What the heck are Phineus and Ferb talking about???

"There's 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it..."

or so the song goes...

but today I was thinking about it and with our school starting back up next week...

summer vacation for us was really only 60 days or so.

So where are the other 44 days?

What a ripoff.

Needless to say...we are back from our Canadian cool down and I have to say...it was nice:)

Sure it rained almost everyday...at least for 10 minutes...and I liked it.

I wore the same pair of jeans probably 15 of the 21 days we were there

(yes I washed them...at least once:)

But it was lovely.

However, I just realized today why my air conditioning bill is always highest in August.

Yes it is hot as you know what in August in Phoenix...but it is also because we get back from 

Calgary, directly into this oven we call home and I am used to spending the last couple weeks in comfort so the last thing I want to do is sweat it out. 

Thus...I seem to set the a/c a good 5 degrees below what I was sitting in BEFORE our trip.

Make sense?  Maybe not...but it made perfect sense in my head.

Ok...here are a few pictures from the trip.

Nothing spectacular (unless you count my sister's new house which is indeed spectacular).

Since there is absolutely no rhyme nor reason to these photos...I will just bore you with pics.

First...Peyton (the animal lover) got her fill of doggies with my mom's two.

As you can see...they are quite fond of her as well.

 We spent alot of time at the park with the girl's cousins.

Mainly because of these swings...which are very cool.

 Ainsley was attached at the hip to her little cousin Kendall.

Isn't she cute!

Another fun climby thing at the park.

Here is a rare photo of the girls and I.

As you can see I got all dressed up for it.

Or maybe it was totally unplanned...ya...that is more like it.

I then had my hair colored crazy a couple days later.

Of course you cannot go to Canada without spotting some wildlife.

Thanks to a great facebooker Shannon...she posted this link on the paperlili page and

I was then inspired to make Ainsley an instant armload of fabulousness.

I was most addicted to making the friendship bracelets to which I can now whip them out pretty quickly. I think I made about 15 of them while watching trash tv at night with my mom:)

 Hmmm..what else (told you I would bore you)

How about some candid shots of chickie.

And then...my sister's new house that she has been building for almost 2 years I guess.

Crazy.

Unfortunately they are moving in this weekend and so I missed it being completely finished by 4 days!

That sucks.

Another thing that sucks is that I had the completely wrong lens on my camera when I went to check it out...so you cannot even almost grasp

A. how huge this place is 

and

B. how fabulous it is

but...here are a couple highlights

the row of lanterns in her mud room

this is the sink in the mud room...how cool is it!

just a totally fabulous light in one of the hallways

Princess Kendall's irridescent purple shower tiles in her bathroom

the master bathtub...which is just a fraction of the gigantic master bathroom

the coolest fridge ever

which is in the best kitchen ever...also the largest kitchen I have 

ever seen in a house...I will post photos when she moves in and has it finished...you will die

and then my favorite part of the house...the mouse hole in the kids playroom

I have disappointed myself because these photos do a disservice to how perfect this house is...

but...you get the idea.

And then to finish off my photo tour...gotta share just a couple things that I bought.

I didn't actually buy much there...yet I still had to bring back an extra suitcase and I have no idea why.

But...first...I found these...I loved these...I had to have them and I can't explain why except

that they make me happy.

Yup... a totally missmatched set of cutlery.

Random I know...but...like I said, they make me happy:)

And then...my little miss mugs.

I adore little miss and mr. men.

I get so irritated when I see the little miss tees all over the place.

Overkill.  I was super excited 6 years ago when they started coming back because they

take me right back to being a kid...but people are still churning out the Little Miss Giggles tees and 

I don't like oversaturation:(

Never the less...that did not stop me from buying these mugs...which again...just make me happy:)

Now, you can't tell me that those fingerprints on your cup of coffee wouldn't make you smile too:)

Roller Girl turns 11

Today my girl turned 11.

Strange birthday with her dad not here to help decorate.

Also strange birthday because I think this is the first birthday that we have not had at home.

Any birthday party has always been a home sorta deal.

Sure we have had bouncy castles and water slides etc...but it has always come to us.

So this year...we went to the party place.

A skeezy roller rink to be exact.

The employees are nice enough...in fact they are super nice.

It just isn't the fanciest place in the world.

Not that roller rinks are.

But...in my head...I could open a super cute one lol.

All retro.

Anyways. I digress. Sorry.

So Peyton turned 11.

With 11 of her best friends.

It was cute.

They were exhausted and sweaty and bruised by the end of the 3 hours.

3 hours of rolling around in one circle.

Hmmm...I thought it was a good idea until I just read that actually.

The day went off without a hitch.

The only issue other than my 6'2" helper missing was the fact that I took Peyton's camera at the last second.  Never again.  Not that indoor/rollerrink photos can be cute.

