it's better in the bahamas

i can't think of a better way to celebrate turning 40 years old and celebrating 13 years of marriage. mike turned 40 in april and i'll turn 40 in june. our 13 year wedding anniversary is also in june. so we celebrated with a quiet trip to the bahamas. Harbour Island is such a beautiful place. and it's just what we needed...nothing to do their except relax. we read books, took naps, met some great people and just enjoyed being a couple again. this was our first trip without the boys. we're so lucky that my parents moved into our house and took care of the boys....i can't thank them enough! i love flying in the little puddle jumper airplanes and learned years ago that the secret to flying in them is to NOT get drunk the night before. small planes, and hangovers = barf bags. and though we were celebrating on this trip, i curbed my cocktail intake until we had our feet on Harbour Island. i love the view from the airplane when the water turns this beautiful blue. it's a sure sign that you're somewhere other than Kansas.
after landing at the North Eleuthera airport we took a 5 minute taxi ride to hop on a water taxi to take us to Harbour Island. Harbour Island is a small island and you only need a golf cart to get around. we opted to walk most of our time there. we did rent a cart one day and had a good time. seems like there were lots of locals there and they are really nice. the restaurants were usually full but the beach was usually pretty empty. it was almost like having your own private beach. the sand is pink and it's beautiful.

the owner of the b&b we stayed at, John, organized a boat trip one day. along with others staying at the b&b we hung out all day going from one spot to another. he took us to some other tiny islands where nobody was and it was amazing.

our boat driver, Robert, stopped and picked up this star fish for us. after examining it, we threw him back in. it was amazing to see the starfish, sting ray and other fish just right there swimming by the boat.

the day mike and i rented a golf cart we headed from one side of the island to the other. we went off the map and off the paved road. we saw some beautiful homes, owned mostly by famous people. we found an empty lot, parked the golf cart and walked towards the beach. this was the view from the top of the lot. oh how i would love to build a house here! this view was incredible. we headed down to the beach and we were the only ones there.

this is a house, on the bay side, that i wanted to buy. it's not for sale, and even if it was we wouldn't actually move to the bahamas....but i always want to move where i vacation, so this was the house i picked.

and then we saw this house and IT IS for sale! no view of the bay or beach. a true fixer upper, and only for a mere $500,000. gulp!

we stayed at the Bahama House Inn. the owner, John, is a terrific fun loving guy. he's owned this place for 11 years. he just put it on the market to sell and you can imagine my conversation with mike about how i've always wanted to run a B&B and that this would be so perfect. needless to say, after a short discussion, we will not be moving to Harbour Island and buying this place. good old mike, always the one to stay the course and keep me from spontaneous, money draining, ventures. but if we could i would buy this place in a second...even after reading Don't Stop the Carnival!

the porch at Bahama House Inn. we ate breakfast here and started happy hour here.

kitchen inside Bahama House....

photo of us with John at Bahama House Inn. sure signs of a good vacation: meeting locals, eating great food, hoping on a strangers golf cart drunk at 12:30am because they are heading to grab some bbq'd ribs. which turned out to be some of the best bbq we've ever had! and not wanting to leave. thanks John! we had a great time!

the big dig birthday party

maguire had his big dig birthday party and fun was had by all. i went early to set up and to hide tons of treasures in the sand. it took longer than i planned to bury all of the tiny toys and i for sure didn't plan on it being in the upper 80's! but i got it all done and was glad i brought a big jug of lemonade because we were sure going to need it.

the kids each had sand buckets, with their names on them. in each bucket was a shovel and a pair of sunglasses. i thought the last thing we needed was sand in the eyes and they seemed to work relatively well.
caution tape designated the area that had all the buried toys. they loved digging and yelled every time they found something. they all shared really well too. they found frogs, snakes, parachute guys, army men, cats, magnifying glass, and all kinds of other fun things.

after the dig we were all hot and settled down under the pavilion for lemonade and cheese and strawberries on a stick. they looked through their buckets of treasures and then some played with the parachute guys and some went back to the pit for more digging. they also each had a black beanbag in their buckets and we used that for the dump truck game. we divided into two teams and each person tried to toss the beanbag into the bed of the dump truck. it was fun and in true boy fashion became competitive quickly.

