Mouse's Super 'Clue' Birthday

I love that Mouse follows none of society standards for what is cool. She loudly professes her love of Frank Sinatra and her hatred of Justin Bieber. (LOVE THAT) She rocks out to SuperChick and knows the lyrics to Monster by Skillet. She can hold her own at a BMX race (watching still, Dad would love for her to race) but then the next day she can sit through Tea and wear vintage hats.
So when it comes to her birthday she has always been outside of the box sets. Which I love but it sure makes my job harder. Thankfully she starts planning them a year out. This last weekend we celebrated her 8th birthday in Nancy Drew style.

Oh, did I mention she has me make her an outfit that goes with her theme each year. I love that too. This year she wanted Nancy Drew. She has been collecting the original books for years now. (one of these days she will read them, I hope) So we went with the original colors of yellow and teal. She wanted a vintage skirt like Nancy. I got the shirt idea from this talented lady. (click here) Under the Nancy Drew silhouette is all of the original titles to the books.

For dessert Mouse wanted blondie cupcakes. Because in the new Nancy Drew movie she has blondies. I will just tell you know don't make them! They were horrible. Thankfully most eight year olds have no knowledge of good food. I also made some homemade marshmallows in blue. Then we decorated the table and background with her book collection. Mouse also made paper cut outs of the book titles, as you can see in this picture the orange staircase goes with the book The Hidden Staircase.

Then Mouse and I made this banner. I am really starting to like the banner. I see it here all the time and it's growing on me. It is so great that Mouse was so involved this year. She really wanted to help make the decoration and come up with ideas.

The room is just part of our half finished basement. The streamer idea and Chinese lanterns came from the Nancy Drew Movie. She celebrates her birthday in the movie and there is a cute scene about streamers.

The center of the table needed something so the mock-up of the t-shirt became a picture, along with more of Mouse's books and drawings.

Now this was the two parts Mouse was adamant on! We had to play a game clues. So Steve and sat down and wrote out clues that lead the 12 screaming adorable girls around our house. In the end that found their gift bags. This went over so good that my Mom and I had to quickly write up two more rounds of clues before the party was over.  The other part Mouse wanted was the invites to look like ransom notes. So she and I cut out letters and glued the to the envelopes. The cards I made from card stock and printed off the Nancy Drew silhouette and stuck it behind velum.
In the end Mouse was happy. I am so amazed with her personality every day. For her birthday we got her golf clubs. We are all taking lessons this summer. It will be Mouse and I's second year, but Steve's first. Then she also got her ears pierced! Steve also got her a Frank Sinatra look book. It is very cool. And I made her a diary.
Oh and in case you didn't guess next year's birthday theme GOLF!

This is linked up to Kandi Land's Brag day

What I Wore Wednesday

This week I was bad at getting pictures taken or good pictures for that matter. It was cold again this past week. I am soo done with winter. We shouldn't have snow days in March! But we did, it was the first one Mouse remembers ever having. She was quite confused about the whole thing. When she realized that it meant more snow on the ground she burst in to tears! She was crying because she couldn't ride her bike yet. Then we snuggled down for some tv watching for the day.

But this is what I wore so here it goes.
First picture,
Jacket and Tie: Thrifted. The jacket is white with brown stripes and the tie is brown with tiny white polk-a-dots.
Shirt: stole from husband's closet (I have no white button downs isn't that weird!)
Jeans: American Rag
Headband: Made myself
Bracelet: Vintage

Second Picture: Snow Day outfit
Sweater: Target
T-shirt: 0.96$ at Old Navy!
Jeans: American Rag
Flower pin: made myself

Necklace: gifted

This post is linked to Pleated Poppy What I Wore Wednesday party

Two dates down

I haven't talked about where we are in a while. So I thought I would do an update. We are still attending counseling. That seems to be going ok. Last week we had a week off so we did date number two.
Now you might be asking your self why am I numbering our dates. It is because we are following a book that was suggested to us through the {in}Courage community.

