4th of July Plans

Can you believe the 4th of July is a week from Monday? Where is the summer going? Here are some super cute ideas for your 4th of July cookout -

These cute holders are tin cans covered in scrapbook paper A Thoughtful Place

Marshmallow pops! I'm so making these for a cookout we'll be attending A Thoughtful Place

Mason jars filled with sand. Mason jars just say "summer" to me and they have so many uses! A Thoughtful Place

And let's not forget patriotic attire for the little ones! I love this jon jon from Jolly Rompers. Beckett would look precious in it!

And what summer is complete without the $5 flag tee from Old Navy? Brady already has his!

Brady's Birthday Party

Brady turns 6 this Thursday, but we had his party this past Saturday at the YMCA pool. We had it there last year as well and had a wonderful experience. This year - not so much. The party was still a success and the kids had a ball and that's all that matters!

He wanted a Super Mario theme, so I decided to do cupcakes with Super Mario cupcake toppers. They were so cute! I wanted the party to be very bright and colorful, yet still simple since Beckett is only 12 weeks old and I didn't have a lot of extra time this year. We had the party from 1pm to 3pm and served cupcakes, animal crackers and cheese puffs in silver buckets from the Target $1 section.

The kids got to swim for an hour, then hit the party room. Brady is such a fish!

We have amazing friends and we're so blessed that they came to celebrate with our sweet boy. I can't believe he's 6 years old. Time truly does fly. We love you, Brady!

Hitting the Road

Happy Thursday! We had some rough weather last night. It started pouring right after we got home from church. Seriously, I haven’t seen rain like that in a long time! But today it’s gorgeous. It’s like the world is sparkling out there.

I’m very excited because I have a girl’s weekend coming up! I’m taking off work tomorrow and hitting the road to my friend’s house in NC. She invited myself and another friend of ours up for the weekend. We’ve got lots of shopping and eating and relaxing planned. Personally, I’m most looking forward to eating a meal that doesn’t involve wiping ketchup off of someone’s face or begging someone to drink their milk. It’s funny how your definition of a relaxing weekend changes once you have kids, isn’t it? I mean, I love Brady more than life itself, but a mom needs a few days away once in a while.

Well, yesterday was a big day. I finally let one of my real-life friends know about my blog. I’m sure she’s gotten a lot of enjoyment out of reading all of my random thoughts. Unfortunately, I think she is now totally convinced that DH and I are total crazy people! So it begins……………….

Y’all have a great weekend and I’ll think about you while I’m in Sephora over the weekend. Or not!

T-Minus 3 Days

Someone pry the conversation hearts out of my hands!

So, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Is everyone ready? I spent Monday night working on the valentines Brady will take to Awanas with him tonight. They’re getting Spiderman valentines. Last night I did the goody bags and valentines for his class party at school on Friday. These are a variety of Incredible Hulk, Spiderman and Iron Man valentines. One of the great things about having children is all the fun stuff you get to do for the different holidays. I’m loving it!

Brady is getting a Batman toy and a book about sharks for his Valentine’s gift. DH bought a bunch of comic books at a sale a few weeks ago, so that is his gift. I’m getting a Vera Bradley zip-around wallet in Raspberry Fizz. J I’ve been needing a new one for ages, considering the one that I have now is at least 6 years old and probably older. My Fossil wallet served me well, but she needs to be retired now.

Saturday night we’re having a bunch of friends over for dinner. All of us have small children and we don’t really go out on Valentine’s Day anymore, so I thought it would be fun to have everyone over and just make a party out of it. I’m serving lasagna, salad and garlic bread, plus German chocolate cupcakes and red velvet cupcakes for dessert! My friend is bringing fruit for the lactose-intolerant/gluten-free friends that we have. J
So what are you doing on February 14th?

You can truly celebrate anything!

Anything exciting happening around the world today? DH has a Guy’s Night Out to attend this evening. Our friend, Jason, is having a little “preventative procedure” done tomorrow morning, so the guys are giving him a nice send-off party tonight. Now I truly believe you can make a party out of any occasion! His wife and boys are coming to spend the evening with Brady and I, so it should be fun all the way around.


Not too much else is going on. I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend because the scheduled will start getting busy again next weekend. I think Brady and I are going to make some football cookies for the Super Bowl and I need to finish cleaning out and organized the spare bedroom.

