She's Here!

My very good friend, Leigh Anne, just had her baby girl! I am so happy for her!

Piper Jane.

8lbs on the dot!

 This is her third child. First two were boys. I have one boy and another on the way.

I think this little girl is going to be getting all the new baby girl cute stuff from the Pickle!

anyone still out there??? The Grinch

I have been on a bit of an unintentional "break".

Busy at work, busy at home, and yes...even though I have been closed since November 30th, still super busy at the Pickle Tree.

I usually have no time to figure out and execute all the wonderful ways to take advantage of living near a large city like Atlanta. Lucklily for me, I have a few girlfriends with kids Blu's age who are experts at it! Last weekend, we took the kids to see the Grinch at the Fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta.

I discovered that plays, to my dismay, are not really Jack's bag. We had a great time, but sitting still in the dark watching a not so up close and personal live production proved to be a bit too much for his attention span! He was pretty much over it as soon as the "sparkly" man playing the organ was through and the lights went down.

He sure loved getting to hang out with one of his best good buddies, though. I got hang out with some of mine, too! How can you lose on a day like that!

This is me figuring out that you cannot photograph children in the dark without a flash.

Still learning...

I finally asked them to be really really still.



All in all, it was a great day. I have practically recovered fully from all of the backwards headbutts I received from little Blu sitting in my lap for most of the performance.

I have even forgotten most of the painfullness of  trying to keep him quiet for an hour and a half, that I might even try it again someday!



Last Chance!!!!

Well perhaps you can tell by my lack of posts that I have been super super busy!

Today is the official last day that The Pickle Tree is taking orders until 2012!

Get YOUR order in today!

Hopefully, once I get the orders caught up, you will see more sweet pics of this guy!!!

photo courtesy of Chuck Williams Photography.

LOVE THEM!

It's Fall Ya'll

I love the Lettered Cottage, and today, they are doing their famous linky party for mantle ideas.

Well, I MUST admit that I really did not put a TON of effort into my mantle. It looks pretty much the same as it always does except for one PERFECT little fall touch!

NOTHING says fall like a little Auburn football around our house!

If you LOVE it, or need one for a, ahem, different team, check out my dear friend's etsy shop.

http://www.raynalaneinc.etsy.com/

 

When I Grow Up

Here is Boy Blu with his "Uncle Brad". Some of our friends went camping last Satuday night. They anchored their boat at the campsite and we went out to meet them on Sunday.

When Blu realized that all his buddies were on shore...well, he just started swimming!

 He swam a LOOOONG way and Uncle Brad met him and walked him up to camp!

 He is getting so stinking big.

Yesterday morning in the car he said, "momma, I need to ask you something". For those of you that do not know my Blu, he speaks VERY plain for a 3 year old. I said, OK, what?

Out of nowhere, he just said to me, "where do you work"?

I told him the name of my company and that really did not help him. I finally said, "I build houses. I mean, I HELP build houses".

When the builder needs the brick, I pick the color,

when he needs the paint, I pick the color,

when he wants the cabinets, I pick the color.

I was trying to keep it simple, people!

So this morning, as he is waving at Dan pulling down the street, he said,

"mommy, where is daddy going?" I said, " he is going to work". Blu said, "Oh, where does daddy work"?

I said, daddy builds buildings. Blu asked, "like the warehouse"?

*that is where we store our boat*

I said, "yes".

he said, " I want to build my house. But you I will have to pack my toys"!

How cute!

Then he said..."momma, when I grow up, I want to come to work with you".

Melt. My. Heart.

It would be even more precious if we weren't in a housing crisis!

Lawd...I hope this economy changes before Blu grows up!

RaynaLaneInc

Once upon a time....there was a beautiful girl. She met a guy at work named Big D.

Then she fell in love...

with his wife...

well with me.

We've been pretty tight ever since that first faithful baby shower that I TRIED to help her host....

 I used to have a job that allowed me to be off during the summer

(what the heck was I thinking giving that up)?

A mutual friend of our's at the company was expecting and Rayna was heading up the office shower. Well, being the crafty busy body that I am, I called to RSVP and to tell her that I would be happy to help in anyway that she needed, I mean, after all. I was OFF work at the time and had the time to spare.

 Little did I know, number one, she thought I was pretty snooty calling up to say that I did not work. I believe her exact impression goes something like

( insert syrupy su-weet southern drawl)

"Hi....this is Melanie Marsh, Big D's wife? Um, yes, I was calling to say that I would be MORE than happy to help with the shower...I mean, I DON'T work, so I can do WHATEVER you need."

My recollection is a little less dramatic, something more along the lines of...."do you need anything, like ice or paper plates? I will have time to stop by on the way becasue I do not have to work that day"....Truthfully, it is probably a mix between our two recollections,but it is still so funny to hear her tell it to this day!

Number two, when it comes to a shower, this little lady needs the help of NO ONE! She had it under control like NOBODY's business. That shower was great of course, and so was the one that she threw for me when I got pregnant about 5 years later!

Anywho- we are buds.

And it all started with a baby shower.

