Royal Wedding!

Initially, I was not one to follow the Royal Wedding business. I mean, Prince William is a dish and his fiance Kate Middleton was gorgeous and they seemed so happy, etc., but I wasn't watching all the build up. Meh. A lot of my friends were talking about watching it and I found myself saying, "Yeah! I'm so excited!" What? No I wasn't - what was I talking about?

Then there was some show on the Wednesday before the wedding and I got sucked in, all about the love story between Kate and William. Friends? I. was. hooked. So dreamy! Ahhh, I couldn't get enough. All the talk about the plans and her dress and the ceremony and reception...

Friday morning over a bowl of Raison Bran I watched Prince William marry Kate Middleton. It was BEAUTIFUL. Her dress was amazing and everything went perfectly. They would look at each other and smirk and squeeze hands...I was enamored. Not to mention this was a historic moment, right? My whole life I saw clips of the Royal Wedding between Charles and Diana and now it was happening for my generation. It was historic. So I had to watch it. See?

Walking down the aisle after the ceremony. Her dress was amazing.

I so love them, I want to send them a Christmas card.

I have to say my favorite part was watching them ride to the palace waving at everyone that came out to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. It seemed like the entire country was there cheering them on, it was cool.

What the hat? I love seeing all the British doves wear their incredible hats, but this was ridiculous. My friend Celine and I have talked about bringing hats back (another post), this however will not make the cut. And this girl is a Princess! Come on, your highness.

Ahhh, the dreamy kiss on the balcony.

Did I mention that Kate has no royal ties? No noble birthright? She was a regular girl who fell in love with a Prince. He fell in love with her, married her, made her a Princess and they lived happily ever after!

Easter

Ahhh, Easter! I love Easter Sunday. Getting everything ready for my kids is so much fun. We got them a few small pressies and LOADS of candy. Too much. I stayed up late the night before filling eggs.

Our Ward is at 9:00 and I told the kids that the Easter Bunny would come while we were gone. Cody worked that day, so after I got the kids settled in Primary I rushed home and Cody met me there. We hid the eggs and I made little paw prints out of brownie mix, placed carrot ends and tootsie rolls around. I need to come up with a better 'stamp' for the prints, I just used my fingers and you can tell. I want them to look better. Yep. More authentic bunny prints. Maybe a sponge? The brownie mix worked well but it was a pain to clean up. I need to do some fine tuning.

When we got home the boys were SOOO excited! Cole loves his new little trumpet. Me? I'm not loving it so much.

Bunny mess.

Cache thought the messes around the house were hilarious and took this picture right before I cleaned this one up. My smile is forced, that brownie mix was sticky.

Their little bags were filled to the brim and they took their sugary treasure down to the play room while I watched 'Easter Parade'. I had never seen it and I LOVED it! Oh, so much.

We had a yummy dinner and just spent the day together as a family. Love my boys, best Easter ever. Until next year, that is.

Vegas!

Two weeks ago I drove down to Vegas for the weekend. I go every year to visit Sara with Kate and Rhonda. Sara and Rhonda have Birthdays in April, so we spend a weekend together just shopping and eating - sort of a mini Girls Trip. Sadly Kate couldn't come this year and we missed her like crazy. Even though the trip is really only about 36 hours, we love every minute of it!

After some errands on Friday morning I headed out on the drive. You know I don't mind driving alone? I'm sure if I had to do it for 12 hours I might lose my mind, but driving to Vegas by myself isn't so bad. Before going to Sara's I stopped at my sister's so I could spend some time with her. We only had an hour (she was leaving town, too!), but it was so great to see her and spend some time with her and her kids. Love her. No pictures of course, because we're ultra secretive of our visits.

I met up with the girls at Sara's house and we went to dinner at Swish. Such a fun little place, they bring you your meal raw and you cook it in a wok right in front of you. Swish was delish!

Afterwards we went to see 'Arthur'. Have you seen this yet? I was pleasantly surprised, Russell Brand is hilarious.

Saturday the weather was gorgeous! Ahhh, so balmy, just beautiful. We grabbed some breakfast, sat in the sun and then had lunch at Brio. I love Brio. I have to eat there every time I go to Vegas.

We shopped at the Town Center shops for a few hours and scored some finds, then drove over to Fashion Show Mall to shop some more...never enough!

'Forever21' was freaking ginormous. A bit overwhelming.

I did love their pink dressing rooms doors, though.

Waiting for our shoes...

Waiting some more.

Strangely - none of us bought any.

Dinner at PF Changs.

We went to the store to grab some treats and bevs and then back to Sara's house.

The next morning we sat on the bed and talked before packing up. Rhonda and I had lunch and then hit the road. WONDERFUL weekend! Love those girls so much, I can't wait for next year! Good thing the Girls Trip is only two months away!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

What am I loving?

This dress form from Urban Outfitters.

I have wanted a dress form forever! Do I sew? Yeah, not really. I can a little, but nothing uber-fancy. However, when I was changing the sleeves on a dress last fall I thought, "Hmmm, this would be much easier on a dress form". Plus I could dress it up for Halloween! A draped, dark figure in the corner...which would freak me right out, so maybe not. Anyway, me wanty! And I love that color! It's $300. Aaaaaand there goes my dream.

I'm also loving that Spring may have FINALLY sprung. I dare not hope to much, the weather here is anything but predictable. We have woken up to snowy mornings more than once the past few weeks. The upside? We still get to use our woodburning stove, so I'm good with that.

Cody and I have been anxious for the ground to thaw so we can start working on our yard! We want to rip a lot of stuff out and then get to work on planting our flower beds and perhaps adding a few trees. I'm no gardner by any means, but I am excited to get our yard in ship shape! The weather was cooperating a few days ago, so I went up to my parents house and split some of their day lilies to transplant here (I had permission, don't worry). This little guy was making a quick escape...

When I got home I looked at our railroad ties. Do you know what those are? Huge, square 'pegs' of wood that can be used to line planters and the like. I am not a fan, never have been...ok, unless they are used like this.
But ours weren't dark or framed cool stairs. Ours were rotted out and nappy. Ugh, so over it. So I grabbed a shovel and in 20 minutes we were tie free! I ripped them out! Good riddance!

...not that the hollowed edges are that much better, but I'm working on it.

I have some dirt distribution to do, but anything is better than that wooden mess. I have been weeding off and on for the past three days, I'm about to head out there now - it rained last night so the ground should be nice and soft. I'll keep you posted on my green thumbery! If only I had a nice dress form to keep me company.

How is it...

We spent the majority of last year remodeling our kitchen. It was a JOB. 7 months using nothing but a microwave, a grill and our smarts to make meals. Dust covered everything, wires were exposed, we had sheet rock mud all over the floor...messy.

So, how is it that when I see pictures of my brother's attic remodel, I get an urge to rip out walls again?

My fingers start to itch. I need to tear things out. This isn't good, friends. I mean, it's not that we have a shortage of projects to do around here, but our kitchen isn't 100% done. And how do we choose which project to do next? The bathrooms? Combining the two room downstairs to make a big room for our boys? Or do we spend the Summer focusing on our yard?

I'm not sure I can supress these demo feelings much longer. Stay tuned...

PS - The reason they are remodeling their attic? To make room for my new, beautiful little neice!

Penelope Kay Patch, born March 27th, 7 lbs 1 oz, 19.75 inches.

Welcome baby Penny!!