Celebrating Naomi

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of hosting (along with two others) a Meet the Baby Shower for Baby Naomi. Naomi is the 3rd daughter of one of my girlfriends from church.

My friend, Lisa, didn't know what she was having until she gave birth...and so we decided to throw her a party after the baby was born.

And here she is...

So sweet!

Now I have hosted my share of showers, parties, etc...both on my own, and alongside some of the dearest women in my life...but never had I hosted anything with these amazing women.

So I wasn't sure what to expect...

Our ideas gelled so well!

Elisa made this welcome sign by popping the glass out of a frame and adding fabric.

We had planned on using Emma Kate's baby cradle for gifts but at the last minute Elisa suggested we use this old dresser... I seem to remember a certain husband saying something along the lines of...

"I thought you were having a 'vintage shower' not a 'crap shower'" in reference to the dresser.

I LOVE how it turned out! 

She also looked up the meanings of Naomi and punched out little tags with those meanings on them to drape acrosss the mirror.

I had invaded Lisa's home a couple weeks before to take some pictures, printed them in Sepia, and hung them on the fence.

Here's the patio...

 And the tables...

For favors we simply purchased 6 packs of Vinca's, cut the 6 packs into 2 packs, wrapped them in butcher paper (Lucky's generously gave us a few sheets from the meat department,) and then wrapped them with jute. We also attached a coffee-stained monogrammed tag.

We used these clustered together as centerpieces and then gave them as favors.

 We also used more jute and tags to wrap the flatware.

Here are the food tables...

 

A closer look at some of the yummies...

(In addition to the chocolate chip scones, Andrea made Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze.

They were the best scone I have ever tasted in my life!)

And my favorite...the cupcake table!!!

 

 P.S. Not long ago I saw a pin on Pinterest on spray painting old champagne glasses to use for different things...Ironically 2 short days later my MIL asked me if I wanted her old champagne glasses...ummmm...yes please!

So I painted them and Voila!

We incorporated them on the cupcake table.

And lastly...the drink station...

 

I got to use my new mason jar drink dispenser that my hubby gave me for Mother's Day...

And I've been waiting for a good excuse to order some paper stripey straws. LOVE them!

I made some Strawberry Lemonade to fill them with. Yum! (Another Pinterest find.)

Can you tell by all the pics that I am in love with this shower?!?!

It was more than I had imagined!

I had so much fun planning it with these ladies.

(Their ideas were perfect for Lisa.)

And I had so much fun watching Lisa discover all the work we put into it.

Here's Lisa on the left with a couple ladies at the shower...

 Oh yeah... I also had a blast watching her open lots of little girl goodies!

Congratulations Lisa!

I am so happy for you and your family.

And I am praying for that hubby of yours, because he indeed...

lives in a Princess House!

Baby Abby Photos

Several weeks ago my SIL, Shawna, and I got together for a little photo shoot of her new sweetie.

Shawna is a baker and had a few ideas for photos.

And I had purchased a little tutu and headband for Abby when she was born...

of which I definitely needed some shots.

I am no professional...

but how can you not get cute photos of this little princess?!?!

Man, I see why photographers make so much money...

I was wiped after a couple hours of trying to get just the right photos!

LOVE how they turned out.

Now I need to learn how to fully use my camera...

And figure out how to do some editing on my computer.

Thank you Shawna, for letting me play!

Please, any of you photographers out there....

suggestions!

Teacher Gift #1

Summer is quickly approaching!

Which means...it's time to start thinking about Teacher Gifts.

This year Connor's teacher is retiring...yeah no pressure...her very last year.

Hmmm...still thinking about that one.

However, he also had a Student Teacher for about 1/2 the year.

She was really sweet and her last day is tomorrow.

I got this idea from Pinterest.

I modified it a little.

The one on Pinterest didn't include the bag...

It did include a magazine also though.

Here's mine...

(All purchased at Target.)

