Honey Pie's Can be Boys Too!

I just received some new pictures of little boys that are wearing their Honey Pie gear! I love when my customers share photos, and I had to share these handsome men with y'all! GG works with Gunnar's mom. She requested that we make him an applique' #1 shirt for his 1st birthday! I sent it to GG who monogrammed his name across it and she made him his matching birthday hat! I think GG is going to have to add these hats to her collection!

Gunnar shared his 1st birthday with an older cousin, but because this post is dedicated to boys, and because I don't know her mother, I didn't steal that picture from facebook! I assure you though, her matching #5 applique shirt and hair bow were adorable!

And check out Andrew meeting Santa for the 1st time! He's wearing a reindeer applique' shirt, and I know that you can't see it very well- his mom offered another photo instead- I couldn't turn down the cuteness of Andrew and Santa!

Ace was all decked out for Thanksgiving in his custom made turkey shirt! I hope he didn't gobble too much food and get a tummy ache that day! Isn't he handsome?!

Thanks again momma's for sharing these photos and proving that HPA is not just for little girls!

Football Banquet

We had our annual fotball banquet this afternoon and managed to snap a picture of our family for our Christmas cards!

Thanks to my posts about Shutterfly last week I saved 104.00 on our cards! I usually order simple cards with 1 picture, but, since they were free, I went all out and decked out the inside of the card with pictures throughout the year~ I'm so excited to receive them!

The banquet today was enjoyable. I loved the food, but maybe that was because I'm almost 15 weeks pregnant! My mom purchased a few maternity clothes for me when she was in Branson a few weeks ago- check out this awesome brown sweater dress she bought me! It was so comfortable and I might have to throw it in the washer so I can wear it again this week! It's much more comfortable then my non-maternity pants being held up by the bella band!

Have you ever taken your kids to a banquet or a nice dinner? As a parent, you know that you have to be prepared- snacks, quiet toys, potty breaks, etc. When DJ and I came home we immediately agreed that we'd be getting Gretchen a babysitter next year!

The banquet was a nice end to our season (as it usually is). And, if you know anything about our personal lives, you know that there are some possible upcoming changes to our football family. Every 2 years, there's a change- at least that's what our record has been for DJ and myself. I'm praying for the families that might have to move and that are having big changes in their own lives. I'm also praying that God will be with our own family and that we can avoid any changes that aren't his intentions for us.

christmas card09

Little Christmas Christmas

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly

Have you visited Shutterfly lately? I recently ordered Gretchen’s birthday invitations from there and I’m so excited to receive them! I looked on so many sites to find the perfect invitation, and I finally found what I was looking for on Shutterfly!

Not only does Shutterfly offer custom photo invitations, but they also offer personalized gifts! Anyone thinking about what to get the in-laws?

How about a custom calendar with your kids pictures? This is a gift they’re sure to love and you know they’ll use it every month of the year! You can find their calendars here: http://www.shutterfly.com/

Maybe they’d prefer a coffee mug instead? Pair it with their favorite coffee shop gift card and you have a perfect gift! I love that you can put your kids photos on these, too! You can find them here: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs

Is your husband a computer junkie? Buy him a personalized mouse pad for him to keep at work and you’ll always be on his mind! You can find them here: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/mouse-pads

Do you have an aunt that is a frequent flier? Purchase her a luggage tag with a favorite picture! She’ll easily be able to find her suitcase at the luggage belt! You can find them here: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/luggage-tag

Seriously, did you know that Shutterfly had this much to offer? You might also be interested in their desk organizers, personalized playing cards, puzzles, custom made books, notepads, t-shirts, tote bags, or ornaments! You’ll find the perfect gift!

Have you ordered your Christmas cards? Simply upload a family photo to Shutterfly, customize your card, and place your order! Shutterfly will even mail your cards for you!

Here are a few of my favorite:
~ http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/send-holiday-cheer-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93476
~ http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/royal-elegance-christmas-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93476
~ http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/dear-santa-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93476

We’ve used Shutterfly the last 2 years for our Christmas cards. I also use them because they offer unlimited storage of your photos! Probably my most favorite item is there photobooks. Rather than ordering individual prints, I place the prints into a custom book, so everything is neatly compiled and I don’t have albums or loose photos to figure out how to store! We order one every year for Gretchen’s birthday and for our family vacation! Gretchen loves to pull them out and look at them!

