What's Up!

I've got some news to share...The Crawford Clan is going to be moving!

It has been on our radar for awhile but the plan had always been spring 2014.  But after a meeting with a few realtors and lots of discussion we decided to start the process now.  The move is going to take us back to Grosse Pointe, which is where both Billy and I grew up, our families are there and so are many of our friends.  It is a charming, small community that is perfect for raising a family.  We are excited for the next chapter, but we gotta close this one first!

And lemme tell ya, trying to sell your house with two kids is exhausting.  Thankfully, our dog Sydney is at my in-laws so that has made leaving for showings easier and much less upkeep because all the dog hair is gone.  But there is still upkeep to make sure the house is always ready whenever we leave.  The plus side is that I'm so on top of the cleaning and laundry that I may actually get to work on making a photo book or organizing recipes!  

William and Lauren have certainly done their fair share of destroying all my hard work, but they are also helpful and understanding.  I know I've been insanely distracted with this process, but the dust has begun to settle and being on top of things means we can have more fun too!

And since we had to be out of the house last weekend we did have a little fun. 

Lunch at Cafe Muse where we toasted to all of our hard work and hoped that things happen fast!

An afternoon visit to the bookstore to play and browse.

Followed by a quick trip to a fun candy shop!

 Sunday we escaped to Grandma and Grandpa's where the kids got to torture play with their Uncle Brandon.

 And we got to sit back and enjoy a fun little happy hour.  Uncle Brandon always has a new game he wants to try with us and we've usually never heard of it.

And I have to share this...we were all having a little down time on Saturday and she enters the living room having changed into her princess dress with a well thought out proclamation. "Mom, I need a Merida crown, a Rapunzel crown, and an Aurora crown.  I need crowns...a lot of crowns."

I hope everyone is having a great week!

XOXO

Aubrey 

Sunday Sweets {Chocolate Frito Bars}

I'm back with another Sunday Sweet for you to try!

I made these Chocolate Frito Bars a few weeks back and they were delicious!

Crunchy, sweet and salty...they didn't last long in our house.

I found the recipe from a blog a follow, Hi Sugarplum!

Not only does she post some great recipes but some great DIY projects and outfits too

ENJOY!

XOXO

Aubrey

Celebrating Two Years

Today I want to wish a little Happy Birthday to my wee little blog!  I started this as a way to document my new adventure as a stay at home mom and it has become so much more than that.  Thank you to all who check in from time to time.  I love having this little space that is all mine!  It has been an adventurous and crazy two years, but also a time of healing and growing.

There are no yearly reviews to access my performance.  I may plan one heck of a tea party or a backyard sprinkler bonanza that makes the neighbor kids jealous, but most of the time I don't even get a thank you.  I do get feedback on areas I can improve on like which way to cut a turkey sandwich, how food should never touch on a plate, and I've been silenced many times when I start to sing sweet William to sleep.

 It can be a thankless job, and the rewards aren't monetary but when they happen, boy are they fulfilling.  These are my loves and I take the good with the bad...sometimes the bad does need to be fixed with a glass or two of wine, just sayin.  It's a roller coaster of being ready to lose my mind because Lauren is egging William on to toss his milky cheerios all over the floor, to being in awe of their sweetness after she sat and "read" him all his favorite books.

And even though no one is analyzing my performance, I think we all know when we are doing our best and doing just enough to get by.  And sometimes, doing enough is ok.  We all need the slumps to get us to back on track and motivated, even in this job.

It's hardly glamorous, but filled with lots of kisses and plenty of boogers!

XOXO

Aubrey

Shopping Your Closet

I was stumped on what to blog and asked a friend for some ideas, she suggested how I put my outfits together.  Thank you for the wonderful compliment Meg, but I can't take all the credit.  I can put some outfits together on my own, but get a lot of help from pinterest.  I thought I'd put together a few samples of what I pinned and what my take was.  Using pinterest as a guide to shop your own closet is a great way to save money and mix and match what you already have.  I added a button on the right so you can follow me on pinterest and see what I'm up to!

Mustard, Polka Dots and Purple

via

Mustard, Polka Dots and pop of Orange

via

Gingham,Yellow, and Fall Jacket

via

Emerald Green, Denim, Black Skinnies, Bling, and Leopard

via

***All pictures from pinterest have credit given to the original blogger under my collage with a link using the text via***

I will take credit for this outfit.  I have worn this ensemble three times so you will most likely see me in this if you haven't already!

 If you need any help shopping your closet, my girl Jocelyn is up for the challenge!
We had a blast a few weeks ago creating outfits for my mom using what she already owns.  But MOM, yes, I'm talking to you...you are in the dog house until we see some of these recreated!  And I better not see a few items that should still be in the goodwill pile.

XOXO

Aubrey

Happy Valentine's Day

We haven't had Billy home for an actual Valentine's Day in two years, so I wanted to do something special...tada!!

