Giveaway Ends at Midnight!

Yesterday, my Dad and I celebrated our birthdays together as we have every year for the past 34 years. 

I am happy that we share this day. I am glad to know he thinks the best birthday present he ever received was...me!

I am pretty sure the Snickerdoodles I baked for him for yesterday ranks among the top of that list as well. ;)

Here we are my very first birthday! Holly Hobbie plates! Poor guy suffered so many years with girly plates.

I love that glance I am giving him in the photo. Like he is just about the best Dad a girl could ever have!

Actually, that sentiment still remains true. Then, today and forever.

I love you, Dad!

* Today is the last day (until midnight!) to enter to win one of TWO "Celebrate" felt banners! 

If you could create a new holiday with your most favorite of things to celebrate..what would it be? Click here to enter!

All-Girl Road Trip

We took an All-Girl Road Trip to Lancaster, PA! 

O.K. So it wasn't completely an all-girl road trip. It was more like 4 women, two toddlers and a guy. All-girl sounded better so we rolled with it.

We brought my brother, Noah. I hope he didn't mind being a "girl" for the day. He is always good for laughs and spur of the moment photo-ops. 

The twins and I were picked up and we head out in the afternoon. First stop was minutes away at the local Pretzel Factory! Thirty pretzels for $10 seemed too good to be true so we turned in and grabbed a warm bag of salty Philly pretzels. Yum!

Noah claimed that this road trip would be fueled by snacks, not gas. We all agreed.

After filling our bellies, we continued driving, got on the turnpike and began the adventure!

Then my sis, Tessa forgot something crucial and the main component to our trip's purpose...her keys to the apartment. So an hour and a half into our "trip" we needed to head back home.

Alright, got the keys! Now back on the road!

My mom, the driver. Look at her carefully hand position, 10 and 2 o'clock! 

As she would say, she had "a lot of precious cargo on board!"

We drove and drove, babies young and old took naps. 

Finally, we arrived at our destination, Tessa's apartment. We watered her lovely plant, swept/vacuumed the porch, gazed at her fraying prayer flags and super view of the forest, then drank a pot of coffee before leaving the dirty cups on the table. Until next time.  

It'll be our excuse for another "road trip!"

Pressing on, we head towards Lancaster City to return a library book that was almost certainly overdue.

Along the way, we viewed the magnificent open landscape! What a beautiful drive!

We were the typical tourists pulling off the road in last-minute-death-defying turns in order to hop out of the car for photo opportunities such as these:

And then we definitely had to call it quits after Noah tried climbing Big Amos, the Barefoot Amish Giant. We decided to look for somewhere to eat dinner before we got in trouble!

We could not have found a better place than Jakey's Amish Barbeque! Waiting for our food, we head over to the Dutch Haven to sample a piece of Shoo-Fly Pie. If we hadn't spent all our money on snacks and dinner, a pie would have made for the perfect ride home!

We all shared a huge sampler with BBQ pork, chicken and turkey, a dinner roll, side salad and drink, sweet potato fries and corn fritters. The corn fritters were so delicious we had to go back for a second order!

Then we traveled home-sweet-home again!

We had a great day trip to Lancaster! Here were some things overheard on the drive: 

•  (Noah yelling out the open window) "We're going on a girl road trip!!!" 
• "Oh, I forgot my keys."
• "Go AROUND this jerk."
• "Where can a fellow get a hoagie around here?"
• "I haven't seen one Amish person yet!!"
• (to the traffic) "Go home now! It's dinner time!"
• "BOOM!" (in response to finally seeing a horse and buggy)
• "People run too much out here." and in response, "Well, it's probably faster than the horse and buggy!"
•  "I've never seen so much poop in the road!"
• (referring to our GPS) "Jill is being shy today, she keeps whispering the directions."
• "Noah, do you want a tattoo before we head home?"

*Road trips are always reason to celebrate in our family! If you could create a new holiday with your most favorite of things to celebrate..what would it be? Don't forget to enter SMS's May Giveaway for the felt "Celebrate" banner I made! (This giveaway has ended.)

I have been loving the comments so far... I wish everyone could win a banner to celebrate with!!