Turkey Day 2010

Our family was able to stay at home this Thanksgiving; which, was a relief to not have to travel anywhere for the first time in 3 years! DJ's dad and step-mom were able to come up from Arkansas, so we easily spent a relaxing Thanksgiving at home and on our own schedule!

I don't think I could've asked for a more enjoyable day! We started off the day by watching the Macy's parade- one of my favorite traditions as a kid! And, then we started on my grandma's homemade rolls.

These were my most favorite thing to eat as a child and I use to love when she made them! I would help her to mix the dough, and then, I'd sneak into the kitchen and steal a pinch while they were rising! I decided that I wanted to make them for the very first time on my own! Thankfully, my grandma kept her phone close by her, because I called at least 5 times! And, look below- they turned out perfectly!!! We even had plenty to freeze!

I was so excited when I found Gretchen a smocked dress to wear on Turkey day! This one came from Lolly Wolly Doodle- if you haven't found them on facebook, it's a must! I think Gretchen enjoyed that her daddy was home with us!

I left my mother-in-law in charge of cooking the turkey and dressing! I knew it was the most important part and I was not going to mess it up!

I wonder how many people it takes to get a turkey out of the roaster?

After filling up on a turkey dinner, we settled in to watch a movie! I think we had a movie night every single night while they visited, and Gretchen enjoyed staying up late and snuggling on the floor beside Bailey!

I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving.... who's ready for Christmas?!

Tutorial: Thanksgiving Placemats

We're hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house this week, so I decided that it would be fun for Gretchen to make us some Thanksgiving placemats. Last week I let her choose one color of construction paper and she colored all over it. Then, I traced her hand. I cut out five handprints.

Above you can see the supplies that we used. I made turkeys out of her handprints that we made a few nights before. On brown construction paper, I drew a peanut shape and cut those out. Gretchen attached one peanut shape to one hand- her hand served as the turkey feathers. I also printed out Thanksgiving clip-art (stickers would work too), and thanks to the die cut machine at work, I cut out leaves and turkeys.

Gretchen was given a large piece of brown construction paper. I let her choose which clip art she wanted to add. She also added her hand print turkey, a leaf, and another turkey die cut.

She had lots of fun putting these together! To keep it fairly mess free, I placed the glue on the back of the picture.

And, these are the finished placemats! I'm going to take them to work this week and laminate each of them. I figured that my in-laws could take theirs home, or if it does get messy, that we can just toss them!

These placemats were a great activity to teach her about Thanksgiving, and to give her something hands on to do while I cooked dinner!

New Bottlecap Bows!

I've finally had some ime over the last few weeks to work on some new hair bows! I've been swamped with shirt orders, and honestly, I still am, but I wanted to show off a few of my new hair bows! Okay, the first is not a bottlecap, but isn't the snowman adorable? This snowman bow was a custom order, and I'm glad it's not a typical Christmas one because, it can be worn for so many more months!

I had someone request a bunch of Princess Tiana items, so I went ahead and ordered the bottlecap. I'm fairly certain the larger order is going to fall through, but I loved the bottlecap, so thought I'd go ahead and make the bow, so others could have a chance to purchase! I love that the bottlecap has a sparkling effect. It's set on top of a purple boutique bow, a purple spray, and a large lime green boutique bow.

Is your little girl a mommy's girl? She'll love this hair bow! The "mommy's girl" bottlecap is set on top of white ribbon, that says "mommy's girl" in pink formed into a twisted boutique bow. The larger bow is light pink, hot pink, and lime green- which, matches the bottlecap perfectly! The spray underneath is made of the same "mommy's girl" ribbon!

If you're interested in purchasing any of the bottlecap hair bows they are $8.00 each plus shipping. And, I know have an updated facebook url- add it to your favorites!!! www.facebook.com/HoneyPieAccessories

If you haven't joined HPA on Facebook, you'll want to ASAP!!! I offer give aways, discounts, deals & steals, and so many more specials that you won't want to miss!

1st Ultrasound

Last week we went in for the sequential screening and were able to see our baby for the first time!

The sequential screen is basically an ultrasound and blood draw, just to see if there is a possibility that the baby may have a genetic disorder. They measure the nasal bone, search for opening and closing hand of the hand, and look at the folds of the neck.

