{Art contest...

J's got skills. Art skills to be exact. His teacher approached me in February and told me about an art contest that she thought Jackson should enter. School hasn't always been easy for Jackson so I'm always looking for things to boost his self esteem and art does that. I wanted him to do well in the contest so I went to Hobby Lobby, coupons in hand. We bought an oil kit, canvas and brushes (who in their right mind buys oil paints for a 7 year old?) I'm new at this, I guess. Well I figured we had all weekend to work on it so surely it would be dry by the time the painting needed to be turned in. Wrong. I asked if I could turn it in wet and they agreed. I found out that it took well over two weeks to dry to the touch. It's probably still not dry! Anyway long story short, not only did he place, he won first place complete with a blue ribbon! It was a national contest with over 1000 entries. Of course not all of them were in his age bracket but none the less. He was so excited! I was so excited for him. It made my mom heart happy to see him succeed... I got to pick him up from school and we spent an entire afternoon at the Broadmoor Hotel mixing and mingling with astronauts and NASA. So cool!

{Where's Sammy?

Jackson had a lot going on in March/April so I'll throw in a crazy little Sam story... I swear I looked for this boy for close to 20 minutes. My heart was racing and I couldn't find him anywhere. I looked outside, in the dryer, in cabinets, all of his favorite hiding places. In complete desperation I was ripping through the house. Well, I opened up this ottoman and found him. asleep. I'm surprised he was still breathing. I'm honestly glad we're both still alive to tell the tale. He will be the death of me. I'm certain.

{Jackson turns 8!!!

Um, wow! It's been a LONG time but I promise that I have a really good excuse (more on that later). Where to start? I guess we'll go back to March and take it from there...

My little J turned 8 years old. Kind of a BIG deal! Here are just a few pics at his lego party. He's slightly consumed by legos. We took his birthday treats to school on March 17th (since his actual birthday fell on a weekend) hence the 'over the rainbow cupcakes.' One bite and the rainbow took over. Yum.

Lego races

Lego buildoff

I used this super cute, lego party printable pack. It made the invitations and other decor a breeze. Highly recommend!

Jackson's creation for a cake topper.

It sure was fun!

Table OCD, cured!

Todd jokes that I am a little OCD when it comes to the table in our eat-in kitchen. No seriously, I think I am. We inherited a large, lovely oak table from my in-laws a few years ago. Well, with two busy boys and a mom who loves to craft it was looking a little worse for the wear. So, "fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without..." I painted it black and it was like a whole new table. I was in love! The paint however was not as durable as I had hoped within 6 months I had to paint it again (this time using an oil based paint) and I promptly ordered a glass table top to protect all my hard work. Again, LOVE! ....then I noticed all the fingerprints, food smears and crumbs that started accumulating under the glass. It was more than I could take. On one of our recent date nights, I noticed that the table we were seated at had a glass top and a tablecloth underneath the glass. Brilliant! I found an *inspiration piece* on pinterest (if anyone needs an invite, just let me know. It is oh, so fabulous!) and went to work. I put together this burlap/canvas tablecloth and I really think that my table drama is over once and for all. The burlap masks little crumbs from morning toast and the creamy ruffle adds just the femininity that our family is in desperate need of.

{Happy Valentine's Day! ...and a little love detecting!

Here is a pic of the Valentine's that Jackson gave to his classmates this year. I saw this tutorial all over the web this year so we gave them a go and they did not dissappoint! He's such a cutie!

Sammy didn't want to cooperate in a little photo shoot for his Valentine's and had no desire to help in the planning or prep, so I just took over. I'm completely okay with that!

Jackson's teacher asked if I would come in a teach a little Valentine's craft about a week ago. I had the bright idea that we would make tote bags that would double as Valentine's carriers and a library book bag. When I told her what I was planning to do she said that the room mom's already planned to decorate bags at the party so what's a mom to do? I called my mom! What would I do without her? She told me that in the Friend back in the 90's there was a sharing time about service. Secret service. Well I took the idea and ran with it. The kids filled big manilla envelopes with hearts that they made in all shapes and sizes. I gave them a sheet of paper to track all of their good deeds on and we made a 'love bug' pencil (because every good detective has to record their movements). I told them if they were able to complete at least 7 secret acts of service for someone they loved (and left a homemade heart as their calling card) by the next week I would reward them at the class party. The kids totally got into it. Jackson made my bed. He left little notes for Sammy and the kids in his class were just as excited to be love detectives! On Friday Mrs. Jacob's gave me a list of kids that had brought back their lists of secret acts and I gave them this...

They are official detective badges. You should have seen all these little second graders wearing their badges with pride! So fun.

{Cupcake Love...

Oh my.... nothing from December to February! Well, what can I say?? It's a busy time of year! Christmas was great! New Year's was great! It's been freezing cold here and I have spring fever Big Time! Yesterday was 65 beautiful degrees so I'm a little happier this week.

Last week in anticipation for teh day of *love* I had a little cupcake gathering. It was so fun! Okay, not that I need to make (or EAT) cupcakes right now -isn't swimsuit season right around the corner??- but they are darling and SO fun to make! I caved.

Here is a little 'taste' of what we came up with:

Kelly's bakerella spin off. I think they are just beautiful.

Annelisa's delish almond cupcake with raspberry creme filling.

This is a little deceiving... I wanted to make a beautiful, out of this world good cupcake and while I do think it turned out pretty, it tasted like grainy poop! Who except for Martha Stewart and Bakerella can make meringue frosting over a double broiler and not have it turn out grainy?

Love this. Jocelyn's hostess knock off!

Round two of the hi-hat cupcake. Well, hi-hat turned lo-hat... I tried a different recipe and it tasted great, but did not form stiff peaks! Anyone have a good suggestion for me on a no-fail meringue icing recipe?? :)

{Decking the Halls... and the stake center tables!

Some friends and I were asked to come up with table centerpieces for our Stake Musical Christmas Fireside next week. I made a trip to ARC and the coffee isle of my local supermarket and came up with these super fun starbursts! I had seen something similar done with an old phone book at a local boutique in Colorado Springs and knew it could be adapted to work for our event. I love how they turned out and can't wait to see 24 of these beauties decking the cultural hall for Christmas!