Introducing- Kennedy's BIG GIRL room!

Welcome to our big girl's room!  Does this wreath look familiar?  It was one of my first projects of the summer (it doesn't seem that long ago... where did summer go?!?!)  I've been working all summer on getting Kennedy's big girl room finished- and I'M DONE!  well, don't hold me to it.

Anyway, come on in!

remember the curtains I made for the nursery?  I put so much love and time into them, they are never coming down, EVER!  :)  So I wanted to incorporate more purples and pinks and purple and purple into her room, but keep the yellows and greens that were already there.  

Kennedy loves her tree!  I made it with vinyl- I drew a tree on a huge piece of butcher paper as a stencil and then cut it out of the vinyl.  The flowers are via our most amazing Cricut.  (what would I do without it?  I shudder to think about it!)

the flowers are actually 3-dimensional, the petals are coming out of the wall!  I absolutely love the way they turned out!  

Just another angle :)  You can see her toddler bed, which will eventually become a full bed when she's ready.  Insert purple Lindsay butterfly quilt from Pottery Barn here.  But for now she's using the precious baby quilt her Grandma Cleda made for her.  

Oh, I love this little girl's room!

I got some of these ideas from Pinterest, of course!  But as always, I put my own flair to it :)

Love the shadow box idea- buttons for the body of the butterfly!

I made the frame- it has a clip at the top so we can switch out pictures very easily!  And this is one of my favorite pictures of the kids together- it's so sweet!  And I will make them sit on the couch together and look at it when they are fighting... just sayin'

I decided to make the frames all a little different, so Tim helped me "distress" this one.  Butterflies!

 And more butterflies!  These are made from paint chips I stole took from Home Depot

It's hanging on a curtain rod!  When she's a little older, I'll hang a beveled mirror for her, but this is a sweet touch and still looks little girl enough for her :)

These might be my favorite, and I'll keep them forever.  When Jill and Kinley visited earlier this summer we had a painting party and the girls made butterflies with their cute tootsies and hands.  They turned out PRECIOUS!  I'm in love. 

LOVE

I painted this pot and filled it with butterflies and flowers I've been collecting.  They make me think of Kennedy's great-grandmothers who also loved butterflies, and probably would have bought every butterfly they saw for her ;)  (I miss those sweet ladies like you wouldn't believe...)

 And then, I found these cute butterfly mirror decals at Target (woohoo!).  They are the perfect finishing touch!  

I'm sure Miss Kennedy Rae will want to do different things in her room as she gets older, but for now we both love it just the way it is.  And Graham and Daddy both really like it too :)

Comings and Goings Part 2- Aunt Jia and Kin

My very best girlfriend in the whole world, Jill (Jilly, Jilly Beans, Aunt Jia) lives all the way in Houston, Texas so we don't get to see each other very often.  We go way back- I mean all the way back to the playground in 5th grade!  But we have made it a point to visit each other once a year since she's been down there.  I love it, because I have been able to see her relationship with her husband Brad grow stronger and more beautiful, meet their adorable son Ethan and then a few years later their daughter Kinley.  And I know she'd say the same about getting to see me and my family.  Even though we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like (I mean, we wish we could be next door neighbors!  Or at least live in the same 'hood) when we do get together we totally take advantage of our time :)

This summer it was Jia's turn to come up to the Lou and visit us.  Last year she came up with an almost one-year-old Kinley and K and G loved her.  This past winter Kennedy and I flew down to visit and the girls were fast friends, so this trip Kinley came to visit again!  (and I'm a bad girl, I didn't get it into the blog.  I'll have to add some pictures later)  The kids were inseparable, except for when they were fighting over toys and sippy cups :)  It was so very precious, and made me wish we lived closer for yet another reason!


The girls flew in late Wednesday afternoon, and we got some Imo's pizza to celebrate our friends' visit.  It was the first time K and G ate pizza!  Thursday we chilled around the house, went for a long walk, and then my MOST AMAZING HUSBAND TIMOTHY MICHAEL took on babysitting all three munchkins so Jill and I could go to a Thirty-one consultants meeting together.  :)  Very cool (the meeting and the husband).  


Friday Tim was most amazing AGAIN and worked from home in the morning.  Once we were all up, we decided to make some Chocolate Muffins (see previous posts!) and the kids were happy to help again.  We got a chance to play outside in the pool before Tim took on the munchkins again so Jill and I could have some girl time.  We went to Jilly's Cupcake Bar... ah.ma.zing.  And then some shopping to work our lunch.  We're dangerous when we get together!  ;)

Umm, don't mind me- I'm concentrating on measuring.  Baking again, the kids sure had fun!

Kinley helping to make our chocolate muffins!

these kids had an absolute blast together.  They made a MESS!