You can get it here

The book lays out a pretty easy recipe to bring communication back into your marriage. Now I know we are not that far into but so far we have really gained from it.

Chapter one talks about your past and remaining positive. Before each date the book provides a group of questions you are to fill out. For this chapter it asked about remembering good things from your past. Then it asked three question on the present. One thing I really liked is that on the one question it asked what was something I could do better. I thought this was good that each person had to answer about themselves instead of throwing blame at the other person. Steve and I realized we need to provide more family time into our schedule from this date. So we cleaned out the storage ottoman in the living room from unused toys and put all of our board games in it. Now, I will be honest, we haven't utilized it as much as we should be we have a few times and that is more that we were. Small steps...

The second chapter was on feelings..wait.wait..come back! I know, believe me I know.. that normally makes me turn away to. And I will admit some of the chapter and one of the questions had me rolling my eyes. But chapter one was so good that I wanted to give this chapter a chance too. I still rolled my eyes at giving a list of feeling words I am comfortable with. And "I'm Fine" doesn't cut it I guess. But the part I like about this chapter beyond getting to have some scheduled alone time again was that it asked some questions that we didn't have answers to. It gave a list of How does this make you feel when your spouse says (insert positive message here), and then we were to answer with our feeling words. But what I realized is that even though I might realize that Steve has sacrificed things for me, I haven't always acknowledged it. And though he is proud of what I have done he has never told me. These are areas we now know we need to work on.

I hope chapter 3 is as good as the first two. We are reading another book to, but that review is for another post. 



*All images were found through a google search**

**This is not a paid endorsement of the book, it's not even an unpaid, just wanted to get the info out there for others that may need help**

Time flies!

Happy Birthday to our Little Mouse!

She turns 8 today.

I will be back to my blog on Monday.

This weekend I have two birthday parties and a college thesis to finish.

 (it's due Tuesday!)

What I Wore Wednesday

This week I found some great deals at the thrift stores. I picked up two dresses, a blazer, tie, shirt and shoes. That was just for me I also found a cute top for Mouse.

But my real deals came from Old Navy. Now, I must start out by saying, I haven't been to Old Navy in maybe a year. So maybe their deals have got better. But I bought two shirts, Mouse a t-shirt and a pair of flip flops for $15!! My shirts were $4 and 0.97$ Sweet!!

So here is what I wore this week.

Shirt: My $4 Old Navy shirt. You can't see it well in the picture but it has a double row of ruffles at the top.
Pants: New York & Co
Necklace: Claire's
Boots: Not pictured, I took them off already. But I did wear cute little ankle boots from Macy's

*And really not sure what is going on with my hair here.*

Skirt: Thrifted. One of my favorite finds.
Shirt: New York & Co
Socks: Target
Boots: DSW
Necklace: Avon
Every time I think of this necklace I am amazed at how cute it is and from it being an Avon product. (Sorry no offense to Avon, but I always think old lady but really they have cute stuff.)

Dress: Thrift find this week.
Sweater: Target
Necklace: Gifted
Boots: Bass Outlet (Because it just won't warm up here.

Jacket: New York & Co
Tank: Sears or Kohl's (I can't remember)
Necklace: Charlotte Russe
Jeans: Red Rivet
Boots: Target










This post is linked to Pleated Poppy What I Wore Wednesday party

Veggie Soup

The smell of this soup cooking warmed me to my toes. We have been trying to add more soups to our menu this winter. And with the length this winter is going we should be able to add a few more to our before it's done. Don't let the ingredients scare you it tastes wonderful. Another recipe from my Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe called for carrots, onions, kale, rutabagas and celery root. This one was a first for us. It also called for a lot of lentils and vegetable broth then seasoned with herbs De Provence. So here is the recipe in the magazine and here is how I made it.

Diced all of the veggies (minus the kale) and sauteed them in a bit olive oil until softened. Tossed this mixture with the herbs. In a crock-pot I added the vegetable broth and the bag lentils. I added the veggies to the crock-pot and set it to high. Steve and I had a counseling appointment so we left this cook until we came back about 2 hours. Everything was cooked perfectly.

