See Our Sweet Life

Head First into Fall

2014-11-05T12:29:00.001-08:00

Fall is here and we have been trying to get out and enjoy it as much as we can before mean old man winter comes :( My mom and I NEVER get to do anything together alone. We went to the covered bridge a couple years ago and have been waiting to go back, so this year we went up the night before, got a room, and had a GIRLS WEEKEND!!!

A little room service for dinner

Preshopping selfie

The Covered Bridge Festival is located in Parke County Indiana and takes place for a week, starting on the 2nd Friday in October every year. They have whole towns full of vendors selling any and everything you can think of and every fair type food imaginable (Im not going to lie, I basically go for the food)

Funnel cake

Taco salad (after I ate half of a not so great corndog)

Me and my momma

It was raining most of the day and pretty cold

The best part is the drive up. All of the leaves are turning and it is such a beautiful trip...

We stopped off at a picnic area for more food (this time we had a tenderloin, fried pickles, and curly fries lol) and we sat near this comforting sign...

They actually made us get up a move away lol

This is her, Im nervous about the snakes and getting rained on look

That Friday my in-laws set up an awesome night out at their house for the kids. Papaw took them on a hayride, they had hot dogs on the bonfire, and got to spend some good quality time with all of their cousins. (The adults had a pretty good time too)

Jude loves tractors

Sunday it was time to root on our Colts again. This time we left the kids at home and filled our backseats with kids of another kind...

Me, my mother in law next me, and our gal Angie in the back

A few days later was my 30th birthday!! The hubs had to work, but my momma made me a delicious dinner and got me a cake. We went out to eat the next night as a fam and I threw myself a party later on (more on that later this post)

That weekend was Luke's cousins wedding, so we headed to Louisville for fun festivities with the family (It was another beautiful drive)...

This Friday was Halloween. Unfortunately daddy had to work again this year, but GG came trick or treating with us! Isabelle prepared by painting her "Elsa" pumpkin and got the nice surprise of loosing her first tooth on Halloween...

Halloween jammies

Doing a little shopping while sissy is at school

My Hollywood Diva and Thomas the Train

Isabelle and her bestie

Saturday was my birthday party! I have had several birthday parties at our family cabin over the years so I thought it was perfect for my 30th...

The remote location and the devastating realization that I am 30 made the Zombie Apocalypse the perfect theme...

With the busy weekend behind us, we have been taking it pretty easy around here...

Stay tuned for more fall fun to come!!

The Road To Today

2014-10-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

August

Isabelle had her first day of first grade! She picked out her own school clothes this year and chose a Doc McStuffins back pack that HAD to have a detachable lunch box....I'm going to go on a tangent about this for a moment. While backpack shopping at different places over the weeks leading up to school, Isabelle was INSISTENT that her backpack MUST have a detachable lunch box. This requirement trumped all others. We find the one, it has the lunch box, we are good to go! Now she will NEVER forget her lunch box!! Two days in she forgets it at school. Two days later she LOST it! A classmate claims an owl swooped down and stole it but I'm finding this information questionable. Anywho, since I wasn't feeling well, my mom, GG came over and did her hair and walked her to school...

Take a good look at that lunch box because it is on Washington's Most Wanted List

Isabelle is really enjoying school this year! She has been getting great reports from her teachers and loves being a fashionista and picking out her outfits...

Jude has of course been keeping me busy with his craziness...

He missed sissy so he took a nap in her bed

Excited to see the bulldozers in the neighbors yard

He got to have a lunch date with mom and dad

I have made some pretty big changes in my life this month. I have been a stay at home mom for more than 6 years now. I worked for a few months while we lived in Florida and we quickly found that things worked better for us when I stayed at home. I have loved being able to be home with my kids. When they are sick we don't have to worry about who is going to take care of them. No one has to ask off work for doctors appointments. We don't have to spend 100's on daycare or worry about who is with our children at these places or what they are eating while they are there. All of that aside, I sometimes wish I had something to do for myself. I wish I had a conversation with a real adult once in a while! I am sure every stay at home mom has felt this way and if you say you haven't, YOU ARE LYING!!! While there are days when I look at my kids and my heart could burst with fulfillment from being their mom, there are also days when I look around and think...is this it? Is keeping my kids alive and cleaning the house all I am ever going to do with myself? In my high school year book I said I was going to study political science! Political science!?! I thought I was going to be a politician! Since then, I have wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, indian chief, butcher, baker, and candle stick maker...You name it and I was like, " Man, maybe I should be that" Before I knew it, I was a mom and my husband had a SOLID dream of becoming a pharmacist and that became my goal. Be a mom, be a wife, make things happen, get it done...and we did!! I am super proud of where we have gotten and I have patted myself on the back now and again at my part in things, but sometimes that isn't enough. Now that Isabelle is in school and Jude will be before I know it, I started looking for options for myself. Do I want to go to school? I have NO idea what I would study so, No. Get a job? Where? I have no degree and in this small town my options are limited and do I really want to miss out on things with my kids for a random job? Not really. I was in this circle for months!! Thinking of sending in applications for jobs. Thinking of babysitting in my home. Thinking of dressing as a clown and performing at birthday parties, Ok, so not that extreme, but you get my point. One day I was scrolling along my Facebook news feed when I saw a picture for some skincare products. I started noticing these posts off and on and finally one day I clicked on a before and after picture. The results were amazing and although I dont have major skin care issues, I wondered what this whole R+F thing was about. What I learned would be the answer to all of my problems! Rodan and Fields are the doctors who created Proactiv. After all their success they wanted to formulate a new line that delivered results for ALL problems to ALL people! Dr's Rodan and Fields are still practicing dermatologists in San Fransico and created this to change the lives of people through skincare and also through helping people like me be able to change their lives by owning a business that allows them to live their dreams! After everything I read and talking to my husband, we both decided that this was an opportunity that I just COULD NOT pass up. I made the call and officially became an Independent Consultant for Rodan and Fields!

My business kit

I am about 6 weeks in and I am so excited I made this decision. I was able to have a booth at our Heartbeat of Washington Fall Fest...

and recently got to meet some members of my upline who have SUCH an amazing and SUCCESSFUL story to share. After seeing them all over the internet the past few weeks, I felt like I was meeting a celebrity...

I have been meeting so many new people and have been SUPER busy and it feels GREAT!! I love that I am having social time, making money, and the most surprising thing...helping people! My family has benefited from these products and I know it is going to change lives for people!!

While I am on this subject, let me share with you a promotion I am running! Starting yesterday and running until the end of October, I am reimbursing the 19.95 membership fee for anyone who becomes a preferred customer! Now is THE BEST time to sign as you have an opportunity to purchase our new product BEFORE it goes to market in January. PC's can get it on October 22nd BEFORE the Holidays!!

If you are interested in products you can check out my product site HERE or email me anytime with questions at brandysweetlife@gmail.com.

If you think becoming a consultant is the answer you have been looking for, then JOIN MY TEAM!! Check out the info HERE!

September

September FLEW by. We had some AMAZING weather and got to have a lot of fun family days this month...

My little model showing off our fall porch

We had a nice trip to a playground one day after school...

We had a big weekend and it was all about planes, trains, and automobiles!! First stop was the local airport...

Our last trip to Scoops this year, sniff sniff.....

Why must you close??

Later that day we watched the Car Club cruise in by Park. The kids got a TON of candy (I may or may not be eating it right now)....

