My apologies....

I totally suck at posting lately....time is not something I have in excess. :0) Besides....we have happened to have a few gorgeous days mixed in with the freaky random hailstorms and so I have lived part of my days outdoors. I'm craving me some more sunshine.
Moving on.....

Can I just tell you how excited I am about girls night for May? Why? Because it's 80s night. "Oh yes it's ladies night,
and the feelings right,
oh yes it's ladies night,
oh what a, OH WHAT A NIGHT."
Oh yeah! I am currently gathering all of the essential 80s fashions so that I can look my 80s best. You know, totally radical stuff. Wanna see one of my best finds so far?....

That's right people.....I'm going Madonna/Cyndi Lauper style. {mine are the pink ones BTW}

What was interesting to me though.....was that these things are actually being sold in stores right now. I mean....seriously. Are these really coming back in style?

Anyway.....now I just need someone to tell me where I can find a radical pair of jelly shoes. Any suggestions?

getting crafty-wafty

Yes, that's right. I got my "craft" on for Girls Night this last week. My friend, Montay, was awesome enough to host and made kits for each of us to create this beautiful masterpiece.

Sorry for the poor picture quality...I just took a quick snap so I could share with you. :0)

It is a standing recipe holder. We each brought our own coordinating papers and ribbons and then proceeded to mod podge the papers onto the boards and ink the crap out of them.

The ginormous rings at the top make it possible for you to lift each section up to view the index card recipes. I obviously haven't gotten to stuffing mine with recipes yet. :0)

Anyway...we had so much fun and I got to take this home! Thanks so much Montay for being such an awesome host and for putting so much time and effort into these kits for us. You rock!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

As many of my devoted readers know....{mostly because you come to Girls Night}, the 2nd Thursday of every month is Girls Night. A night away from hubbies and kids to play and chat and nibble on yummy treats. I formed this group after my daughter was born. She had really bad reflux and cried nonstop. The hubby kept telling me to get out of the house for a breather, but I didn't have anywhere to go. {shopping costs money...dangit!} Thus began my monthly retreats into sanity-land. It began in February of 2006 and though the people have come and gone....it has been one of the best ways I have had to form amazing friendships.

Here's the thing though....after 2 1/2 years {almost} of doing this, my creativity is beginning to get tapped out. Trying to figure out something to do every month for a group of ladies with different types of personalities that will be wicked awesome fun is getting harder and harder. I have some great ideas, but know that many would not be too keen on participating. :0) I can get a little crazy, but I know not everyone is comfortable with looking silly in public. {Though I was pleasantly surprised at their willingness to let loose last month during the photo scavenger hunt} So, I am turn to you, my interpeeps. Any great ideas? I still have a few left up my sleeve, and I gave my ladies an ultimatum several months back and forced them to cough up a few ideas of their own. :0) But those too, will run out in time.

What have we done so far you ask? Let me share...

Bunco, baby shower, pedicure night, photo scavenger hunt, unbirthday party, game night, going to the movies, death by chocolate, Christmas craft exchange, scrapbooking, craft night, going out to dinner, painting pottery, and going out for dessert. {notice food is involved most of the time}

We try not to spend too much money so that it doesn't get out of hand, though sometimes it is unavoidable. I am dying to have an 80s night at the roller skating rink....but several people have already nixed that idea. {wouldn't it be fun to dress up in 80s clothes, which is now highly available in most stores...} I've thought about doing a bit of Crazy bowling, which involves making each frame a challenge. For example, bowling in slow motion, backwards, sitting down, eyes closed...you get the idea. But again...pretty sure it's not gonna happen.

So, my readers...fill me in with all of your fabulous ideas! Give a girl a hand. And then go start a group of your own! We have so much fun and enjoy our monthly break from the daily humdrum. But my girls night girls....no more hair dying! It has been officially taken off the table as possible options. Kapish?

I'll be waiting for your ideas.......

Still waiting!

