back to school.

When did this itty bitty chubby cheeked little boy...

 

...become a big tall 2nd grader?!?

 



 

Yesterday Quinn and I took a road trip and picked up my nephew Aidan to take him to his "Back to School/Meet the Teacher Night".  (His mom and dad are out of town for a wedding.)  I am really glad it worked out for us to go and take him.  He was really excited to see his classroom, find out who was in his class, and most of all meet his teacher.  Thankfully, she passed the test! ;)  Mrs. S. was super sweet and fun and Aidan was so excited about her.  It made it okay that some of his best friends weren't in his class, he said.

 

He found the classroom library right away.

Quinn was his little buddy for the evening. :)

She was pretty excited about this classroom and the desks, it surprised me...and scared me.  Not yet, chickadee!

Yeah, I see you deep in thought about it. ;)

Aidan and his teacher seemed to hit it off great and it helped him to be put at ease about the start of a brand new year.

 

She even did "bunny ears" with him. :) 

I'm pretty sure Quinn thought Mrs. S. was a Disney Princess, because everyone was having their picture taken with her.  Quinn kept going up to her for a picture. :)

Best wishes for a wonderful start to the school year for our little big 2nd grader, Aidan!

laughing hard with the windows down.

"Making time for the ones that count
I'll spend the rest of my time
Laughing hard with the windows down
Leaving footprints all over town"
                             - Kelly Clarkson - Catch my breath

It is so important to take time out for yourself and do something extra fun.
We deserve it.  Life moves too quickly, the fun things are too important.
Girlfriends...even more important. :)

Especially ones who jump in on a last minute plan to go to a concert and then also does any little thing she can to make it extra special.  My friend, Kirsten, is so this girl.  Always thinking of the little extra things.  She makes even the small moments special, and I have always loved her for this.  She has been this way for as long as I have known her. 

 

So, last night we hopped in her parent's white corvette and headed to the Kelly Clarkson/Maroon 5 concert.  We found tickets the day before and we were so glad we decided to go.  We couldn't help but feel totally young and hip dressing cute, no children, driving the corvette with the top down and music blaring.  :)



 Kelly Clarkson - Fantastic!  She is adorable.  Loved all the songs she played, but favorites last night were Since you've been gone and Catch my breath.

 Maroon 5 - I love Maroon 5, and I'm also just an Adam Levine fan too.  I watch The Voice every season. :)  They were fun, and sounded great. Favorites last night was the entire encore set.  It was so energetic and interactive with the crowd:  Payphone, She will be loved, and Daylight.

Two mamas so excited for a fun night out.
Two girlfriends ready to sing the night away.  (Friends for 18 years :))

  

hello beautiful.

Isn't she gorgeous??

We love her and we may be a little biased because we built her... well, Todd did.
I helped. :)
We are so excited about our new Farmhouse Table.
You will want to check out more pictures and details OVER HERE @all things DIY.
Including seeing how we saved major $$$ on this project. :)

This is just part one of our Farmhouse Table project. more to come.

I have also created a DIY Project Catalog for easier project searching. 

seriously...how did that happen?

Today our sweet little girl is a BIG two and half years old.
{insert huge sigh here}
Seriously?
How did that happen?

It seems like just a few months ago we were holding our tiny 5 pound peanut.
It goes so quickly, and I am so glad I am able to be present and with her at home as she grows.
These little years only last so long, I can't imagine how quickly they would go by if I wasn't a stay-at-home mama.  A wealth of gratitude I feel today, and everyday. 

our sweet baby girl.
in these pictures I see the exact same sweet little face.

We are off to enjoy our day!
More posts to come this week about all the fun little things that make this 2 1/2 year old so sweet and special.  I am planning to snap some photos of her this week too.

There is much to say about this silly, sweet, girly girl... who will do anything for a few m&m's. :)

 

 

 

Oh, and I am having a little Back to School Special on cake pops!!!

(August 20th-31st)
A little something extra special for a student starting school, heading back to college, a special teacher, or just a group of mom's celebrating the start of school. :)
Check out the details here!

