New blog live

I was so excited about the new blog website, I got it set up today. I'll probably continue tweaking things until its just how I want it, but I'd love to have everyone come find me there. :)

www.thelittlewaffleflowerblog.com

See you there :)

Well Hello there!

Like time no see! I've missed blogging severely, I really have. When I did it actively it was a wonderful creative outlet, and I loved networking with new people.

So I'm sure you're thinking "If you loved it so much..." You know the rest. ;) I tried a few times to come back and was always unsuccessful and it frustrated me to bits. But I think I've finally figured out why I had such a hard time. The way I was blogging. Yup, pretty simple right? Confused yet?

Let me explain. I started this blog to document my journey in this life, but I also fell in love with several blogs and wanted to be one I the "cool kids" too. So I scurried on over to my google search and did some research on successful blogging and how to tailor my blog to get readers an be THAT blog. Pretty soon I had a blog schedule that took up way too much of my time and it was overwhelming. My husband wasn't happy and it just wasn't working. I couldn't find a happy medium.

After several months of contemplation, I've had an epiphany (more like a duh!! moment). While reflecting on my tag line "My journey through life as a stay at home mom and housewife," I realized that's what I needed to blog about. My journey. My life. My life doesn't fit into a mold. It doesn't follow rules, and it surely doesn't care about a blogging schedule. So while I am coming back, there won't necessarily be a craft every Monday, or a new recipe every Friday. You will see my life as it comes through my eyes. You will see my journey. And if that never makes me one of the cool kids, so be it. I've always been a little bit of a rebel anyway. ;)

Over the next week I'll be switching over to Wordpress. I haven't decided if I'll import my old posts or just start fresh and move forward. I hope everyone will follow me there. I look forward to getting back into the blogging community and building friendships with my fellow bloggers once more. Enjoy the rest of your week. :)

Catch up Day 1: Xave's Birthday

I'd had big plans for Xavier's 4th birthday, but as his birthday drew nearer I felt more wary and tired. My mom is an awesome party planner and has done his last 2 birthdays, and they turned out awesome! I can't seem to find the pictures from last year's firetruck party, but here's some from Xave's construction themed 2nd birthday.

{Favor and cake table}

 

{Kids "road" picnic table and construction site sand box in the back corner}

 

{We did not steal the construction signs either. They were retired. :))

 

So this birthday we finally decided to nix a theme and just go simple. Xave asked for a rainbow cake and cupcakes with sprinkles. We had the party at my parent's new house, and my Mom took care of the birthday boy's special request. And she didn't dissapoint. :)

{Chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles}

 

{Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter pie frosting}

 

These were to DIE for... Makes me want some good ol' peanut butter pie. :)

 

 

{Rainbow cake}

 

This cake had a tragic story. My mom attempted a new frosting recipe. It failed to set up the first time, and the second time she figured it out. After the cake was all assembled she turned to open the fridge door, went back for the cake, and it had toppled over. Yikes. She almost called me to go get an emergency replacement cake, but took a few minutes to recoop and miraculously put it back together. She thought it was wonky and ugly. I thought it was Dr. Seuss-ish and wonderful. And it tasted like fruit loops. I don't know how she did that, but who wouldn't like a cake that tastes like fruit loops?

 

 

And here's the birthday boy, in all his tongue sticking out and "Mom, are we done YET??" glory. What a silly guy. :)

 

 

 

I relinquished the camera during present time so I could hold the baby, and unfortunately most of the pictures turned out blurry. This one however makes me giggle and shows his excitement for all his neat-o presents. This one was a Melissa and Doug construction play set. It's been put to good use in assisting a strip of paneling to break off it's long and horrible relationship with our wall. It's okay buddy, I'd rip it down too if I had something to put in it's place. ;) (Okay, it's not that bad, I'm just not a big fan of wood panelling. :))

 

Cake time! A.K.A. Mom's favorite part of every party...

 

If you can figure out what's horribly wrong with this picture I'll pay you $5. Okay, not really. Sorry. I am going to torment you though and make you figure out what is so wrong with it. Once you do figure it out: Don't worry, he got that piece. ;)

My little guy-that-was-just-a-baby is 4!

I'm going to go cry in the corner now. (Figuratively of course...)

Let's Play Catch Up!