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Last night was crazy fun ladies! Thank you so much for being so willing to be a little adventurous. :0)

As many of you know, I have a monthly girls night group. This month I was in charge and we did a photo scavenger hunt. Not like your typical hunt though. The rules were a bit different. We were split into two groups and each group was given the same categories. All of the members of the group had to be included in the photo except for the one taking the picture and the photographer had to be different for each photograph {that way there would be pictures of everyone in the group at some point}. The categories were vague and up for interpretation, and everyone was told to just be as creative as possible.

What were the categories you ask?

Sharing is Caring

Happy Birthday to you


Animal

These are "piggies" :0)

Playtime





Splish Splash


Music Interpretation


Rainbow


And....action!




One of these things is not like the other


Do you know your shapes?


Where's Waldo?


An unusual perspective


That's fierce


And then...find a stranger to take your picture and then convince them to pose in a picture with you.

I think everyone did a fabulous job and it was so fun to go and play. It felt like I was in college again. :0) Even more so when after most everyone left and it was 10:45 and the four us left decided to make a run for hair dye. Yes...it got a little crazy. Montay has never dyed her hair before. NEVER! {feigning shock} So, we got her a Cinnamony color to put on over her brown. Amy had Tess put in blonde highlights. I was going to darken my brown, but because it was later than I was used to for having to think....instead of mixing the activator with the color....I put the conditioner in the activator bottle. Sigh....so my hair is really conditioned now after leaving it in for 25 minutes...but there is no color. Dumb girl. After everyone was almost done....Tess decided to use what was left of Montay's red color and have Montay highlight her hair with it using foil instead of the cap. It was a crazy night people! Montay looks so super sassy hot with her new auburn color. I'm loving it! Amy still looks like Amy...because she's been blonder before. :0) But Amy is cute...so that means she is still cute. Tess was no so happy with her outcome as her highlights ended up being more burgundy than red. Thankfully, it was the same kind that I used last month and it will wash out in 28 days. It looks fun and sassy, but I know when it is your hair, it doesn't seem as fun. :0)

Anyway....it was another eventful evening for girls night. I live for this night every month. It is my reprieve from being an "old" mom.

A Very Merry Unbirthday....

It was girls night last night and I got to play host. We've had several birthdays in our group

lately and so I thought it might be fun to have a little UNbirthday party where we celebrated by swapping gifts with each other.

We played a little pin the tail on the donkey as well. I totally won...

And this was my little Mackenzee's first time at girls night. She got to come because it was at my house. :0) I was worried she'd be her usual energetic self, but she was so good and just wanted to take part in the big girl festivities. She passed out the presents to everyone and played pin the tail on the donkey with us, but she couldn't make it to the very end. She fell asleep on my lap around 10:30. :0)

Thanks for a fun night ladies! Can't wait until next month!

Yo Quiero Taco Bell?

Did I spell that right? Probably not...oh well. :0)

And we didn't even go to Taco Bell. We did go get Mexican food though...let me explain.

Last night was Girls Night! Yahoo! I live for this day of the month. And honestly, it felt like it was NEVER going to come. It has been a really long month for me. REALLY LONG. We had decided to treat ourselves to a meal out without the kids and chose La Fiesta as the place. There were eight of us that showed up...not counting the babies. :0) Yes, oodles of my girls have been having babies lately. It's crazy! And we've got another one coming in a couple of weeks. Lots and lots of girl babies too...except for the lone stud man Jaxon. {Did I spell that right Bonnie?}
This isn't all of the babies either. Tana couldn't make it last night, so her cutie patootie isn't pictured here.

We went to Natalie's house after dinner for some ice cream and chit chat. We ended up dealing with cell phone stalkers and and talking about blogging and Hooter Hiders. :0) {don't ask about the stalkers!}

Anyway...we had a great time! For those of you that didn't make it...you were missed and you totally missed out on some fabulous strawberry margaritas! :0)

At Least They Are Understanding The Need...

They want an awesome mommy....they need to let the momma go! To my monthly girls nights anyway...

And now you know...

