High Fives!

And we are already back at Friday... {and I am not complaining!!}

In honor of the exciting day of the week, I am linking up with Lauren @ Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday!  Join along and share what you are loving this week.

{one}

I was on my computer at 11:55 pm on Tuesday night putting in a big order at the LOFT!  I can't wait to share my new goodies... whenever they get here (the wait is the worst part of online shopping)!

{two}

maxi - simply style boutique

Our sneak peek of Spring on Wednesday.  But apparently we only got a peek.  Fingers crossed that the weather man is right and we are in for some not freezing weather this weekend!

{three}

chain and braclet - simply style boutique

Loving the arm party. 

{four}

This little man melts my heart!  And I have to admit that my nephews can work my iPhone better than I can.



my brother-in-law hates the duck face... so this is for him! :)



{five}

fingers crossed we can pick out our house plan this weekend with the builder!!  EEKK  this is such a fun, exciting, gut-wrenching, and anxious process... Oh the joys of being an adult!

Happy Friday!!

Easter recap... {yea, I am a little behind}

So let’s recap a little from the past few weeks happenings, starting with Easter..

In the morning I met with an old high school friend who was home visiting her parent’s for the holiday weekend.  She went away to college in New York City and we hadn’t been able to meet up when she was in town for years.  It was such a great time to catch up over breakfast, and so bitter sweet to think of all the great memories from growing up together.

Brandon had to work on Easter Sunday, so I decided to earn some brownie points and bring him and the guys cupcakes.  Since all the family was coming over later that day I talked with my sister, picked my seven year-old nephew up and took him along for the trip.  Let me just say that Brandon may have won the title of favorite Uncle (a title that has always been held but my little brother, Ben) when Gabriel got to the fire station!  Brandon could not have been sweeter letting Gabriel try on the helmets, look inside the ambulance and sit in the front seat of the fire engine!  The greatest quote of the day was when Gabriel and I got in the car to head to dinner and I asked if he thought it was cool, his reply was “That wasn’t cool Aunt Emily… it was AWESOME!”

love this picture

And from there we, headed to my parent’s house for Easter dinner with all the family.  

To explain the next photo, I have to preface with the fact that my mother does a lot of volunteer work with the Spouse’s Club at the Naval Hospital and one of their activities is to host a Easter Egg Hunt every year.  One year, they decided to purchase a bunny suit, and since they had no one where to store it at the hospital, it lives in my parents attic.  So every year on Easter, one of my brothers dresses in the bunny suit to deliver the Easter baskets from my parents to my nephews.



doesn't everyone have a 6 foot bunny in their living room

Now Gabriel has always been a fan.  He is seven, and while he now realizes that it is just one of his uncles in the suit, he still believes there is an Easter Bunny (but he is far too busy Easter day to be able to make appearances at everyone’s house… duh!) Jack, the two year-old,  however… Terrified!!  Cries uncontrollably when the 6 foot 4 ‘rabbit’, as he calls him, walks into the room.  He would only sit for a picture on someone else’s lap, not next to the bunny.

dress and accessories - Simply Style Boutique

Dad put the suit on for a picture with all the kids! {we asked if this could be used for the family Chrismas card... mom veto'd that idea}



The rest of the evening was spent enjoying food and drinks with everyone!  A busy, but perfect day!

Saw it. Pinned it. Did it._lego board

Happy Thursday and a very Happy Valentine's Day!!

I have been waiting for the Saw it, Pinned it, Did it link up this week to share the birthday present Brandon and I made for my nephew's 2nd birthday this past weekend!

pinterest

This was time number 2 making this project.  We had made it for my older nephew for his birthday back in September and apparently was a hit, and my brother-in-law asked if we would make it when Jack Jack's birthday rolled around.  For Jack we used the dublo lego blocks instead of the smaller lego pieces.