Things I would change for next time. I would minus the lentils in half or added four more cups of broth. But this recipe made a ton so I think I would just minus the lentils. It was a little to thick for my tastes. Steve liked it thick, so it is all on preference. I would also minus the kale. I, personally, like kale but in this recipe it just didn't work well.

Inspire Me Fridays

Tonight we are have date night in.Steve and I through the last ten years or so have become very separate. Our normal outings or weekend plans consist of me doing one thing and him doing another. I have always loved the independence we give each other to pursue our goals and likes. But this independence has actually led to very separate lives.

In our goal to add more together time we are looking at who we can add into our circle of friends that will support us. So today we are having my brother and his wife for dinner. Together, Steve and I, went through my cooking magazines and decided on a dinner. We are going to serve Buffalo Chicken Nachos from Food Network magazine. And other bar style foods like mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, all munchy food so we can play some board games. Mouse picked out the dessert, also fromFood Network magazine, Broiled Banana Splits! I can't wait to try the food tonight.

Here are some dinner parties that other bloggers have done. Just click on the caption to bring you to their post. 

Daisy Diaries

I love the mix of classy and fun here. The martini bar is perfectly set out. But the real attention grabber is the fun newspaper popcorn containers and small bowls of ice cream. I think I must try this one day. 

Ribbons & Rust

Oh, how I wish we lived in an area where this would be possible. I love the bird cages and the peaceful look of this. I want to have fancy outdoor dinner parties. In a blissful setting like this, where no wind, bugs or neighbors kids interrupt. 

At Home - Kim Vallee

Now you all know my obsession with marshmallows and s'more in particular. Isn't this the greatest thing ever! I want to have one full time set up in my house. I love all the different marshmallow combos. And it makes the s'mores so classy looking. I am so glad I have some homemade marshmallows at home. I need some after this photo.

Have a great weekend!

Update on Mouse

I thought I would post an update on Mouse's reading issues. We are starting her in an alternative learning program. 

Mouse on our way to Chicago

We found it through talking with our tax lady of all weird God things. She was asking if we had any tutoring expenses to write off and I said no but we will since Mouse is falling behind in school. Our tax lady  is a friend of the family so she asked what was up. We started telling her that we were looking into dyslexia or ADHD to try and figure out what is causing the delay. That the teachers at Mouse's school are confused to since verbally she is more like a 6^th grader. The tax lady asked if we had her vision checked. Then told us about her kid that went through this vision therapy (it was first established to train better eye coordination for hockey players). So we set up an appointment and wow within three test they were able to see what was wrong.The program has a great track record and we mentioned it at school and a few of the teachers knew of it and liked it. So we are giving it a shot.

Mouse outside a Children's Book Store

Mouse's left eye doesn’t compute what it’s seeing. Her left eye physically is good (so she should have 20/20 vision) but the muscles don’t tell the brain what its seeing correctly. All she sees is blur out of that eye. 

Mouse at a waterfall in WI

Then we went to the eye doctor to see if he thought the same thing. He immediately recommended a vision therapy for her. He was very pleased to hear we were already getting her set up. And we were happy to have a second party confirm the problem.

The program (called Vision Dynamics) also thinks this is why she is having such a hard time in reading.

**Pictures were taken with my phone thus bad quality**

What I Wore Wednesday

This last week was all about the details. And some days of sun. Here in the frozen tundra any day above 35 starts sounding like summer about this time. So I finally broke out the heels by the end of last week! Granted I am back in them again. March likes to trick us into thinking winter is done and then hit us with a few more days of cold!

But on to what I wore this past week.

The first outfit was to showcase this new scarf I got. Turquoise scarf: Claire's

Sweater: Thrifted

White Tank: Macy's

Jeans: American Rag (yes, I know it's all I own :)

Bobby Pin: Made by Mouse

Second outfit was the heels! Gaining inspiration from a fellow blogger,you can check out Megan's style here. I borrowed Steve's tie to complete this look.