I'm taking a nap today. Let me tell you why {because I know you want to know!}

Last night was the much anticipated February Girls Night. I look forward to this EVERY SINGLE MONTH. It's MY night out. No kids, no hubby...and I come home whenever I want. Some nights it's early, other nights...not so much. Last night was one of those "not so much" nights. Montay was kind enough to host this month and so we all went to her house for virgin margaritas, nachos, and chocolate. Can't go wrong there! We had almost everyone show up, so it was great to chat with friends I only see at these things. I wish I had pictures to show, we had such a blast. Montay was great and snapped some shots of us attempting to play her Wii. She said she was going to post them on her blog, so you can check them out there when she gets her post up. :0)

Anyway...it was great to see my blogging buddy Bonnie there. Hopefully she wasn't too scared of us and will come back next month! {my fingers are crossed} Everyone left at a fairly decent hour....everyone but me. Yes, I didn't get home until after 1:00 in the morning. That was not my intention. But, it just happened. After everyone else left I ended up giving Montay a little basic blogging tutorial and I lost track of time. Oh well. The only problem is that this morning was

PASTRIES FOR PARENTS

at Landon's school. We basically provide donuts and milk to the students and their parents to eat/drink while they read books. The kids also get to show their parents how to take an A/R test. The PTA was in charge of the event and I had to be at the school at 7:00 am SHARP with a fat check for the donut delivery people. Ahhh! See, I don't fall asleep well at night either. It takes me about an hour or so to get my brain to shut off. So, I didn't fall asleep until about 2:00 in the morning. Sigh. Let's just say I didn't get my fanny out of bed until 6:30, which meant scrambling to get myself "presentable" for a school full of children and their adoring parents. It wasn't pretty. I can assure you of that. But I made it!

And now that I am sitting down....I just want to close my eyes and go back to sleep. I realize it's my fault that I'm tired. I could have been a good little girl and gone home at a "decent" hour. But, {picture me stomping my foot on the ground} I didn't want to! It's MY night! So, I'm suffering the consequences now. And this is why I will be taking a little nap of my own while daughter takes hers. Only three more hours to go! Let's hope I make it that long! I think I need to go get some caffeine....

My craft!

Alicia loves me! She took a picture of what I made for the craft swap and sent it to me so that I could share it with you! Thank you so much Alicia!

Let's Swap!

Disclaimer: I have attempted to re-align this post six times now. And apparently, Blogger has a mind of its own today because it just crams everything back together.....so, I'm sorry.

For girls night last night I hosted a Craft Exchange. I have wanted to post for over a week what I made for it, but didn't want to ruin the surprise for the other ladies coming. And then, I completely forgot to take a picture....so you don't get to see what I made.

BUT! You can see all the GREAT stuff that I got from my friends!

Tana made these YUMMY spanish cookies. I forget what she calle them, but they are kind of like a shortbread cookie, cut into a diamond shape, and then completely covered in cinnamon and sugar. They practically melt in your mouth.

Holly went INSANE and crocheted a scarf for each of us. So impressed by that! She is an expert in my book! She said it only took her an hour for each one! An hour! That's it! Anyway, she made three different colors so we could choose which one we liked. They are sooooo soft.

Amy made cute little 5x5 accordian albums for each of us. I knew about this one, because I ran into her at Michaels when she was picking out the paper for them. I got to hand select my paper. Isn't it cute? Mackenzee's pictures will go so cute in it!

Montay got crafty too and made this adorable snow sign with wood blocks. It's perfect as I decorate with snowmen at my house. So, I was super excited to see what she had done. I had no idea she was a toll painter. The things we learn at girls night!

Michelle's was adorable. This is just a little round glass bowl with a styrofoam ball on top. She decorated all of it up with blue felt and buttons and tah dah! The most adorable candy dish I have ever seen! The nose is literally a little wooden carrot.










And last but not least....
Alicia made homemade tree ornaments,

sewed a little cloth tree, and attached the story of the three trees to it all. If you haven't read the story...you really should. A really great Christmas story.


My craft was a coffee can sized tin that I decorated up with snowflake wrapping paper and a 3" snowflake ribbon with a little wooden snowflake charm tied on with white fibers. I filled the inside with soap snowballs. They turned out really cute. Wish I had remembered to take a picture!


Anyway...we had so much fun chatting and eating and swapping. I just love my girls night girls! You all make me laugh. Thanks so much for sharing your talents and yourselves with me!