If you can bake, you can tile!

This is Mrs. J here for a quick sec!
I'm super duper excited to introduce my one of my fabulous sister in laws, Mrs. M!!!

Remember how we come from a family of 7 boys?!
Well one of them married this fantastic do-it-all lady and I'm so thrilled she agreed to this!
I've been curious lately

{let's face it, I'm always curious}

about DIY projects.

Well, not only has my sister in law done a bunch...

BUT

she wanted their basement to be finished,

my brother gave her a budget

and she decided to do it herself!
Maybe she will show it off one day because I love it!

SO 

I asked her if she'd done anything lately and she had.
Lucky us!

Linking up here

Somewhat Simple-Strut Your Stuff
House of Hepworths-Hookin up with HoH
Simply Sweet Home-Friday Favorites
Tatertots & Jello-Weekend Wrap Up Party
Homemaker on a Dime-Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop
Dittle Dattle-Amaze Me Monday
Tip Junkie-Tip Me Tuesday
Sugar Bee Crafts-Take-A-Look Tuesday
504 Main-Tickled Pink Fridays
The 36th Avenue-Share Awesomeness Thursday
A Glimpse Inside-Catch a Glimpse 

Dress to Impress

Am I the only one who gets major butterflies/goosebumps/anxiety about running into people from way back when? 

{aka high school, college, coworkers}
I did have a lot of friends, let's just say I was a little more dramatic than I am now.
Thanks mainly to Mr. J.
Maybe it's just me that gets nervous about big gatherings filled with reminiscing,

but I have 3 weddings coming up this summer.

July, August, September

All 3 girls I've been friends with since 7th grade.

All of the weddings will bring a different group.

A couple I cheered with, a couple I had fun lake trips with, and all 3 hung out at my house all summer every summer. 

I'm the type of girl that needed to go away and that's exactly what I did 8 years ago.

A majority of the people I hung out with have not seen me.

I've been married almost 6 years and have 2 sweet munchkins to show for it!

I've been stressing a bit about what I should wear to these bridal showers and weddings.

Here's what I chose for the first

Cardigan-Old Navy, Shirt & Pants-Forever 21, Shoes-Aldo, Ring-Fabulously Flawed, Other ring-1st diamond from my daddy & my wedding ring from Mr. J, necklace-Mr. J

I'm really liking mustard yellow, blue and cream!

The shoes! I will be wearing lots of yellow to get my wear out of these shoes. They are so comfy! Don't mind the water marks from me sinking into the grass.

Don't you love my ring?! I think it completed my outfit perfectly! Lesley seriously rocks!

I needed my mini me for support!

Top & skirt-Gap, Shoes-Old Navy, Headband-Lyndi Lou

A girl can't have too many ruffles!

She saw Mrs. H and I posing and this was her copying. I could just squeeze her!

Not only did I take mini me for help, I made Mrs. H AND my mom go along with me!

Shirt-Forever 21, Pants-somewhere in Mexico, Shoes-Banana Republic, Ring-Mr. H, not sure about the rest!

Super excited to be going with me ;)

While shopping at Forever 21, Mrs. H thought our mom would love what she got so she picked her up one. She did love it! After all the years of her making us match, now she gets to match us! Payback mom!

What can I say?! We are kind of a matchy matchy family!

One down-2 to go!

Linking up here

My Friday 5!

I'm so excited for this weekend!

Nothing too exciting is going on, but it's just time to relax and go see CARS 2!

I've found some pretty cute things this week!
Look at these beautiful pillows! Love the colors and love the message! While I was over browsing at The 36th Avenue, I also came across her amazing 4th of July set up. The flag is made out of a roll top! It looks awesome!

My kids {mainly Cowboy} have really been wanting to help out, wanting to see what I'm making-or sneaking into their food! These popsicles look so yummy and healthy! Plus, there are a bunch of ideas at the bottom of the post of crafts to do with leftover popsicle sticks! Thanks for the inspiration, isn't this little girl precious?!

These cute little dahlias are popping up everywhere! I have been curious as to how to make them. I might want a ring...in a few different colors. I found a tutorial over at Stars and Sunshine and I'm so excited! Hopefully one day I will make myself one! Now I just need to know how to put it on a ring? Thanks for sharing!

Jodie, over at Love, Laughter and Decor, threw her son an army party! I love everything she put together so much I might be planning out Cowboy's next party um...6 months in advance and trying to talk him out of a pirate party! I definitely need to have this on hand for a future birthday party! Such cute ideas!

I feel like I have been racking my brain trying to figure out different things to do with my little boy. We've recently moved and he went from going to preschool 4 days a week to being surrounded by family and no preschool since it's summer time. I've started a chore chart and he has been doing extremely well because there's a small surprise at the end of the week. I love this idea from Moore Minutes! It's a summer reading program, it's so cute and it's where her boys can see it!

Thanks to all these ladies for sharing these great ideas!

Encourage-mint jar and cookies

We used this idea for Father's Day, but I think you could do it for anyone, anytime!
I just couldn't post it prior to the big day because I needed the cookies to be fresh

and I didn't need 2 batches laying around begging to be eaten.
They are yummy!

So the jar is simple...

I asked my little boy a bunch of questions about his daddy and typed out exactly what he told me

{out of the mouths of babes style}
Then I typed off some things from L to her daddy about how he's her favorite guy, etc.

I put in there some favorite quotes, favorite songs, words of encouragement, 

and 

let's be honest, I love to make my husband blush so some sweet love notes might be in there also.

Mr. J works a lot so I bet he will be excited when he gets to open a note a day to be reminded of the little ones that adore him at home.

Mints or gum on the bottom and it's one fresh treat!

