Flashback Friday

Howdy Friends! It's flashback Friday time! Today's pic is from May 30, 2010, almost exactly 2 years ago, in honor of miss MM's birthday. This was taken by seester immediately after arriving home from the hospital with our little M squared. Our first official pic as a party of 5.

Yes, I'm trying to use my 5-year old as a shield to cover my swollen.up.self.

Yes he has pajamas that fit. He just chooses not to wear them.

Yes, the blanket in E's lap was actually covering MM 2 seconds before this was taken. Only home for 3 minutes and already she's stealing from her younger sibling.

The craziness of the couch cushions is still alive and well today.

And just 2 seconds after that photo was taken...

...well, picture time was pretty much over.

***

I'm back to completing my endless list of party prep projects. Say that 5 times fast. I'll be back next week with loads of pics, but I'll leave you with a sneak peek...

Happy weekend to ya!

Wizard of Oz party- the invites

Happy Thursday friends! I've been MIA this week while I soak up these first few days of summer with the kiddos. Hello 10:00 am wake-up time. I've missed you. I did, however, want to go ahead and share one thing that I've completed so far for the party, because summer laziness has put me a little behind and it will feel good to show the ONE thing that's done. Know what I mean?

The invites were created for FREE on Picmonkey, and while this isn't a sponsored post, they should totally be paying me by now since I've only mentioned them a zillion times in the past month. Ahem. I took one of the photos of E dressed as Dorothy, added text and a border, and printed them at home. I also used envelopes from my stash, so the entire project cost me $0. Can I get a high-five?

So yes, I'm totally covering up our address, but let's focus on the crazysmart rhyme for a sec, shall we? I did that on my own, folks. Like, straight from my brain. I'd like to thank Dr. Seuss for giving me mad rhyming skillz. I'd also like to apologize to MM for not putting her on the invite too, but she refused to wear the munchkin costume and then she refused to be in the pictures altogether.

So there ya have it.

The one thing I've done for the party. So far.

I've got 248 projects in the works and a whopping 2 days to get it done, but hey. It's summer. And since O started lessons again this week, let's think on something less stressful for a moment.

The pool. Which is where we'll be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for most of the summer.

Ahhhh......

That's better.

Now back to Oz.

2 years of MM

Happy birthday to my sweet, precious, no-longer-a-baby-but-I'll-still-call-her-the-baby Mary Martin.

I love you, baby girl. And since you might wonder when you're 23 what you were doing at age 2, here's a little list. You are currently:

wearing Abby Cadabby dress + pink boots everyday. (see pics 4 & 5)

crazy observant. Nothing, but NOTHING gets by you.

wanting to be a ballerina like your sister. (see pic 8)

still sporting some crazy, light-colored hair.

still the one with the longest lashes. Mommy is totes jeals.

begging to listen to the 'elephant book' on the nook all.the.time.

loving Super Readers.

the loudest of the bunch.

eating princess gummies by the box full.

always the Scarecrow to E's Dorothy.

really into lih-stick. (chapstick)

never, but NEVER more than 3 feet away from your blanket. (see pics 1 & 15)

Flashback Friday- a tribute to hubs

In honor of the hubs birthday, and the fact that he's stepping a little unwillingly through the door marked, "late twenties, enter here", let's take a look back at a few moments from his pre-twenties, shall we?

Ahhh...baby Clay.

A little TOO much of baby Clay, hence the cute lil' sticker.

Sweet little cheeks.

All 4 of them.

A wee bit older now and he's already mastered the Blue Steel while simultaneously digging something from the recesses of his ear.

Just plop a couple of pigtails on '1986 Easter Clay' and call him Mary Martin.

Am I right or am I right?

Oh the socks...

and the precious bow tie...

and the Peter Pan collar...

and the interior of the castle he seems to be standing in...

Why hello pre-pubescent Clay.

Love the knock-off Tevas.

And color-blocked Umbros.

And braces.

And thick, muscular legs.

Yummy.

And since I currently have no other pictures of adolescent Clay, let's skip ahead a few years...

Ah.

Much better.

Dashing, isn't he?

