Catch Up

As I said it has been a busy few months. First we are so excited to announce that we are GRANDPARENTS! Woo Hoo!! Our daughter delivered Landon Reilly Johnson, April 5,2010.

He weighed 8lbs 14 oz & was 22 inches long. He is so unbelievably gorgeous (if I do say so myself). He looks so much like her when she was first born & so much like her brother. His lips are definitely his dads. It is crazy how genes work. We have been in seventh heaven enjoying every minute with him.

My mom came for a month to await Landon's arrival. It was nice to get that much time to spend with her. She was so overjoyed to be here for the birth. I know it was so hard for her to go home. We were able to get a four generations pic while she was here. It came out pretty good for us amateur photographers. lol

As well as a new baby, April brought some new baking samples & parties. I tried my hand at a coconut/lime cupcake. I really liked this one. We also made cupcakes for our good friend Brittany's daughter. Miss Kylie turned six & had a hot pink & purple birthday. We also made cupcakes for a pirate themed house warming.

I have some more to share next post as well.

 April did'nt leave without leaving its mark here in town. We got hit with several tornadoes. Being new to this tornado stuff we never expected to get a first hand glimpse of what mother nature can give. We lived in our closet with supplies for several hours. We were extremely lucky that we did not get hit directly but unfortunately our neighbors were'nt so lucky. The damage was so sad to witness. Loss of life was minimal but unfortunate just the same. We lost power for 12 hours & really see where we are lacking in our emergency supplies. I see a generator in our near future.

May was a busy month here at the Houlihans. We celebrated Mother's Day with our brand new mommy by going to lunch & the movies. We love the Texas Roadhouse. They have great food at very affordable prices. We also tried our hand at rootbeer cookies(yummy but very sweet) & peanut butter cup cupcakes (these were a big hit). May also found us travelling down to Tennessee for Memphis In May. Lord have mercy it was HOT! Poor baby was sweltering on his first roadtrip. lol I was so excited to see the Food Network's Ultimate BBQ Challenge. I got to meet & photograph with famous multi-award winning Myron Mixon. He is so intimidating on air but sweet as pie in person. Just a great experience. May ended in style with a get together with great friends for Memorial Day. We bbq'd & swam & just beat the heat having fun.

I think I will pick up tomorrow where I'm leaving off today. It has been busy busy for us here. This post will be long enough to get through without adding June to the mix. June has been just as busy. I will be back to share more on our June adventures on the road as well as baby & baking. hahaha

Until later ~Toodles

I'm Back

Wow its been forever & I have a lot to post about.

I will be back tomorrow with all the news & projects in the works.

I always seem to be apologizing for my absences. I am truly sorry that life seems to interrupt me at times. It gets a little overwhelming at times & unfortunately my blog is the last to be tended to.

I will be back tomorrow to catch you up. Until tomorrow....toodles

Zebra Purse Mini Album

WooHoo I finally got this darn thing done. It was fun putting it together. She loved it! Here are the pics of each page. Enjoy!

I am also going to post pics of the cupcakes and cookies I made for my daughter's work shower. We made the little monogram picks from my HUGE collection of stamps and punches. I went and purchased a baby set of cookie cutters from Hobby Lobby. Gotta love the 40% off coupons. I knew I wanted to do a onesie but had to find the cutter to do it. They had it and they came out super cute. They have another coupon out this week so I may have to pick up some more cutters.

Tarynn went to the doctor & she is 80% effaced and still dilated to a one. She just has to hold off until Thursday lol. We were hoping she will have Landon on the 17th. It's our anniversary. Only time will tell.

Well I just received a cupcake order for friday. My mom flies in on thursday. I need to get baking and cleaning. I also have two other scrapbooks in progress with upcoming deadlines for both. Yikes! Until later my friends. ~Toodles

GLAM Cake

*Warning...Pics are horrible...I really need to take a class...get a background or something...SHEESH!

Anyways, here is the GLAM cake & cupcakes I did for hubby's co-worker. She is such a girly girl I ran with it. The pictures really dont do it justice at all. She loved it. She's leaving on a girlfriend getaway & wants to figure out how to take it on the plane. Not sure how that one will pan out. I'm thinking it wont. lol

Anyone else noticing a pattern with the darn stars? lol I told my daughter that I really need to move on. They just always seem to work with what I'm doing & they're the perfect size for fillers. So I am trying to expand my horizons & look for something new to add.

