I miss them already...

They came and they went. And we had a lot of fun. Kim and the boys were out here for Scott's (Kim's brother-in-law) wedding. After all the wedding fun was over, I got Kim and the boys practically to myself for a whole week. I was beside myself. I loved every minute of it. They are turning into little boys. They have the greatest personalities. They had me laughing the entire time that they were here. But since I know Kim will post all of the pictures (eventually), I thought I would post some of the videos that I took on my camera. Enjoy.

This first video was me being the favorite aunt and spoiling the boys with "treats" or "teets" as they say. Kim eventually cracked down on how many treats they were getting, but it was fun while it lasted. Besides, it was technically educational. I mean we were going over our colors after all.


This next video was my trying to get the boys to say hello to everyone who wasn't with us. We got as far as Nana. Jack clearly was very confused. And sick. When I kept saying Nana he wanted to look at the camera. As if he was going to see her. It was pretty funny. Then in the end Cullen chimed in about the "pewter," aka computer. They are pretty smart boys.


Here, I had told Cullen no more videos. I was a little tired of all the sirens and what not. Clearly he did not like what I had said. This was the second time he did this. I missed it the first time, then asked him to show us again. He grabbed the DVD that he wanted to watch, ejected the current one from the DVD player, put the new one in and then closed it. Pretty smart if I say so myself.


And last but not least, this was when Kim and Anna went in to get some dinner for us. I was in the car with the boys. I had been showing them all the videos on my camera, and then decided to make another one. As you can see, they weren't having it at first, but they came around. Kind of.


I just love those little guys. They are so darn adorable. I hope you all enjoyed these as much as I did. I could watch them all day long!

Because I am tired of the threats...

So they aren't the best photos, but I posted them anyways. I think this is Jack. Cullen wasn't too excited about me taking his photo. Both boys have been pretty sick, so they were a bit on the moody side at times. But they both did great!


And there is Cullen, not looking to well. His eyes just look so sad. But he was a trooper.

Is that tie not to die for? They looked so darn hansom!
How do you resist that smile?



So Cullen really wasn't as into the pictures of videos. But I posted this anyways so you could see him. Jack on the other hand (as you can see from the first video) was a chatter box.




I hope you enjoy!

Today is not my day. For the life of me I can not figure out why my writing is underlined, and how to undo it. So you get to read a really dramatic looking post today.

Here it is. Yesterday my wonderful boyfriend helped me move this up the stairs (I am still a bit amazed we did it). His parents are loaning it to me for a while. It has all of my books and DVDs and games in it. I love the way it looks! And now when my nephews are in town they won't be getting in trouble for playing with my books.

I think the whole room looks so much more complete. I love it!

So, after all the heavy lifting (although Brian did the majority), decided to end my night with a bowl of this. I have never loved an ice cream more. I finished it last night and I foresee an Albertson's run in my future tonight! I mean really, it is delicious!

And of course a cup of tea. Brian went a little crazy this weekend at the store and bought some great new teas for us to try. He is trying to not drink so much coffee, and well, I am pretty sure it runs in my blood thanks to my mother.

I am sooo my mother's daughter! I have a whole drawer devoted to teas. In case you can't read them, there are two I want to point out.
In the upper right corner is what we call "tension tamer." And the bottom right corner is "sleepy time" I now drink a cup of sleepy time every night before bed and I am out really quickly. It is wonderful. And well the tension tamer speaks for itself.

And here are a few final photos of my apartment I finally got around to hanging some stuff on the walls. This is over the dining room table. It is a mirror on the right and two photos I made on the left.

My bulletin board that is hiding behind my door.

And finally, my biggest project, all the photos above my bed. They aren't perfect (or straight), but I hung them up. And as Anna said, "now it is starting to look like someone lives there."

I love my apartment more and more every day. Well, every time I accomplish a task mainly. But none-the-less, I have been making progress and I can not wait for Kim and the boys to come and stay with me!

Plates, plates and more plates!

Here you go Katie, the pictures I have been promising for like a week.

So these are the two new big plates that I found. I love the one on the right. I think it might be my new favorite!

Don't mind the messy kitchen in the background.

This is the one "bowl-ish" thing that I found. Although I would like to see someone use it as a bowl. But it is still pretty and good for a dip or something.

The so called "bowl" is on the left. The one on the right is a new salad plate. Or bread plate. Not sure the difference, just smaller than the big plates!

