Hester Happenings

Jeff's Uncle Thomas and Uncle Dot had a big birthday bash where several family members joined to celebrate. It was quite the party with delicious food, a comedian, and wonderful family time. Unfortunately I didn't charge the camera before this event so I only got one picture that night: The next day Uncle Thomas and Aunt Dot had a cook-out at their house. Naomi got to meet several family members that she hasn't met yet! I was also able to meet some new family as well! Aunt Mimi Great Grandma Christmas Cousin Felice Cousin  Aunt Lucy Cousin Nina Naomi showing off for everyone! Cousin Jimmy Aunt Muriel

We were given a very nice Pac 'N Play by my brother-in-law and sister-in-law when Naomi was born. This one stays at my mom's house. She watches Naomi 2 days a week and Naomi uses this Pac 'N Play for nap time. Whenever we go out of town we have to get this from my parent's house (which is hard to remember!). So, one day I was driving to the grocery store and I saw a Pac 'N Play on the side of the road with a sign on it that said, "Free"... Yes, I know! But it was FREE!! So I pulled to the side of the road and loaded up my car. Here are the before pictures: As you can see it's stained and pretty dirty. It had a funky smell to it as well. So I researched how to clean this and found many different opinions. I just decided to take a few of the ideas I found and combined them. I first soaked the outside part in the tub with a mixture of 1/2 cup of detergent, 1/2 cup of washing soda, 1/2 cup of vinegar and used hot water. I let...

I wanted a place to display some of Noami's artwork since she is now making some! I scoured Pinterest and found a couple ideas, but I thought picture frames would be the best for our little hallway. I took some picture frames and crosses I already had laying around the house and tried to get a good layout and then decided on colors. I like using post-it notes to help with the colors: Then I started hanging the frames on the wall. As you can see, I changed the layout a little bit because I changed my mind while hanging...go figure! For three of the frames I took out the glass piece and laid laminated burlap  against the back part. I then hot glued little clothes pins to hold Naomi's work: All in all I really like how it turned out! I was also finally able to hang some more family pictures on our family tree: It's starting to look more complete! I am so excited that it is summer track-out so I'll have more time for...

Naomi loves Dr. Seuss books so we decided to throw her a Dr. Seuss inspired first birthday party!  Thanks to a good friend we had a ball pit for the party. This was a BIG hit with the kids! There is a Dr. Seuss birthday book! Who knew?! We had each party guest sign the book with a birthday message for Naomi. I made a banner with Naomi's monthly baby pictures. Thanks to another very artistic friend for helping me make the fish! I also made little Truffula trees to go on the tables.  Hop on some Pop...get it? I know; I'm corny :) I made some cupcakes with cotton candy Truffula trees on top. They looked really pretty right after I made them. The humid air here in NC made the cotton candy slowly 'melt'. So hint to those of you who want to use cotton candy on cupcakes-wait until the very last second to put it out! I also made a Dr. Seuss wreath out of an old Dr. Seuss book. I like it so much I don't want to get ri...