{I have to admit I did an awful job of getting photos while we were making this, but it was pretty simple!}

For the Lego Board project you will need:

1 x 2 plywood cut to 2 pieces at 15" and 2 pieces at 16.5" (this is what the directions called for, I think next time I would make the board just a bit bigger)

1/2" plywood sheet at 15"x15" (again here I would make this a 1/4 inch bigger on each side)

15" x 15" lego board (I got the lego board at toys-r-us and the dublo lego board from amazon)

screws

gorilla glue

sandpaper

spray paint

self-stick floor care pads 

2 drawer handles

I bought a long 1 x 2 board and had Brandon cut it to the measurements needed (the first time I made it the friendly staff at Lowe's cut it for me!  So if you don't have power saws, it won't stop you)

He also cut the 1/2" plywood board to the measurements needed

Then we lined the 1 x 2 plywood boards and screwed them into the side of the plywood sheet (we skewed from the project on this step, but it worked out fine)

After the sides were drilled in tight I sanded the edges and bottom smooth.  Then spray painted the bottom and sides (don't need to worry to much about the top base since the lego board will be covering it.)

Next use the gorilla glue to secure the 15" x 15" lego board to the top base of the board

Now here is the first picture I took...

the dublo lego board glued onto the wooden base

Then attach the handle bars to two opposite sides of the board (both times mine have been uneven... next time, I will use a ruler)

Last, but not least, paste the self-stick flood care pads onto the bottom of the board to keep it from scratching hardwood floors and table tops.

I used some ribbon to attach the bin of dublo legos to the top to complete the gift

The gift was a hit again!

the birthday boy playing with the new toy!

The boys love their lego boards.  They can play with their legos in the living room and pick-up and take their big structures into the playroom. (also great for a quick grab when the dogs start to get that "wonder how those blocks taste" look in their eye) Gabriel even slides his lego board under the couch in his playroom for safe keeping.

This was such a fun project to make (well supervise Brandon making)!  I wish I had taken more pictures... but if you have any questions, just let me know!

What are you linking up with Katie {keep calm and carry on} and Stephanie {beautiful mess} to show?!

One weekend catch up... before the next begins!

Busy Busy week over here... and with the way the weather has been, it feels like it was 5 months long.  (32 on Sunday, 80 on Wednesday, chance of snow tomorrow?!?)

 

Last Friday night began with a lovely little snow storm.

I headed home early Friday, through on the comfiest clothes I could get my hands on (aka Brandon's pajama pants and an old sweatshirt) and enjoyed the snow fall!

 

 

Amazing!!

 

Saturday began with a trip over to our reception venue.  They were holding a wedding there this past weekend and I wanted to see how it was going to be arranged. 

The venue is normally a restaurant, and can only do weddings in the beach's off season.  I have been there a few times to eat, but wasn't sure how they would arrange the tables for a 200 person reception!

It looked gorgeous, but oh to be the bride that woke up on her wedding day to the beach sand covered in an inch of snow! 

 

From lunch at the restaurant, I headed over to a pool tournament {think billiards, not swimsuits} for our league team.  Pool was something Brandon had started to play when we lived in Christiansburg and I kind of tagged along until they roped me onto the team too.  When we moved back to the beach area, Brandon found a new team, and eventually I got roped in to playing on this one too.  Love the people we play with though, and while I may be a pretty awful pool player, it's a good time!

 

Sunday morning my sister and I headed down with her two boys to the outerbanks for a quick little weekend get away.  My cousin and her daughter were down there too, so we had a fun little girls weekend!

 

After we got settled in and had lunch (love that our beach house is only a hour and half drive away!) we took the kids to the aquarium in Manteo, NC.  They had such a good time staring at all the tanks, and playing with the interactive turtle exhibit {awesome place to take little ones if you are ever down in the outerbanks!}

 

Here are the pictures I snapped while we were there... (my child photography skills are lacking as you can see!)

Gabriel would have hopped in that tank with the fish if it was open... couldn't get close enough!

Baby Jack Jack!  The fish tanks were a perfect height for him!

Lily thinks she may want to look into a career as a crocodile hunter... didn't end well for the last guy!

Jack had much more important things to do

After we saw every fish, and rescued the turtles (twice) we headed back to the house for appetizers (goat cheese dip I made was yummy if I do say so myself) and dinner!

 

We stayed the night, spent the morning straightening up and headed back home.  A great little weekend that ended too soon... but only have to get through tomorrow  before it starts again!