Jude was having the time of his life watching all the cars

Pop Pop collecting the candy

The next morning we woke up and headed to French Lick for A Day Out with Thomas!!!

You HAVE to go to the souvenir shop!

He's here!! It's Thomas

Family shot on the train

So excited

Choo choo

Isabelle loved it too

Punching our ticket

We of course were hungry so we went to Pluto's Pizzeria for some food and the Colts game...

The week went by in the blink of an eye and it was weekend time again. Luke had to work on Saturday so my dad and I took the kids down to the cabin to play while we did some work. I have a pretty big birthday coming up and we are going to have a party down there...

We built a new fire pit

Skipping rocks at the railroad tracks

That is water believe it or not

breaking it in

Roasting mallows

Sunday was another amazing day! The in-laws have season tickets to the Colts and we are lucky to get to tag along quite often. This Sunday we got to take the kids to their first game!! My phone died so these are all the pics I have at the moment...

The month was winding down. We are taking advantage of all the nice days we have left...

Grilling

On Luke's day off last week we decided to take the kids to the The Boxtrolls! Isabelle has been to the movies several times, but this was Jude's first time!! We had to have some dinner first at Bobes...

All settled in for his first movie

And that's it!! We are to today! I had a sick one home from school today and another who wanted to play with her because she was home....

Thank you for sticking with me during this HUGE catch up time. I am knocking on the door of 100,000 page views and I would LOVE to reach that goal before November, so if you would share away I would love you forever, I probably will anyway, See you soon Bloggernation...or should I say world :)

Our Summer 2014

2014-10-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'm back!! Aren't you proud of me?? I promised I would return to continue the saga of the past few months in our lives and BAMM...here I am :) If you missed out on my most recent post, you can check it out here.

Where we last left off, Isabelle had just finished up kindergarten and we were all ready for summer break! The kids were happy to be outside, playing in the pool their GG got them and having snacks outdoors...

Isabelle participated in her first sport...Swim Team!! She did great for her first year and had a great time making friends and or course swimming...

We had fun playing and working at the Catholic Community of Washington Summer Social...

Then we went on vacation!!! My mother and father in-law, along with both of my sister's in-law and I took all the kids down to West Palm Beach to stay in the condo!! Now that we aren't living there, everyone is getting to take advantage of it! We drove down and split time between the RV and a van.

We hit up all our favorite hot spots!! Like the beach...

Cityplace...

The Palm Beach Zoo...

The whole gang

The best we can do at a group shot lol

The traditional turtle picture

We celebrated Papaw's birthday while we were there...

My favorite part of the trip was something we had never done there before. We went on a pirate adventure aboard the Black Sparrow!!

Ship wreck

Solving the puzzle map

Turn the ship around!

Getting their gold

Soon it was time to head home and prepare for the 4th of July!! I hadn't been feeling so hot towards the end of our trip and got quite a surprise when I got home...

The kids dressed up in their patriotic outfits and we had some fun with the Bennington flag (that's my maiden name by the way if you didn't know) before heading to the Williams family 4th celebration...

Isabelle and the flag she made

Playing with uncle Joe

Cheering on the volleyball players with his cuz

Not so sure about the pool

Lunch time

Pool rat

A little dunk action with her daddy's assistance

That weekend we had some family time at Mi Pueblo and a SUPER amount of fun at Reese's birthday party...

Remember how that tree smashed our car? Well....we finally got another one!! Technically, it was my hubby's car that got smashed but since he commutes a bit to work he decided to drive my car and let ME get the new one (isn't he a doll)

The next few weeks in July flew by and we stayed busy...

We spent some fun time at the park...

We kept our new ride clean with fun trips to the tri-colored car wash (it smells like fruity pebbles)

Jude gave me attitude and does in fact look just like his daddy...

We had fun at the Water World of Washington splash park...

We did a little shopping...

Jude "tried" out the potty...

Isabelle wrapped up her season on the swim team...

Jude got a big boy car bed...

I had lot's of help with my yard sale...

Jude pulled an Evel Knievel and drove his cozy coupe car down the stairs! No stitches this time, but a bloody nose and busted lip left him looking rough for a week or so. (this kid is going to give me serious grey hairs)

Daddy starting working at Williams Brothers Pharmacy in Vincennes!! Working there has been a lifelong dream of his so we are super proud of him and like to pop in and visit (especially when we drive cars down the stairs)...

They love to sit on the scooters

Just like that and we were at the end of July! Luke and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary by taking a quick over night trip to French Lick. We had a nice time and hit up all our favorite spots...

We stayed in the French Lick Hotel this time

The Power Plant...We always have to stop in there.

Of course it storms every time we go there

We sat outside by the pool and watched the storm

We always take a picture in the tunnel

I LOVE PLUTOS PIZZERIA

I picked this machine with Isabelle in mind

July was over and with it summer. Lot's of changes were coming for us in August...some exciting...some unexpected...some heartbreaking. This is a blog about my life and I like to keep it real. It's not always a bowl of cherries. Unfortunately, on August 4th, the same day that Isabelle had her first day of 1st grade, I found out that I had suffered a miscarriage.

Things happen in life that we just simply can't control. Some people choose to think all things happen for a reason and others that life is just a random draw and "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". All I know is while this was unexpected and hard on my heart, I had 2 little blessings that make all my days worth while. The world doesn't stop because we want it to and life will go on with or without us. So, forward with life is where we go and Isabelle was off on her first day as a big kid 1st grader!!

So that's it folks! Our summer is over!! Please come back to check out our next post, "The Road to Today", where I will finally end with where we are today and continue to post more regular, up to date, posts.

One Whole Year, In One Post

2014-09-24T15:36:00.001-07:00

Hello world! It's me! Brandy Sweet! Do you remember me? It has been OVER a year since I have posted up to date pictures and posts! I always have the best intentions..I take the pictures..write the post in my head..and then someone poops their pants or spills milk on the couch and suddenly blogging is lost in the back of my mind along with taking a shower and putting on real clothes. BUT, I have decided that I really miss it! I enjoy doing it and I look forward to having it for my kids to see someday so I am going to make it a point to get back on track!! With that being said, I am going to post the ENTIRE last year in this one post. Brace yourself, get a snack, take a pee break, leave half way if you must (but please don't) because it is going to be a crazy photo bombardment of my life... My Sweet life :)

When we met last we were about to leave Florida and move back to Indiana. Well, that's exactly what we did!!

Family shot after Luke's graduation

Dr. Lucas Sweet

We packed up an headed back to what had been home already to the kids and I for the past few months and picked up where we left off. First on the list, another graduation!! This time it was Isabelle's preschool graduation!

Soon, it was full blown summer (2013) and time for all the fun things that go with it!!

Like Popsicles and playtime with friends in the backyard...

and lounging in the pool at auntie Rhi's...

Sometimes life is not so fun. Like when a tree smashes your cars and house...

Isabelle really matured a lot that summer and did so many things that made me proud! She went to cheer camp and won cheerleader of the day :)

Then she competed in the Little Miss Daviess County pageant at our county fair. She may not have won the crown but she was a winner to us!

We rolled right into the 4th of July next. We went to our local park for some carnival fun and then spent the day at Auntie Rhi's house.

We took a fun (but very hot) trip to Holiday World.

Luke and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary by taking a trip to French Lick (where we went on our honeymoon) for the afternoon.

We got some super exciting news from my bestie Brecklyn (remember her? she is in many past posts from our Florida days) She announced to use she was expecting!!

