Target Temper Tantrum

I needed to get out of the house for a bit this evening, so after we got the kiddos to bed I waved goodbye to Mr. Bug and headed off to Target. I was really just killing time, enjoying the quiet and looking at all the pretty things when I crossed paths with a mom and her daughter. The girl was whining and hollering down the aisle that she had found what she wanted, and the mother was telling her in her most calm and soothing voice that it wasn’t in the budget.

I looked at the mom and my heart twinged a little bit. She looked so tired. She had obviously had a long day and her daughter was not giving her a break. Finally she simply said, “I’m done, honey. We’re going home now.” Boy oh boy did that tick that girl off! She didn’t quite stomp her foot, but she sure was bouncing up and down as she whined, “But this is the one I want! I want this!”

Ready for a surprise? The girl was at least 18 years old, and the item in question was a futon. You were picturing a little girl, weren’t you?

This girl was apparently shopping for supplies for college and making her mom miserable. I wanted to pull my cart alongside them and tell her to stop being such a brat. Obviously that wouldn’t have been the right thing for me to do, but man that girl made me mad.

I ended up behind them in line and as I stood there I subtly watched the mom and her daughter. The futon was in the cart, the girl was standing next to it with a sour look on her face, and the mom still just looked tired.

On the way home, I got to thinking about my little munsters. Eden will be heading off to college in about 11 years, and I hope and pray that our college shopping experience looks nothing like that. I’m not naïve enough to think we’ll go skipping through fields holding hands all her life, but I really would rather she not suck the life out of me. :) Maybe I expect too much?

Well, I’m headed to bed. Hopefully when I awake I will be well rested and ready to remind my little ones about all it means to show respect and appreciation for all that we’ve been given. Because there’s no freaking way I’m taking that girl shopping for college.

Party On! Eden Mae's Butterfly Birthday Party

Greetings and salutations, friends! I’m popping in to share Eden’s Butterfly birthday party with you. I’ll vote it as a success and remember that I do not want to do too many more parties with lots of six-year-olds. Scratch that. I’m never having another sixth birthday party again. Ever. (Until Sissy turns six. And even then I’m going to have to rethink my system.)

I’ve been thinking about and working on this party basically since Judah’s party back in March, so I’m sort of happy and sad to have it be over. There are so many beautiful ideas for butterfly parties out there and I didn’t do half the fun things that I pinned. If you want to check out the Pinterest board I created to corral all of these ideas, click here and it should redirect you.

So without further ado, a Butterfly birthday party!!

 

For the invitations, I opted to make them myself rather than using my sister's program again like I did here and here, but this could have been done either way. For mine I borrowed a couple of butterfly punches from my mother-in-law and just went nuts with the butterflies.

 

 

My inspiration come from one of the invites I pinned to my board on Pinterest, and since I was making them myself I thought the 3D look was fun.

 

Greeting guests as they walked through the front door were our special 'E' door hanger and--as always--our favors displayed on the buffet entry table. I went pretty lame simple with the favors this time. Bags from Target in our party colors filled with bubbles, butterfly tattoos, mini Frisbees and a glow bracelet. Snaps to Mr. Bug for hanging all the streamers and balloons for me! My knight in shining armour. Standing on a chair. Hanging streamers.

 

 

 

Also, you can kind of tell I tried to fix those darn cords on that buffet table, but my heart wasn't in it. I'll do it right tomorrow ; )

 

Blurry dessert table picture! My sister made yet another gorgeous cake for me and it was delish to boot. I tried to change things up a bit by having Caramel Bugles rather than pretzels (I walk on the wild side) and made dirt cups with little butterflies floating sweetly above them. It occurred to me as I hot-glued 25 tiny butterflies to 25 little toothpicks that I might have some kind of problem, but I pushed past it.

 

 

 

 

 

When I was originally planning this party, I was hoping we could have the whole thing outside like we did last year. But alas, it was not meant to be and as the date drew nearer the weather forecast predicted rain all. day. long. So inside we would go!

 

 

 

I tossed out my plan to play butterfly badminton (and returned 20 butterfly nets to Target) and decided instead on three smaller-scale activities. We played Musical Butterflies, set up a Butterfly Design Center, and had a Chrysalis Contest. For some reason the Musical Butterflies was a bust, but they LOVED wrapping one another up in toilet paper! I even volunteered Mr. Bug as a caterpillar at the end and he grudgingly willingly agreed. : ) Love you, babe!