the party favors were their buckets with their treasures that they found, a black bean bag, sunglasses and then we topped them off with a large cookie. large cookies have become my standard party favor. i wanted to make a wheel, but them remembered that black frosting is a mess, to work with and on your teeth later! so we just did orange circles with the number 6 on them. we opened presents at home and that was so much less stress than previous years. maguire said this was his favorite birthday party.....he says that every year!

the back porch tag sale

if you live in kansas city, you won't want to miss this fun sale. the back porch tag sale will be friday, june 6th (9am-6pm) and saturday, june 7th (9am-5pm). hand-mades by local artisans, eclectic finds for the home and garden presented in an adorable venue in downtown overland park. it is at the ever so cute home (7612 w. 80th street) of ms. marilyn who herself sells beautiful handmade items. i'll have a batch of trays (some i'm still working on, but will have them done in time for the sale) and also some painted furniture and other fun finds. last year i also baked up some yummy cookies to sell and they were a big hit. i plan to do the same this year. this is such a fun sale, so many talented girls together in one place. i'm jumping up and down in my seat just thinking about it. i've also graciously volunteered to bring lunch on saturday to all the artists. i have some fun lunch ideas running through my little head and am looking forward to presenting an oh so cute lunch to my group of hungry and very creative friends! i hope you'll be able to make it to the sale....you won't be disappointed.

six

we had maguire's family birthday party this past weekend. and on wednesday he turned six. his birthday request was for breakfast in bed. usually he's a little bit of a grump in the mornings and begs for "just 2 more minutes". but how can you be a grump when your mom, dad and little brother come loudly singing down the hallway HAPPY BIRTHDAY?! he woke up with a huge smile on his face. he also looked taller, and seemed more grown up. he quickly informed me that "now that i'm 6, there are lots of things i can do better now". his examples were making his own breakfast and looking after his little brother more. those first 5 years sure went by quickly. seven more days of kindergarten and we'll have a first grader on our hands. i'm afraid to blink....everything is going so quickly! it's been quite a week for him. a family birthday party on saturday, actual birthday on wednesday and his "big dig" friend party coming up on sunday. happy birthday baby!

block party

i live on a great street and one of my favorite things about it is that we have block parties. one in the spring and another one in the fall. i enjoy all of my neighbors and it's nice to get together outside for a meal and conversation.

hosting a block party is really easy. i made these invites because i can't host something without making a crazy invitation (i know, i'm thinking about going to therapy for it!) but you can easily call everyone or print out an easy flyer with all the details. for ours, everyone brings a side dish to share, lawn chairs and a couple of us chip in for hotdogs, drinks and necessities like plates, napkins, ect. we also have a cake walk and yummy cakes are brought by all and everyone enjoys playing and especially winning!

our street also participates in a yearly garage sale. it's a fun few days and the kids enjoy setting up lemonade stands.

get to know your neighbors by creating a block party....it's lots of FUN!

french breakfast puffs

i don't know that i've ever heard or seen constant thunder and lighting like it was doing last night. wow, what a huge storm. the air is crisp and cool this morning and with the breeze blowing through the window it hit me to do some baking. the name for this recipe may sound more uptown than backroads, but this is one of the most delicious muffins. french breakfast puffs are easy to make, smell great while baking and when made into mini muffins they are perfect for tiny hands. enjoy!

the recipe:

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup butter, melted

topping:

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. in another bowl beat egg slightly; stir in milk and 1/3 cup melted butter. add egg mixture to flour mixture. stir just till moistened. lightly grease muffin cups. fill 2/3 full with batter. bake for 20-25 minutes (mini muffins bake 11-13min) or until golden.

in a shallow bowl combine the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. immediately dip tops of hot muffins into the 1/4 cup melted butter, then into the cinnamon sugar mixture till coated.

happy may day

we made a very cute may basket for the neighbor and dang it, i forgot to take a photo of it. i hate when that happens. we cut down a cardboard orange juice container, wrapped it with oh so pretty paper and plunked our flowers in. the handle was made out of white tulle and a sign that said "happy may day" finished it off. this is the 3rd year we've done this for our neighbor and maguire loves the idea of ringing the doorbell and then running as fast as he can to a hiding spot, so careful not to be seen. we spy on her as she opens her door and see's the may basket sitting there. we can feel her joy as she carefully picks it up and takes it inside. we high five to each other to another successful year in not being caught! i did may baskets when i was little and i get a kick out of doing this activity with maguire. the lesson learned is just that it's fun to be nice to others. since i failed to get a photo of our may day basket, these are just photos of some flowers that bloomed in are garden today.