We, along with Luke's parents, spent an afternoon with the kids at Spring Mill State Park. It is always a fun place to visit! On the way home we stopped by a mans home that is pretty unusual...

The pharmacist in the old town pharmacy

Playing the different Native American instruments

Living in Florida the past 4 years, my kids hadnt seen many Amish yet

Before long, summer was over and Isabelle was off on a new adventure...kindergarten!!

Isabelle got adjusted to homework and we had fun packing her lunch...

We spent an afternoon at our family cabin. I have lots of wonderful memories of my childhood spent here and hope my kids will too!

Jude kept me busy while sissy was at school. Making messes, being cute, and having fun at the park...

Fall was setting in and we loaded up in the in-laws RV and took the kids to Nashville, IN. They had tons of cute shops and we took the kids to a marionette show...

Train ride!

We enjoyed spending time outside, playing in leaves, and having fires. Halloween was here and I had a Clawdeen Wolf and Chewbaca...

My kiddos and my grandma, their Nan Nan

Jude's first time trick or treating!

November FLEW by. Since we were short a car, Jude and I spent a lot of time at home. I kept myself busy with Tri Kappa (a philanthropic sorority my sis and mother in law got me into), I got to see one of my very best friends from England, Thanksgiving passed, and NoNo our Elf on the Shelf arrived, leaving us face to face with our busiest month DECEMBER!!

We can't stop talking for one minute :)

Us and our boys!! We are officially grown ups!

Thanksgiving and the 3 boy cousins all a few months apart

Lot's of indoor games

Tri Kappa's annual Ladies Night Out dinner and auction

The arrival of NoNo

The first thing on the agenda for December was Isabelle's 6th birthday! She decided to have a shared party with her cousin LP and since we had an insane about of snow, we went with a Holly Jolly Birthday party theme!

Of course you have to have dinner at Mi Pueblo ON your birthday!

The party crew

While we were planning away for all our upcoming events, we had tragedy strike our family. My uncles home, which was once my grandparents, and before that great grandparents home, burned down. A lot of our family's history of photos, collectibles, and other memorabilia were all inside. Luckily, my uncle and his dog made it out safe and I was able to climb around inside after and pulled out many cherished items, including my grandmothers jewelry.

Life goes on and we had something pretty big to celebrate next! My fabulous mother was turning 50 so I knew she needed a party to celebrate!

My beautiful mother (left) and her equally lovely friend

Chocolate Bar

Next was Isabelle's Christmas program at school...

Then finally, CHRISTMAS TIME...

Chrismas at Mamaw and Papaws

Hot chocolate station

Christmas with GG and Pop Pop

We had just caught our breath from Christmas and it was time for Jude's 2nd birthday. He LOVES Mickey so he invited all his friends for a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party...

The next few months of winter were COLD and it snowed...A LOT. Once Christmas break was over, Isabelle still didn't go back to school because of the snow so we had TONS of free time on our hands!

We spent time cheering on the Colts...

We kept warm by the fireplace...

Never one to miss a chance to throw a party, I had a "nerdy" baby shower for my bff Miss Brecklyn and her future baby.....girl! We also took it as an opportunity to have a girls night in Eville...

My girl in the hot tub

Nothing beats coffee and a soak

All those snow days meant lots of brother sister bonding time...

School was back on and Jude was alone again...playing football and mastering the art of selfies...

Isabelle had her 100th day of school...

We played in the snow...

We celebrated Valentines Day...

Cousins Valentines Party

The weekend of Valentines my sorority, Tri Kappa (remember them from ladies night out?), hosted our first ever Father Daughter dance!! Isabelle was super excited to dress up and go on a date with her daddy :) There was an amazing turn out and we plan to do it again in February 2015!!

Isabelle even shared the love and some learning with her shadow...

We got the pleasure to see our girl as a penguin in her Penguin Parade program at school...

With all the snow and cold we decided to have a hooky day and snuck off to French Lick to the indoor water park Big Splash...

Pooped after a long day

Swimming makes you hungry

In what felt like the blink of an eye (to us at least) Brecklyn had her baby...Miss Evie!

We are HUGE Game of Thrones fans and the season premiere just so happened to fall on Luke's birthday, so I did what I do best!! Threw a party...

Spring had sprung and we were all ready to be out of the house...

Easter time...

Classic family photo. We are never all looking at the camera

We were all ready for summer to come and were getting stir crazy...(we still only had one car remember)

That's when days like this...

Quickly become days like this...

Jude's first big boy injury. Had to get stitches after falling face first into the footrest of a 4-wheeler (that was parked in a garage, he was NOT riding it lol)

School was winding down. Jude likes to do homework too...

The Catholic school had a new fundraiser this year called Mom Prom. It was exactly what it sounds like!! Prom...for adults...with cocktails! It was a blast and we hope to go again :)

Washington has been having festivals downtown each season and this year it was the same weekend as the rail fest. We took the kids with their cousin and then the next morning both Isabelle and Jude were in the Little Miss and Mr Main Street Pageant!

I'm sure you have come to know Isabelle over the years and the word that best describes her is ORIGINAL. This day was one of the proudest days I have had as a mother. Isabelle was set on wearing a Cleopatra costume in this pageant, knowing full well all the other little girls would be in fancy dresses and she would be "different". I thought she might panic at the last minute and not go through with it, but I was dead wrong! She rocked that pageant Egyptian style...

Jude was 2nd place in his age. I walked with his so no pics :(

The last week of kindergarten had arrived and I had the pleasure of joining my gal on her class trip to the Wonderlab in Bloomington...

That's me lol

I started this blog post off with graduations so I might as well end it with a similar topic. Isabelle's LAST DAY of kindergarten!! She grew so much, made so many friends, and is so much smarter (didnt think that was possible). I am one proud momma...

First Day

Last Day

1st Day

Last Day

1st Day

Last Day

Wow!! Are you still here?!? If so, you should win a prize. If it took you 1/4 of the amount of time to read it as it did for me to write it then I think we all deserve a prize...or a vaction :) This has been one whole year of my life!! I hope you like reading it as much as I loved living it! My next post will continue from this date, up until todays current date! Swooh....almost caught up :)

Our Last Days as Floridians..

2013-09-29T08:27:00.001-07:00

The kids and I spent October thru April in Indiana while the hubsters went back to Florida. We did this so Isabelle could stay in preschool here in Indiana since she would be starting kindergarten there the following fall. This was tough on us all to be apart, but we made the right choice and Isabelle loved her school and learned so much. In April, we pulled Isabelle out of the last few weeks of school and went back to Florida to pack up our condo and prepare for Luke's graduation from pharmacy school. The in-laws once again, packed up the kids and I and drove us the 18 hours to West Palm Beach. The kids were so happy to be back with their dad and back to their home with all their things. They were like 2 peas in a pod...

Such a good big sister

Everyone was happy to be back at the pool...

There was a lot of packing to be done so the kids spent a lot of time on the couch together watching cartoons...

My mother in law stayed at the RV park the whole time to help out and Isabelle spent a lot of time over there with her, riding her big wheel and swimming in the pool...

Jude was so little when we left that he had fun discovering the condo for the first time...

We just had one more chapter left in our Florida book life....Graduation!!

Day 3: Disney's Animal Kingdom

2013-09-28T09:51:00.002-07:00

Our next adventure lead us to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Isabelle is very into animals and has been for a long time. Both kids have enjoyed our trips to the zoo, so we were all excited to see how Disney does animals!

