My Hubby's Surprise 30th Birthday Party!

We had so much fun! Let me just tell ya though.... it was a TON of work to keep it a secret from the husband, it was especially hard to keep my own mouth shut and not ruin the surprise myself, haha!
The actual surprise when he returned home was perfect....  if I'm honest I was relieved when it was finally over so I could relax and not feel like I had a ball in my stomach...  surprises are hard to keep, even when you have no desire to tell.

                                       

ok, for those of you who are wondering, he's holding a bottle of Orange Cream Soda... just to clear that up...  :)

Almost everyone dressed up in 80s theme attire, and it was hilarious! We have plenty of evidence to prove how funny it truly was.

                                                 

Then it was time for his bday cake prep... I made him a cake last year that he raved and raved about, so when it came time to choose a cake for the BIG 3-0, I just decided to make it again, but go WAAAAYYY bigger!

It's called "Peanut Butter Butterfinger Blizzard Cake", ya, that's right.

Here is the link to the original source:  http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/2013/04/peanut-butter-butterfinger-blizzard-cake/

While pouring over the Ganache, I bumped it and almost sent it to it's "Death", but somehow I managed to keep it from falling? Don't really know how but thankfully it was saved.

My sis made the 30 by cutting them out of thin cardboard and spray painting them cream.

So with the big "Happy Birthday" song and the cake reveal, I also surprised him with his gift.... it took me a long time of searching on Etsy for thee perfect one, but I think I made the right choice. Recently he has taken a liking to Chess, and so I felt it appropriate to purchase him his first set, in style. The chessman are hand-forged by a blacksmith in Ohio, and the chess board is an antique from the late 1800's.... no big deal.

Here is the link to his Etsy Shop if anyone is interested in his work: 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/EchoHillForge?ref=shopsection_shophome_leftnav

We were all completely worn out by the end of the night, it was well worth it... but that said, I told him that that was IT for his whole life, no more surprise bday parties for this lady... sheesh, I guess I can't handle the excitement or something.

Alrighty, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed looking through our latest fun!

Have a great weekend :)

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It's Christmas Time...!

The kiddos and I have had a fun time putting up our holiday decorations... slowly but surely it's all done. Nothing extravagant, just some simple things to make it feel "Merry and Bright" around our living space.

They helped me wrap and ship our packages...
                                       

We still need to add the fourth stocking for Aspen, coming in the mail soon! :)

Replaced my regular mug display, and in their places, a collection of beautiful ornaments. I believe this was the kid's favorite part, helping to hang them.

My piano got a few new touches...

In October, our two year old, Capri, drug this branch home all by herself... wouldn't take any help, and insisted on dragging it the whole 1 mile to our garage - crazy lady ! ;)

Jubalee & Tremain held it in place while I secured it for decorating...

Our tree is a simple one this year...cute lil chubby shape. The kid's chose him :)

Daddy and kid's dressed the tree up, did a fabulous job!

I'm loving to update my wreath each season and holiday... could become an addiction if I'm not careful.

Merry Christmas to each of you. Remember the true meaning of the season.... Jesus Christ came to earth for us! :)

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift"!

II Corinthians 9:15

Our Front Door in Progress.

It has been a very busy couple months. Have done a project or two, but my distraction from actually blogging about them has been the fact that I was in my third trimester with our 4th baby - yay! Long story short, our wee one finally arrived on November 2nd, first thing in the morning :) All this week has revolved around healing from the labor and delivery, and of course, nurturing our new little addition.

But now that I have quite a bit of free time, I decided to go ahead and post one new project. Although I cannot take much of the credit because my hubby was the one who did all the work. I decided on a light blue, and then he chose the exact shade, and painted the whole thing while I was out of town. 

We love it! The front door looks WAY better than the original.... which by the way, I don't have a before photo because I never took one... what was I thinking?! That's half the fun, to look back on and compare, but alas, I forgot to - won't happen again with any other project.  Anyway, the original door color was a burnt red, and it made the entry blend right into the rest of the house.

 And here's a close up of my first fall wreath. I know, I'm 28 and never hung a wreath on my door, pathetic. But the point is I finally did :)  Good ol' Hobby Lobby is where I found all the cool stuff to make it.

Happy November! 

Family room, and Play room

The main room in our home has been a difficult space for me to decide what the heck it's going to function as. I have posted pictures of this room last year as our living room, but now that our front room is the media/living/reading space, I decided that the bigger room will function best as a family/play room for the kiddos. It has worked out well that way, since they spend most of their time in that part of the house regardless of what I turned it into.

Here are some current pics of the layout, and one of my favorite additions to my vintage furniture collection... a cream armoire! It was love at first sight! Searched for one to house the kid's toys and such this past Spring, and spotted it on our local EstateSales.net. A few days after seeing it, I made it our own at 60% off the asking price. It's one of my all-time faves, and won't be going anywhere until I die or something...  haha.

List of favorite items in this room:

*The wool rug is one that my mom bought for me when I was 16, still love it as much as the day I picked it out 12 years ago.

*Round rustic table from Mexico, found on Craigslist last yr, it is now used for play time, puzzles, and just about anything the kids can think up.

*As stated above, the vintage armoire was found at an Estate Sale.... I'm not positive, but it may be considered a true antique? Built as early as the late 1800's or early 1900's?

*My husband installed the indoor/outdoor ceiling light and fan, picked out at Lowe's.

*Poster Art is from Hobby Lobby, I have two others like it in various rooms, love the vintage style lettering and drawings.