University Mall Concert Series: Black & Blue

I have been a fan of Black & Blue for a long time.  The first time I ever heard them was at a friend's wedding reception.  I said to myself that when I got married I wanted them or a group like them to play at my wedding.  They are so much fun!  {They were unfortunately booked on the day we got married but we lucked up with an equally amazing band instead.}  Anyway, I was excited to see them as part of the University Mall Summer Concert Series.  Deuce & I made our weekly trip to the mall and met mom & Laura.

The band was fantastic and, as always, Deuce was amazed by the stage, the instruments and the sound.  He rarely leaves the front of the stage.  This group had a great time singing to him and waved at him while he clapped & danced to their music.

He has to check out every single dog that he sees which can be daunting at times to chase after him when he spots one.  My sister's dog is VERY baby friendly and will let Deuce stick his hand in his mouth and pull his fur & pretty much anything else he manages to do.  {Not that I just let him pull the dogs fur but sometimes he gets away from me!}  Here, he met another sweet dog with a very gracious owner that just let him pet & pet & pet.  We are working on understanding the word "gentle" and not "let me pet the dog with slaps as hard as I can."  If I had let go of him he would have tried to lay down on the dog.  I have caught him trying to sit on our cat several times. No joke.  I think he's trying to ride them like his rocking horse. HA!

We visited the play area this time but there are several older kids that play in there.  They play tag and run around and are pretty rough.  Don't take that to mean that I want my boy to be a softy but he's not super secure on his feet quite yet and a bunch of wild 5 year olds are not really inclined to look out for a wobbly 14 month old. {We did let him play in the play area of the mall this past weekend and some kids came running around some obstacle and laid him out flat on his back.  I of course jumped up, but I waited and didn't move.  The little boy stopped to help him up and he shrugged him off and got up smiling on his own.}  He didn't leave the play area of the concert without making some friends though.

He joined a group of boys at the front of the stage for more dancing.

And then proceeded to show them how to dance by bouncing and poking out his lips. 
Wonder where he's seen that???

Liquid Pleasure will be playing this Thursday so please come out if you are in town.  They are an awesome group that is from the area.  They play great Motown & beach music hits.  There is sure to be a large crowd so bring your kiddos & your chairs and come see Deuce!!

Office Bridal Shower

A few weeks ago I was approached by a coworker and asked if I could help throw a surprise shower for another coworker who is getting married in July.  {Thanks to my blog and some leftover baked goods from Deuce's party, I have become the local go-to-girl for all things crafty here at work.}  Anyway, the "would you be interested in helping?" turned in to "here is the $$, go for it!"  So I basically had free reign to do what I wanted.  Fortunately for me, the bride-to-be and I have similar tastes so we had been chatting a lot about her upcoming wedding already.  I knew her new last name, her colors and pretty much anything else I needed to know so I didn't have to ask her & create suspicion.  I was given $160 and away I went.  I challenged myself to create an atmosphere where everyone would feel like they had left work and not just stepped into the nearest conference room.  The final product consisted of dim lights provided solely by lamps in the room, giving a nice soft glow where you could still see everyone but weren't being sunburned by the awful, neon overhead fluorescent lights.  However, I had to have those awful lights on to get halfway decent pictures so you don't get the effect of the soft glow...sorry peeps.

The Cupcake Table

We had the cupcakes made but I made the toppers.

I made each topiary along with a wooden plaque displaying the bride-to-be's new last name complete with a fabric flower using leftover scraps from the rosette headbands.

 Her fiance loved this!

Want One???

Email me! rach36293@hotmail.com

 I got the photo of the couple off of their wedding website and added their wedding date to it.  The other toppers have an "A" and their names on them.

 Another coworker brought in this adorable pineapple-kabob that was so yummy and we positioned it on some burlap with some paper flowers I made.

 I added an element of the outdoors by borrowing sticks that my mom had spray painted and put in these milk containers.  I made large tissue paper flowers that were hung from the ceiling all over the conference room.

 The Food Table

A view of the other side of the conference room.

 The tissue paper flowers that hung over the food table.

 Doughnut Pops and Marshmallow Pops that I made.

For the centerpieces I used mason jars and wrapped them with burlap and twine.  Then I added small tissue paper flowers that were held together with floral wire.

 These decorative balls were purchased at goodwill and were used to decorate the center of the food table.  I made a smaller wooden plaque for the couple with their initial and names and the date of the wedding.

 This was the boutonniere that I made for the bride-to-be to wear.

