february

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

Petite Artiste shares a birthday with none other than Dr. Seuss. She is turning six. And, if Dr. Seuss was alive, he would be turning one hundred and eight. True story!

When in Kindergarten, as Petite Artiste is, Dr. Seuss seems to play a big role in the reading department. Her class has been doing Seussical activities all week. So, since Friday, to my happiness, is a school day and Miss P's birthday, we decided to honor Seussville with a fun fishy favor for her classmates.

I got it in my head to give the kids a little fish bowls filled with colors Goldfish and Swedish fish candies. So I went on a wild "fish" hunt for wee plastic bowls. Since I got this brilliant idea just five days ago, I was sort of out of luck of finding plastic fish bowls on the cheap. I hit up the dollar store and found cute glass bowls and I'm crossing my fingers the kindy kids are careful.

(Please don't break, Please don't break, Please don't break)

In my mad dash around town for fish bowls, I found One Fish, Two Fish stickers at the craft store and cute "Cat in the Hat" hats too. They both made for cute additions if I do say so myself.

pity party of one

It's taken me a week of coughing and a stuffy nose for me to finally admit to myself I have a cold. A yucky, congested, head plugged up cold. I tried to tell  myself (and everyone around me) it was just a little asthma from my recent rendezvous with the local treadmill. But alas, I can't blame the treadmill anymore. Instead I'll blame the little people I live with that keep bringing home germs from school.

In a haze of rescue inhalers and sudafed, I agreed to coach Petite Artist's T-Ball team. I did have some wits about me, however, when I first talked my friend/neighbor into doing it with me before agreeing. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into and I have a few fears swimming around in the back of my brain about dashing the dreams of baseball greatness of five year olds. It is all supposed to be fun though. And, if there is one thing I can do, is make things fun. So maybe crushing all-star baseball super stardom isn't exactly warranted....just yet.

In between the kids' mid-winter break, basketball games/practices, preparing for squashing T-Ball fame, denial of illnesses, preparing to run a 1/2 marathon (cough), and taking care of my friend's kitty cat while she was on vacation.....(breath)......I managed to organized my laundry room, spend copious amounts of time on Pinterest, keep the house mostly tidy, drink many cups of joe and somewhat prepare for an upcoming birthday extravaganza. And, I tell you all this beeeeecuuuuuzzzzz, I haven't posted any updates and for that I apologize. I know you will forgive me though. *wink*

Speaking of birthday party fun, the pieces are fitting together now. I struggled with this Scottie Dog theme as most of you know. I had to get imaginative and stretch a few ideas, but I think it's going to work. Painted dog bones, dog houses made out of graham crackers, plaid and felt mask should prove to be a "woofing" good time. The shin dig is this next weekend so I'm feeling under pressure now to wrap things up. (pictures soon)

In other, fun, news check out Leaves and Lizards newly added page on their fantastic Equestrian Treks. When you scroll down, you might just find somebody you know. Oh, how I wish I was in the jungle right now....it might actually clear up my sinuses.

party planning

As some of you already know about me, I take party planning pretty seriously. Not that I'm a crazed lunatic about making everything perfect and go nutso if my plans don't come off just right. But, you might say my ideas are slightly wacky. What can I say, I love a good theme and I admit, I get excited about all the possibilities.

Mostly, I love to give my children an experience rather than a bunch of things for their milestones. The stuff gets lost, forgotten, aged out of. My goal is to create memories. I can't wait to reminisce about the days we did this party, or how fun that party was, or remembering the cake from that one year, or declaring a favorite theme.

For Petite Artiste's sixth soiree, we decided to do a Scottish Terrier party. As I mentioned before, finding Scottie inspiration around the web has proven to be "ruff". So we started leaning towards a Scottish/Scottie dog theme. Also, near impossible to find that one done before. Which seems impossible to me because can't we find everything we need from the Internet?!?! In my case, not so much!

A little rearranging and some creative thinking had me scouring everything puppy or dog party themed to get my juices flowing. 

Around the holidays I bought up almost every box of Scottie dog cookies and stashed them away. Trader Joes almost always has the black licorice pups. Of course, I have no idea what I'm going to do with them just yet. Party favors? Decorations? Fun treats more or less.

Bone straw cups! Yahoo!! Plaid fabric made into table coverings. Now I'm thinking! Dog bowls found at the dollar store. Score!! Scottie dog napkins found online on clearance. What luck! And Scottish flags. Woot! Things are coming together.

I talked my artistic friend into helping me make Scottie dog masks for the kiddos. They are shaping up to be pretty doggone cute. I still have all the eyes to cut out before we can sew them and add eyebrows to this fun craft. I can say this, a good craft makes me so excited!!

Currently, as I type this, I have dog bones painted blue drying in my front yard. I'm keeping watch in case a wayward squirrel decides to snatch a few.

My idea? I'm going to make dog bone garland for some dog party decorations of course.

Ok, now you can say I'm crazy!

january

*Some January days missing due to school being closed for Snow Days. Our world shuts down when it snows around these parts. It's a little bit crazy!

almost six

In just three short weeks this funny little girl is about to turn six years old. Party planning has been underway and we decided to go with a Scottie Dog theme. Trying to search the Internet for a Scottie Dog theme inspiration has been doggone hard I tell ya. Like there is really nothing out there. Nadda! Luckily, I managed to score some Scottish Terrier shaped cookies and licorice candy from a couple of favorite stores. We hit up the dollar store for dog bowls too. (I wish I took a picture of the face the clerk gave me when she rang up fifteen dog bowls.) I figure serving up some hot'dogs' and some fake dog chow is a must for this shin dig. Franklin and Mavis will take center stage. Cross your fingers our pups will be on their best behavior. And, because, we are tying in the Scottish roots of our doggies, we had to pick up some tartan and Scottish flags too. It's starting to come together. Stay tuned.