But I am most certain they can be alot cuter than what I caught.

So here is a brief breakdown of the fun.

I suck because I totally forgot to take some very important photos.

Whatever. You get the gist.

The birthday girl

Her outfit she put together.

Taylor Swift shirt...with what wrapped in it?

Tickets of course.

Some more funky-ness.

These bracelets are called Braced-lets.

Get them here.

Just a shot of sister who wanted her hair curled and who will eventually realize that her hair doesn't actually want to do anything other than wave.

The feather in her hair still makes me think of a lizard tail...ew.

Ok...so here is where it gets bad.

A. I forgot to take a photo of my party table:(

So if you want to have a rollerskating party...these all worked out well for me.

I had blinking bracelets/necklaces for the kids...which made it easier to spot who was in our group when they were out on the floor.

I also had led cups and star decorations.

Get them here.

And glow in the dark balloons.

The glow stuff was cute.

The table...I bought some fabric for a table cloth.

(this was the same "table cloth" they had in Lemonade Mouth the movie. Peyton liked it...so a simple google search and I found it. Now I have 5 yards of crazy fabric")

Here was the scene in the movie:)

Here is my table.

This of course is at the end of the party when we took all my cute food/decorations down:(

So since it is the end of the party table.

Here is what the kids got to take home.
If you were a kid in the 80's...you might have had a slush mug.

I did. And I loved mine.

Hours we would spend trying to turn a half a cup of coke into a slush...good times.

They each got a super cute cookie from this etsy chick.

I am not totally sure what they taste like...but I am going to go eat one now and I am sure they are as yummy as they are cute:)

Here was one of the table decorations. 

I just wrapped a big styrofoam square and shoved them all in it.

It worked.

The 11 was from this etsy chickie.

Hey look.  I totally forgot to take a photo of my big cookie cake with the rainbow Peyton decoration in the middle...but check it out:)

This was it.

I just iced it onto the middle of a giant cookie.

As you can see...no method to my madness.

No real theme. 

Just color. Glitter. Glow. Fun.

And as for the cake...well...I made these yesterday and it cut down on the entire messy 

"cut the cake" situation.

No messy plates needed...and the kids just took the rest of their cake home:)

And just like that...the day is done.

Oh it pains me how terrible these photos are:( 

But oh well...still a cute group of great kids.

I am thinking Peyton must have told them to wear crazy socks.

Maybe not.

Now I am tired.

But I am glad we she had a fun day.

Except for the huge bruise on her hip from flying through the air and landing on her bones.

Feathers and Hickies...oh my

Today...we sneezed our way around the mall.

Just had to get out of the house.

So I figured why not spread our cold germs around the air conditioned mall.  

Yes.  I am that mom that took her contagious children to the mall.

Whatever.

What did we get?

Hair feathers.

I know I know...these have been around for awhile.

But I think they are kinda cool.

I wanted some myself but 

A. my hair is all one length and rediculously long so they would look stupid

and

B. I baffled the lady on my hair color...no joke.  I was not kidding when I said

my roots were 3 inches long. I may have lied...they may be worse.

Let's put it this way...the top part of my head is dark brown and the bottom 8 inches or so is

Ainsley's color.  Been to the salon much?  

So...no feathers for me.

But look how cute this chick looks.

 You can get her hair feathers in her etsy shop here.

I want some to play with.

I guess I could just get something temporary.

I used to have one of these when I was a kid.

I got it at the Calgary Stampede and we would clip them to the back of our cowboy hats.

I was looking for something similar last summer

...then I was going to make some for the girls

(ok...and me;)  

and now...look...they are back!

Get this one here.

I love etsy.

I don't think Stephen Tyler ever quit wearing them.

So that right there makes them cool.

So that was our day.

Oh and I also gave Lili loo a hickie by accident.

Oops.  

I was pretending to be mommy vampire.

It's ok.

She loves me:)

Just look at what was on her ipod last night.

Wait.

I just found proof of my horrible hair color.

Ainsley took this photo last week after doing my hair for me.

I have no idea what that swirl thing is in my hair...but she gets an A for creativity.

You see. I wasn't lying about needing a trip to the salon.

Maybe in the fall. 

Well...for now I am back

I would like to report that at this very moment...I feel kinda...like myself.

The last week has been horrible.

Between Peyton and myself we were a disaster.

Today is the first day in over a week that I felt ok.

Peyton's hives have cleared up (thank GOD) ...sure she has a horrible cold now and I just

heard Ainsley sneeze twice in a row...but colds I can handle.

Head to toe hives...no thanks.

Dizziness, tummy ache and everything else that goes with those...see ya.

A box of tissue and some tylenol and we are all set.

So today I want to pretend like it is not 116 degrees out (even though it is and will be all week) and

I want to look at some things that make us all feel better.