So, when I realized it was Baby Shower Day at Kelly's Corner, I just KNEW that I had to link up to show some of her goodies, because RaynaLane has the MOST gorgeous, clever, resourceful, can be used again and again, and treasured FOREVER baby shower decoration!

 If you have been admiring all of the pictures in this link, then you are a RaynaLaneInc fan already!

She started out so organically...like most good things.

She made burlap table runners for her best friends' wedding reception. They were a hit...of course. I mean, you saw them, right? They are GORGEOUS!

Well, THE PEOPLE wanted more. Before she knew it, she was catering to bride's as well as individual's who wanted their own burlap runners for their homes.

 She started getting a little restless and has branched out!

YAY!

She now makes, burlap banners and also TEAM table runners. Perfect for a tailgater like me! Anyway, I know I will be calling on her for the next baby shower I throw. Check out these adorable burlap banners! Welcome Baby,
Welcome ....whatever you decide you want them to say, she can do it.
Need a certain color scheme? She can do it.
Can you imagine how cute? After the shower, you could give it the lucky mommy to be and she could put it up in her hospital room! then she could put it up on the front porch! then it could LIVE in the baby's room!

I know...I tend to get a little over excited and use too too many exclamation points!!!!!!

But it is my RaynaLane and I am so stinking in love with all of her wonderful creations. I just wanted to share them with the world!

Enjoy!

(she makes a mean taligating buddy, too! I mean, how many people do YOU know that have ALREADY saved you a place in line at the porta potti BEFORE you even arrive at a Jimmy Buffet concert when you are 7 months pregnant? Is that love, or what?)

4th of July/ Camping Adventure/ Birthday Party EXTRAVAGANZA! -3 part series continued

3rd Birthday Party! SO proud of my BIG BOY!

Finally- the last part of "the series". It only took me a month and 1/2 to get it all in! WHEW!
In case you missed part 1 or part 2, you can see them here or here.

A quick background...we joined a park at Lake Allatoona called Cushing Park. It was founded back in the 50's as a retreat exclusive to Delta employees and their families. A few years ago they opened it up to the public. We were looking for a place to store our boat, so we joined. They have a pool, campgrounds, cabins, boat slips, boat houses, bath houses..all kinds of cool stuff. STRAIGHT OUT OF THE 50's. Well, except for the boat slips and docks. Those are updated and actually super nice!
Anyway- July is HOT for a kids birthday party, so as soon as we joined, I knew that I would just do Jack's party there at the pool and rent a pavillion. Worked out PERFECTLY! I rented a couple of cabins starting the weekend of the 4th and we stayed the entire week right on through to Jack's party the next Saturday.

It was a camping themed party- so this banner welcomed everyone!

It says happy campers and I tell a little about how I made it here.

 You can see little hints of Delta and airplanes and such all around the Park, like this cute little airplane on the playground! Always a hit on the small fry circuit.

 Rayna and Gavin

 Aunt Jarah and Aleah

 You can see Tiffany here in the background. It is a gated park which is nice, but can get kind of complicated for a party. She and Brad, her husband manned the gate and let the guests in. Thanks to Brad and Tiff...wouldn't have been much of a party without the guests!

Big D had downed a tree in our back yard a few weeks before the party, so I had him make us some "stumps" for the party table!

 Nick and Caroline, our awesome neighbors!

 We had a jeep pinata. Jack LOVES pinatas. Whenver we go to a birthday party, he asks ahead of time if he will get a turn to swing at the pinata!

 Grace posing with the pinata

 Our neighbor, Christopher, really did a number on it!

Jack had already opened one of his gifts. A monster truck, his new obsession!

 The goodies! Everyone's favorite part of a pinata!

 Our friends Jim and Julie were there with their girls!

 KK taking a picture of Uncle Josh taking a picture of her

Uncle Josh taking a picture of KK taking a picture of him

 Baby Raynor

 Rials

Sophie likes her sucker

 No camping party is complete without smores on a stick, right?

Peanuts were a crowd favorite.

All good campers eat hot dogs, right?

My friend Rayna got the stickers for the tops of the party favors. Animal crackers for the littles and trail mix for the bigger kids!

 The cake.....The cake could be it's own post!

 It was a tree stump to go along with the theme. "Jack is 3!!" is "carved" into the tree.

 The campground is on top complete with a jeep, tent, and campfire.

 So cool. I love the critters. This cake was made by my very talented neighbor. If you live in the Atlanta area and need a cake, you should check her out!

 The coolest part about the cake was that Jack ADORED it! Once he saw it, he pretty much stayed right beside it. He just stood and admired it and asked everyone to look at it!

 It was SUPER cool when we cut it open. I loved the camping theme, but I wanted to add some color. SO we did! It tasted great!

 Blowing out the candles! Make wish buddy!

 We had given him his birthday present the night before the party on his REAL birthday. He gets a knife each year from his daddy. This year it was an engraved swiss army knife.

 His big present was his very own, very first bike!

 I think he likes it!

 We opened the rest of the gifts once we got home from camp.

There was just way too much action at the party for unwrapping gifts! He got lots of cool monster trucks and he LOVES them all!

The whole party was a success!

Happy Birthday Jack- mommy and daddy love you very much!