The balloons really did make the table.  I hid them all afternoon from Lauren and brought them out right before Billy came home because I was afraid that the tag team of Lauren and William would have burst most of them before Billy would have even seen my efforts.

The table was simple and cheap (a recurring theme on this blog)...the balloons were the splurge at $15 and the garland around the chandelier and hurricane were $2.  The rest was discovered in and around the house!  The leftover Valentine's each had a special message from each of us for daddy!

It was such a fun little party...complete with presents for the kids, presents for me (personally picked), heart shaped pizza, and of course love:)

Lots of hugs and kisses to my funny valentine!

Fourteen Valentine's Days later (if you count that first one back at MSU) and there is still the romance, the laughs, the adventure and believing there is so much more of all of that to come.  

XOXO

Aubrey

Sweet and Salty Valentine's Snack Mix

Our Friday snow day also included a little cooking...if you call melting chocolate and popping popcorn cooking.  This sweet and salty Valentine's Snack Mix was found on pinterest, but was very similar to the party popcorn we served at William's birthday.

Ingredients:

2 bags of popcorn popped

2 cups pretzels

2-3 small packages of m&m's

6-8 oz white chocolate chips

Valentine's sprinkles

*Mix the popcorn and pretzels in a 9X13 dish

*Melt chocolate in the microwave, I started with half of the bag.  (I have the hardest time melting white chocolate, but  doing 30 second intervals at 50 percent power seemed to really work)

*Drizzle melted chocolate over and mix with your hands.  I melted more chocolate because there didn't seem to be enough sweet.

*Before chocolate hardens add your m&m's and sprinkles.

*Recipe above suggests spreading on a large baking sheet.  I didn't do this, but think it would have helped because there were some chunks that were stuck together after hardening.

We packaged up and gave away with a few of Lauren's handmade Valentine's.

I don't know about you but Valentine's Day to me signals that spring isn't far behind.  The past six weeks have felt so long and even though we have kept busy, I can tell we are all a little bored and ready for a change of seasons.  Please spring, arrive soon!

XOXO

Aubrey

Our Week

Our week was pretty routine and nothing really worthy of it's own post, so I thought I'd do a little recap through my iphone and instagram pictures.  

Gymnastics Competition

Last Friday night we spent the evening watching a cousin compete in a gymnastics competition.  It was amazing to watch such young girls with so much talent.  The floor routine was right in front of our seats, so you can imagine what unfolded.  

Ladies and gentlemen....the amazing and talented Miss Lauren Crawford!!

Photo courtesy of C.Ryan

High Heeled Cool Dude

I don't just hear the clankity-clank (technical term) of one pair of princess shoes, but now two!  He loves them as much as Lauren.  

I think he's picked up a few things from his fashionista sister.

Play date

We've enjoyed several play date's with Aubrey and Addy over the last few months while their mom was on maternity leave with their new baby sister Alaina.  She heads back to work on Monday, but summer is right around the corner!

Carpooling

I can check that box because I had my first carpool experience this week.  Lauren loved riding in the way back and I loved listening to the conversations that took place.  Tommy's mom needed my help because their dog was having surgery to amputate one of his legs.  Tommy was adorable explaining how their dog will walk on three legs to a very inquisitive Lauren.  

Shamrock Shake

Yep, there back already!  I think it was gone in 60 seconds, delish!

Snow Day

Lauren and William had their first official snow day from school yesterday.  I was a bit disappointed as Friday is my morning alone and I look forward to that time all week.  But we ended up having a really great day.  I would do something for them and then something for me and the balance worked out perfectly.

Working out proved to be a little difficult...push ups are hard when someone is trying to crawl under you:)

XOXO

Aubrey

Easy Valentine's Day Cards

I thought it would be fun to let Lauren decorate her own Valentine cards this year.  I also wanted it to be something she could have artistic freedom with but have little to no worry of me finding heart stamps all over a wall.  

Thank you Target dollar bin!  

Blank cards and foam heart stickers.

I did get a little more creative and cut a piece of pink ribbon and hot glued it to the card.  

Lauren loved all the glittered hearts, but I think that is true for every little girly girl.

We decorated one for each of her classmates, all 28 of them!  And then found out we only need seven...so maybe you'll be one of the lucky 27 who gets one of these fine homemade valentines.

 Completed and signed!  

XOXO

Aubrey

Wintery Weekend

A lot of tears have been shed this last week because of freezing cold temperatures, but a slight up tick in degrees and a light powder brought some smiling faces this morning!

William has finally got the whole keep your gloves on rule which made going outside a lot more fun for mom and dad too!

The snow was perfect for pulling our sled, gliding around the backyard so smoothly the kids fell over if we took the turns even a little too fast.

Best buds lately:)

Wipeouts with smiles, no tears this morning!

They are already asking to head back out!

Enjoy your weekend!

XOXO

Aubrey