Part of Mothers Day!!!

We had a gorgeous Mother's Day at the Arboretum!! I have many more pictures to add of this day but my disk is saying it "can't be read on this computer" - until I figure THAT out I'll leave you with these photos. We met my mom and dad, and sister, Jae, her hubby John, and Kai out there for a beautiful picnic! I got to use my picnic basket again and had a DELICIOUS lunch from central market with pasta, caprese salad (tomatoes and mozzerella w/ basil), and fresh fruit!

This is my mom with one of the gifts I gave her!

For those of you who don't know, my mom's mom passed away when my mom was 10 yrs. old. Before she passed away she had pinned this poem, from a cutout out of a newspaper, to the wall in the hallway of their house. My mom, after her mother passed, committed to learning it by memory because she figured her mom must have REALLY liked it to just tack it up on the wall like that! Needless to say, it's a poem that has been handed down, given as a gift in other ways (one Christmas we (me and my sisters) gave her the last picture of my mom, with her mom, smiling and looking at eachother, in a frame with this poem - it was an emotional gift opening type of Christmas!). This year I decided to put it on a painting for her to hang and be reminded of how awesome her mom truly was!

Here's Kaden, Kai, and Kinsley in front of the flowers!

Me with my two little blessings!

And Jae, Mom, and I! If you haven't ever been to the Dallas Arboretum - GO!!! You are in for a treat! It is absolutely gorgeous! Right now they are having an exhibit of lifesize houses made out of flowers depicting the character's houses in the story of Peter Rabbit - its precious!

Again, I PROMISE more pics to come of this, our fabulous Friday at my friend Jenny's, pics of what Curt and the kids did for me for Mothers Day, etc. You won't want to miss it so stay tuned!!!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner - well, a headband at least:)

The winner of the Hair Flair Headband is Sarah! Congrats friend! Please email me your address and I'll send that to you in the mail:)!!

Girly Girl???? Hmmmm???

Well...I THOUGHT I had one of the most girliest girls ever....that is, until Career Day at school. For some time now Kinsley has been saying she wants to be a hunter when she grows up. I am not completely sure where she got this from since no one in our family or extended family for that matter, hunts??? So, I don't know why it surprised me when she told her teachers that this is what she wanted to be when she grows up, and that this is what she chose to dress as for career day, hmmmmm, maybe I was just hoping she'd change her mind?

Oh well, gotta love her for her creativity - she even added a deer hanging by its toes that her brother had bought a long time ago at Cabela's:) (see in pic) This girl keeps it lively around here! This is her serious hunter face! Ha ha!

****Don't forget to scroll down and enter my headband giveaway!!! Only 3 more days!!!

Skating Party!

Last weekend we had a birthday party for my friend Angie's little boy Adam at the skating rink!!! It was a blast! They have these cool new tools for kids learning to skate that cracked me up! They looked like little walkers (like the elderly use), but man, was I thankful!! With them, my kids had the confidence to skate alone, and were not pulling on me the whole time.

Here's Curtis with Kinsley!

And here's my sweet Kaden!

What is it about skating rinks that just take you back to your childhood? I love that free feeling of rolling along to the music with not a care in the world! I urge you, the next boring Fri or Sat night you have...get out of the house, take the kids, and go skating - not to mention...it's a GREAT workout!

Worship!

Kaden and Kinsley were in a children's choir at church this past weekend! Oh, how I love to watch them sing praises to God!!! They are so precious. Anglea, the choir director, tells them certain songs are "Make Your Momma Cry" songs - she is SOOOOO right! Kaden and I talked a lot about this beforehand, he wanted to know why it makes momma's cry. I explained that it's a happy cry - because we are overjoyed our kiddos get to worship God - he thought that was funny! It was beautiful to watch them lift their hands in praises to our LORD! I really can't think of a better Mother's Day gift than that! And yes...I did cry, so there!!!

Summer Inspiration!!!

It's almost summer time, and I have been soooo wanting to decorate my backyard, patio, pool area! It's pretty much a blank slate out there and I am in need of ideas/inspiration! If only I had all the money in the world...until then a girl can dream, right? Here's some inspiration if you are feeling this way too...

1. a scene from west elm's spring/summer catalog 2. some lounge chairs from cb2.com 3. my fave wicker chairs from pottery barn 4. how refreshing, I love these little containers - also from pottery barn 5. galvanized steel planters - westelm 6. love this cute little fish from pier1 - could see him happily sitting in the landscaping by the pool 7. red bench from world market - for a splash of color:)

What are you inspired by for the summer or what new summer accessory are you wanting to add to your house?

Shopaholic Sunday - Headbands by Flair!

There is nothing more "in" this season than headbands! They are so much fun and can jazz up any oufit. Therefore I am glad to introduce you to my sister Jae's business - Flair. Flair is where you can find all your headband needs with funky, pretty, unique and one-of-a-kind designs to add a little "flair" to any of your favorite outfits! Here is my sis, Jae, her husband John, Cocabella (their sweet dog), and my adorable neice, Kai!

Here's a quick little interview I did with her so you can become more familiar with her line:


1. What gave you the idea to start this business Flair? My friend and I started making FLAIR for ourselves and as we started wearing it about, everyone asked about it and wanted to buy some for themselves...

2. What materials do you use to make your headbands, clips, etc? We use vintage buttons (80+ yrs. old, from A.L.'s great grandmother...), feathers, beads, ribbon, felt, flowers, and our newest FLAIR - old t-shirts

3. How do you get inspired? teaching blogs, shopping, particular piece of material that excites me...

4. Where do you get your design ideas from? most of the time, I make it up as I go... A.L. and I work together and feed off of each other

5. Who all can wear hair Flair? anyone who wants to FLAIR themselves (women, girls, babies)
How should it be worn? headbands go directly down into the hair - not to be pulled back, clips can go wherever, but stay better when bobby-pinned in and look really cute at the base of a low ponytail! Stretchy FLAIR looks real cute with a messy ponytail!

6. What do you hope to create next? wrist FLAIR (check out my prototype attached)

7. How can people purchase Flair products? by going to my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/jae.carpenter and sending me a message or comment! I will ship as soon as I receive payment, very fast!

Go check out her facebook page - but EVEN better, one of you have the chance to win a piece of Flair! How fun is that?!!! Leave me a comment and let me know how you would wear your new flair and what your next spring/summer accessory purchase will be! Again, the drawing will be made next Sunday after 5pm using the random number generator! Good luck!

****The lucky winner of the punchy scarf from last week's Shopaholic Sunday is Amber Manquist - Amber email me your address and I'll send you your fun new scarf!