We’re cleaning out the spare bedroom because eventually (hopefully soon) we’ll be moving Brady into that bedroom. It’s larger than his current room and we’re getting him new furniture soon, so he’ll need the extra space. I’m a little behind on doing his “Big Boy Room,” so I need to get on the ball. I’ll be posting some pictures soon of what I’m thinking about doing. I’m trying to come up with a classic, fun look that will easily grow with him. Any suggestions?

Happy Thursday!

Entertaining Journals and More

We're having a little Valentine's get-together with our close group of friends on Valentine's Day. I love planning parties, as you know, so I'm excited that everyone can make it. The menu will be:
- Lasagna
- Salad
- Bread
- Cupcakes (chocolate, red velvet and coconut)

I'm keeping it super simple. In the past I've made the mistake of making things so complicated that I don't even enjoy the event. No more! This is going to be fun! We're also doing a batch of chili for our two friends who can't eat dairy, gluten or anything else fun. Frances and Mike, I'm talking to you!

My friend, Jennifer, mentioned the other day that she keeps an entertaining journal. Just a little notebook where she writes down her parties and get-togethers, the menu, who came, etc. I love this idea and I'm starting one right now! Hobby Lobby has cute notebooks for $2, so I'm going to get one and get started. Enjoy the rainy, windy weather!

Bye for Now

I'm leaving today at 2pm for Brady's school Christmas party and won't be back at work until Monday, December 29th. Since I'll be enjoying my week off with Brady, I doubt I'll be online much next week. So I am finally taking that bloggy break I talked about!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Friday!

Good morning and Happy Friday!

First off, I hope my post yesterday didn’t offend anyone. Most of the blogs I was talking about don’t try intentionally to make work-outside-the-home moms feel badly. It’s more the whole “Mommy Guilt” that creeps in. I’m so inspired and motivated by a lot of those blogs and I can’t wait to try out some of their recipes, organizational techniques and many other things!

To happier things, it’s Friday! We have a busy weekend ahead with lots of Christmas activities. Thankfully, tonight should be pretty quiet. We’ll just see if Brady goes to bed at a reasonable time tonight or stays up past 10pm like last night.

Tomorrow DH and Brady are going out early to do some Christmas shopping for me (or so they say!). I’ll do the grocery shopping while they’re gone, then we’ll meet up to finish the rest of our Christmas shopping together. I’d love for this to become a tradition for them – each year going out for breakfast, Christmas shopping and some special Daddy/Son bonding time. We’ll do some more baking in the afternoon (orange blossoms, my favorite!) and then tomorrow night we have company coming by for dinner. A dear friend of mine from high school, his wife and daughter are coming from Mississippi to visit some friends near Charlotte and we’re on the way. We’re all anxious to see each other and meet the new additions to our families.

Sunday we’ve got church and the preschool Christmas party during Sunday School. In the afternoon Frances and I are going to the Southern Living Holiday Show House (Melissa, remember when we went to the SL House in Collierville?). That night we have church and then we’re babysitting for the Deacon’s Dinner afterwards. Then it’s home and time to get ready for another busy week.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and gets everything done! Keep smiling!

Pass the lettuce

Happy Friday Everyone!

We have a crazy busy weekend ahead of us. Breakfast with Santa, a birthday party, date night, church, the list goes on and on. But thankfully tonight we have NOTHING to do, so I plan on snuggling up on the sofa with some popcorn, hot chocolate, my two boys (DH and Brady, of course!) and watching some Christmas movies. I can’t wait!

Remember how I did so well on weight watchers a while back? Well, the past few weeks I’ve not only fallen off the wagon, but the wagon turned around and ran over me. It’s been ugly. So now I have to get things together and enjoy the holiday season sparingly, not eating every piece of cheesecake that comes in sight. I’ll be eating lots of these


And less of these

The winner is.......

An option I didn't even give you! To be honest, I just found this one and thought it worked best with the picture I decided to use. The picture was taken by my friend, Ashley, during Brady's Sunday School class last week. It's perfect. It perfectly captures Brady, his smile and his joy and his sense of humor. I love it. The card will be tweaked a little, but this is basically it. I'm so excited!

Dh's birthday party went so well! I have just three pictures to download because I was too busy to take a lot. We had about 12 people and everyone had a great time, including a vicious version of Battle of the Sexes. It was a great time and DH had a very memorable birthday.

Happy Monday!

Party Day and Triple Coupons!

It’s party day! The chili and the stew are both made, the cake is frosted, the tea is made, the house is clean and everyone’s ready to go. Today I just have to pick up the cornbread/biscuits at Cracker Barrel (I’m cheating!) and some balloons.

