Party Day! The house is insane this morning, so this is going to be quick.

Sunday:

Your peaceful sleeping face is a LIE

That blur is my baby be thrown

Game of Thrones!

Monday:

Trying to escape out the window at the pediatrician

Happy to be naked

Sup, yo?

Tuesday:

Evan is getting really into his gymnastics class

Mommy, look how dirty this floor is!

This diaper was in my way so I took it off and peed on the floor. You're welcome.

Thursday:

3rd Birthday Balloon Kicking!

BAH BAH BAH

Toy box fort

Friday:

Dollar store adventures

Saturday:

Conserving his energy for the party

I'm a decorating fool

Insane number of cookies and cake to be eaten today. Sleeping in to be done Sunday. Dinosaur 3rd Birthday party pics to come Monday. Happy weekend!

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

I’m cheating a little bit here, because I made it 71 weeks without missing any and I hate to ruin my picture-every-day record. But with vacation last week I didn’t get one up (and I missed a couple days) – so lucky you, this week you get a dozen pictures of blue water and self portraits PLUS a regular boring week. Try to contain your excitement.

Sunday:

I am amazed at how close they get this REALLY BIG BOAT to the pier.

I told you there was champagne.

Happy to be on vacation

Monday:

Oh look, another ModCloth dress. SHOCKING.

Tuesday:

Oops.

Wednesday:

Blue on blue

I'm on a boat

Thursday:

Our view during breakfast

Excuse me, you have a palm tree on your face

Can I go back now?

Friday:

Ok, that's just unnecessary. STOP SHOWING OFF, ISLAND.

AND YOU. Stop taking so many pictures of yourself. GOOD LORD.

You can see the footing of that pier all the way to the bottom. It's deep enough for a cruise ship to dock. That's some clear ass water.

Saturday:

I SAID KNOCK IT OFF. (p.s. I'm totally in love with this dress)

Sunday:

Tan (well, at least less pale) and relaxed

Fly over

That's Manhattan, right behind the window specks

Monday:

To celebrate being back from vacation, I went to the dermatologist and had a chunk of my ear removed (it ended up being nothing serious)

My boys caught up on their naps

Celebrating an early spring with bubbles

Tuesday:

A picture of me looking at my vacation pictures. I'm TRYING to make you leave at this point.

The Very Hungry Toddler

I acknowledge your request to "Please sit in my chair" and I reject it.

Wednesday:

Ready for gymnastics

Fire truck at Stop & Shop was the highlight of Evan's YEAR

I'm not exactly sure what game they're playing, but I love it

Thursday:

This face, all morning. Her life is SO HARD.

Even Evan was exhausted from Caroline's tantrum

Showing us how eating his dinner makes his muscles big and strong

Friday:

Peek a Boo!

Hey kid, throw some Cheerios my way

Redneck in training

Saturday:

I think this means she's hungry

My to-do -list for Evan's birthday - I'm not sure how that ruffle dress ended up in my cart but I assure you it was a totally necessary purchase.

It's important to transport your Girl Scout Cookies safely.

Come back you cowards! I want a rematch!

Frozen fruit, pina colada mix, and mango rum. Vacation rewind!

My plans to get all the things done this weekend were derailed by too much Saturday morning dawdling at Target, a cook-out all afternoon, and sleeping in on Sunday so my week is going to involve much birthday crafting and baking. We have family coming to visit next weekend so in between all the dinosaurs I also need to clean the entire house. Thank goodness my mom did indeed scrub all the kitchen grout (and the bathroom grout and the laundry room and the yard and and and…) Fortunately (unfortunately) the weather isn’t supposed to be as nice as last week so I won’t be tempted to ignore my housework in favor of patio sitting.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

Oh look, another week in iPhone photos.

Sunday:

Since when can my tiny baby climb LADDERS?

Caroline would party all day. E not so much.

What, isn't that how YOU watch football?

Monday:

Three toddlers all too busy to talk to me

Tempting, but no.

So healthy it's almost disgusting

Tuesday:

Tunnel of love

We ride the elevator at the mall UP and then DOWN, for no reason but he loves it.

Lounging

Wednesday:

These would look great with a set of 20's, Mom. (I have no idea what that even means)

Oh no, a T-Rex is attacking town hall!

Sitting in a chair: Ur doin' it rong.

Heeeeeere's CAROLINE

Best purchase of the year: $30 library cart from the education store at the mall as a bookshelf/ toyshelf

Thursday:

HUGE turnout at Stroller Strides for the franchise's 2nd birthday

Leading the parade at Target

Obsessed

Friday:

He told me he was going camping.

Really, Christmas Tree Shops? You think this is a DEAL?

No one is excited to be at BJ's, including me.

3rd birthday party planning is a go.

Saturday:

If my husband ever wonders if this is his kid, I will show him this picture

Five Guys, duh.

Apparently my baby WANTS to nurse with a blanket over her head. Weirdo.