Overall the shower came together really well.  I had a lot of help from some coworkers the day of to get the room all set up and get the bride's fiance in the building, all while keeping the surprise from her.  She was completely shocked and had no idea.  It was a success!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

...well, when daddy gives them to you.....you eat them.  And continue to eat them. Until there is nothing left and the entire restaurant is bent over at the waist laughing at you.  My little guy {who now weighs 27 pounds 11 ounces, after a quick trip to the doctor to check for a suspected ear infection} doesn't ever turn away food.  And as demonstrated by this video, even if the food makes him cringe, he will still eat it.  He's quite the ham.

And as for the doctor's visit on Monday.  He had been sticking his fingers in his ears for a couple of days but was not fussy or anything and he wasn't pulling on them either.  He seemed normal and full of energy, per the usual.  But when we were on the way to Chapel Hill on Monday morning he just seemed out of it.  He looked sleepy {even after just waking up from sleeping for 12 hours} and his eyes looked weak.  So I dropped him off with my mom and told her to keep an eye on him.  She called me around lunch time and said that she felt I should check in at the doctor's office and see what they thought.  So I made the call to Dr. Davis.  And I must tell you, it's the first time I've had to call the doctor in his short 14 months of life.  We have only been to the doctor for previously scheduled well visits.  We have been very fortunate.  After speaking to the nurse, she suggested we come in.  So I closed up my computer and headed back to mom's and then back to Greensboro to meet Dr. Davis.

Turns out there was no ear infection.  Whew!  But he does have eczema.  He has a little spot on his neck and on both of his elbows. {You can kind of see it in the picture below.}  A little cortizone has cleared it right up.  So why did he have his fingers in his ears?  Well, he woke up Tuesday with an awful cold.  Snotty nose and all.  So I am guessing that his head feels like mine {like it's about to explode because now I have said cold} and his ears feel clogged up.  So we've been getting a lot of use out of that green hospital suction thingy.  Totally gross if you ask me, but it works since he can't really blow his nose yet.

So now that I've grossed you out.... he also got his first "real" boo-boo on Tuesday.  I think it gives him character.  He has learned how to sit and slide down the stairs to the basement at Grandma's house.  He goes up and down them all day {with supervision, of course}.  But one time he slid about half way down and then decided he was going to stand up and run down the rest before Grandma or Grandpa could grab him.  Enter carpet burn to forehead.  As soon as I got to Grandma's he smiled really big and then grabbed my hand and put it on my forehead where his boo-boo is.  Too funny!  There is now a baby gate at the top of the stairs and he is not a fan...   

DIY: Magnetic Chalkboard

I'm back with another simple DIY project! My sister and I decided that we wanted to make a graduation gift for our cousin Jami. Money is the customary gift but since neither of us has enough money to give her a gift that would seem even slightly substantial, we decided to go the DIY route. With Jami beginning college in the fall we thought we would make her something that she could use in her dorm room. We settled on a magnetic chalkboard that she could hang on her dorm room door. When I was in school people had those white boards on their doors but we wanted to make something way cooler than any board that you could just pick up at the student bookstore.  Obviously this is the way we did it but you could change it up to suit your taste.  It was not difficult at all but it took awhile.  Mainly because of drying time for the paint and the fact that I can only spend about 15 minutes at a time crafting before I have a little one crawling all over me...or I start it at 10:30pm after dinner, bath and bed and I don't last very long... 

Want to make your own?

1}. Gather your supplies: wood board, magnetic paint, chalkboard paint, painters tape, acrylic paint, wooden letters, magnets, embellishments, ribbon, clothes pin, glue gun. 2}. Tape off your board to paint the top. 3}. Using your magnetic paint, paint several coats onto your board.  Suggested 2-4 coats, we did 6, lol!  The more you use, the more magnetic it becomes. 4}. Let paint dry for 24 hours then lightly sand to smooth surface.

5}. Select the wooden letters you are using. 6}. Paint several coats of acrylic paint. Let dry. 7}. Paint the edges any color of your chosing. Let dry. 8}. We taped off the letter "J" to make the line for the logo for SJU, representing the "t" and the "j." 9}. Top letters with any additional paint and/or touchups. Let dry.

10}. After magnetic paint is dry and board is sanded, use chalkboard paint to cover the magnetic paint. 11}. We painted 2 coats. Let dry for 24 hours. 12}. Dismantle clothespin and paint. Let dry. 13}. Assemble clothespin with chalk.