 



brynn run.

Recently we had this little blue-eyed peanut over for the day and a little sleepover.
(also known as... Brynn, our niece) :)

 

Quinn and Brynn are just 8 1/2 months apart.  As babies it seemed like a big gap, but now it is narrowing and pretty soon they will both be two (when Brynn turns two in November).

 

They are so fun to watch now, and they love each other so much. 

 

We loved having a chance to have Brynn over for a sleepover, hopefully more sleepovers are in store for these girls in the future.

Always had to be doing the same thing.  Each had a cup of water and a cup of goldfish crackers and were ready to go to a birthday party.

 

 

Quinn was able to tell Brynn how much she loves "pop-pops". 

I knew there was a good reason why we had two strollers. ;)

Quinn talks about Brynn ALL the time now.
She told us at dinner one night that her favorite part was "Brynn run, then Quinn run" with arms in running motion on the words "run".  It was the cutest retell ever.  She loves when Brynn chases her (as seen in the Tennessee Wedding video).

Last night we had some friends over, when I told Quinn some of her friends were coming over she said "Brynn come?". 

So excited to watch these two grow up together.

last days of summer.

The end of summer is starting to come into sight.
Our time of losing track of the days will soon be over.
Todd will head back to coaching this Wednesday and back to the classroom next week.
But it's not sad nor depressing, because we have taken full advantage of our summer days together.
The mild summer just gets me more excited and thinking about fall, my favorite time of year.

As we wrap up our summer, here are just a couple sneak peeks into some things we have been working on.
This girl's big girl room is getting a whole lot more girly.

I bought this light at IKEA months ago for such a good price.
Many more updates to come on this fun room, quickly becoming one of my favorites in the house.

One big project has been in the works the last few days.
We are so excited about it.
It's really no surprise, the five readers of our blog already know we are building a farmhouse table. :)

Looking forward to sharing more on our DIY page later this week. 
Todd put the last coat of stain on this morning, giving it a more weathered look. 
A couple coats of sealer and then a few days to let it cure, and it will be ready for it's new home in our kitchen.

Yesterday we had a great day in Todd's hometown celebrating his Dad's birthday.
It was a gorgeous day and a really fun party.  We all had a blast! 
Total fail on this mama's part by taking no pictures.  Must have been having too much fun.
We made cookies and cake pops, and of course those went quickly!

Gave our little Simply Sweet page a new little look and update recently. :)

Enjoy these last days of summer before school starts!

animals everywhere.

Our summer has slowed down.
After a month of traveling, and a job switch for Todd, we have been spending a lot of time together as a little family of three.  It's rare for us to have so much uninterrupted time together, and we like to make the most of our time so that we are spending "quality" time together.
Definitely already enjoying the benefits of more time with Todd and Daddy (for Quinn).  He is home and relaxed, whereas usually this time of year he is frantically trying to get ready for all that goes into the start of a new season. 
So, we are busy enjoying summer things.
Like fairs and zoos and parks.
And the weather has been fantastic this summer, love it!

We had so much fun visiting a local fair with some of our family.

The very next day we switched from farm animals to zoo animals and took a trip to the zoo with Quinn's good friend Gigi, and her mommy Melissa.  It was a really fun trip and another gorgeous summer day.

Quinn loved seeing the animals, especially the seals and the polar bears, but I think she had just as much fun jumping in puddles (because she found every single one in the whole entire zoo).

We took another trip up to the Milwaukee zoo and spent the day with my sister's family.

The last time we went to this zoo, Quinn was just three months old!

It was a gorgeous 75 and sunny day this time though with no humidity, compared to our 2011 trip when it was 98 and so hot!  Much better trip this time.

Cousins are good for helping to push your face into place for the picture. ;)

This one is how most group pictures go. :)

 

friendly yellow.

We did some updating in our entryway.

Welcome to our new space in a "friendly yellow" paint. :)

Many more details OVER HERE - @all things DIY.

We are having so much fun making our house more homey and organized and more us.