 

 

 

After games and some dancing to a little Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, we read our story (a new birthday party tradition) and then opened presents. Eden had so much fun with her Butterfly Birthday Party! I will say, though, that an indoor birthday party with a bunch of six-year-old boys and girls may be too much for me. : ) From now on, I think age six and up will be girls-only parties!

Anniversary Reflections: The Wedding

Welcome to part two of my Anniversary Reflections! Like I mentioned last week, Mr. Bug and I had a fairly short engagement (only four months) and although we had to endure more than one raised eyebrow and pointed look at mah belly (no, I was not pregnant), we were super excited to get ready for the big day. And now, I will tell you lovely people about…The Big Day! Applause! Applause! Huzzah!

I’d like to say right away that our wedding was really beautiful. We had several ladies that my husband worked with at the time telling us it was one of the most beautiful weddings they’d ever attended. Why, yes I AM tooting my own horn! Thanks for joining me! That being said, the day was really one near-miss after another and we barely made it out alive. I’m mostly kidding, but still.

 

I mentioned our location in my last post and it really was a beautiful spot. It was a gorgeous bed & breakfast in a little town kind of in between both of our hometowns, but still a bit out of the way. It felt unique and brand-new, not somewhere we had spent a lot of time (like our church) which made the day even more special.

Since I had made a deal with God about my late-June wedding (no rain, no spiking temps) I went ahead and made arrangements for our small wedding to take place on the home’s front porch. Oh, and the reception was going to be outside, too. On an uncovered patio. Zero potential for problems, right? And no, I had no backup plan. Whatsoever.

My amazing bridesmaids and I the morning of the wedding

My wonderful bridesmaids and I headed out to the B&B that morning to set up tables, centerpieces, chairs, aisle runner, you name it, we did it. Looking back I really think there should have been groomsmen there doing a lot of this work but somehow that didn’t happen. What the heck were they doing, anyway? Hmm. Might need to ask the hubby about that…

Anyway, our wedding was scheduled for mid-afternoon and at around 11:00 am it started raining. Not a real Nebraska rain, just enough to make a 21-year-old who is getting married outside that afternoon want to throw up. It stopped very quickly and we all breathed a sigh of relief and headed inside to get ready for the big event.

 

A real friend is someone who will tweeze your upper lip for you. Seriously. She's the best.

When we got up to the room set aside for our use we realized it was quite warm. We knew the air conditioner was on because we had felt the refreshing air on our way in, but figured the circulation up to that room just must be poor. It was an older building, after all. (By the way, we realized about 20 minutes before the wedding started that the air conditioner vent was closed. Yeah, we were up there sweating for a couple of hours getting ready for a wedding and none of us thought to check that. Curse curse curse.)

 

Just sittin' there sweatin' on my wedding day. Ya know.

Shortly after I started getting my hair and makeup done, my dad came in to ask me if I had signed a contract with the owner of the B&B. Apparently, the cost per plate for the reception that we had agreed upon no longer seemed fair to her and she wanted to raise it by $2/plate. Side note: we paid about $6,000 for our wedding. Total. Including dress, flowers, photographer, everything. So adding on even another $400 or so would have blown our budget.

I think my dad saw the panic in my eyes when I nearly shouted at him, “Grab my green notebook! All of the paperwork is in that green notebook! I’ve got all the paperwork! It’s only supposed to be $10 a head! I HAVE TO PUT MY FREAKING WEDDING DRESS ON NOW AND SHE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THE PRICE???!!!” Anyway, Dad took care of it. : )

As go time approached and guests started to arrive, the temperature steadily rose to a high of about 90 degrees. So much for our deal.

 

Finally it was time. My bridesmaids did their stroll down the aisle with their groomsmen and now it was my turn. The door opened, the music started and—wait. That’s not the music I wanted! Where’s January Rain? That’s what’s supposed to be playing when I walk down the aisle! I didn’t realize until later that I had neglected to give the DJ the CD with the processional music on it. So my attendants didn’t walk down to Willoughby by Over the Rhine as I had always dreamed. Ah, well. You win some, you lose some.

On my way down the aisle I got over the music change just in time to realize I could barely see through my veil. Like seriously couldn’t see. I basically stumbled through the ceremony (it might have been worse in my head). Also, it was really hot under there. To my everlasting amusement, I discovered later that my veil had been pinned. on. backwards. Boom. Score another one for the wedding sabotage gods.

