Then you have the cookies ready to bake on the parchment & move the sheet (with unbaked cookies) to the cookie sheet. You cook fewer cookies at a time this way, but it is worth it to me-not to tear the cookies.