For the Love of Reading!

A couple of years ago, a group of girls I work with formed a book club! It was great... and I read books that I would have never picked up on my own! Some of the choices were Running with Scissors, The Red Tent, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and I can't think of the others! It came to an end, I had Lane, and now it's hard to find time to READ!! And I love to read....so this is frustrating!

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In January, as a New Year's goal...I said I was going to read a book a month. In January it was Dear John, in February it was Mommywood, and in March/April it was House Rules. Which leads me to the point of this post....we started our book club again!!!! I am very excited about this! I love to have people to talk to about what I read...and we are going to be hosting at our houses each month, which means very fun girl time! So, to get to it, our May book choice is......

Gotta be honest, I've never heard of it but ready to read it!

Happy Reading Girls!

Monster Madness!

Yesterday Paul and I spent most of our day changing the guest bathroom to Lane's bathroom! We had bought the stuff awhile back, just haven't found the time to do it. And since our big summer goal is going to be working on potty training, hopefully, then I wanted him to have a "kid" bathroom! I love love love the collection we went with, it's so cute! The walls are actually a little darker than the pictures show. So here it is!

These little shower curtain hooks are my favorite piece!

Now the only thing that is missing is some artwork for the walls....not sure what I am going to do about that since this is kind of a unigue theme...not alot of monster stuff out there! Oh well, I'll figure it out! Oh and of course....a little training potty! But we aren't quite there yet!

I'm back in business!

So this past weekend a very sad thing happened....my camera died!! Yikes I know!! My friend accidently knocked it over, after I stupidly placed it on the cake table that was surrounded by toddlers, oops! And although she felt very upset, the damage was done......my camera was broke!! I immediately thought "oh my goodness, how can I go without a camera?"! So Paul and I talked it over and he told me we would try to get a new one soon....to which I immediately asked "how soon"!

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Fast forward to this evening....I'm cooking dinner...I hear Paul's truck pull in....and then I hear the doorbell ring. My first thought was why is he not coming through the garage like always? So I went to the door, opened it, and there is Paul, holding a box (which was wrapped in really cute paper by the way), with a smile on his face! I knew instantly what was in that box...

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This lovely new camera!!!

He completly surprised me! I am so spoiled by him! Thanks babe...you are the best!

A Night at the Ballpark

Lane was born at the beginning of the '08 baseball season and when he was a tiny litte thing Paul would sit and watch baseball and have Lane right on his chest! I think he kinda just absorbed it in him...sounds funny I know! But this boy seriously loves all things baseball!!! Paul and I have been dying to take him to his first game, so when Paul came across some free tickets last Friday, we decided it was time! And my mom and sister were here still so we took them along! It was so fun. Lane did awesome. He watched everything and took it all in! The music, the players, the fireworks, all of it! It was so fun and I'm sure it was the beginning of many games with our little man!! You know me....I couldn't let this event go un-documented!! So here it is....cue the music!!!

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Take me out to the ball game

Take me out with the crowd

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks

I don't care if I never get back


Let me root, root, root

For the home teamIf they don't win it's a shame
For it's one, two, three strikes you're out
At the old ball game!!

Cool Toys!

Lane got a ton of great gifts for his birthday...but a few have really been a hit! One of which is his new Lightning McQueen motorized car! He loves it and has learned how to control it very quickly! It's totally random that he has on his Lightning McQeen pj's that particular morning!!

       He is getting a little brave here!!

Here is another cool toy! His very own tent...with a tunnel!! Daddy put it up Easter morning in our living room and he had tons of fun crawling in and out of it!

And last here is a punching bag that aunt Brittany got him! He is hilarious with it!

ALL his toys are definitly keeping him entertained!

Easter 2010!

Well today my mom and Rachel headed back to North Carolina....it's weird going back to a quiet house! We have had a house full of family for the past two and a half weeks....all here for Lane's party and then for Easter! So here is my Easter post....a week later!

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Saturday night we took the kids to see the Easter bunny. While we waited Lane would look over and say "hi easter bunny", but the minute it was our turn and Haley took him up there, he wasn't to sure about him! So this is the best pic I could get! Easter morning we woke up and let Lane and Brody see what the Easter Bunny brought them!
Heres Brody boy with no clue!

Lane's goodies!

Here is my little handsome man in his Easter outfit! I love his hand in his pocket!

The two boys...the best we could get!

After a slow morning, we were all worn out after Saturday, my whole family got together at a park (again) to celebrate Easter. When we were little (meaning all the cousins) we used to have Easter at a park every year....but then we stopped the park thing...so this year we decided to go back and we had a blast!! We had this whole little park all to ourselves! We brought out a ton of food, flew kites, hunted Easter eggs, and even had our first annual family whiffle ball game!! Which my team won!!! Here are all the boys/kids throwing the ball around.