:) 

I just love this girl!

and so do Graham and Kennedy!!

p.s. this was right before bed time and they were literally jumping off the walls- at least the padded fireplace!  Maybe it was the sugar from the cupcakes we brought back from Jilly's? 

two very sweet girls

Awwww!  Maybe future daughter in law?  Hmmmm...

Jump!

While they were in town we decided to do some crafts we found on Pinterest (are you shocked?)  We made butterflies (and messes!) with their hands and feet.  Aren't they adorable?!?  And the pictures are pretty cute too :) 

Kennedy was so proud!

Chillin' on the last day before we headed to the airport

Saturday was the girls' last day with us.  Tim was Mr. Incredible again and manned the house while Jill and I went to a Zumba class together.  It reminded me of old times when we used to dance together ::sigh::  After an amazing class, we headed home for lunch with my parents and grandpa.  They love Jill almost as much as I do, and they were really excited to meet Kinley!  The kids got some down time together before nap time and before the girls had to head home to their family.  

As soon as I dropped them off at the airport, I missed them so much.  But I cherish the time we DO get to spend together, and I'm already looking forward to the next time!  

Love you, English family!

Happy Buhrday Daddy! YAY!

Like I said in the last post, this past week has been busy HECTIC!  But in a good way :)  We've had dance class, swim lessons, Daddy's birthday, softball, a Thirty-one Party for a good friend, and that's all before Father's Day rolled around!  WHEW!  But we definitely didn't forget about Tim's birthday.  Especially since his b-day was softball night and Thirty-one party night, we wanted to show him how happy we were he was born, so we did it BIG!  On his birthday, we snuck to the store and got stuff to make him TWO birthday cakes!  He'd requested carrot cake when we asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday but we surprised him with cheese cake, too!  (those are probably his two very favorites ever...)  

Have you noticed yet that the kids like to help, especially when we're baking in the kitchen?  I don't have pictures of them actually baking this time, but I have pictures of them helping me "clean up"  

I remember when my Grandma Cleda used to let me lick the batter off the beaters when we were done, and it's still one of my favorite things to do when I bake.  I thought I'd start a new tradition with the kids- I think they like it :) 

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

So if you've met me, you know I like to eat healthy- it's no secret.  And Tim and I have decided everything in moderation, but we want to teach the kids to make healthy choices.  That being said, chocolate is never a bad thing!  :)

So via Pinterest, I stumbled across a recipe that was calling my our names- Banana Oatmeal Muffins.  MMMmmmmm.  And of course, my two assistants were eager to assist! :)  Of course, I modified the recipe I found, so here's what we whipped up.

Ingredients:
4 mashed bananas- the more ripe, the better!  (or 3 REALLY LARGE ONES!)
1 cup of skim milk
1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)
1 egg
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats*
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp mini chocolate chips

• Pre-heat the oven to 375*
• Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips together.  Let it sit while you're getting the cupcake pan and liners ready
• Spray muffin tin and/or liners with Pam **when you're baking with anything but wheat flour (like oats!) beware- they stick to cupcake liners!  So my suggestion is bake with silicone that you have sprayed with Pam-OR- get the foil cupcake liners and take the paper lining out**
• Fold in the chocolate chips.  You're going to fill the cupcake liners almost full.  (I made 12 medium muffins and a pan of mini-muffins)  You should make about 15 muffins (or 12 and a pan full of minis!)
• Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the edges are brown and they are firm to the touch.  The muffins will stick to the liners when they are hot, but they will fall right out when they have cooled down a bit!

Nutritional info: (this is a guesstimate, which is killing the science nerd in me!)  15 muffins (or 12 medium muffins and 12 mini muffins)- 100 calories/ muffin, 1.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, 1 gram of sat. fat, 25 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein, 2 weight watchers + points

These have been munchkin and husband approved!  :) 

My little helpers... 

In the middle of mashing up bananas we had to stop for a peach break.  I mean, the basket of fruit was right there and so tempting!  Notice said fruit basket was moved after little hands grabbed the peaches... 

Cheese!

 Big bite there, buddy!

Sweet face!

helping Mommy pour in the milk

another sweet face moment- I can't decide which ones are more precious, so you are subjected to them all!  Awful, I know ;)

 Graham is a big helper too!

 Sweet!!!

Don't these muffins look so good?  In the oven, ready to bake!

I mean, just SO SWEET!  Enough to melt this momma's heart.  

Okay, so I've had this blog almost ready to go- sans pictures- for almost a week now!  Whew, it's been a crazy week full of fun and lots of running around.  Blogs about that to follow, but I just want it to be noted that I am having an absolute blast with these Monkeys this summer.  We're doing new things every day, and I am seeing their personalities blossom more and more.  They are hilarious little people!  Just thought you should know :)