We honestly have the screening done, so we can have an early ultrasound, as it's not typical in my doctor's office to have one until the 20 week mark.

The baby's hearbeat was in the 170s, which was exactly where Gretchen's was at this point. If you look in the picture, you can see a hand and a leg.

I have my 13 week visit next Monday, and we should be able to hear the heartbeat again.

At this point, I had to purchase a few shirts in a size bigger, as I'm still too small for maternity clothes, but my regular shirts are getting a bit snug (plus, I'm a bit bored with the same clothes!) My bella band is coming in very handy, as I can no longer fit into my "fat" jeans, and my work pants, that were a size bigger, are also beginning to get snug. I actually broke down and wore maternity jeans twice this weekend, because the only other jeans that fit were dirty.

As far as morning sickness, I really haven't had any. Every once in a while I gag while brushing my teeth, but that's been it.

I've also gained 3 lbs so far, and i'm hoping that I won't gain the 50 that I gained when I was pregnant with Gretchen. I was able to drag myself to the gym, after being lazy for the last month, and I went 3.5 miles on the elliptical!

I've been craving fast food, but I decided that I needed to limit myself, and purchased tons of fruit at the grocery store last weekend! I also purchased fruit popsicles, which have come in handy, because I'm also craving very cold things!

I'm thankful that we're almost out of the 1st trimester, and excited to find out what we'll be having.... we should find out in January!

Pumpkin Patch

I was able to take Gretchen to the pumpkin patch last weekend! I was glad that we were able to go because it wasn't looking like a possibility in early October. Sadly, DJ wasn't able to go with us because of football season, but Gretchen and I had a fabulous time!

We found a pumpkin patch that offered tons of fun activities for her, as well as a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. Gretchen decided that she wanted to do the maze, and I was glad that it was inside, so we'd be a bit warmer! I was also glad that it wasn't too scary, although Gretchen did get scared at one point! I'm sure she was thinking that she'd never find her way out!

I was able to sneak her coat off of her for a few minutes to snap a few pictures in her Halloween shirt!

She LOVED the hay ride! I would have to say that this was probably her second most favorite activity!

She saw some other kid's taking a picture sitting on a pumpkin, so she had to sit on one too! She kept walking through the pumpkin patch saying, "I want a happy one!" and "They're all my favorite." Needless to say, it took a long time for us to find a happy pumpkin!

We saved, the best for last! The train ride was probably the most fun she had on this day. I was so proud that she rode the train all by herself and didn't get scared at all! I was a little nervous that she'd stand up and try to jump out in the middle of the ride, but she did great, and we had to ride it twice!

Trick-Or-Treat 2010

We had so much fun trick-or-treating Sunday night! I love that as Gretchen is getting older, she is understanding more and more about holidays, what they mean, and that we're building traditions together as a family.

This year, I decided to make her a clown costume! She however, wanted to be a princess, so we compromised and started telling her that she would be a rainbow princess! Thankfully, as Halloween came closer and closer, she accepted the fact that she was a clown! Her clown tutu consisted of rainbow colors of red, purple, orange, yellow, green, and pink. Gretchen picked out all of the colors she wanted. She had red suspenders and a zebra print flower attached! I paired it with a light pink shirt and red leggings! I attached tulle to the bottom of her leggings for "ruffles" on her pants, and made her 2 funky loopy hair bows! We also painted her a small red clown nose!

I made her halloween bucket last year. We went outside a little before trick-or-treat time to get a few pictures.Last year, we saw families with wagons, and thought it was such a great idea! I just remember walking when I was a kiddo, but Gretchen got so tired last year! Thankfully, Gee and Pa, got Gretchen her wagon for Christmas last year, and it came in handy Sunday evening! We were able to trick-or-treat through our entire neighborhood!

We met up with some neighborhood friends and Gretchen had fun trick-or-treating with them!

As the night went on, it became much colder! I'm so glad that I remembered to grab her a pair of gloves, and daddy reminded me to get her a blanket!

Gretchen is telling me that next year, she wants to be a lion! I'm thinking a monkey would be cute with the new baby as a banana! Although, I'm sure that this was the last year that I could decide a costume for her, and that she'll want to be a Disney princess next year!

I hope your kid's all had a great time trick-or-treating and that they're coming down from their sugar highs!