Brown paper packages tied up with string.....

These are a few of our

I have wanted to throw a favorite things party for at least two years now.

Luckily when I moved out here, I met this girl....

and she had been wanting to do the same thing!

Annie and I have both been hard at work planning our Favorite Things party for over two months now.

It all paid off last Thursday.

We made these cute invitations (free by the way)...

and attached the instructions......

Here’s how it works…

You bring 5 items of one of your favorite thing $6 and under (not 5 different items….5 of the same item)…examples are kitchen utensils, lipgloss or nail polish, food, anything that you LOVE and want to introduce the group to. Have fun with it!

There will be no judging…..unless your item totally sucks. Just kidding!

And then we did A LOT of other planning to put some fun stuff together. I sent out a survey to all of the guests asking them about favorites including:

perfume, cleaning product, make-up, vacation spot, date idea, hidden gem....etc.

All the girls were asked to send me a copy of their favorite recipe as well.

So after putting all of that together, each guest had a bag with all of these fun results and recipes in them.

The day of Annie came over so we could set up.

We were a tad excited and started about 6 hours early.

We baked up a storm and had enough drinks to feed about four times our crowd of 23....oops.

On the menu...

Red sangria, white sangria, champagne punch, sparkling lemonade, decaf coffee

Oh, and there were desserts too

mini lemonade pies, baked brie, cookies, Heath brownie trifle, Biscoff cheesecake bars, and peanut butter cupcakes.

Where were the kids in all of this?

With an exceptional sitter....thank you Christa!

Finally, everything was ready to go!

When the girls arrived, they put their name 5 times in a bowl and grabbed a tag from the tree

Each tag had a number (for order of gifting) and an icebreaker question.

We had a lot of fun with those.

And then there were all the favorite things.....

Did you really have any question which one would be mine?

Before we got started, there was a lot of visiting, scoping out favorites, and a little bit of eating.

Seriously, I have enough desserts left in my fridge to feed an army.

Or at least Andy for a few days.

Amanda & Annie

the good stuff

Then it was time to begin!

Soula answering her question and drawing her lucky 5 people..

Lots of laughing going on....

Speaking of laughing....

This is my funny friend, Jamie.

She's also my gorgeous friend, Jamie.

Karen showing off her Starbucks card....dangit, I missed that one!

Mary brought Starbucks Java Chip ice cream.

My name wasn't called.

But someone who's name was called forgot theirs.

And as of 7am the next morning, I claimed it as lost property.

Our whole group

And since one of our very favorite things is music, each guest got a cd on the way out.

Annie and I put together a very eclectic playlist, complete with O.P.P.

And I don't want to play favorites, but these happen to be some of my favorite people.

This party was an absolute blast and Annie and I had so much fun hosting it.

We are thinking about putting a different spin on it come holiday time.

We just may need a few months to recover first!

Hard Knock LIfe

Addison just finished week 2 of dance camp.

This week was "musical theater" to Annie.

I was given specific instructions to bring my kid dressed as an orphan with a mop and bucket.

Addison has been so excited to go to dance. She talks about it multiple times a day, every day.

But here's the thing.

How do I put this delicately?

Um....I don't ever see her as being a contestant on "So you think you can Dance."

I had signed her up for the Hip Hop camp in a few weeks, but let's be honest, I think I'm going to go ahead and ask for my money back on that one.

Don't worry, I'm not crushing her dance dreams yet.

I will be enrolling her in the fall just because she loves it so much.

It's just it's been a really HARD week, so please ignore the frustration in my voice on the video.

Actually, you may want to listen to it because it's pretty entertaining as well.

(Press pause on my music in the bottom right)

And ignore the girl to the right of Addison dressed to the nines with lipstick on and full make-up at the age of 3.

Really?

She must not have gotten the orphan memo.

First Impressions

It's been a challenging week over here.

Addison has been giving me more than a run for my money.

In need of a break, I called a sitter that came highly recommended from a friend.

She stopped by today to meet the kids so that when we use her for the first time (if she comes back) she might not be so overwhelmed.

Shannon, the sitter,was wonderful.

My daughter might have just scared her away though.

While talking to Shannon and showing her around, I turned around to find Addison coloring straight on the wall.....something she hasn't done in two years.

Mortified, mad, and a little proud......I grabbed the crayon out of her hand.

little proud because she did draw an A all by herself.

But focusing on the misbehavior at hand, I quickly reprimanded her all while assuring the babysitter that this never happens.

I then told Addison that she would need to go to time out for coloring on the wall.

I asked her, "Addison, can you tell Shannon where you go for time out?"

without skipping a beat, she replied back, "The garage."

I tried to convince the sitter not to call social services just yet and showed her to the time out mat.....which, I assure you, is most definitely NOT in the garage.

Then I got down on her level and tried to hold it together while saying through gritted teeth for the umpteenth time this week...

"You need to listen to mommy."

To which, she smiled and smacked me straight in the face.

In front of new sitter, Shannon.

So yeah, it's been a challenging week.

I'm just trying to hold it together over here.

Take a Hike

Addison about did both Andy and I in again today.

Age three has been tough.

There have been bad days, good days, and a few more rough ones

Lately she has been thoroughly enjoying doing the EXACT OPPOSITE of whatever we ask her to.

We had wanted to get out and enjoy a GORGEOUS day today and Andy had asked her a few too many times to let him help her get dressed.

After a few minutes of running away, laughing, not listening whatsoever...

Andy pulled out the big one.

"Addison!! If you don't get over here RIGHT NOW....you're going to get a spanking."

Addison's reply...

"Yes! Ok dad, yeah, I need a spanking. Can you give me a spanking daddy?"

"Give me a spanking!!!"

Really? What do you do then?

Ugh.

After wrestling the clothes on both kids, we headed out for a hike....

because at least they would be contained, we could carry on a conversation, and just enjoy some peace and quiet.

We love this path in Encinitas. It's a short drive from the house and has some beautiful views.

I have to enjoy it while I can still say it....

Our car thermometer said 71 when we parked.

Sorry Texas friends, it's obnoxious, I know.

Graham conked out halfway through.

We had strategically packed a lunch for the kids that they could eat on the hike, so we could rush them off to nap as soon as we got home.

When I looked down, Addison had hooked Graham up with some food as well....even though he was passed out.

She can be very sweet.

I don't really know what this is....

I guess it's a house and they are obviously growing something....

looks like a beautiful winery plunked down in the middle of a neighborhood.

If it was a winery, we most definitely would have stopped in....

The views are amazing on the entire 3 mile loop.

I think I should take Andy "hiking" more often.

It's nice to have someone else do all the grunt work.