14}. Hot glue small magnets to embellishments.  We used a strand of 6 jewelry beads that matched our board. 15}. Pick out coordinating ribbon. 16}. Paint the trim of your board. Let dry.  Using a gloss paint, coat the trim of the board, the letters and the clothespin to give it a good glossy shine. Let dry. 17}. Using hot glue, attach the ribbon to the back of the board.  I also used a staple gun for extra durability. 18}. Cut out small felt circles and cover staples. 19}. Add two more felt circles to the bottom of the board to prevent banging or swinging when hanging.

Hot glue your letters and add your magnets.  If I were doing it all over again, I would add a magnet to the clothespin instead of gluing it down so it could be removed if necessary. 

FINAL PRODUCT!

The board was a hit at her graduation party!  Let me know if you decide to try it out and be sure to send me pictures!!

The Last High School Graduate of My Generation...

My grandparents had 6 kids, one of which was my dad.  Belonging to those 6 kids are 12 grand kids, one of which is me.  I am the 4th oldest of the 12 grand kids.  We have all graduated high school, some of us have married and some of us even have babies of our own.  But on June 10th, the baby of our generation graduated from Clayton High School.

Since Deuce and I were already down here working, we headed over to Clayton to meet Pop and the rest of the family before the graduation started.  Ed & TJ met us at the school.  After the ceremony, we went back to my Aunt Rhonda's house for a graduation party to celebrate.  Jami graduated with honors and is headed to St. John's University in New York City this fall.  We are so excited for her and so proud of her!

 seriously, she's the tall blonde {that obviously comes from her dad's side and not the Edgerton's because all of thsoe genes missed me - the tall, the skinny, the blonde - you get the idea}.

 pointing at Jami Grace with Pop.

 "Jami Grace Berube"

 Class of 2011

 the graduate with her gift from us

{tutorial on that later}

yea! i love jami!!

M.I.A.

Yes, I have been missing 'round these parts! Apologies... I have been so busy these past two weeks that my brain feels like a pile of mush that I can't make sense of. So much has happened from graduations to overwhelming work loads to throwing a bridal shower for the entire floor of my building {yes, i was appointed to be THAT person - thank you blogger...}, that I have been left with very little time to sit down and punch out a post.  However, I sense the calm after the storm coming next week so I have a bunch to catch you up on.

In the mean time...we have big news my friends.  Tuesday, June 14th, by the mommy powers vested in me, I officially declared my child big enough to turn around in his new "big boy" car seat.  Heck, he's almost 14 months and almost 30 pounds.  The seats arrived last week and I finally found 30 minutes to put it in my car on Monday night. {This after Ed had unpacked it but we had been distracted by something else so it just sat in the house for several days. The one for Ed's car is still in the box.}

{What up peeps?  Facing backwards is for babies...}

It didn't take long before the little guy was passed out in his new digs...check out milk splatter all over mommy's car door and crumbs all up in the seat. sigh.

And I love that he can face the front because I can see this whenever I want:

It's a big deal people.  My little dude is growing up so fast.  Now if we could just get rid of the pacifier...ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I think that may be our hardest challenge yet.

Water Play

For his birthday, my sister gave Deuce a blow-up beach ball that you hook the hose up to and it sprays out water.  He absolutely loved it!  Ed & I took turns blowing it up {it was pretty big} but once we were done, we just screwed the hose in and let it rip!  It was amazing!  It's like the perfect yard sprinkler/babysitter you could ever have.  What a combo!  We just sat in our chairs in the driveway and watched him go at it!

He would run in to it and wrap his arms around it and try to drink it.  He just couldn't get enough.  He was trying to pick it up and move it, only his little arms weren't big enough.  We moved it a couple of times to different spots in the yard to get as much to hit the grass as possible.  This 100+ degree weather has really burnt up everyone's grass!

After his shirt was soaked and he was walking around looking like a drowned rat, I lathered him up with some more sunscreen and let him strip!  His little belly just makes me giggle and if you ask him where his belly is, he points to it with both hands like he's some fat, jolly old man.  I {may} be a little biased but I think he's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen...

After he was done playing he dried off in the driveway with his shark towel.  He was playing peek-a-boo with us and pretty much had a tantrum when it was time to go inside.  Two things I have learned for fact: 1. He loves water. 2.  He loves to be outdoors.

A few more pics of peek-a-boo.  He was so entertaining just laughing at himself while I was taking pictures.  These pictures were taken very close together.  Notice how quickly his hair curled up, lol!

Here, it's starting to dry out...

And here is a shot of his 3 1/2 teeth...

Happy Friday!