baby shower

My cousin Kristen is pregnant with her first child who is due to arrive next month-July. We had her a baby shower at the winery in Mt. Vernon, IL last weekend. It couldn't have been more beautiful outside on the deck for her day. Kristen's sister {Lezlee}, cousin's-Amber & Laura, her Aunts and I planned the shower. I designed the invitations {these girls helped me assemble them} and remember Laura blogged here she baked the amazing sugar cookies.


The cookies were displayed in this cute wooden train I picked up at a yard sale.The table decor plan was to to lay a square of green check fabric on top of white linen table covers then, a stack of Dr. Seuss books, and place a wooden toy on top anchoring three balloons. Well, I didn't think this out too well. A little wooden toy, on wheels, on a breezy day....didn't work at all to keep the balloons put. We had to just set them aside and Kristen's nephew, Andre, ended up playing with them all afternoon...at least they were entertainment for the kids. Kristen looked so pretty! There were alot of laughs, a few tears and so many great gifts! I think Kristen and Tyler are well on their way to being ready for baby Isaac to arrive.The Dr. Seuss baby bedding collection from Pottery Barn Kids will be in Isaac's nursery - which explains all the Dr. Seuss themed gifts. Including a few adorable gifts from Seussland online Who doesn't love Dr. Seuss!!!I love this picture because I just caught Brooke's reaction when the baby kicked her hard and Kristen has that looks on her face like she could be sick...

Happy waiting! We love you Kristen!

Cousins

Just finished editing these photos and uploading them to my flickr site. The little one is my nephew Deacon. Got a few shots of him with his cousins Cayden and McGuire on the Easter holiday weekend this year. These kiddos are so adorable in their little shirt and ties, I just love em'!!! See more of these cuties on my flickr website

yard sales

Every year I take a trip to the Bloomington, IL area with my grandparents, cousin, Aunt, and my mom...for yard sales. Yes, yard sales! We make a weekend of it and head out super early Friday morning, shop all the way up then, stay overnight and do it again Saturday. We only go to this area because they have town wide sales and we have always had great luck there. I would say we go to 30 to 40 sales over the weekend.

This year it was just me and my cousin, Amy, along with my grandparents. We had so much fun and loved spending the time with grandma and grandpa. We missed having my mom and Aunt Diane along with us...they are both alot of fun! My dad was turning 50 this same weekend so, my mom skipped this year to stay home to celebrate dad's birthday. Happy 50th dad!!!

I've been lucky to attend the past three in a row. I didn't buy as much as in the past but, still came home with lots of goodies. I love the hunt and the unknown of what you will find...so exciting-looking, thinking of different ways and places to use things. It is hard for me to pass up a yard sale...I can usually find something at every sale. Here are some of the finds this year.

A few Dr. Seuss books for center pieces at my cousin Kristen's baby shower coming up. She and I both love wooden toys so, I was happy to find a few. This huge wooden train was only $2.00! Twister...everyone needs a twister game around.lol

a dad diaper bag I picked up for Tyler {my cousin Kristen's husband} for .25...if he doesn't use it i'm sure i'll find someone who will...how could I pass it up for a quarter!I have alot of jewelry and no big storage for it. I picked up this vintage box to use, along with another similar oldie I have of my moms, until I get something more permanent.
I am really excited about the jewelry I found! The necklace, I paid $3.00 for and I like it more than the similar one i've had my eye on at Kohl's...Daisy Fuentes at Kohl'sLots of fabric...I have no idea what i'll use it for, yet...my mom just gave me a sewing machine and i'm ready to use it! I will start collecting my favorite fabrics and i'd eventually like to make a quilt and some other goodies :)

The wine book I picked up for my friends Melodie and David. They are big into wine and I thought it was pretty { i totally judge a book by it's cover, and judge wine by its cover too...all about the packaging :) I'm a total sucker, if is looks good i'll buy it!

all these frames for $2.00! May use them for a collage in Kristen's house!?

Below: Stampin' Up 12x12 patterned paper and a set of handmade paper cards and envelopes in stripes and geometric print.

Little terra cotta planters...see them used here.

Kohl's Sonoma cloth napkins and place mats in clay color, never used, with tags. (4)mats, (8)napkins for $5.00

Black plate rack for $1.00...works perfect in dining room to display the china from my grandmother.

Coloring Easter Eggs

This was my first time to color Easter eggs in years! Dying eggs was not a family tradition of ours...yes, my Grandparents always had a egg hunt but, plastic eggs with candy & money. I see why they switched to plastic...dying them is very time consuming!




I had two baby photo sessions { Grayden & Rylie } really close to the holiday so, I wanted to have eggs on hand. I was thinking it would go really quick but, each egg had to sit in the dye for so long, then dry, then I splattered them with brown paint to look speckled. I thought they turned out pretty cute! Blue for baby boy photo session and pink for baby girl session ;)

Standing them up on pins worked great for drying http://www.marthastewart.com/

Here is a photo you can see them used...I didn't get much with them and actually left the eggs in the refrigerator before second shoot and didn't get to use the cutie pink eggs with baby girl :(

This is little Grayden Conor ~ see more photos from this session at www.flickr.com/photos/brandiwihte

transplanting sprouts

Gardening has become a new interest of mine! I purchased a few starter vegetable plants {broccoli, spinach, tomatoes} and some seeds {lettuce, basil, and flowers} to start. Wow, plants take so much attention :/ I've been working really hard to get these going. I had to do some gardening research, collect all of the supplies, etc. I used a baking pan to plant the seeds in {which took forever...i used tweezers and placed them individually in rows!}...i've been constantly misting, and warming them on the heating pad to finally see some healthy sprouts! Look at what my surprise was...Texas smashing my hard work!!! I was able to transfer a few sprouts to the little pots today before she decided to make a bed on my tiny flower garden. So far i've had alot of fun doing it...we will see if I can get a few good plants of of them!?

After I master growing the vegetables...I will learn to can them :)

What are you planting this year?

Rylie

Rylie was my second baby session ever! She is six weeks old and one of the cutest babies i've ever seen {babies w/ lots of hair are the cutest}. She was so fun to photograph! Her momma is a huge Dr. Seuss fan so, we used her collection of books. This was also the second shoot with my new Canon Rebel...lots to learn still but, lovin the upgrade from my point and shoot Canon...

view more www.flickr.com/photos/brandiwhite