Let's see what we can find.

With Peyton's birthday in a week, normally I would have a post about cute things I have found/planned/made for it...but since we have all been so sick, I honestly have no idea what I am doing.

All I know is that they are rollerskating.  Hopefully the rest will fall into place.

Ok...first...I think this beach towel blanket would be super cute to make and carry to and from the pool.

You can get the instructions from Martha here.

 How fabulous do these look.

Mmmm.

I have this magazine...it is a good one.

Including an adorable party from Kim of TomKat Studios in there.

Now that my appetite is back (darnit on that one)...I need someone to make

me this because I still don't feel like cooking:)

Cornbread and Chili in a jar....recipe here.

 Speaking of food...I have been wanting one of these for a couple months.

Had I just ordered one online I would have it by now.

But nooo...I keep waiting to see one in a store somewhere.

Why?  No idea.

Zoku...you need to be at Target. Thank you.

Now onto summer wears.

First...headwear.

I love hats.

Knit berets in the winter...straw/floppy/fedora/caps in the summer.

Covers my winkled forehead and my 3 inch long roots:)

Here are some good ones.

Next...under the hat.

Hair. 

I will admit...I seem to not be big on brushing my hair these days.
No idea why. Maybe because my head hurt so much.

But I have also taken a liking to this Surf Spray from Bumble & Bumble.

Now something to wear without dying of heat.

I was in Old navy the other day and was pleasantly surprised with their maxi dresses.

Since I am a big fan of Ella Moss and Splendid clothes...mainly their stripes...

I was happy to see more stripes. Love me some stripes.  Can't have too many stripes.

And then to the feet.

I have to admit.  All winter my feet are in UGGS...all summer they are in havainanas.

There are no flip flops as comfy.

Apparently for once my timing was impeccable because a month or so ago Missoni did a

limited edition collaboration with Havainanas and guess who snagged a pair.

Sure I could probably turn around and sell them for $200+ on ebay...but why would I?

Look at how cute they are!

And they look good with my Princess Kate inspired Nail polish.

The color is No more Waity, Katie from Butter...and it makes me happy.

Ok.  So not gonna press my luck.

This is the longest I have been vertical in a week.

But I am back and I promise more fun finds.

The flu...a full case of hives and just plain boredom

My last three days have included:

• one kid with a super duper swollen face/eyes/lips
• same kid with a tummy ache
• one trip to the pediatrician
• target pharmacy to get said steroids for puffy child
• no sleep for me as I stare at puffy child
• trip to the ER for puffy child
• 2nd trip to target pharmacy for epi pen
• still no sleep as I again stare all night at puffy child
• sunday spent on the couch sleeping literally all day because
• I also have a stomach bug and I feel like _ _ _ _

Oh this weekend sucked. 

I literally watched Disney Channel none stop all weekend because I was surrounded by

kids (one puffy and one bored) and I truly didn't care what was on tv.

(although I will say...A.N.T Farm, Shake it up, Kickin' it and Good Luck Charlie are all pretty hilarious shows...OH and Zeke and Luther...makes me laugh) but...

I just need the hives to go away.

And my tummy ache to go away.

Saturday morning was our last volleyball game of the season.

We are the coaches of Ainsley's team.

Steve is in Kentucky.

I was on the couch and unable to move.

Did I mention how much this weekend sucked?

Ok...enough whining.

I will say a very large prayer that Peyton's hives are not here in the morning.

I think they will be...but they have to leave eventually.

I hope.  Poor kid.

I did manage to make and ship some orders today.

In between my unconciousness.

If anyone that knows me THINKS they saw someone who looked like me yesterday at the pharmacy but they were frightened because I looked like I hadn't washed/brushed etc.  

It was in fact me...and I in fact hadn't.

Ok...down to business.

The cut off for GUARANTEED orders before we go on vacation in July was last week.

Sorry.  But I had to cut it off and now being so sick...I am glad I did.

You can still place orders...however everything that is ordered now will not start shipping until the first week in August.  And they will be filled in the order they were placed.  

So basically if you need something in August...

place your order now so I can get it to you starting August 1st.

Today was Father's day.

I wish my dad a very happy fathers day.

He is such a wonderful dad. 

I love him with all my heart.

And I wish my hubby a wonderful father's day.

He didn't get to spend it with his girls this year...but 

thanks to skype...he got to see them...kinda.

And I leave you with a couple pics:)

First...for the dad's

Thank you Natalie for posting this photo. I love it.

And then little Ella.
Her mom is Tracey from Dancing Freckle

and then...some beauties from the very talented (aka she does it all)
Julie at zozobugbaby
love these photos soooo much
tank from paperlili
skirt from ...dancing freckle

Thank you ladies!

Ok...I have been awake for an hour and a half...
my pillow and blankie are calling my sore body back to sleep.