worms and bubbles

yesterday was such a beautiful day to be outside. i think we were outside for most of it. it was so nice we didn't even want to come in. but all good things come to an end, we sure made the best of it though! maguire found this new friend....worm. this kept him occupied for a few minutes.

little cooper had such a fun time playing with bubbles. he loved to just lay in the grass and watch them blow over his head.

but since he doesn't sit still long, it didn't take long for him to realize that he could chase and pop them! i love these new found experiences for little people. it makes me slow down, really enjoy the day and remember how simple things can be.

a big dig party

maguire is turning 6, i can't even believe it. where has the time gone? he's decided on a big dig construction theme party. how cute are these invitations?! birthday's are a big deal in our family and i'm always up for the challenge of making some fun invitations. the invitation is the first thing party guests see, and i'm a believer that they should get them excited about coming. i found these small dump trucks and bulldozers. i printed out the party info using the computer, then rolled up the info and taped one end of it into the construction vehicle. added a tag with the name of the guest and we'll hand deliver them next week. maguire even helped and he's so excited to deliver them. more party details as they unfold.

a good junkin' day

i went junkin' friday afternoon and found some fun things. most of these items will be painted, or repurposed. i'm always on the look out for trays, and i love the white wood tray that i found. we have a june date now for the Back Porch sale. such a cute sale that I participated in last year. i'll have trays for sale along with junk day findings. more details about the sale to come. not only was it a good day of junkin', i came home to the latest issue of country home magazine in the mail. doesn't get any better!

special order

a couple of trays for a client. the large tray with travel posters is probably my new favorite. also just love the rooster paper. it really pops against the black tray. they'll be off to their new home today....thanks C! enjoy!

let it rain

we've had a couple of rainy days lately. thank goodness we all have our boots to wear! stopping in puddles, one of my favorite pastimes with the boys.

cute wood animalz

i found these adorable wood animals today at target. they are made in Australia (called animalz) and they were 50% off in the clearance bin. cute and a bargain! little cooper loves them and once we got home with them we played with them for a long time. he made animal sounds and hopped them about. then at bedtime he chose an animal book to read and sat his new wood animals on the night stand so they could listen too.

shop update

these two trays have been added to my etsy shop today. the one tray has vintage italian wine labels. this tray would be perfect for a wedding gift or for serving drinks to some thirsty friends at your next gathering. the other tray has postcards, stamps, letterhead, all kinds of paper-y things on it. i just love it. head over to my etsy shop to see more details on these beautiful trays.

a batch of trays for spring

i just put the last tag on my latest batch of trays. these are heading to Now & Then today. i love the blues and greens and this large square tray with handles, is not only my best seller, but one of my favorites as well. a couple of small trays too. they are great for serving yourself a cup of coffee and a muffin, or for using on a coffee table for all the remotes. they also are workhorses on a desk for corralling all that stuff that somehow appears.

shop is now open!

i finally opened a little shop on etsy. i've listed mostly baby trays there for now and will add others soon. check out the shop is now open icon on the left of my blog to enter the store and start shopping. A big thanks to those that encouraged me to take this step of offering my trays to those outside the Kansas City area.

smoke...but no fire

i love trying new recipes. this one came from a recent issue of Better Homes & Garden. these blueberry scones were easy to whip up and they filled the house with smoke. the butter in them melted off of the cookie sheet and into the bottom of the oven, and wa-la smoke. luckily it was a nice day and i threw open the doors. and oh my....i will be making these again. i loved them!

one bag at a time

i've really been trying to recycle. i started about a year or so ago using these reusable bags. my favorite one is the dark blue market basket. it has a collapsible handle and it really holds a lot. i keep all the other bags inside of it in my car. so when i go shopping i've got them at the ready. i love that we don't bring home all of those plastic shopping bags anymore. doing our part of saving the earth one bag at a time! i recently saw that tuesday morning had these market bags for $9.99.

picket fence trays

i finally finished up this batch of picket fence trays. they are for sale at Now & Then in Downtown O.P. they are a nice size to use for serving or to set on a large coffee table or ottoman. i like them all but think the tray with the travel posters on it is my favorite. probably because i'm itching for a vacation.