I was out the door at 6:45am this morning to hit Bloom and take advantage of their Triple Coupon Sale this weekend. If you had told me even 2 years ago that I would be addicted to coupons and BOGO sales, I never would have believed you. But it’s fun! I’m saving a ton of money and being the best home economist that I can be. Here are a few deals I scored this morning-

Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes $0.51
Betty Crocker Muffin Mix $0.80
Carnation Evaporated Milk $0.53
Knorr Pasta Sides Free!
Campbell’s Healthy Harvest Soup Free!
Betty Crocker Cake Frosting $0.13


Have a great weekend!

Birthday Preparations

What’s happening this sunny Thursday?

We’re busy with the final preparations for DH’s birthday party tomorrow night. We’re having about 10 of our friends over to celebrate. We’re really looking forward to a fun evening. Here’s the menu:

Chili with toppings
Chicken Vegetable Stew
Cornbread/Biscuits
Carrot Cake and Ice Cream

I’m thinking I need a dip of some sort. Maybe this Corn Dip I got from my friend, Shannon.


Corn Dip
· 2 cans of drained corn (I prefer the Niblets)
· 16 oz. sour cream
· 1 cup of mayo
· chopped green chilies
· jalepeno peppers (I chopped them in my mini chopper)
· Tony Chachere seasoning (or some other Cajun seasoning blend)
· Fajita seasoning
· Shredded Mexican Cheese to taste and consistency you like...a large handful or two.
Mix it all up! Add seasoning to taste.
The dip is usually better if you make it in advance, at least a few hours or so.
Serve with Frito's.

We're going to have everyone bring games. It's going to be such fun evening. We have the best friends and we're so looking forward to spending the evening with them.

We had a fabulous time at Trunk or Treat. There were about 26 cars, so the kids had tons of choices. And we had a great turnout, too, a lot more kids than last year. It’s so nice to go and your child knows everyone and they know your child and you know they’re safe. Brady and Vivian had a ball running around, going on the hayride, and sitting in the back of our car eating candy.

Here are some pictures from our big night………



Brady (Peter Pan), Jayce (Bat Girl), and Vivian (Curious George)

The Red Queen (me) and Walker Texas Ranger (Micah)

Mary Poppins and the Chimneysweep (Practically Perfect in Every Way! Truly!)

Darth Vadar, Queen Amadala and Yoda (our pastor and his family)

Glenda (Michelle) and the Red Queen (me)

Hanging out in the back of the car, eating candy

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

First off, let me say that I know a lot of Christians don’t celebrate Halloween and I totally respect that. And we don’t “celebrate” it in the traditional sense. My fall decorating consists of lots of pumpkins and leaves and the sort, then in October I may have a few things that look more like jack-o-lanterns and maybe even a black cat or something. Brady gets a costume each year to wear to Boo at the Zoo and Trunk or Treat at church. I buy candy and we make festive cupcakes and make it really fun – not scary. No witches or anything of that sort.

And today is certainly going to be festive! Brady has his first field trip at school today. They’re going to get pumpkins and have lunch, then back to school to paint their pumpkins and have their party. Tonight is Trunk or Treat, so we’ll get home, put on costumes and head to the church. The weather is going to be gorgeous, so I hope there’s a great turnout. I know we’ll all have a fantastic time.

Have a great weekend!

Hello! We’re halfway through the week. This week has been busy, but fun so far!

Monday night was my first night at school. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it here or not, but I’m going back to school to finish my degree. There’s a long way to go, but better late than never! The class I’m taking this semester is Music Appreciation and I think it’s going to be very enjoyable, if it doesn’t get cancelled! There are only four of us registered and 3 showed up Monday night. Yikes!

Last night was my Southern Living at Home party. We had so much fun and I had a great turnout. My fingers are crossed that I’ll be able to get a great deal on the Gallery Collection White Dishes. I’ve wanted these forever!



I also want these:

Happy Tuesday!

My Southern Living at Home Party

I'm having a Southern Living at Home party on Tuesday evening. I had one 5 years ago or so and was able to get lots of items discounted with all of my hostess points.

If you would love to order something and help me get more hostess dollars (Thanks, Jen!), you can go to my consultant's website and check out the awesome items they have. http://WWW.SOUTHERNLIVINGATHOME.COM/paigepittard

Leave me a comment if you're interested and I'll email you the directions on ordering so that my party gets credit. Help a sister out!

