It's a Pirate Princess Party!

One of Jack's good friends Tucker is turning 4 this month. ( by Jack's good friend I mean his mom and I have been friends since college and now our kids like to play together!) His birthday party theme is Princess and Pirates.

Oh My! Could a birthday party get any cuter?

Everyone is getting so excited about dressing up! Along with a shirt, I made Jack a custom eye patch and a pirate beard to wear. You see, me and Dan call Jack Blu....long story....so I thought it was fitting for him to be Captain Blu Beard! ARRRGGGHHHHH! I will also being putting a bandana around his head to give him a pirate hat!

I expected all the girls to be dressed in their ready made princess costumes, and I am sure that some of them will and will be ADORABLE. However, some are getting creative and going the pirate route in a tutu:) SO funky and cute!

This one will have a hot pink tutu.

Little Sister will be decked out in a light pink tutu- precious!

And this stylish babe will be sporting some black and white striped leggings! The party is Saturday. I am almost as excited as Jack. I hope to get some cute pictures to share! In the meantime, I am bracing myself because: We have company coming into town this weekend ( YAY, but I will not get much moonlighitng done) It seems Easter Bunnies nationwide will be delivering these cute towels in their baskets this year ( YAY, but oh my goodness how do I squeeze it in???) Speaking of Easter....my little bunny tail needs to get in gear. I need a delivery at my house, too. Oh, and I have a few pals who are patiently awaiting their easter pails. Guess I better get to painting!

Competitive Egg Hunting

Innocently waiting. At this point, we had no idea what we were up against. There we stood, at Adams Park on the baseball field labled "ages 3 and under". We were crowded around the dirt of the field all lined up in a row with the other children and their parents- we made it just in time before the announcer counted down and let the crowds go.

I should have seen it coming.

I knew I felt that surge of a pushing crowd moving in on us. I could sense the prickles of the hairs standing on the back of my neck as people were beginning to get just a tiny smidgen too far into MY SPACE.

The countdown began and we were off! First, about mid field, were the lovely hard coated easter eggs that I haved dubbed the Easter Candy equivalent the the Orange Halloween Peanut Marshmellow. (Yeah, you know the one. Hard coated lovely pastel candy shell with he slightly chewy, crumbly white substance on the inside. What IS that thing?)I digress...

Then as we moved further towards the outfield we began to come across some starburst and lifesaver gummies mixed in and then...way out by the fence...I spotted the eggs!

The EGGS!

That is what we were there for! YAY!!!

Come on boys- let's go get some EGGS!

They are almost 4 and almost 3. I told them before the countdown what we were there to do, and I knew that we were there to have fun.

It never occurred to me to bring shoulder pads.

By the time we would spot an egg and head towards it- we would get cut off by an adult grabbing the egg and tossing it in their kid's basket.

Over and over...we would spot another and head over and then- poof! It was gone!

And just for the record...I am TOTALLY fine with parents helping their little ones.... I mean, we were at the 3 and under field. Some of those kids were LITTLE! But once the basket is actually heaping over to the point that the child can no longer see over it... SHARE THE EGGS PEOPLE! My kid might be bigger than your kid- but he is MUCH SMALLER THAN YOU!

So there you have it- Tucker did not get one single egg.

Jack got one because I guilted a grown up into handing him one that they had picked up with my YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF GLARE.

But what these guys did get was a mighty fun time, and no one can take that away from them! I could go on into the next 15 minutes of the outing. That is the part where Jack goes into full on meltdown because the line is too long for the bouncy slide. I mean, the laying on the ground and crying and the trying to hit me and the following behind me while holding onto my belt loop as I try to walk away sobbing to the point that other parents were looking at us as if I had just ripped his arm off..... but I want to keep it up beat around here. May all of the your competitive Easter Egg Hunts be a raging success with heaping baskets full of plastic eggs!!!! have a great day!