For the rest of the weekend I’ll be watching terrible reality TV, arguing with a 3 year old over the exact length of nap time, and encouraging Caroline’s new habit of spinning in circles until she gets so dizzy she falls over. Mom of the year, RIGHT HERE.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

The Theme: Winter sparkle snowflake party, with glitter, pale pink and blue accents
The Location: The entire first floor of my house

This post is going to be HUGE, so if you have no interest at all in Caroline’s party please come back in a few days when it’s been bumped off the front page. I don’t want to put in a page break and have people think I’m trying to trick them into more page views. I get my page views the honest way – exploiting my children and friends!

The Decorations:

Dining room

Tree branch sprayed with snow-in-a-can

Ruffled crepe paper trees from this tutorial found on Pinterest

Living Room

Snowflakes cut from printer paper (Google “snowflake templates” for ideas)

My clothes pin photo display re-purposed as Caroline’s year in photos display!

Epsom salt in mason jars to look like snow

Glitter play dough party favors (more details in this post), yarn wreath, mirror frosted with snow-in-a-can

Yarn wreath, $1 picture frame ornament from Target

Chandelier decorated with dollar store garland & ornaments

Doily garland

The orange high chair didn’t match my theme, but a paper table cloth and a little tulle fixed it!

Fake snow everywhere!

The Food:

Hot cocoa and cocktail bar – the Keurig made it SO EASY!

I bought every single Christmas mug at Goodwill

Mini marshmallows, egg nog, powdered sugar, crushed candy canes, vanilla syrup, pink sprinkles, whipped cream, coconut flakes. Also on the bar: dark and milk hot cocoa, cider, Bailey’s, vanilla vodka, coconut rum, peppermint schnapps, mini candy canes.

Cucumber sandwiches, candy cane blossoms, red peppers & dip

Smoked salmon, dill & cream cheese on herb bread

Cupcakes (from a box!), my favorite frosting, edible sugar paper snowflakes bought at Stop & Shop

Sparkling cranberry brie bites. You know how sometimes you seen an idea on Pinterest and think “yeah, there’s no way that idea is going to be as awesome in real life”? This one was JUST AS AWESOME.

Thumbprint cookies, gooey vanilla sparkle cookies, fruit & dip, sugar cookies, ginger cookies, mini pastas on sticks with vodka, marinara, and alfredo sauce.

Coconut snowballs

Cream cheese mints, lemon meringues

The pasta on sticks was a great idea… for grown ups. Next time I’ll get less pointy things.

Milk bottle snow men. Not quiet as cute as on the interwebs, but still cute.

Lemon cake (more boxed mix!) tinted 3 shades of pink

Tiny cake baked in a tomato can, covered in sprinkles & topped with “Caroline” written in chocolate

Don’t even THINK about taking her cake away

The Fun:

Glitter play dough & cookie cutters on a kid-sized table

All the planned activities in the world can’t stop the kids from getting every toy out of the toy box

DIY pull string pinata (more here) was a hit, even though it didn’t work exactly as planned. I had to shake most of the candy out after the ribbon holding it up broke, but the kids didn’t care one little bit.

DIY snowglobes were cuter in theory than in reality. They were kind of leaky and some of the trees dyed the water purple and the glue was messy, but everyone went home with one!

Sharing strawberries with a friend

Refusing to wear her hair bow

Dance party!

These two are TROUBLE

Playing with Grandma

Somebody got a pony for her birthday! (She’s kind of scared of it though)

Family photos with two kids – there is ALWAYS someone not looking.

Holy crap, that was ridiculously long. I think I got all the links and recipes in there but if you’re looking for something let me know. My Pinterest board for the party (with most of the ideas I did use and some really good ones I didn’t get around to) can be found here.  I’m sorry most of the photos are terrible – it gets dark REALLY early here so I had to use the flash after the first 30 minutes of the party. It was definitely a great time and I know Caroline enjoyed herself. I hear everyone’s kids slept really well on Saturday night so I think they ran off all the sugar I pumped into them before they went home. Thank you to everyone who came and especially to my mother-in-law Carol who flew all the way from Ohio just to help me make the food and watch Little Evan for a few hours!

And Happy Birthday Caroline!

Party picture post tomorrow, but I thought I’d do my party outfit today. Technically we didn’t step out to anywhere, but the house was so festive with lights and decorations and friends it felt like we were someplace really special!

On Caroline:
Onesie dress – Target
Tights – Gymboree

On Me:
Dress – H&M
Sweater and hair flower – Sears (Yup AND I used a coupon)
Tights – Rue 21 (pro tip: “One size fits most” means “one size fits if you are less than 5’5″ otherwise you’ll be tugging them up all damn night”)
Heels – Missoni for Target
Belt – Betsy Johnson (bought at TJMaxx)

I spent weeks online shopping for a dress – because I wanted to be a little fancy as the hostess but not REALLY fancy because I’d still be cooking and making drinks and chasing kids – but didn’t order anything in time. When I ran to the mall to pick up the play kitchen I dashed into H&M and grabbed ever party dress. Let me tell you, I am WAY TOO OLD for about 75% of the stuff they sell. There is nothing about knit fair isle leggings with a crop top that appeals to me. But this tulle dress was cheap and cute (and a bit short, hence the tights) and I was thrilled that I fit into a nice, reasonable size 10 at a trendy store. Although considering how much I ate at the party, it probably wouldn’t fit today!

Linking up with The Haps!