special order tray

a special order tray for angela. one of my favorite papers. love the birds and those postage stamps.

one day of spring weather....we'll take it!

aaahhh the signs of spring. it was a beautiful day on Sunday....windy as heck, but 74 degrees! we took full advantage of it and spent most of the day outside. the boys had a blast racing down the hill in our side yard. maguire on his german race car (a $3 purchase last summer at a garage sale that he bought with his own money) and cooper on his little tykes car, that used to be big brothers. i lost track of how many times they went up and down. even little cooper can push his car back up the hill all by himself. luckily we got the race on video because it is a hoot to watch them race down.

it's so fun to see them play together. maguire is such a good big brother and cooper really enjoys hanging out with him.

the sky was beautiful.... so blue. and you can just start to see the buds coming in on the trees. it won't be long before these big beautiful trees are providing some much needed shade on a hot summer day.

our black top driveway makes for one really large chalk board. i love to see the kids drawings on the driveway. it's a sure sign that it's been a warm day.

a teeny tiny tinge of green starting to show on some leaves. i'm anxious to see my spring bulbs come up and to spend some days in the garden. even though we're back to chilly days now, sunday was a glimps into what lies ahead. we've even seen a few robins out and about. it won't be long now!

enough of winter

i'm tired of the snow, ice and coldness of winter. so i was inspired today to dig through my buckets of paper and work on a batch of trays that remind me of warmer days. i love these trays and their picket fence look to them. i have 4 green ones and one cream one. the paper i chose....bugs, lemons and florals remind me that warmer days will be here before we know it. ***cream tray sold even before i made it...thanks A!

make a wish

happy, happy birthday!! to my dear friend susan who lives a half a world away. oh how i miss you!

so here is a homemade (to die for) chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. so yummy!

i ate two...one for you and one for me in celebration of your birthday.

make a wish and have a special day! xoxoxo

kiddie table

i've had this little kiddie table, from Ikea, for about 4 years. i've had lots of ideas swirling around in my head on how to paint it. i finally decided on keeping it simple. my favorite red for the top and black for the legs (because i can never not use black). an alphabet and number paper that i added car, baseball and stars to with rubber stamps fills the center. the apron of the table recieved strips of stripes (say that 3 x's fast!) in black and white. the table also has two chairs that go with it. i'm pondering the idea of painting one chair blue and the other green. hopefully i'll get to them soon and i'll have this little project done. we also have another table and two chairs, identical to this set. who knows how i'll finish it....maybe using the same colors, the red, black, blue and green but mix it up. maybe a red and blue chair with a black and green table....? hmmmm...the possibilities. what do you think? any suggestions out there?

5 year old art

my 5 year old son takes a weekly art class at art in the attic. last month's creation was this piece (shown above). each week he added to it and then when it was done he brought it home. i was so excited when he finally brought it home, i had been hearing about bits and pieces of it. i had no idea what it was really going to look like.....i love it! i like the idea of having my children's art in my home. this piece sits beautifully on the mantle in our family room.

i also love that he is creative on his own. this afternoon he created this cute piece for his friend. it's made out of pipecleaners, a popcycle stick and a cupcake paper. He calls this creation ice cream cupcake art. and he's very proud of it! so proud that he wanted me to list our phone number here "so that if someone would like to buy one" he could make it for them. future entrepreneur?? i think i might be rubbing off on him!

dinner club dessert

YUMMO! our dinner club meets tonight and i'm taking dessert. i wanted something chocolate and simple, since it will be transported to my friends house. i searched online for a really good cake recipe and i found this one the only chocolate cake recipe you'll ever need. the title sounded believeable but i wanted to take a really good dessert, so i tested this recipe last week. it recommends a white frosting, but i wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and used a chocolate cream cheese frosting from the Joy of Cooking cook book. all i can say.....the title to the cake recipe is right! i couldn't believe how yummy this cake is. this is for sure a keeper!

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
melt: 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
soften: 3 oz. cream cheese in 1/4 cup milk
add gradually: 4 cups confectioners' sugar & 1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine this mixture with the melted chocolate and beat until smooth.
enjoy! oh you will!

milestone

one of my favorite milestones....the ability to poke a shoe string through the hole of a wood spool. i bought a bag of wood spools years ago at a garage sale. both my boys have loved stringing them. i love the concentrated look on their face trying to get that string into that tiny hole. priceless.