Bag: $2.50 (In the Dollar Spot)

Towel: $12.99

Chapstick with Sunscreen: $1.77

Peach Rings: $1.00

Cardstock and ribbon: From my own supply

Total: $18.26

(My budget was $20!)

Now honestly I usually don't spend this much on a Teacher Gift.

(Sorry to all my teacher friends out there!)

Usually I bake something or my Go-To is normally a bag of unpopped popcorn wrapped with a pair of movie tickets. (I guess that one is about $20 isn't it?)

Last year in pre-school Connor made Thank You notes with his fingerprint, which were accompanied by a book of stamps...

This one had Connor's name on it, but we made them all with no writing on them so she could send them to anyone.

What are you giving your children's teachers this year?

If you're a teacher, what has been the best gift you have received?

Any other ideas?



Lemonade! Lemonade!

As I mentioned in my "10 on 10" yesterday, we decided to put together a quick Lemonade Stand in front of our house. We live on a fairly busy street... :(  And I have been promising Connor for weeks that we would do one.

Yesterday afternoon, we had about an hour till it was time to get ready for Taekwondo and we were a little bored, when the idea came to me...Today is the day!!!

It seriously took us 10 minutes to make the lemonade...yes...concentrate from a can...and get all ready.

 The kids were so excited!

After Emmy saw "Coco's" sign, she wanted to make one of her own.

 I'm not sure who had more fun...the kids, or me...watching them!

They were so cute!

My daughter's hair is so out of control!

What a princess though...minus the pirate tatoo on her arm.

These kids made a little cash, had a lot of fun...and from setup to cleanup...60 minutes!

I will definitely be keeping some frozen lemonade on hand this Summer.

Here's to California Sunshine, dresses and shorts, bare feet, and lemonade!

Let Summer begin!

10 on 10: May 2012

10 on 10.

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month!

{Document a snapshot of your life & find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

 

 

I wish I could say I live a glamorous life...especially on my days off...filled with mani-pedi's, shopping, possibly a massage...

 

But instead, I am stuck in italic font and can't get the heck out of it!

 

I started out my day driving Jeff's new car, beacuse mine is in the shop!

(The exclamation is for getting to drive the new car...NOT the fact that Toyota ripped us off for over $500 to fix my sliding door on the van.)

7:30...Drop Dom off at school

8:00...Water my MIL's Mother's Day present 

 8:07...Leave to take Connor to school

 12:10...After picking up Connor from school, dropped off dinner for my friend, Lisa, and her family.

Here is their newest addition!

(Hey I'm out of italics!!!)

3:15...Impromptu Lemonade stand in front of our house.

(Connor made 7 bucks! He shared $1.25 with his sister, who helped hold the signs.)

 4:24...In the car again on our way to Taekwondo...driving. Again.

 4:55...My cutie in his sparring gear.

5:15...Driving. Again.

 5:45...Ahhh...dinner is almost ready.

 7:30...After picking up the van from the shop, we all ran by Scott and Shawna's house for a quick visit and I got to see my nephew and new little niece.

Clearly she was happy to see me too!

There it is...I did it! The 10th for Laura Schwab!

Mostly in the car... with a few highlights in between.

Thank the Lord for 4 wheels!

 

Easter Wrap-Up...In May

Easter is always filled with a lot of family, which has grown this year.

We started the day off with Easter baskets, church, and then brunch at my parents' house.

We couldn't have asked for better weather!

 Shawna and I had an impromptu photo shoot with Abby. *LOVE*

After going home for naptime, we were off to Jeff's sister's house for more fun...

Which included a huge egg hunt!

 

Lots of cousin time.

 And some rope swing fun.

(We gave Corben and Cale a rope swing for Easter. Uncle Nick went right out, trimmed a tree, and had it up in no time!)

 SCORE! All of the kids loved it!

 And of course, no Easter is complete without finishing the day up with some of your cousins' jammies on!

Happy Easter! ;)

Oh, The Things They Say!

Today while riding in the car and listening to "God Songs," Connor says to me,

"Singing really loud to God is like giving your mom a great big hug."

I couldn't have said it better myself buddy!