 

I made it through the ceremony without passing out and we strolled back down the aisle with Michael Bublé playing Come FlyWith Me. Landon was in charge of that CD and I’m eternally grateful to him. : ) Take THAT, sabotage gods.

 

A peek at the little table we had set up at the front during the ceremony. We had our candles sheltered since it was outside, and we served one another communion during one of the songs.

 

Landon's uncle (who married us) had the idea to present each of our parents with a red rose during the ceremony. We thought it was a really neat way to honor them.

 

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly with only a few little snags along the way. Our photographer (who showed up in jeans, by the way), took nearly all of our pictures inside in front of a very busy fireplace rather than outside as I requested. We realized later that almost no one signed our guest book, and even fewer people received a program. My flower girl and her cousin found a giant mud hole and went nuts. One of the guests almost caught a tree on fire with the sparklers we used as an exit celebration. Run of the mill stuff, really.

Our super clever and super time-consuming guest book that hardly anyone signed

 

Our equally time-consuming programs, which hardly anyone received

 

Oh yeah, and there was breakdancing!

 

We served petit fours as a non-traditional twist for our wedding cake and they were delicious! Thanks, Mom!

 

But in the end the main goal was accomplished. We got hitched. We were married. The vows had been said, Communion was taken and the garter had been removed from my leg with his teeth. And all the groomsmen danced to YMCA. Yep, it was a real wedding from A to Z and by the end I was so happy to call Landon my very own Old Man.

 

 

 

To be fair, this was NOT the guy who almost lit a tree on fire. I just really like this picture : )

 

 

 

 

Anniversary Reflections: The Engagement

Eight years ago today, I walked down the aisle and married my best friend. But since I’m fully aware that that phrase sounds too sentimental for me, let me tell you more about that day and all the crazy that led up to it.

 

 

Mr. Bug proposed on February 19, 2005 (I really need to write out how he did that because it was so cool). After the down-on-one-knee moment and my six-tear acceptance, we headed to Perkins to iron out some details. It was late at night and I like Perkins hot chocolate. Don’t judge.

Something important you should know: I grew up watching old movies. I told you a while ago about The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band, and I listed The Way We Were in my favorite movies post here, but I don’t think I’ve told you about another old-time favorite—Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I grew up on this movie. Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank and Gideon. If you don’t get that, you NEED to watch this movie.

 

 

In that movie there’s an entire song dedicated to June brides. “OOOOooohhhh, they say if you marry in Juuuuunnne…you will alllwaaays beeee a briiiiiide.” You’re welcome.

 

 

Once Landon knew that I needed wanted to have a June wedding, the big question was whether we wanted to plan a wedding in four months or if we wanted to wait 16 months to get hitched. As two virgin kids with the honey glow in our eyes, we decided on the four month route. ;) So June 24 was the date set, and I was absolutely positive that God would NOT let it rain or be ridiculously hot on my wedding day. He just wouldn’t. Ah, to be 21 and naïve.

The next four months included dress shopping (thank God for floor models!), putting together bouquets (silk flowers save the budget!), wedding registries (no dear, you cannot register for that Star Wars spaceship), and deciding on a location for the big event.

 

Dress shopping. Apparently I was saving all of my cheesy smiles for my wedding day.

 

 

Why yes those ARE giant underpants! Our wedding shower gift from Mr. Bug's parents :)

 

My sisters and I before the wedding shower. I don't know why. I just don't know.

 

I knew I wanted something a little less traditional than a church building, and I found this beautiful bed & breakfast in a little Nebraska town that was perfect. (Note: Their website has music on the home page so don't let that scare you. Sorry!) The wedding would be outside—which would be fine because of my previously mentioned deal with God—and we could have the reception there too. Jackpot!

 

 

 

So there you have it. The lead-up to the big day. I’ll tell you all about that later this week, but I will let you in on one little secret: if you’re planning a wedding and hope everything goes off without a hitch, take a deep breath and get ready for a ride. It ain’t happenin’ sister. But it usually all works out well in the end : )

Found Treasures

Something hit me tonight as I got up to use the restroom before bed. First, let me tell you that Adaleine has this apparently unfixable problem with getting her toilet paper in the toilet. I’m sure it’s that she’s not paying close attention and she’s just trying to get back to her game. But so often when I go into the bathroom and see a little wad of TP on the floor, it frustrates me.