Sweater: New York and Co

Black Button down: Can't remember (it's soo old)

Tie: Steve's

Necklace: Gifted from Mom

Skirt: Thrifted

Tights: Target

Socks: Urban Outfitters

Shoes: DSW

My final outfit for the group. Features one of my favorite pairs of socks. I love these fun socks! The buttons on the side are so fun. But the weird thing on these is the buttons are sewn on the front! Which I think just looks off, so I have to twist the socks like crazy every time I wear them.

Shirt: Pacific Sun

Skirt, Tights and Tank: Target

Socks: I think Target also but I am not sure.

Boots: DSW

Necklace: Gifted from Mouse

This post is linked to Pleated Poppy What I Wore Wednesday party

Fixing a shirt is a snap!

So I bought this Anne Taylor t-shirt around Christmas time with a gift card I received from my Mother-in-law (she loves me)! Now one thing to know about me is that I am horrible with my clothes. Horrible is putting it mildly. Which is why I don't spend a lot on my clothes. But this t-shirt was different. It has pearls, beads and rhinestones on it. I knew I had to be careful with it. Steve was given instructions to not wash the shirt. That I would take care of it.

BUT.... I am set in a routine. I took the shirt off, turned it inside out and threw it in the laundry bin. Days later Steve comes to me with my newly washed t-shirt, that is now missing three pearls! He didn't recognize it inside out and I threw it in the bin. A combination of errors leads me to a Brainblast

**BrainBlast! Oh how I miss Jimmy Neutron. Why can't Mouse be into those shows any more? Why did they quit making new ones***

Back to my snappy fix. I was working on a new hair flower when I realized that it would hid the missing pearls perfectly. I looked around for a pin to add the flower to. No such luck! Then I came across my box of snaps. That's it!! I sewed a snap to the t-shirt and snap to the flower. Now I can sew more snaps on the other hair flowers I have made. This way I can change up the look of the t-shirt and still remove the flower for washing... HAND WASHING this time!

Inspire Me Fridays

This weekend we are getting ready for Mouse's birthday. Her party is not until the 26th of March but the next week is very busy. So this Saturday we are getting all the running around done. We need to finish the invites, get the favors, plates etc.. We also need to find some decorations. She has a theme picked out but that will be given at a later date. I have found some great inspiration in the blogging world to make this party great!
Here are ideas from other bloggers for you to drool over too. Just click on the name of the blog to bring you to their great site.  

Frosted Events

 

Dear Lillie



Catch My Party


Have a great this weekend

What I Wore Wednesday

Another week of what I wore Wednesday is here. I did much better documenting my outfits this past week. I got some clear shots and even have a tutorial in the works from one of them!

To start out this group of outfits I have Mouse and I headed to a Mardis Gras Tea. For this we decided to wear our Fleur De lis clothing.                                     

On Me:

Sweatshirt Jacket: Walmart: I added the Fleur De lis on it          Tank Tops: Target

Scarf: Thrifted

Jeans: American Rag

Boots: DSW

Necklace: The Rusted Chain, click here to see more of Becky's work

On Mouse:

Hat: Thrifted

Shirt: Target (Last year)

Pants: Target

Boots: Thrifted

Here is a close up of the necklace. When I first got it years ago. (I actually won it, I believe) There was two black straps. But I am not very careful with my jewelry and this year, I broke one of the straps but it still works. This necklace is no longer available but she has lots of others to choose from. Like these, I might need to get these to match the necklace. You can also check out Becky's blog here.

To work  wore: 

Sweater: Target  

T-Shirt: Anne Taylor   

Pants: Gap  

This shirt is were the tutorial comes in. Because not only am I not careful with my jewelry, I am also kind of rough on my clothes. (And I promise this shirt is way cuter in person than in this picture) But stay tuned tomorrow and you can see how I fixed the Shirt!      

I wore to work:

Skirt: Thrifted (really comfy t-shirt material)

Sweater: Target

Tank: Old Navy

Tights: Target

I wore my black boots with this to keep my legs warm.

This post is linked to Pleated Poppy What I Wore Wednesday party