They were also still decorated for Christmas...

We saw the Tree of Life and headed into Africa...

We utilized fastpasses again and hopped right onto the Kilimanjaro Safari tour...

We weren't on the trail long before Jude decided it was again, nap time...

There were so many different animals and they were rather close to the trail...

One of the many "old" bridges we went over...

Do you smell something...

While Isabelle loves all animals, big cats are her favorite { lions, tigers, cheetahs, jaguars, etc}

Excited...

Sleeping...

When the ride was over, we went off in search of some lunch...

We decided on The Rainforest Cafe { I love these places }

We of course went exploring on our way to the ladies room...

Jude was having a good time too...

After lunch, we went to check out the Dino Rama area where Isabelle made her dad play games. { Most children like to play games themselves, but Isabelle has realized she has a better chance at winning a prize if her dad plays the game for her, thus leading her to want to play all games, but never actually play them}

Next we went to check out Asia...

Isabelle was excited when we came across the Maharajah Jungle Trek...

She found herself a big cat...

and Jude found the girl of his dreams...

All that "trekking" made us hot and tired so we decided to take in a show. Finding Nemo the Musical

Next, we grabbed some ice cream and got in position for Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade...

We went to find more rides, but were disappointed when one was closed and then even more let down to find out that the park closed earlier than we thought, leaving us with only and a half and hour until close :( We were able to make it down the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail before they kicked us out...

Our little monkey...

We had so much fun on this trip and I can't wait to go again!!

Disney Day Two: Epcot

2013-09-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Our second magical day of Disney was spent at Epcot. The main event for the day...The Disney Princess Breakfast at the Akerhus Royal Banquet Hall! Isabelle was by far looking forward to this more than anything. She had to pick the right dress, the perfect gloves and purse, and of course had to have her hair done like her favorite princess, Cinderella...

We were greeted by Belle and had a quick photo session before being escorted to our table...

While eating breakfast, we had the opportunity to meet all the different princesses...

Jude was even trying to get attention from the ladies...

Last, but not least came Cinderella! Isabelle was over the moon to meet her and we all were in heaven when she taught her to curtsy and twirl like a proper princess...

After eating, Isabelle got to join all the princesses in the Royal Princess Procession {they walked around the room with them and waved to all us peons}

After breakfast, we walked around all the different parts of the world...

This is an area I DEFINATLY want to return to sans children {hello, beers from all over the world!}

We ran into the Spirit of America Fife and Drum Corps...

Then we got to meet some of the characters!!

Next we went on The Seas with Nemo and Friends and went to Turtle Talk with Crush...

Both kids really enjoyed the aquarium area after the ride...

It started raining so we headed into a building to check out a few exhibits...

Jude saw this as a good time to get his nap in...

We grabbed a few family photos before heading back to the RV for the rest of the day...

When we got back to the resort, Isabelle and her dad played some bball and then she made some friends and played with them for a while why the adults talked and Jude...napped...

One of the activities at the resort, was a Camp Fire with Chip and Dale and an outdoor movie, so we took Isabelle over with her new little friends and closed out the evening...

Up next...Disney's Animal Kingdom

Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

2013-09-26T14:56:00.001-07:00

Day one. The happiest place on earth. Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom!!! We got up early to catch a couple buses and then a boat to Disney.

We were beyond excited to walk up to the entrance and see that they still had all of the Christmas decorations up. Its was beautiful

Then there it was...Cinderella's castle!!!

Isabelle had to bring lady...

As you can see, Jude could barely contain his excitement {sarcasm}...

Im not the biggest "selfie" person, but hey, when in Disney...

We took it all in for a bit then headed off to find our first ride...

Isabelle does NOT like to ride rides. I was worried we would walk around all day and not convince her to ride anything, but she jumped with excitement at the first ride we came to...Under the Sea, Journey of the Little Mermaid...

So happy for Ariel when she marries her prince...

With the first ride under our belt, we decided to head on over to It's a Small World { On a side note: We used Fastpasses on nearly all the rides we went on and barely had to wait in a line}

So much money in there!!

Having a great time with mamaw and papaw Myers...

Jude, never quite sure what's about to happen...

We worked up an appetitie, so we headed to grab some lunch at Gaston's Tavern...

Gaston was right outside and was by far the most convincing character that we saw at all the parks! Soooo in character! When Isabelle declined to shake his hand and get a picture with him, he replied, " Hey, it's her loss!". {The only photo we got of him was taken by the Disney workers, so none for you, sigh}

Enjoying my roasted pork shank...

Isabelle took half for me and enjoyed a Le Fou's brew, while Jude enjoyed a nice nap...

With our bellies full, the Hubs and I left the little's with the grandparents in the shops {nice move right?} and went to see The Hall of Presidents, which was SUPER SUPER COOL...

Everyone was remarkably life like...

When that was over, we hooked back up with the rest of our bunch and went to see Mickey's Philhar Magic {which I have no photos of, but was so, so awesome! } before catching one of the live shows in front of the castle...

Up next was Haunted Mansion. I didn't think there was any possible way Isabelle could be talked into going in there, BUT SHE DID!!!

All was going well until we made it inside and a spooky voice came over the room informing us that there was now no way out. Isabelle freaked, jumped into my arms, and started yelling, "Let's get out of here!!". I calmed her down, explaining it is all fake and it would be over soon. Once we were led into the "ride" portion of the attraction, things were on the up and up and we all had fun. {This is the ONE AND ONLY ride where she wanted to sit with us and not the grandparents lol}

Snack time...

One of our highlights of the day was the afternoon character parade...

First hug of the day...

The big man himself...

Almost every single walking character came up and hugged, shook hands with, or patted one or both of my kids!!! They were in HEAVEN!! { I had to keep myself from balling in the middle of Main Street USA}

She was a little nervous about Jafar...

Jude was loving it...

Both Isabelle and I were so excited for who was next...All the princesses...

Ready for another ride, we went on the Jungle Cruise and then Pirates of the Caribbean...

Then came the attraction that I think both of the kids enjoyed the most and Isabelle talks about to this day. The Enchanted Tiki Room...

All the over the top rides and attractions at Disney and this was the big hit haha...

Ready for some dinner, we tried to find somewhere to eat. Almost everything was closed already and we were about starved when we finally made it to Pinocchio's Village Haus...

Then we hopped onto the Tomorrow Land Transit Authority PeopleMover to let our food settle and take in the view of the Magic Kingdom at night...

You can't leave Disney without a souvenir so of course Papaw let Isabelle get herself a little something before we headed to find a spot for the light show and fireworks...

Sweet family photo...

My favorite thing, hands down, by far, was the light and firework show. I didn't stop myself from crying this time! {Or from taking a thousand photos of it which I will not force upon you}

We were all wiped out and started our long walk back to the boat, then to the bus, and back to the resort...

One more round of fun before bed...

Next, The Sweet's tackle Epcot!

Walt Disney World Here We Come!

2013-09-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

In January we went on the greatest trip of my life! Looking at all these pictures makes me want to go back...like right now...but without my kids...is that horrible? Oh well...someday..right? Until then I will just have to live vicariously through our past trip!