And I really am finishing up her zebra purse mini-album....seriously I am. They decided to give her the gifts on monday when she returns from her trip. Kind of a sigh of relief for me. I got a couple pages into it & hit a roadblock with all that hot pink. So how do you cure that....SHOPPING! Yes, a trip to the scrapbook store fixed me up just fine. So I will be back to share this weekend if not sooner.

Have a creative day! ~Toodles

Here's a peek

at the page I did for Landon's scrapbook. I love how it turned out. It is kind of busy but I still love it. :)
I just have to get the shower scrapped now. So much to do.

I've also been looking at wipey cases & how to decorate those. I guess its the new rage. We never had those things when my kids were young. It's amazing all the new gadgets they have for making life easier.

I know this is short but I really did'nt plan on coming in at all.....so I will be back when I have more to share.
~Toodles

Crazy Hectic

Crazy & Hectic pretty much sums it up around here. lol

This is how we spent lastnight.....

Yes, in labor & delivery. Tarynn has been having pain for a few days. She contacted her OB/GYN & they recommended she go in & be checked. She was already dilated to one.  As us mothers know it can still be a long road to delivery from there. So they checked her out & gave her something to help her sleep.

I have no doubt she wont make it to her March 27th due date. We are secretly hoping she has him on our anniversary March 17th. She is ready to pop now. So it should'nt be to long before we have a baby here. :) Yay!

As for the crafty side of life....I am super excited about a class I'm gonna take in May with Donna Downey. I have followed her for a long time & love her approach to scrapping & crafting. Who would of thought she would show up here in Arkansas. I'm beyond the moon that she is though. This bright canvas & fabric album is the class I'm taking.

I kind of hit a  creative bump with my purse mini album. Trying to get over that so I can finish it up. Our friend's b-day is just around the corner. I have faith I will get it done. I seem to do better under pressure.

I have also started a new album that I'm really excited to do. I cant give much details yet because I dont know whose eyes may wander in here. I will definitely keep you updated on that.

Going back into party planner mode once again. I've decided to throw a huge bash for my hubs & his best friend for their 40th b-days. It wont be until September. Trying to locate venues & dj's right now. It's a little hard when you are new to an area. Any suggestions please email me. Since my hubby is 100% Irish, & we got married on St. Patty's Day, I'm running with the St. Pattys/Green thing. He has always wanted a huge irish shindig, so there ya go. I'm thinking I can get a lot of it after St. Pattys for half the price. Gotta get creative though & come up with some good ideas for food/drinks/decor. Will keep you posted on that endeavor too. :)

Well, I'm off to scrapbook. Will be back with more updates soon. Until next time....Toodles

Here's the latest

Wow it has been hectic around here. I had the cake order for Brice's 15th B-day party & my daughter's Baby Shower. It has been non-stop.

I wanted to share the cake I did for Brice. I also did cupcakes & cookies for her Girls Night Out.

It was very bright & shiny. lol I was afraid it was too crazy but she liked it.

The week before that I hosted Tarynn's "Rock Out" Baby Shower. It came out so cool. It fit her personality to a "T". Down to the very last detail. It truly represented her & her love for music. I am sure she will pass this on to her son. :)

I got the idea off of one my blogs that I read. This woman had thrown her hubby a Rock Star b-day party. I just took her cue & detailed it to Tarynn's personality.

Have you ever had one of those events where EVERYTHING falls into perfect place. This was mine. We had so much fun & everyone seemed to like the less than standard approach to the baby shower. hahaha Here's some of the food we had. We even had *Rockstar* drinks. lol

The only thing that did'nt turn out to my expectations was her cake. It ended up looking a lot like her b-day cake unfortunately. She LOVED it though so thats all that matters. The cupcakes totally rocked. LOL

These were some of the favors we made. I designed the popcorn boxes as a "Thank You" for coming. On the belly of the girl it says "Ready To Pop!" So stinkin cute. The candy bar wrappers we designed too. The little rocker ducks were given away with the candy bars for game prizes along with the chocolate chips, cookie recipe & star cookie cutters. There were gift cards as well.

As for my zebra print purse album, that I mentioned in the previous post. It is closer to being finished than it was, but not totally there yet. I finally got all the pages cut & assembled. I just have to decorate it. I'm making it for one of my hubby's co-workers. She is a hoot & I just love her. I'm also going to make her a cake with a tiara on the top & some bling bling around the bottom. It should be fun!

Well I will be back to share more later....Toodles