* By the way, I have several wonderful friends who sell SLAH, but unfortunately they are in other parts of the country and I couldn't use them to host my party. If you know them and prefer to order through them, I totally understand. They're great ladies!

I wish you could all come to my party in person!

Back from Boston

We're back! We had such a good vacation. It really was wonderful.

The trip started out a little rocky. We sat on the runway for three hours due to storms in Boston. You all know that was my worst nightmare. But it was fine. Brady fell asleep as soon as he got on the plane and slept for an hour and then watched movies until we took off, then he was completely content to watch the clouds. JetBlue is awesome - we had air conditioning the entire time, food and drinks and regular updates. I would definitely fly with them again.

We spent the week with DH's sister Tina and her family (Thomas - 6 yrs, Gabby - 4 yrs). Sunday we got up and headed down to New London, CT, to DH's sister Marsha's house. We went to the beach and Brady had a ball. I've got the cutest pictures of him there. He also had a major meltdown, but that's another story. We cooked out at their house and had a wonderful time. Brady called it "the party!"

We were supposed to go to the Bronx Zoo on Monday, but it was going to be way too complicated to get everyone there, so we decided on the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, RI, instead. The kids had a ball and the weather was gorgeous. Marsha's kids (Pat - 13 and Ali - 10) came back to Tina's house and spent the rest of the week. We traveled with about 10 people everywhere we went.

Tuesday was Boston. We left a little late, so we only had time for lunch (Hard Rock Cafe) and the New England Aquarium. Brady got to ride the subway and thought it was amazing. We did a little shopping before heading back.

Wednesday it rained, so DH and Tina's husband kept the kids around the house while Tina, Marsha and I hit the outlet malls. I got some really cute things for Brady, and myself.

Thursday we went to Salem. We did the Salem Witch Museum and the New England Pirate Museum. Salem is the prettiest little town. I'd definitely like to go back and see the House of the Seven Gables and other things.

Friday was a quiet day. We stayed around the house and had lunch at this place called Ronnie’s. A little hole in the wall, but awesome seafood!

The weather was gorgeous this week. Low-to-mid 70F's all week. It rained a couple of days, but it was nice because we haven't seen much in South Carolina. Brady had so much fun with his cousins and aunts and uncles. We can't wait to go back!

Pictures coming soon!

Weekend Recap

Happy Tuesday!

Well, the Christmas in July party was fabulous! We met at Suzanne’s house at 6pm and had dinner. She completely decorated her house, even a little tree and stockings for each of us. She and her husband made a whole Christmas dinner – schnitzel, 4 cheese mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, Watergate salad, rolls and pumpkin cheesecake. After we stuffed ourselves, we went ice skating. It had been about 14 years since I ice skated, so it took a while to get back in the groove of it, but I almost felt graceful by the time we finished up. And no one got hurt!

After our Olympic trials (haha), we headed back to her house for games and gifts and more food and merriment. One friend had to go home around 12:30am, but the rest of us stayed and fell asleep at 1am. We got to sleep until 9am (no kids waking us up!) and were treated to bagels and smoothies for breakfast. Then it was time to head back to the real world of grocery shopping (two of us had to stop at Walmart on the way home) and whatnot. But it was a great time and we’re hoping to make it a yearly tradition.

Saturday night we kept Karlie and Brina while their parents went on a Date Night. They had a great time playing in the pool with Brady. I’ll have pictures up soon of that. Karlie even declared that she wanted to spend the night at our house. It was so cute.

Sunday was Sunday School and church and shoe shopping for DH in the afternoon. A good finish to a good weekend.

4 days until vacation!

Christmas in July

Merry Christmas in July! Yes girls, Christmas is only 5 months away. Have you started your shopping yet? I haven’t, but I have started my list.

Tonight my MOPS group is having a Christmas in July slumber party. We’re meeting for dinner and then going ice skating. Afterwards it’s back to our “mentor mom’s” house for all sorts of Christmas-related activities and treats. I can’t wait! It’s going to be so much fun!


But before we get too carried away on the Christmas stuff, how about this cute little outfit for Brady Boy? His birthday was in June, but I always end up getting his birthday pictures taken in September because the summer is so busy. I think this will be the perfect picture outfit, plus he can wear it to church and other things.

Have a great weekend!

Better Late Than Never

Here are our pictures from the 4th of July. I know, they're three weeks late. Oh well!



Brady and I earlier in the day

Ashley, myself and Frances - the best friends a girl could ask for!

Mike and Ashley