Chandy Lust

We painted our dining room red about 5 years ago. I think I kind of missed the trend by a little. You can see it here in all it's Roasted Red Pepper glory and decked out for Christmas in the photo above. As soon as we painted it, I started having painting remorse. All the cooler colors were starting to trickle onto the scene(blues, grays, greens) and I just KNEW that I had made a BIG mistake! Over the years, I have realized that "in" or not, I LOVE my red dining room. When I am in there with friends dining....I love it. When I breeze through and catch a glimpse of it from the kitchen...I love it. When I deck it out for Christmas...I love it! So, I am totally at peace with the fact that I am a red dining room kind of girl. I am going to paint the kitchen a soft gray blue and connect them with the faux roman shades that I have already made that are red with blue flowers. What I am NOT ok with, is the fact that I have YET to replace the builder chandelier that is the dining room fixture. I have been on the lookout for years, but nothing has really spoken to me until this little guy came around.

The picture above is from Restoration Hardware. I would love to just place my order and get on with it, but it is a bit out of my price range.

Oh well...a girl's gotta dream, right?

TGIF

I don't know about ya'll, but I am so glad it is Friday and I am looking forward to a GREAT weekend!

These links are PURELY for your enjoyment-so ENJOY!

THIS tickles me( ***I SAW IT AT BOOMAMA***) just about as much as a Flash Mob Dance Scene! So after you enjoy that, if the spirit so moves you, you might want to check out a little of this! Or this one....I cried! It is a singing flash mob! ( don't forget, I cry at marching bands!) I keep promising myself if I get pregnant again, I will be healthier this time...maybe this is the way? Oh if I could only be so lucky as to actually witness something like this some day! And the best for last...if anyone is planning one of these- please let me know! I WANNA DANCE! Happy Friday!

Did I ever tell you?

That the Pickle Tree was featured in a Treasury on Etsy?

Sure, it was back before Valentine's Day, so I am bit behind.

But hey- these cute little tops are great for your little guy ANYTIME of the year!!!

If you wanna check it out- look here!

Last night the Pickle Tree hosted a contest on Facebook and the prize was the awesome-est beach towel ever- the brain child of my friend's Rayna and Lara!

If you have not already- find us and like us on facebook! That contest was so much fun, I feel more coming in the future and you don't want to miss out!

We're going to a restaurant

Lately jack has been in the habit of telling Mrs. Kim " I'll call you when I get there", when he

leaves to go home in the afternoons. Yesterday, he added, "I am going to a restaurant, I will call you when I get there".

Kim looked at me expectantly and I just looked back at her with eyebrows raised, thinking, hmmmm...that sounds like a good idea. Dan was working late, so off to the restaurant we went!

I decided Mexican was in order- instant gratification with chips- it's what 2 year olds need!

I was so very proud of Jack. He was SOOO good. A rare treat in a restaurant lately. He is at "that" age! I was going out on a limb braving the trip alone. I am certainly glad that I did!

He was so well behaved. He sat across from me in the booth. Drank out of a cup and straw without turning it upside down (sippycup style), dipped his own chips, talked to the waitress saying please and thank you, ate very well, and then even packed up his own to-go box!

Last night he had a hard time going to sleep. He tried so hard to do it alone! Finally at about 9:30 he started crying out for me. I went and laid down beside him until he fell asleep. It did not take long. This morning when he woke, I brought him in bed with us. He said he had a bad dream. He said the people were coming to get him. I sure hope we don't start with nightmares again.

He has a boo boo on his hand. He held his hand up and said mama...can you take this booboo off? Please?

He asked so sweetly as if I can just take the pain away.... just like that.

I wish I could buddy- I wish I could.

preparations are under way...

My sweet, adorable, precious twin nieces are turning one this month! Their sweet momma and daddy are getting everything ready for the big party! I am always eager to help. Somehow, in talking with Jarah (the momma) I stumbled into an idea that we should do matching bib and bloomer sets for their smash cake picture session and also at the party! You know, so they don't mess up their birthday outfits... I think it is the MOST brilliant original idea that I have come up with. If you know of someone or somewhere that has already come up with this idea, please DO NOT TELL ME! I like to think I am original and I am pretty proud of this idea, so all you parade rainers, please keep it to yourself! :)

So the bloomers have giant ruffles on the bottoms and I CANNOT WAIT to see how they look on the girls!

Now, their pictures are scheduled for Wednesday.

I guess I better get going on the shipping if I want the bloomers to make it for their photography debut, huh?