Creative

For some reason, people lately have been telling me how creative I am.  Let me tell you, I am not all that creative.  My brain just can't come up with new idea's all on its own.  I am a very visual person, so once I see something I think is cute, then I am really good at copying other people's ideas, which I hope they don't mind :)

For example-

After seeing Zach's very crafty cousin make these, I was inspired to make a Valentine's Day banner and some cute little hearts on a stick.

Then Haley told me she wanted a heart pillow.  I can't use a sewing machine, so thank goodness for hot glue!  Ok, so maybe I can come up with one idea on my own. 

Then came my grandmother's birthday party and I wanted to do something special.  So I went online and found the ideas for wish cards and a time line.  Now, I am not a scrapbooker or card maker or anything like that, so once I found this card, it was a nice and simple starting point.



So that card eventually turned in to these cute little wish cards.

Which in turn, became the same format used for the timeline.

Creative?  Not in my mind.  Really?  Maybe just a little bit?  Ok, a very small possibility.  Good copy cat?  That sounds a little more accurate to me. 

Next up on my copy catting- a Texas Tech ribbon wreath.  Wish me luck!

Hand, Foot, and Mouth

About four days ago we found out that Emily got the hand, foot, and mouth virus.  Apparently it has been going around Key West like crazy and we have no idea how she got it. 

And just in case you were wondering, this virus starts with a fever and then come the small red spots on the hands, foot, and mouth that can blister up.  In Emily's case, she has only blistered on the hands and feet and it also flared up her eczema really bad.  It looks a lot worse than it actually is and she has been a real trooper.

There is no antibiotic for her to take, so the virus just has to run it's course.  Hopefully she'll be back to normal in a week or so.  It is pretty contagious, so we have basically quarantined ourselves to the house the past few days and will continue to until she's spot free.

Since we've been confined to the house, we have tried to stay as busy as we can. 

I have been busy baking pancakes and waffles (oatmeal apple and oatmeal chocolate chip, in case you were wondering) to freeze for breakfasts.

We've played lots of hide and seek.

Done some laundry.

And yesterday we had fun with the water hose on the back porch.

So now we are just crossing our fingers that this clears up sooner rather than later and that Haley doesn't get it.  But thankful that it's not as bad as it could be.

Art Show

Last week was the girls' school art show.  It is a chance for all the kids and parents to get "Key West dressed up" and see what the kids have been making in school.  Haley was thrilled that she got to wear her pretty bracelet and necklace for the event.  Zach got to take Haley while I stayed home with our sick little girl, but I made sure to give him the camera so I could see all the fun afterwards.

Haley and her friends were the life of the party as they danced to all the music.

And they got to see some of Emily's artwork.

I wish that I could have been there to see all the fun, but it was a great chance for Haley and Zach to spend some fun time together.

An 80th Birthday

A very special person in my life is turning 80 today.  My Grandmom Dot. 

I was very fortunate to be able to go to her birthday party last weekend while Zach stayed home with the girls.  It was a short trip, but a wonderful celebration that I wouldn't have missed for anything.

Most everyone will say that they have the best Grandmom, but I really do.  She is amazing and she is fabulous. 

At 80 years young, she has so many accomplishments under her belt.  She has four children, 10 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.  She is a musician and journalist.  She is a breast cancer survivor and has helped so many others with breast cancer awareness.  She is a part of history and so much more.

But to me, she will always be my Grandmom Dot.  She is the one whose house we went to and dyed Easter eggs and celebrated so many holidays.  She let my cousins and I perform so many impromptu plays in the backyard.  She always encouraged me.  She performed our wedding ceremony.  She always loves unconditionally.

She is amazing and she is fabulous.  Happy Birthday to the best Grandmom a girl could ask for!

Family

I love my family. 

But let me tell you, when my Dad's side of the family gets together, it gets crazy!  There are a lot of us and we love to party.

And when we party, this is what happens.

We go see my cousin play at one of the local bars.

After a few rounds, the cigars come out.

The comes the dancing, which is great because even my dad and uncles participated in.

And and the end of the night (or beginning of the next day), this is how much fun we had.



Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is almost here and we are ready!

The girls have gotten a few packages in the mail and Haley's favorite part about the one from my Dad and step-mom was the newspaper.  She kept asking for her "paper" so she could read it.

Of course, it wouldn't be a holiday in our house without making cupcakes.  We decided to make red velvet (because it was the color of love) and add a little something extra in there, a chocolate kiss (because it is Valentine's Day after all). 

Haley helped and boy was she a hot mess!  She loves to lick the spoon when we are done and got it all over her cute little face.  She thought it was hilarous and wouldn't let me clean her up.

And here is the final prodcut.  There were cupcakes with kisses, hearts, and sprinkles.  A lot of love and laughter went into these.

They were a big hit with everyone and boy were they messy!  The only rotten thing about red velvet is that it leaves a little red mess everywhere.

We even made some Valentine's Day rice krispie treats suckers for Haley's school friends.  I got the idea from here and while mine didn't turn out quite as gorgeous, I was happy.

We've had lots of fun getting ready for the holiday!

The Park

The weather was fabulous this past weekend and we were finally able to take the girls to the park.  I think it was much needed for all of us.

Emily saw Haley sit in the big girl swing and wanted to try it all by herself.  Not sure I'm ready for her to be there :)

Haley was a great big sister and helped push Emily in the swing.  She wanted to push Emily as high as she gets to go, but we worked on gentle pushes.

Emily was all about the slides.  That's all she wanted to do.

And when she got to the bottom, up the stairs she went again and again.

The girls even went down the slide together.  I loved it!

At one point, Daddy and Haley wandered off to chase some birds.  Those poor birds :)

Haley was full of silliness the whole time.  She wouldn't smile for the camera, so we ended up tickling her into submission.

 The girls thought that they could walk up the slide to get to the top quicker,

but that didn't happen.

It was so nice getting to be outside for a while.  We'll have to take it while we can, because the hot and rainy season will be here before we know it.

Circus

I'm a little late on this one, but a few weekends back we were very lucky to have the circus come to town.  Now mind you, this is no Ringling Bros. kind of a cicus.  This was an indoor (tent) big top circus.

There was the ring master, of course, who also ate fire.

There was also a tight rope.

As long as Emily had a pretzel, she was more than happy.

There was also an ariel act.

The girls were in awe of this one.  They didn't take their eyes off of her.

There may not have been lions or elephants, but at least there were giant pigs.  I mean, you can't have a circus without pigs, right?

And of course, for the grand finale, there were the giant balloons.

The girls ended up with a blue one and I'm sad to say it only lasted about five minutes in the car before it deflated.  Oh well, it was worth the fifteen minutes of excitement and entertainment before its demise.

And that is what a circus in Key West looks like.  It was definitely fun (and unique) way to spend an afternoon.