For the cookies, you need (recipe from Betty Crocker):
1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4-1/2 tsp mint extract {I use 1/2}
6-8 drops green food color {I use 8}
1 egg
1 cup creme de menthe baking chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks {I use milk chocolate Guittard}

Mix cookie mix, butter, extract, food color, and egg in bowl, until becomes soft. Stir in creme de menthe chips and chocolate chips.
Roll 'em up and put them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
Cool about 3 minutes, then put on wire rack.
Easy and unique!
I will be making them for St Patrick's Day also, it's not common to see a green cookie!

If you're like me and can't find creme de menthe chips at any store {weird, I know}have fun cutting them up!

Looks just like mint-n-chip ice cream

All ready to cool off and be eaten

There's easily more than a month of notes and mints in the jar.
It's a thoughtful, cheap, sweet gift.
Covers all the basics!

Linking up here

Blue Cricket Design-Show and Tell Wednesday

Trendy Treehouse-Create and Share 

Somewhat Simple-Strut Your Stuff 

House of Hepworths-Hookin Up with HoH 

Katie's Nesting Spot-A Crafty Soiree 

Lil' Luna-Linkin' with Lil' Luna

Night Owl Crafting-Hoo's Got Talent

Fabulously Flawed-Super Sweet Thursday Par-tay 

Fireflies and Jellybeans-Show Off Your Stuff 

The Shabby Chic Cottage-Transformation Thursday

A Glimpse Inside-Catch A Glimpse
The Sweet Details-Savory Sunday 

Sassy Sites-FFA
Simply Sweet Home-Friday Favorites
Bacon Time With The Hungry Hungry Hypo-Party Mindie Style
Tatertots and Jello-Weekend Wrap Up
Homemaker On A Dime-Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop
Dittle Dattle-Amaze Me Monday
The DIY Home Sweet Home Project-More The Merrier Monday
C.R.A.F.T.-Making Monday Marvelous
Craft-O-Maniac-Craft-O-Maniac Monday

Tip Junkie-Tip Me Tuesday
Lady Behind the Curtain-Cast Party Wednesday
504 Main-Tickled Pink Fridays
The 36th Avenue-Share Awesomeness Thursday
This Chick Cooks-These Chicks Cooked

It's all about dad

Ah, I love the weekends!
After a long morning of unpacking ourselves

{the movers didn't show, lovely}

we got the kids in their bathing suits and I told daddy we'd meet him out there!
We were ready to go!

Of course I'd like to think it was borderline fun with only mommy...

Cowboy gave his mom as much attitude as he could while putting on his sweet shades-check

Little Miss L gave me a sweet I'm so excited about swimming smile-check

And Cowboy played pull while L played push-Cowboy won, Ellie stayed out

It was fun to watch a little missy be incredibly determined to get to the diving board!
She wouldn't jump off, but she loves to give me a run for my money!

 And then dad came out and this little one quickly scurried off the diving board...

 The hands started going wild and her mouth was moving as fast as her arms yelling da da

 The requests for splash fights, float rides, and diving board jumps started flowing

 And mom was left to lay out, relax and take pictures because dad is the coolest and took over

 Happy Father's Day to Mr. J!
You rock our world!

You are a wonderful daddy and husband.

He's quite a handsome fella that to me is the whole package...

genuine, hard working, loyal, sexy, funny, helpful, and so ridiculously patient with me

 He loves his family and we are pretty crazy about him!

So today, it's all about dad!

{and maybe on the weekends it is too}
What can I say?
He's cooler!

Happy Father's Day!

Linking up here:

My Friday 5!!

Happy Friday!
Sorry for the lack of anything interesting on this blog this week, but family was in town, I got an MRI and don't need another knee surgery {YAY!}, Cowboy had a dentist appointment along with a consult from an oral surgeon because he needs a tooth pulled from a trampoline accident {BOO!}, and cowboy got to go on his first trip away with his grandma and papa and 2 cousins! He loved it and Little Miss L loved being an only child for about an hour and then she became a diva until she saw her "bruder" again!

Anywho here are some of my favorite things I've come across recently!

I've been looking for things to make for my Mr. and my daddy for this weekend and found these Rocky Road Bars from my friend Lesley over at Fabulously Flawed. My dad LOVES Rocky Road and I'm thinking they will score with Mr. J also...so I've pretty much decided they will make an appearance on Sunday!
Oh, and Little Miss Alli is so cute!

Oh my...SO cute!

Terra, over at Mama Says Sew came up with this fabulous red and white burlap flag!

I have a bunch of burlap and love ruffles, I might have to make one!

Look how gorgeous this no sew flower is...Yes you heard me right no sew!! Lisa made a few beautiful flowers for a church retreat, shows step-by-step instructions, and breaks down the cost. I love the pleated look! While I was over there I also found a bunch of great tutorials and a Pottery Barn Inspired Mr. Darcy Valentine's Day plate that I'm loving!

I'm always looking for fun date ideas and I have to remember that if I want to do them frequently, they can't be cruises to tropical islands :) I saw this and when I clicked on it, the title was "A Craigslist Date." Did you know you can buy discounted gift cards on craigslist?! This is a fabulous tip and Sada takes some beautiful pictures and she has mastered the self timer!

Look at this dining room set...Look here to see what it looked like when Rachel got it! Every chair was a different color and she ended up with a gorgeous dining room set! She found everything on Craigslist and funny enough the people lived 3 houses down! Thanks for sharing, it turned out beautiful!

I've seen so many great things and have way too many tabs open right now!
Thanks to these ladies for sharing!
Have a wonderful weekend celebrating the dads in your life!