Birthday Lunch

Happy 4th Birthday Arabella Emma!

For B's birthday lunch she chose Corner Cafe. We decided to go early in hopes of beating a crowd...sadly at 11am they were packed and waiting out in the entrance. So we went to her next choice, Jose Peppers.

Her birthday card from Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Friedrich, all the way from Iowa.

To keep Bubba from screaming his head off, we let him watch Doc McStuffins.

I do believe she was embarrassed by the employees singing to her. ;0)

Mmmm! Cookie Monster. AKA Fried Ice cream rolled in crushed Oreos and smothered in thick gooey chocolate sauce.

DIY Key Plaque

I took to my beloved Pinterest after the hubs accidentally broke our el cheapo key box during a refrigerator install. I found a few great ideas and thought I'd give one a try. Unfortunately I never made it that far. When gathering supplies for this key rail, while in Joann's, I ended up taking a completely different route. My main goal was to keep the keys from smacking the wall when hung up, my secondary goal was to make it cute.

I already had the lettered knobs on hand; I purchased them from Michael's last year for another project that never happened for $1 each. I got the key rail at Lowe's for $7. At Joann's I found a blank plaque for $10, a cheap 22"x22" bandanna, and for $1.80 I picked up the buttons. I'm sure there are cheaper methods but this is what worked for me. :)

1. I spent several days debating how to position everything. I only had one shot with this and didn't want to regret my decision. I even got advice from my Dec Mamas. So I measured, lined up and marked where the screw holes would need to be drilled. I then passed it off to the hubs as he drilled the holes and countersinks for the knob screw heads.
2. While the hubs was busy I busted out the handy dandy iron to smooth out the creases in the bandanna.
3. I laid out some newspaper and used some super strength 3M adhesive. This part took the longest as I had to smooth the fabric into every nook and cranny of the recesses the plaque has.I had to wash my hands several times during the process as well as take care not to gunk up any of the visible fabric on the front.
4. Once the stretching and gluing was complete I let it sit for 30 minutes to cure before applying the adornments.
5. When all was said and done the screws that hold the rail on are a tad too long, so I simply applied a hefty dose of hot glue to conceal them. (The 3M picture mounts I use to hang the plaque keep them spaced from the wall as well) I then clipped the button rings off and hot glued them over the rail screw heads to conceal them.

And voila! We now have a place to hang the keys that doesn't make me hang my head in shame. :)

Christmas Day Part 2

Our Family

Grandma & Papa and the grandkids

Cousins

My crazy fun family

Before the wrapping started flying!

C-R-A-Z-Y

We had a great Christmas and the kids were spoiled rotten.

Christmas Day Part 1

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with Adam's family. We had a yummy dinner and played a lot!

Lot's of running and chasing.

And lots of new toys.

We headed home and put the kids to bed. They were out rather quickly. Which means it didn't take long for Santa to show up.

Santa is clever. ;0)

Arabella's Ornament

As per our family tradition, we ventured to Hallmark to pick out the yearly ornaments that sum up our year and/or personality. B picked a dancing ballerina and E picked a flying Mater. Adam and I went with a porcelain snowflake.

Christmas Day... to be continued!