It's SewMamaSew's May Giveaway Day!

It's May Giveaway Day over at SewMamaSew and I decided to be one of the over 250 participants this year!

And...what better way to C E L E B R A T E than with a felt banner stating that exact sentiment!

I created this "Celebrate" banner using recycled felt and cotton fabrics. There are also little red heart buttons glued to the center of the stars. Included is a red polka dot ribbon long enough to hang your new banner and an extra dose of fun with a set of my kindness cards! 

So, here is the deal: Leave a comment by answering this question:

If you could create a new holiday in which to celebrate your most favorite of things, what would it be? For example, I would celebrate "All-Girl Road Trips, Surprise Gifts, and Mid-afternoon Naps".

**Winner will be chosen at random.**

** Giveaway ends Thursday, May 20th at midnight EDT**

And what is a good celebration without more than one door prize?! 

I have TWO of these banners to giveaway!!  

GOOD LUCK!

*If you are new to my blog ( HELLO ! ) and would like to browse around, here are a few posts you may find interesting:

• How to build a mini-terrarium

• 100 Fun, Frugal Things to Do with your kids this summer!

• With 5 girls in the house and the youngest being twins, there's always something new happening!

• Speaking of the twins, read our Twin Home birth story!

• And how crafting goes down in a house full of little girls!

And the winner is...

The winner of the HeartFelt Giveaway Wall Hang was picked via a random generator! Number #27, Valerie, takes the prize! CONGRATULATIONS!

I was overjoyed with the response to our giveaway and l o v e d reading all the responses about your summertime favorites!

I also would like to welcome the new subscribers that have enjoyed browsing my blog! I hope you all find a bit of joy with each visit! I too found many new blogs through SewMamaSew's May Giveaway! I'm afraid my blogroll will burst one of these days with all the lovely things I find to read each day!

Don't forget to check out my sister Tessa's Etsy shop, thedotdesigns! She is currently featuring these cute felt cat toys made with 100% organic catnip! My cats love them!

She offers a low $2 shipping fee and no additional shipping costs if you buy more than one item!

Funky Felt Cat Toy - $3

Three Blind Mice Cat Toys - $5
Felt Cat Toy Variety Pack - $12.50

I Know It's May When...

The Mock Orange in my garden is in full bloom again! I love when this fragrant shrub opens it's beautiful white flowers and allows the air to smell a bit sweeter!


My Mom always tells the story of the Mock Orange she had planted outside their own home. It's the story which prompted me to buy my own shrub when my husband and I, with only baby Madelyn in tow, moved here!


When I was just born, May 19th and on my Dad's birthday (what a surprising gift he received THAT year!), my father snipped a bunch of stems from their blooming bush to bring inside to the new mama! Ahh, a story as sweet as those fragrant white flowers!


The May Giveaway, hosted by SewMamaSew, is still running strong! Thanks to all the entries so far! I am enjoying reading all the responses to "the one thing you LOVE most about the summer!" If you haven't entered yet and would like a chance, click *HERE* and leave a comment!

Home Sweet Home

We are home from our mini-getaway to the mountains! It's a wonder how slow-paced the days seem to be when there is no rushing about, no phones ringing, and no blogs to attend to or emails to read.

After a delicious family gathering at my parents' home for a backyard barbeque, we were welcomed with this wonderful surprise! My herbs are just starting to sprout! Here is the pot of basil the girls helped me plant a few weeks ago!



We have Oregano, Italian Parsley and Chives growing also! Mmm.. can't wait to use some fresh herbs in our summertime dishes!

I also got the pleasure of being mentioned in a blog I frequent often, Nature's Child. Over the weekend, Cate Nelson wrote a great piece titled Use Your Kind Words. Check it out and subscribe! They post a ton of great articles!

In other happenings, SewMamaSew is hosting a May Giveaway that starts tomorrow! There will be some handmade goodies up for grabs so make sure to check back on SewMamaSew's blog tomorrow for the list of participants!



Due to my weekend away, I may have missed the deadline for becoming an entrant but I am hoping to slip onto the bottom of that list to be part of this great creative giveaway! Keep your fingers crossed!