My in-laws are the greatest! They took their first born grand daughter on a trip to Disney when she was 6 and from the time Isabelle knew what Disney was, her papaw was hyping her with stories about how someday it would be her turn! That day came a lot sooner than we had imagined and before we knew it we were all (Jude too) in the RV and heading to Orlando to see the one and only Disney World!! Isabelle was predictably excited, but since this was also MY first time to go to Disney, it was hard to tell who was acting like the bigger kid.{It as me he, he} We spent 2 days in the RV and had a lot of fun talking, reading, watching videos, wrangling the kids, and telling stories.

When we finally reached Orlando, we pulled into our campsite at the Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort.

It was a great campground with TONS to do. I would love to go back and JUST camp there. When we arrived the first night, it was already approaching dark and it had been a long ride. We walked around the resort a little, had some dinner, and tried to settle in for the night. Isabelle, having seen Disney on TV, was convinced the whole thing was fake! She didn't understand where the castle was and why we couldn't see it if we were...in fact...at Disney. She claimed everything was cardboard and went inside the RV for the night, to watch Pinocchio and hoped the real Disney would show up tomorrow.

Easter 2013

2013-09-06T07:18:00.002-07:00

This is the first Easter in several years that we were in Indiana, however this meant no daddy :( You can see our previous Easters here { Easter 2012, Easter 2011 }

We had fun making Easter snacks and coloring eggs..

We got all the cousins together at the Myers compound for and Easter egg hunt and baskets from mamaw and papaw...

They also went to the paper office and had their picture taken with a real bunny {of course I don't have one of those pics}

Saturday night, the Easter bunny came! He made sure to take a picture of the clock as usual, but came a little earlier this year {yay}...

He left eggs all over the inside of the house, since it was raining, and filled the kids baskets...I think he was going with a swimming theme this year ;)

Heads Up

2013-09-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I updated our family blog that I should be banned for bad behavior. Tsk tsk. I originally started this blog so that our family and friends could keep up with our lives while we were living off in Florida, but over the years I started to cherish that I had all of my children's little lives documented for them to see someday and for me to look back on {often with tears in my eyes} and see what a beautiful life we have made. This past year has been a huge transition for our family and I was left with lots of things to do and little time to write about it all. I find myself looking back now, to one of my last posts and it was at CHRISTMAS time! Hello, it will be here AGAIN in 3 months and I have yet to write about anything that has happened since that point. Believe me, I have PLENTY to write about, but just didn't have a chance to upload all the pictures, write the witty commentary {if I do say so myself}, etc, etc. So, all of that being said, something has changed recently in my life that has afforded me the luxury of hours of free time... No, I didn't leave my husband and family and move to Costa Rica to sell fruity cocktails on the beach for a living. {Can you tell I've given that thought?}... My first born baby girl, my Isabelle Claire, has started KINDERGARTEN! It's true. She is off with her friends, at school, as I type, probably learning things, having fun, you know, without me, sniff sniff. I still have my Jude dude at home who does keep me busy, but Isabelle was my ding-donger. You know, the kid that ding dongs you all day. Mom what's this? Mom where's this? Can I have this? Do that? Go here? Play with me? Read to me? Dance with me? Uh oh, I spilt a whole gallon of milk in the floor! Since she is now off bugging Ms. Molly, I have been able to get a TON done around the house in the past 2 weeks and now it's time to give some love and attention to my 3rd child, my blog!

All this blabbing and I still haven't explained the "Heads Up" title. I post that as a warning. I am not only going to try to dedicate more time to blogging about our family life here and our home projects at seeourhomesweethome.blogspot.com/, but I am going to back track through the past year and do my best to fill in all the important blanks..Our Disney trip, Easter, Summer time, First day of school, etc. So, please don't get annoyed with me and unsubscribe. I will try to do the catching up as fast as possible and thanks for taking a look at our Sweet life :)

What We Have Been Eating

2013-03-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't made a WWHBE post in forever!! The last one was almost a year ago! Things have been really crazy for us this year and I haven't had the time or state of mind to record many of our meals. On a good day I will remember and snap a couple shots but that is usually about as far as it goes. I have been trying to focus more on actual meal planning lately. In order to get the most out of my coupons, I match them with things that are on sale in the stores weekly add, but sometimes I just wish someone would say, "Here, you are making this for dinner, here is your grocery list, have a nice week." Funny enough, you can hire people to do this for you on the Internet at a site called emeals. Maybe something to think about. In the meantime, here is What We have been eating!

Quesadillas 3 Ways...I am a sucker for slapping something into a tortilla and calling it a day. I had some chicken and a lot of tortillas so I made 3 different kinds of quesadillas.

My Traditional Quesadilla

2 Flour Tortillas
Ortega Taco Sauce
Chicken {I used Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken Strips}
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Place one tortilla into a skillet, top with sauce, then chicken, then the cheese. Place 2nd tortilla on top and cook on both side until tortillas a crisp and cheese melted.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadilla

2 Flour Tortillas
Chicken
Ranch Dressing
Bacon { I like to use the bagged real bacon pieces}
Shredded Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese

Follow same assembly instructions as above.

Pizzadilla

2 Flour Tortillas
Pizza Sauce
mini peperoni's
mozzarella cheese

Follow same assembly instructions as above.

I put some of each sauce in little cups for dipping and BAM, dinner! Something for everyone.

Another winter favorite this year is a Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles recipe I stole from my sister in law.

What you need

Bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Stick of butter {and a couple pats for your veggies}
1 Can of cream of chicken soup
2 Boxes of chicken stock
1 Package of egg noodles {I use Reemes}
Carrots
Celery
S&P

Place your bag of chicken {still frozen}, chicken stock, soup, and butter into your crock pot and turn on high. Cook until chicken falls apart on its own, then shred while still in crock pot.

Saute you chopped carrots and celery in butter until they start to soften. Add noodles and softened veggies back into the crock pot and add more stock. Continue cooking until noodles are done, adding more stock when needed.

What have you been eating? Go to crock pot meals? Interesting quesadillas?

Cavatini

2013-03-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

SO, I am a food rut kinda of person. I LOVE to cook new things and am in no way a picky eater but when I find something I really like, well..I REALLY like it, like all the time. This isn't a bad thing most of the time, except for when it comes to restaurant food. Like the time I discovered the spicy chicken soup at Carraba's and wanted to eat there like 3 times a week. Good for me and my belly but not for the family pocket book. One of my go to restaurant meals around Washington is the cavatini at Bobes. For you out of towners that don't know, Bobes is an family owned Italianish restaurant here in town that has the BEST pizza, lots of sandwich's, pastas, and even grill foods during the week. If you are a teenager and are from Washington, Indiana, you have more than likely worked at this place and I am not exception. Another previous "Bobe's girl" posted a while back about making cavatini for her family at home { You can check out her blog here} DUUUHHHH! Why have I never tried this? I have made other versions of restaurant foods so I don't know why I never thought to duplicate recipes I already KNOW how to make. So I did...and it was gooood!

Here's my version.

What you need

1 Box of pasta {bobes uses some shell version I couldn't find so I used rigatoni}
1 lb of ground hamburger
1/2 large onion
1 green pepper
pepperonis
shredded mozzarella
Jarred spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 400.

Boil pasta until slightly under cooked {it will cook more in the oven}

Meanwhile, brown meat on stove top, drain, and add sauce.

Chop onion and green pepper to your preferred size. {Bobe's also adds mushrooms}

Layer pasta into bottom of baking dish, top with sauce and meat mixture. Push desired amount of pepperonis down into mix.

Then top with UNCOOKED peppers and onion.

Top with shredded cheese and a few more pepperonis.