And hubs isn't lookin' too bad either.

Love the coveralls.

Again, yummy.

And because I feel that far too few people on the earth were witness to hubs afro days,

I give you...

Afro Clay.

Is there any wonder why I pounced on that?

I know, right?

Tan and toned, with a head FULL of hair and a fabulous decorator to boot.

I mean, just look at those beautifully styled shelves.

And that necklace.

And the way he holds that hair dryer.

Sheesh, how'd I get so lucky?

Happy birthday week to you, hubs.

And if it makes you feel better,

you don't look a day over 27.

Swear it.

It's sum-sum-sum-sum-sum-sum-summertime

It's official. I'm now on Summer....time.

The 'school' alarm on my phone has been switched to off.

I'll be snoozing when the sun comes up instead of showering, drying my hair, straightening my hair, trying on clothes until I land on anything remotely 'slimming', throwing makeup at my face, and furiously trying to get O to eat his breakfast. And put a snack in his backpack. And brush his teeth. And tie his shoes.

Yessireebob.

Snoozing.

And since I don't want that to come across as a 'nanny nanny boo boo' to you, I'm only stating it because, for the majority of the year, this is not the case. I spend far too much time away from my babes than with them during the school year and I'm ecstatic that today, instead of missing them, I'll be with them.

And it makes me smile.

Even though today is our first FULL day of summer, we kick-started things off yesterday with some car washing in our bathing suits,

and I even squeezed in a little thrifting.



No, I didn't buy this frame. I'm only sharing the picture with the internets to point out that someone did, in fact, donate their grandparents to America's Thrift Store on Skyland. Who would do such a thing?

I'll be sharing the spoils of that trip soon, but in the meantime, you can rest assured that I probably won't be coming out of my pjs anytime soon and you can bet your sweet bippy that I'll be enjoying some Sesame Street today. And maybe some driveway chalking. Or some fingernail painting. Most definitely some book reading. And probably some light saber fighting. And who knows what else...

And tomorrow? Well I'll be back then too, because someone here had a birthday this week, and some baby tooshy's are just too cute not to share...

Happy Birthday to Hubs

I'd like to announce to the internets and to the world that my hubs is officially in his late twenties. As in, he's turning 28 today, and let's face it- he's been holding on to those quasi-mid-twenties for too long. But 28? No longer mid, my friends, but most definitely late. I point this out only because it's giving him anguish and also because I kissed my late twenties buh-bye quite a while ago. That's right folks. Just call me Courtney Cox and slap me down in Cougar Town, cause that's where I reside. And now, a tribute to hubs via pictures + words:

Happy Birthday to my hubs-

 who not only cuts O's hair, but also cleans up afterwards-

who constantly provides nutritious snacks for our kiddos-

who always smiles when I take our picture-

who is an incredibly sexy baby daddy-

who's always up for a good costume party, 

who teaches our children to aim for the sky-

who works hard for our family-

who is handy around the house-

who is a most awesome swing pusher-

and who is always willing to create a little fun in an otherwise normal day.

Thank you, hubs. For all of these and more.

We love you lots and lots and lots.

And welcome to your late twenties.

Again.



Flashback Friday

It's Friday, and you know what that means...

time to dig into the past and show the internets some vintage goodness.

This week, we celebrated 3 years of Eliza and since I wasn't blogging back when I was birthing babes, I thought I'd share with you how petite I was.

This picture was taken on May 14, 2009.

I was scheduled to be induced the next morning, so I had a final voice lesson with one of my students who was a graduating senior. Elaine was so sweet, she didn't even make a face as she stood next to my monstrous form.

She just smiled.

Fast-forward just a few short hours and one crazy-fast car ride to the hospital, and baby girl is in my arms.  Because sometimes, when we make plans, God points at us from heaven and laughs.

**Eliza's birth story is a post in itself, so I'll save those details for later. For now, let's observe a few things from the picture.**

That XL maternity shirt is stretched to its limits and I can assume that if shirts could talk, it'd be crying, saying,"Really? REALLY?? What did I ever do to you??" At this point, I was down to 2 shirts and 1 pair of pants that fit. Thank goodness it was summer and my fat sausage-like feet would squeeze into a pair of flip-flops.