And the other 3 smaller plates.

I really love all of the plates I got this time around. They all are so different and have so much character. I always wonder about the people who bought them originally.

And these are my new platters from my Grandma Ann and Papa Dennis. I absolutely love them. This weekend is my house-warming party, and I can not wait to use them. They will be so much more convenient than trying to fit everything onto a plate!

Thank you again Grandma Ann and Papa Dennis!

I am still in love with this idea in case you couldn't tell! I have decided Mondays are the best day to go to the Goodwill. They mark different colored tags down on different days, and so far Mondays are the best for me. I missed yesterday because I was skyping with my sister and the boys (which I wouldn't change for anything), so maybe next week I will get there!

So there are some birthdays coming up. Hopefully the people who have birthdays coming up aren't reading this before they get their cards. These two are not the only cards I made, just two that I really liked. I have realized that it is harder for me to hake guy appropriate things.

And this is the picture I made for my cousin Alex who is having a little boy anytime now. His middle name is going to be Maxim, but that is what he is going by. His nursery is done in jungle theme. I might be a little biased, but I think it turned out pretty cute.

I went to Joann Fabrics this weekend and found a fabric with those animals, so I just cut them out. And I free handed all the letters for his name out of different fabrics I already had. To be honest, 4 out of the 5 are old shirts that got a stain or a hole of some sort. I love fabrics!

Sorry about the bad photo quality, I was too tired to set it up with better lighting. I love all of my crafting time that I have had!

More apartment photos

So I will save you the time of telling me to clean my room. I already know it is messy. This is the lack of organization I have going on right now. Soon I hope t get a dresser and that will help! But for now, deal with the mess.

Here is my room looking at it from the window. That is all my craft stuff that you can kind of see stacked on the far wall. The closet is to the left.

And the mess again, this time looking in from the door.

Last photo of the room. But be impressed I got all my clothes hung up and coordinated by color as well as style:: long sleeves, short sleeves, tank tops, etc.

This is the hallway looking from the living room down. My bedroom is at the far end of the hallway. Notice the rug that is "saving my carpet" according to my dad. It made me laugh. It doesn't match my colors at all, soon it will go.

And the bathroom, which has changed the least of all the rooms. Eventually I will get towels and floor mats, but for now I have an "endless pools" bath mat that I conveniently flipped over so you only see white.

And here is the kitchen looking in from the dining room. Notice my beautiful roses that Brian got me for Valentine's Day. They are so pretty. Also, you can see a few of my exciting purchases:: a spice rack on the far counter and oil and vinegar on the stove. Oh, and notice the hammer and nails Brian brought over. Someday I will get around to hanging up pictures!

And the kitchen again from the entry into the kitchen.

This is the dining room. Although I finally got a real table, the folding chairs are still being borrowed. That rug will go soon as well. I am more of a solids kind of girl.

And the living room. Someday I will get a bookshelf. Do you think I need one? I know, I have a lot of books. As I was going through them and separating them out, I have read almost all of them. So that made me feel better. I also love to light the candles on the mantle, it looks so pretty!

Last and final photo. I plan on putting a book shelf on that far wall. I can't decide if I want a tall one, or a long waist high one. We will see what I can find for cheap I guess. Any votes?

Oh, and Kim, I am thinking I want you to make me covers for the pillows. I am not a huge fan of the all brown couch, it makes the room look very dark. Any chance I can convince you to use your skills to my advantage?

Let the baking begin

I love to bake, but I really love to bake cute things. So I had a lot of fun baking all day on Saturday for Valentine's Day!

I got this recipe from my friend Kirsten. Her's looked much cuter than mine did, but that is to be expected. I still had fun baking them!

Here is a Red Velvet Cake Crumbled.

Add some Cream Cheese Frosting

And Mix

Roll them into balls, and freeze

I dunked mine in Chocolate and White Chocolate. Be warned, this was extremely messy!

And it made WAY more than I could even consider eating.

Like seriously!

And because I was being indecisive, Funfetti Cake Cookies

Now these I could eat the entire plate of!

Oh, and more indecisiveness...

I make these cookies every year. Last year I was in DC and made them with Kim. The year before I made them and sent them to Jon while he was in Iraq. Although don't ask Renee to send them to him, she ate more than she sent.

I absolutely love these!

They are just so cute I want to eat them all.

The finished product. A LOT of sweets.