So tonight when I walked into the bathroom and automatically grabbed the tissue off the floor and tossed it in the toilet, I was struck by how funny the things are that we find on a daily basis. I wanted to share them with you, because the more I thought about it, the more precious these little ‘discoveries’ seemed. Some of my favorites are:

-Hot Wheels in the bottom of the hamper

-a dozen school lunch notes from Mommy tucked neatly in Eden’s backpack

-used Kleenex stuffed back into the tissue box

-the gift of a carefully drawn picture resting on my pillow

-a notebook filled with Adaleine’s unsteady handwriting

-superheroes in my purse

-colorful little hair clips in my shorts pocket at the end of the day

-cars parked in a line on the coffee table

-the crusts of the sandwiches in Eden’s lunch box

-dozens of books pulled off the bookshelf by a little boy wanting to read about trains

-a new toy clutched in a little hand at bedtime

And then there are my favorite discoveries, my little babies. There are mornings when I wake up to find a sweet face sleeping next to mine on the pillow, or find two little sisters snuggled asleep in one twin bed. I’ve found Judah on the floor between his sisters’ beds and once asleep teetering on the foot of Eden’s mattress.

 

 

 

As I tossed that wad of tissue into the toilet tonight it occurred to me that I am so blessed by the little treasures I find every day, even if I feel exasperated at the time. I was reminded of The Nester’s mantra; it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. Such a true statement and one I hope to keep in the front of my mind when I step on yet another Polly Pocket in the middle of the night. Enjoy your treasures!

 

 

Summer Reading Plan

Eden has turned into quite the little reader lately, so I'm looking for a Reading Rewards Program that will challenge her to keep reading over the summer. I am also looking forward to spending time reading to Adaleine and working on her letters to help her earn rewards too!

Here are a few different systems that I'm mulling over. There are a TON out there, so you know I'm completely overwhelmed trying to figure out which one is the 'best' one. I give myself more grey hairs...

Yes, I know we're in the second week of June and I need to get on it already, but cut me a little slack. I'm a hard-core procrastinator.

This blog called To The Moon and Back has a list of different businesses and organizations that participate in Summer Reading Programs. Bonus!

This balloon pop idea by Chicken Babies blog seems like a lot of fun, and she's also got other programs she's used for past summers including this bookworm chart!

 

 

 

 Jamie at This Lunch Rox used these Summer Reading printables from HowDoesShe to motivate her kiddos, and she includes a really great list of books to add to you little munsters reading list. Check that out here.

 How do you get your littles to read during the summer? What system do you use? I can use all the advice I can get! :)

Traveling With Kiddos: Popsicle Stick Puzzles

Two days in a row?? There is a pretty decent chance that the world may be coming to an end, but hopefully it’s just a rush of motivation on my part.

I’m back (for the second day in a row—didn’t know if you caught that) to share another little craft idea that I stole from someone and made my own. That’s what Pinterest is for, right?!

 

 

This one wasn’t quite as quick as the Matching Tubes, but it’s one of those things you can do while you’re watching Charlotte’s Web with the kiddos. It gets harder toward the end of the movie and Charlotte dies because everything gets blurry for some reason. But I digress.

For this I had almost everything on hand already and I just printed out the pictures onto cardstock. The only thing I had to buy was the rubber cement, and I’ve been meaning to pick some up for a while anyway.

 

 

Super simple: just find pictures your little munsters will like and print them out onto cardstock. Regular printer paper would probably work too but I make no guarantees. From there I just cut them out and flipped them over so they were right-side down on my TV tray high-tech crafting surface. I brushed the rubber cement on just a little at a time since it tends to dry really fast and just lined up popsicle sticks along the back. Once I had the back of the picture glued and sticked (?), I added a little weight to make sure the sticks…stuck. It sounds like I’m not making sense, but I totally am.

 

 

Once your glue is dry, just take your handy dandy box cutter and slice those sticks apart. I was initially worried that the puzzle might be too hard since I only had the really narrow popsicle sticks, but I gave it the good ol’ college try and was able to put them together with minimal tears. Just to be safe though, I printed out a reference picture for the kids so they know what they're building.

 

 

Wouldn’t it be so cool if I could keep up this momentum and fill you in on a bunch of little projects? Yeah, I don’t think it’s going to happen either. A girl can dream : ) Have fun!