Bake until cheese is melted and pepperonis have started to curl.

Dish it out and get down!!

Online Learning

2013-03-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

The Internet is an amazing place. It is full of everything you could ever want to know and some things you wish you never did {like the lyrics to Grease Lightning!?!? Who Knew?} With learning in mind, the Internet is a sea of learning websites. You can earn your high school degree, a college degree, get a dogs pedigree...you get the message. You can even find a tutor, using sites like tutor spree, to help you do all this online learning.

As a mom, I love to encourage my children to learn something from everything they do. Isabelle, at 5, is really starting to get into "playing" on the computer. She spends hours taking care of pets at American Girl.com and playing with her favorite characters like Dora and Doc McStuffins at Nick Jr.com, but her new favorite is Abcmouse.com.

Isabelle is quick to remind me that it is a "learning system" and not a game lol. She asked to go to the website after seeing a commercial for it on TV. {she LOVES her commercials, always trying to tell me which latest TV gadget I NEED to have haha} We set it all up and I pretty much lost my computer from then on.

She made her avatar look just like her and made it almost 40% of the way through the preschool program in the first few days.

It keeps track of everything she has learned and she earns stars and tickets for every lesson completed. The tickets can be used to purchase toys and decorations for your online room, furniture, or in Isabelle's case, lots of pets and clothes! She has so much fun and is excited to learn more. Which makes me grin, and cry, and the smile and cry at the same time, which doesn't look as pretty as you may think. How do your Little's learn at home?

Christmas 2012

2013-03-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was COMPLETELY different from last year. {You can revisit Christmas 2011 here} We were back in Indiana with our family which was great, but very, very hectic. Also, let's not forget we now have TWO children!! We missed out on a couple of our usual traditions during the madness, but were happy to be all together for the holidays. One tradition I was able to keep up with {but not photograph as much as I wished} was our elf on the shelf NoNo. We had a BLAST with him last year { you can read about him here and here }

Sadly these were the only pictures I got this year.

We always spend Christmas Eve with my family and this year we had it at our house. I spent HOURS decorating the house and it was super fun to cook and play hostess to my family. If you missed all of the Christmas décor over at my other blog From Florida to Flora; Our Home Sweet Home, then you can click here to check that out.

The kids kicked off the festivities by opening their traditional Christmas Eve gifts. This is carried over from when I was a kid and we got to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Our kids get 2. One is their Christmas jammies and the other is usually a small toy or book.

She insisted on wearing this outfit, believe me...not my choice

Big sister helping Jude with his gifts

The rest of us opened our gifts and visited and before long it was time for a couple pictures in front of the tree before heading upstairs to bed.

The Beatles throw we got for my dad

Jude's 1st Christmas

Before long the night had passed, the sun was rising, and Santa had come {but not before mom snuck down and took a few photos}

The view walking down the stairs

Santa came!!!

Santa always leaves his gift out and unwrapped that way the kids know mommy and daddy have SOME part in Christmas and all those presents ;)

Jude got a train table and a chase me kitty

Isabelle got a doll house and Leap Dog

The middle gift was somewhat of a mystery???

Cat supplies?

That's right...Cat supplies. Santa left a stocking full of cat supplies and a note that hinted there might be something in the bathroom.

Isabelle's stocking

Jude's stocking

Isabelle finding the cat stocking

We of course had to play with the kitty before we opened the rest of our gifts.

We had to be out at my husbands parents house by 9 a.m. so we practically had to force them to open all of their presents to get through in time.

Checking out his Elmo

Before it was time to head out, Isabelle decided to name the cat! Meet the newest member of the Sweet clan...Rocko

Time for some Christmas fun with the cousins.

Take 1

Take 2

It is what it is

Anna and Jude

Reese licking Isabelle's feet

Jude and Leighton checking their stockings

Present time

The girls and their sassy Justice outfits

Pretending she is "texting" on her calculator in her new chair

He loves his big cousin Anna

I wish Christmas never had to end...Until next year, Merry Christmas!

Hostage in Our Own Home

2013-03-06T09:01:00.001-08:00

Since we have returned from our trip to Kentucky last weekend {I will fill you in on that later} it has been FREEZING and yucky all the time. I have pretty much only left the house once in TWO weeks, other than taking and picking up Isabelle from school {which I can see from my house so 5 minutes a day?} We are ready for warmth and sunshine and blues skies and ice cream and cook outs and pool parties and play dates and vacations and Do I need to keep torturing us all?? You get the picture...we are ready to be OUTSIDE of this house!!!

While trapped inside, we have been finding different ways to amuse ourselves.

Isabelle, as always, has been the most creative. She spent an afternoon saving wild animals by pulling them to the safety of her "treehouse".

We made plates of "food" for her friends and she treated them all at her new restaurant..there may have been a line out the door.

Jude was supposed to be the chef, but he is easily distracted.

What have I been doing all this time? Well, I have been putting in some serious sweat equity on the house {read about that here}, attacking the always overwhelming pile of laundry, doing my taxes, and coming up with every possible combination of chicken and tortilla you can imagine {again, I will share those later too} to avoid actually leaving the house to get more groceries.

Come on Spring...I would like to leave the house again before my kids go off to college :/

A Very LOVE-ly Valentines Day

2013-02-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

So, I am only 6 days past Valentines Day. This is an improvement over the month that passed before I posted about Christmas, but still I need to get with the program and try to make a little more time for blogging and keeping things current. Until then, here is to the past...

Valentines Day...We tried to keep busy to avoid the fact that our main man daddy..and head Valentine..was not with us. We got to work the night before and enlisted the help of my nephew in decorating up some cookies.

Of course after about 2 cookies each, they were playing pirates with spatulas and I was left to decorate the rest..

After the sugar rush and bedtime, I got to work on Isabelle's Valentines for her class party. I found a cute printable on this blog that I cut out and attached to some packs of candy.

I snuck one cookie and called it a night..

The next morning I got the best Valentines gift a mother could ask for! My children slept in!!! Yaaaaay! This has happened to me maybe 1 other time EVER in my mom lifetime..

Valentine #1 after waking up to her goodies

Still having some sleepy eye going

While the kids ate breakfast and watched some cartoons, I whipped up a little snack for Isabelle's class party.

Sweet Valentines Party Mix

**What you will need**

Chex, rice and corn
popcorn
pretzels
mm candies
sprinkles
mini marshmallows
white candy coating

In a large bowl, combine the chex, popcorn, and pretzels. Melt down white candy coating and drizzle over mixture. Turn to coat. Add in chocolate candies, marshmallows, and sprinkles and turn to coat again. Let set for 20-30 minutes and then break apart into serving dish or snack bags.

Isabelle was ready to get crafty herself and got working on some love chains for decorating.

Working hard

It was a BEAUTIFUL day out so we decided to take a little drive out to Glendale lake for some fresh air and a reminder of what life outdoors can be like.

My #2 Valentine, Prince Charming

Showing off his teeth

Walking down to the lake

It was wiinnndddyy

Prince not so Charming

At least someone was enjoying it

Looking for fish at the hatchery

We were all frozen solid so decided, how much colder could we get? Why not ice cream?

That night, my mother in law had a sitter come to the house and keep the grand kids, while we adults all went out to dinner to celebrate my El cunado aka brother in laws birthday.

Nana Anna and Papaw Alan came along. Such a wonderful example of Love on Valentines Day.

We had a great time laughing and chatting kids free. Well, except for one special kid..