Of course my baby was right there with them! These days he always has his glove and a ball near by!

Britt and I got the boys matching outfits for the day!

Most of the family...nice smile Britt!

Lane hunting eggs!

And then checking out his goodies!!

Haley, Bree, Brittany, and Brody

We tried everything to get these two together!

Lane also got lots of Easter goodies from his grandparents!! This is his basket from Grammie!!
And this is his basket from Nana!

We had a great weekend all around! I'm so glad my mom, sisters, and little Brody got to be here with us!

A 2nd Birthday Party....Gabba Style!!

Last weekend we had Lane's 2nd birthday party! It went off wonderfully....we had so much fun! My biggest fear having an outdoor party was the weather, and it turned out to be a gorgeous day...except for the crazy wind....but somethings gotta give right!? Anyway I had such a blast planning this party for Lane. I've mentioned several times how into Yo Gabba Gabba he is, so I knew I had no other choice!

.We had about 45 of our friends and family there to celebrate! Lane has an amazing family who all love and spoil him to pieces!! Anyway here are all the details and pictures from the party!

The Invite
I made the invite and originally had it printed through Vista Print. However, we decided to change the location and I didn't have enough time to reorder, so I took it to Staples and OH mY..they turned out so much better than Vista Print! Images were clearer and the colors were so much brighter and crisp! They looked awesome!

Decor

I saw a cute idea on a couple of blogs to hang paper lanters to add to the decor, so I went out on a search for some and found them super cheap at good 'ole Hobby Lobby. My sister and I decided they needed something more so we turned some into the Gabba characters! They turned out super cute! I was worried about the wind blowing them everywhere, but we hung them pretty tight and they stayed put!

Here is part of the cake table. I had tablecloths for all the tables but after my sister and I used a roll of tape on the first one, we decided to scrap the tablecloths altogether...it was way too windy! I got small buckets, one for each of the characters, again at Hobby Lobby, and filled each with candy. Then I printed out the character printables from Nick Jr. and made the other sticks! I was going to use them as table centerpieces, but with no tablecloths I just decided to put them all on the cake table. It made a cute little candy bar!

The Cake
Once again, my very talented aunt came through with an awesome cake! I love how it turned out and was yummy as usual! She has made every single cake of mine, including my wedding cake, and so far all of Lanes!



Party FavorsI love putting together the goodie bags! I ordered the favor boxes from Birthday Express, then made the little tags to go on the outside. Inside I filled them with Gabba rings and sticker sheets, also from Birthday Express.

While searching online I came across a lady who makes these adorable party favors, for almost any theme or character imaginable! The above left pic are chocolate lollipops! They come with a corrodinating tag. The same lady also makes, below left, mini coloring books and colors in your theme and personalized! I also enlisted the help of my hubby to make CD's full of Gabba songs! I made the label and he made the music! I wanted to give stuff the kiddos could use, not just a bunch of candy!


Games
Again from a blog (gotta love blog world), I found a cute game idea from someone who did a Gabba party. So I whipped up a poster and made the eyes for...Pin the Eye on Muno!! With most of the kids being pretty young I didn't even know if they would be able or want to play it! But we tried it anyway and I must say I was completly surprised! They all did it and actually stood there and watched each other do it! I only made the big kids close their eyes! It was so cute! Believe it or not Lane won! He definitely knows his Gabba characters!


Other Details
Seeing how jumping is one of Lane's favorite things to do, I knew a bounce house was in order for this party!! A Gabba one would have been perfect but I guess it's not that well known yet, so instead of a plain one, we opted for Elmo! It was the highlight of the party! All the kids, big and small, jumped and jumped! I'm not even sure if Lane made it to the playground! We even had to open presents inside!!
Notice Brody boy, sporting the DJ Lance hat!

Oh and as you can see, Lane wanted no part of eating his cake this year!!

My cousin Amanda and aunt Terry got together and made a few of us Gabba shirts, just to have fun with it! So here is Paul, wearing Muno! Is he not the best daddy...anything for his little man!!



Attempted group shots!

Family Shots!
Lane in his Brobee shirt from aunt Brittany! Thanks Aunt B!!

Mr. 2 Year Old

And last but not least, my little two year old himself!! I think his smile says it all! Even though he may not remember anything about this party, I will always have these memories and I loved creating such a special day for my sweet boy!

Happy 2nd Birthday Lane!

Now....on to party number 3.... Kidding....totally kidding!!!