I've been gone a while again. This time I'm back for sure. :) Our computer has been down for a little over a month now, and still is. Joy. Another month or so and maybe I'll get around to ordering the part to fix it. ;) We're almost enjoying not having a lot of technology in our house. Or at least my husband is. Not having another distraction has helped me focus on getting things in order and figure out life as a Mommy of 2, but I'm ready to reconnect with the outside world. So, Hello! Did you miss me? ;) (I've noticed my readers have continued to slowly gather. Thanks gals and welcome! I'm glad my extreme absence hasn't deterred you!)

Much to my dismay Xave has abandoned naptime and that hour or two of bliss where the kids were both asleep is a distant memory a majority of the time. I literally crave creative thinking, and photography is something that gets my mind whirling without taking up too much time. I find this nifty gratitude 30 day photo challenge, so here goes nothing. I'll share my pictures here each day, but first I'd like to share a few of the things I've been doing in the last few months. Those posts will be coming up the next few days, so until then, I hope you're having a  wonderful day! :)

This is the move that never ends...

Yes it goes on and on my friends.. We've been in the process of moving for a whole week! (Not exactly never ending I know. ;) ) Except we're not actually moving. As is no surprise to a majority of the country, times are hard and after my husband got laid off last winter, we ended up moving in with his parents and have lived with them since. Last month they decided to go look at a house completely out of the blue and a crazy thing happened! Three weeks later, they were signing papers and moving out. Which means, we've been helping them pack and move while we empty out the old storage shed and re-setup their old house as our own. Quite exciting, but after moving 15 times in my life, 5 in the last 2 years, I'm pretty much done moving for a long long time. So I'm still on a hiatus and will hopefully one day find my way back to full time blogging because it's a lot of fun, and I've got some big ideas for our house that I'd love to share with everyone. I miss you all and can't wait to get back into the swing of things and come check out what you've all been up to too.

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine and not getting blasted with it at 5 am like I am every morning! Guess it's time to get some new curtains. ;)

What a Bunch of Animals!

At the zoo that is... ;) I had really high hopes i would actually post this last week like I said I would. Our life is a little discombobulated right now, so I hope you can forgive me for being so hit and miss right now.

Anywho, we DID go to the zoo last week, i just unfortunately didn't get many pictures of that. We weren't thinking and went on the discounted day to get in a little cheaper. Discount day in the middle of summer. Just sounds like trouble doesn't it? Needless to say, the zoo was packed and we had to park at least a half mile away because the parking lots, and roadsides, were packed. It also happened to be quite hot. Next time we're going in late fall when everyone is in school or something. ;)

Despite the craziness, it was a lot of fun! I thought I knew all the "typical" zoo animals, but they had some I hadn't ever heard of and it was neat to learn a little about them. We gave Xave an old disposable camera my mother-in-law had found in a random box and let him take pictures of the animals he liked best. We'll have to use up the rest of it and get it developed to see how good they actually are. (old school, right!?)

After the zoo we drove to a small splash truck we saw a video of online and had a blast. We decided we really need one of those here, but that probably isn't likely anytime soon. I did get some good pictures of that so check them out below. I'm posting with my phone for now and haven't figured out how or if I can put them anywhere other than the bottom. Kind of lame, but better than nothing. :)

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! Get out and explore your local (or not so local) area and try something new, or enjoy an old favorite! :)

Baby Blessing :)

Yesterday we finally got to have Hunter blessed. The hubby did an amazing job and it was beautiful. You never would have known he was nervous beyond belief. Love ya sweetie ;)

I wish I could have gotten/made an all white outfit, but my dear sweet husband forgot to mention he'd set a date with the Bishop until Friday morning. Needless to say I was in a bit of a panic after that. Our town lacks special occasion and church clothes for boys except around major holidays, so I was skeptic about finding ANYTHING nice.

I couldn't validate paying $30+ in gas for one outfit to drive to the big city either. After scouring clothing rack after clothing rack I finally saw a white polo on a clearance rack after I'd given up and was heading out of the store. Perfect! I know it's not at all about the clothes, but I really wanted him to look nice and it was relieving to finally find something.

After all that trouble I ended up forgetting his shoes on the table, so he was barefoot. What can you do? Haha. They sure are cute though aren't they? Have an awesome week! :) (we're going to the zoo this week so look forward to some fun pics from that!)