Baby Brielle, our newest and smallest Valentine..

There's a lot of love in our family. On Valentines Day and everyday <3 font="">

Spinach and Mozzarella Chicken

2013-02-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, after my husband headed back to Florida, I stayed the weekend at my parents house. My brother and I decided to make dinner for everyone one night, but wanted to try something new. Combining recipes from pinterest and what was available at the store, we came up with this.

Spinach and mozzarella chicken with roasted red potatoes and garlic asparagus

What you will need

1 package of boneless skinless chicken breasts
10 oz box of frozen spinach {you can use fresh but our store didn't have any}
Block of fresh, soft, mozzarella cheese
2-3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Extra virgin olive oil
Jarred sun dried tomatoes in Italian seasoning

Split your chicken breasts in half, and pound them out a little. Brush both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and onion powder, and brown on both sides. { You can do your browning in a pan on the stove or, like I did, a George Foreman grill.} You only want to cook them until the outside is nice and brown but the middle still uncooked as it will cook more in the oven.

While on the topic of the oven, go ahead and preheat that baby to 375 degrees.

While you are browning your chicken, warm some EVOO in a skillet on the stove and add your chopped garlic. Cook garlic through for a few minutes then add in your spinach. Cook until spinach is warmed through and the garlic and oil absorbed.

Place cooked chicken onto baking pan. Top with spinach. Cut a nice piece of the fresh mozzarella and place on top of the spinach. Then top with a few pieces of sun dried tomato.

Put into preheated oven and bake until cheese is melted and chicken is cooked through.

I served mine with some frozen asparagus that I warmed through with some butter and garlic on the stove top and some roasted red potatoes seasoned with olive oil and seasoning.

I will defiantly try this again but would love a new side for it. Any suggestions?

Homemade Soft Pretzels; Better Than The Mall

2013-02-04T07:14:00.002-08:00

My husband is a VERY picky eater. Like, would win a pickiest eater contest picky, so when he finds something he likes he wants it A LOT. He will try things at resterants and if he likes it then I will come home and try to copy it so he can have something new in his limited diet. His newest food addiction..Soft pretzels from the mall. I was getting suspcious as to why my husband was OFFERING to take me to the mall several times in the past few weeks and then I realized it was so he could get a pretzel from Auntie Annes.

I decided to try to make them at home. My copy cat receipes in the past have been good, but never taste EXACTLY like the oringinals. Until now!!! These pretzels are just as good if not BETTER than the ones from the mall!

Heres how to make them

Makes roughly 12 pretzels
Ingrediants

2 cups of milk
1 1/2 tablespoons (2 packs) of active dry yeast
6 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 tablespoons of butter, melted
4 1/2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of fine salt

1/3 cup of baking soda
3 cups of warm water
Course salt
8 tablespoons of butter, melted into a shallow dish

Warm up the milk in the microwave or on the stove for just about one and a half minutes. If it's too hot it will kill the yeast. You should be able to comfortably keep your finger in it. Stir in the yeast and let it sit for about 3 minutes.

Add the butter and sugar. Add the flour about 1 cup at a time and then add the fine salt. Kneed for about 10 minutes with a stand mixer if you have one, or by hand {which is how I did it}. Put it in a greased bowl and cover with greased cling wrap. Let rise for 1 hour in a moist, warm place until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450º. Punch down dough and divide into 12 lumps (I like to divide it in half, then divide each half into three, and then divide each remaining one in half again).

Roll them all out as thin as you can. Combine the warm water and baking soda in a wide bowl. Form the dough into pretzel shapes, then dip in the baking soda water.

Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for about 7-11 minutes or until browned. Dip each in the melted butter while hot, turning to coat both sides.

We made pretzel sticks and also somm mini bites, which were my favorite.

I have made them twice in the last week so beleive me, they are SO GOOD...Go make some, right now, you can thank me later by bringing one by my house. Your welcome :)

After the Storm

2013-02-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

If you have noticed, I have been playing blogger catch up lately. I have written about Isabelle's Christmas Program, Our Galt House trip, Jude's 1st birthday, and Isabelle's 5th birthday. I still have both Christmas and our trip to Disney World {which will take several posts} to catch up on, so I thought I would do a brief post about what has been happening since the storm that is holidays, birthdays,vacations, etc.

Since the calm, Isabelle had her first sleep over! She invited her cousin Leighton over and they had a blast playing, watching movies, and of course staying up LATE.

Watching a movie

We had some free time to enjoy laid back activities like fort building and pretzel making.

Rolling out her pretzel dough

We inlisted a babysitter one night and headed to Evansville with my husbands family for dinner and a hockey game before he had to return to Florida yesterday.

The whole gang

Jude has had lots of time for learning and growing. He has been clapping, patty caking, playing with the tablet, feeding himself lots of new things, and growing new teeth!

Showing off his new teeth!

And of course we have all been trying to get a little more sleep...well at least some of us are :)

Isabelle's Christmas Program

2013-01-30T09:26:00.000-08:00

This has been Isabelle's first year in full on preschool. Some of you may know we had some problems with her wanting to go to school in the past { You can relive it here} but since she started her first day of WC preschool {which is all here} she hasn't had one problem. She LOVES school and cant wait to go everyday next year.

With starting school comes lots of firsts. Friends, field trips, class parties etc. One recent experience was her first school program. She practiced her songs for WEEKS allll over the house so I knew she was ready.

So happy she spotted us WAY up high

Everything seemed to be going well until there was a song where the teacher passed out bells to some of the children to shake. Isabelle was NOT one of these children and she was NOT happy.

She finally perked up towards the end and began to participate.

My camera kept dying on me so half of my photos were blurry and videos short but at the end I was just proud that my little girl was brave enough to stand there in front of all those people. :)

Christmas Kalidescope at The Galt House Hotel

2013-01-29T08:55:00.000-08:00

December 6th is Isabelle's birthday. This year we had a party planned for several weeks after her birthday so that daddy could be there {he was in Florida and we are in Indiana} You can check out her birthday party here. I wanted to do something special with her on her actual birthday, so mamaw kept Jude and My mom, Isabelle and I packed a bag and headed to Louisville for the night.

We checked into the Galt House Hotel and then met up with our bestie Brecklyn. We decided to head downtown for some dinner.

The HUGE tree in the middle of 4th street

Isabelle, myself, my mom

Isabelle wanted to eat at the restaurant with the guitar on it AKA The Hard Rock Café.

Feeling a little tired....until that coke kicked in

Singing Christmas carols with Brecklyn

After dinner we went back to our hotel and Isabelle opened her gift from Brecklyn.

She got in her last years Christmas jammies, which are now so small, and we played some Hello Kitty bingo before settling in for the night.

We were up bright and early the next day. We grabbed some breakfast and then set off to explore the hotel and all of their amazing Christmas decorations.

The birthday girl

We worked our way over to the event we came for. Christmas Kaleidoscope.

Ready to head inside

The first portion of the event were several rooms FULL of beautiful silk luminaries.

We made a stop so Isabelle could write her name on the nice list.

Meeting the Snow Fox

His Elf took a group shot of us

and kept snapping

and snapping

Until I finally had to take the camera away haha

Next, we walked around the Christmas village where we met the Snow Fairy and Peppermint Express Train {which we waited in line for but then did not ride}

They had a large marker wall for the kids to draw on.

Her picture is the red person with big eyes, its the Snow Fairy

The Snow Foxes House

We went back out into the Christmas village where we wrote a letter to Santa.