Perhaps I should've stood behind Elaine so as to not completely cover her up.

My favorite thing about being pregnant was when strangers would stop me and ask how many were in there.

I assure you that there are no marshmallows stuffed in my cheeks.

This is what happens when you spend 9 months saying, "I'm eating for two", and then you eat your food and everyone else's at the table. Then you eat you family too, because you're still not full.

***

This week also marked the 37th anniversary of my parents- "Happy day to you, Tim and Phyllis!" I can't tell you what a blessing it is to have parents who are still married to each other, unless YOUR parents have been married for that long cause then you'd KNOW how awesome it is.

Here they are. My parents in all of their 1974 glory. 

No, they're not on the movie set of Beach Blanket Bingo, although my dad does favor the character of Bonehead quite a bit. (hat on the beach?- check. Cut-off's?- check.)

Doesn't Tim have killer legs?

Doesn't Phyllis have killer abs?

Love you both! Happy 37 years to you! I pray that someday, hubs and I will be celebrating 37 years!

Follow the yellow brick road

I'd like to once again thank the creators of Picmonkey for giving us an editing site that is so incredibly easy to use and reminiscent of its former counterpart which is now deceased and rhymed with Schmicnic.

Because of Picmonkey, I'm able to take this picture:

and turn it into this picture:

which is clearly more authentic since we all know the bricks were really yellow. Never mind that a few of our sidewalk bricks are especially dingy and look a little black. Just ignore those.

I took this pic of my girl on her birthday and it totally defines what she's into at the moment. I need to blow this up poster-size and frame it immediately.

Like, right now.

But this post isn't really about Picmonkey, although it is complete and total awesomesauce. It's about the fact that I am in party.planning.mode. In the party 'zone', if you will. I've made lists of things to make, lists of things to buy, lists of recipes to find, lists of things to sew. Hello, my name is Mary Kathryn and I'm a list maker. I am so stinkin excited about putting this party together that it's like having a Christmas in May. That's right. If you want to give me a present, just ask me to throw a themed party. Dina and I would totally be BFF's if we knew each other. Totally.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you've probably noticed that I've been pinning

Oz-ness like crazy. You can check out my party board HERE, but I wanted to share a few of my favorite ideas that I'm planning to use for the girls' party. And yes, that's plural because we'll be celebrating both our girlies at this party since they are both major Wizard of Oz fans at the moment, and they also happen to have birthdays 13 days apart.

I love the party favor baskets that Kate found at Michael's:

Source: mykidseatoffthefloor.blogspot.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

(from my kids eat off the floor)

Love the yellow bulletin board paper turned yellow brick road for this party:

Source: catchmyparty.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

(from catch my party)

Love these apple tree centerpieces I found on Kara's party ideas:

Source: karaspartyideas.blogspot.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

Love these Louboutin's:

Source: weheartit.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

Oh wait, how'd those get in there?

Back to the parties...

The absolute most spare-no-dime-on-the-party-and-send-all-the-guests-home-with-a-truckload-of-stuff would have to be this one:

Source: karaspartyideas.blogspot.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

Not only is it beautifully styled, but each of the party guests went home with a Dorothy dress, a pair of ruby slippers, a stuffed lion, tinman, scarecrow, and Dorothy, a stuffed Toto in a basket, and, hmmmm... I've probably left something out. You'll just have to see it for yourself, and know this: while we won't be sending everyone home with a duffle bag full of Oz swag, the bar has been set very very high and I'm going to do my best as a mother and a human to at least reach some level of amazingness akin to this party. As God as my witness....

And good gravy please tell me you noticed the party guests plates were each on a piece of tree trunk. Sheesh.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some party prep to attend to. And please, for the love, someone buy me those shoes cause I needs em.

3 years of E

Happy Birthday to our precious little Dorothy loving,

ballet dancing,

hair tossing,

sister bossing,

scrambled egg eating,

soprano singing,

costume wearing,

Barbie playing,

middle child.

We love you.

Lots.