Writing her letter to Santa

Sending it off to the North Pole

We exited into a nice gift shop where we got some hot chocolate, and ornament for our tree, and a little stuffed snow fox as a souvenir. She was even thoughtful enough to suggest getting one for her brother too. We checked out of our room and headed on to the next stop in our birthday adventure...Build A Bear.

She of course, picked the leopard

Isabelle and her new bff Lucy Leopard

There was a Justice nextdoor so we popped in and let the diva try on some flashy outfits before we headed to our 3rd and final stop of the day, Lotus Spa.

She got her nails done while I got a tour {from my friend Brecklyn who works there} and it was BEAUTIFUL.

We all had so much fun! Happy 5th Birthday baby girl!

Hey, Jude's 1! A Beatles Birthday Party

2013-01-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

First let me say, I CAN NOT believe my tiny little baby boy is one already!!! I feel like it was literally yesterday that I was pinning ideas for a 1st birthday party for him while I was still pregnant and now it has all come and gone. If you would like to walk down memory lane and see the day Jude Lucas Sweet came into this world, then you can read about that here.

So, back to the birthday. Obviously, my son's name is Jude. Both my husband and I have been HUGE Beatles fans since we were kids and always loved the name Jude. When it was birthday party time, I couldn't think of a better theme for him than The Beatles. I was also operating under the assumption that at a later date in his life, he will not want a Beatles party and it is my job as a mother to push this party theme on him while he has no choice in the matter :)

Like I said, we have always been Beatles fans and most of this comes from my dad who would quiz me on, "What Beatles song is this?" Him being such a fan, he has acquired a large collection of Beatles memorabilia which he let me borrow for the party. So lets talk about that for a bit shall we?

As you can imagine, You cant just walk into a Party City and request a Beatles party pack, so there was a lot of internet scouring and hand making going on for this party. The First thing I did was visit my favorite place Etsy.com! If you haven't visited this site, I suggest you go there as soon as you are finished reading this. The site hosts people who sell handmade items. What you can find on there is endless.. clothes, jewelry, art, custom baby items etc. Its Awesome, Im done ranting now, anywho. I found an awesome shop called Sugar Tree Press who had a printable BEATLES birthday pack! I was so excited to find it that I grabbed it asap. {If you have been here recently you will remember my daughter Isabelle also just had her birthday. We had a Monster High theme which also was made by Sugar Tree Press.}

Here is the invitation for Jude's party and the inspiration for the color scheme.

I used many of the colors all together on the table with the covering, plates, placemats, and wrapped silverware. I used some of my dads Beatles figures and some records for some decoration.

Keeping in line with the theme, I used the internet and the computer to come up with a Beatles song themed menu.

Lucky for me, the Beatles released an album of number 1's, so I shrunk down the album cover and made picks for the Let it BLTs.

Record plate stand and printed Hey Jude lyrics

My cousin made an AMAZING cake and we set it up along with some more Beatles memorabilia and some stands I made out of records.

I made the cake stand, 3 tiered dessert stand, and the BLT plate stand all out of records. I started my hitting up my local Goodwill store where they sell records for 1 dollar a piece. I have done projects with records in the past and they cost me only 69 cents a piece, so I made sure I choose double disc sets :) I also found a 6 pack of plastic champagne glasses for 1 dollar so I nabbed those for the base of the stands. I flipped them over and hot glued a record on top and viola...record cake stand. For all the records used on stands and on tables, plus the glasses, I spent 6 dollars on it all.

Jude's smash cake

My dad's figurines

Some more of my dads collection

Using my printable birthday kit, I made Mr. Jude his own birthday boy corner, by hanging up some plastic and his birthday banner.

Someone switched around my letters...not very funny

Birthday Boy

CAKE

Watching sissy open his gifts

Happy First Birthday Jude!!

Monster High Birthday Bash

2012-12-28T06:25:00.001-08:00

My oldest child, Isabelle, turned 5 recently and requested a Monster High themed birthday party. It has been so funny to see what she wants each year. At 3, she wanted and Iron Man party. Last year, was Barbie. Luckily, this Monster High thing is very popular right now and I was able to find lots of cute things.

I ordered the cake and cupcakes from the bakery at WalMart and found some cookies there too.

I found a Monster High printable party pack online, which we had personalized with her name and age. I printed, cut out, and attached all the signage, and added some of Isabelle's Monster High dolls for decorations { Thanks to my brother aka uncle Jake for taking the time to painstakingly dress each one}

We had the party at 2 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, so we had snack foods that I tried to scare up a bit.

Mummy dogs

Besides lemonade to drink, I found this awesome coffin drink cooler online, clearanced off, after Halloween. It went well with our theme and held the sodas and our water with bottle labels.

We covered all the tables in either pink, aqua, or black, and placed a couple tins of snack mix on each one, along with color coordinated wrapped silverware.

My favorite part

The kids had a great time playing together and we were lucky to have warmer weather, which meant shipping them all outside.

Papaw Myers and all of his grandchildren playing, minus Jude

After some snacking and playing it was time for presents!

So happy her daddy got her stompys

Leighton

After presents, it was cake time! Isabelle doesn't like loud noises or singing so EVERY year on her birthday she covers her ears. I have photo and video proof of this for the past 4 years.

Time to dig in!

My 2 handsome nephews

After all the fun, Isabelle got to play with her cousins and friends before calling it a night. I think it was overall, a success!

Isabelle and her best friend Emerald

My big 5 year old was a happy camper and that was all I needed. Happy Birthday to my special baby girl :)

Miss Mouse and Christmas Parade

2012-12-27T10:58:00.001-08:00

Isabelle, Jude, Cousin Leighton

Every year at Christmas time, a local philanthropic sorority, Tri Kappa, hosts an event called Miss Mouse. Both my mother in law and sister in law are members and were participating in the event so I packed up my kiddos and my sweet little nephew and took them all last Saturday morning, but not before a quick photo shoot. Don't they clean up nice?

My Christmas Angels

Our first activity was writing letters to Santa.

After decorating their letters and depositing them into Santa's mailbox, we were off to decorate cookies.

Best friends, they are almost exactly one year apart

Leightons on left, Isabelles on the right

Since Jude is to small and wiggly for most activities, we dropped him off with Mamaw to listen to a story read by my, getting way to old to fast niece, Anna.{I remember when she was the one listening to the stories...sniff sniff}

Once they were finished decorating, they sat down to enjoy the fruits of the labor and listen to some more Christmas stories, this time read my mamaw herself.

Mamaw's ducks, sitting in a row

After snapping a group shot of the kids with Miss Mouse {I was busy making faces for smiles and didn't get my own shot :( } the kids were getting antsy and ready to go...mostly Jude

Door greeter

The next afternoon was the Christmas parade! I haven't been to the Washington Christmas parade in YEARS!! I was very excited to take the kids since there was a stretch of about 6-7 years where I was in the parade every year. Lucky for us, our house is only a couple blocks from main street and it was warm so we loaded up the stroller and walked downtown.

We ran into my sister in law and crew while we were there, so it was nice spending some time with them.

When is this thing going to start?

Here comes the parade...

Whats next?

Surprisingly, he loved all the sirens

Aunt Teresa..Keeping the kids out of the street haha

Sharing

Isabelle was very excited to see the dogs from the animal shelter

Whats a parade without a band?

Me and my boy

another band

The Big Guy

Waving to Santa