Brown Palace, anyone?

This last weekend before we were in the throws of a brand new school year, the book club girls got together for afternoon tea at the Brown Palace. It is one of Denver's oldest and super fanciest hotels. Every day from noon until 4 they have this amazing tea service. We got the works, fruity champagne, truffles, hibiscus lavender tea, pomegranate infused green tea, cucumber sandwiches, tiny little strawberry cheesecakes with edible gold. For a bunch of tiny food, I sure did not eat another bite of anything for the rest of the day, It was very filling! I wish I would have taken some pics of the food it, it was so pretty!

All the girls!

Me and my Mum! She even dressed up!

Adriane, the women with all of the ideas for fun things to do!

The lobby where the tea is held.

View from the 6th story balcony.

The book we read was called The Lifeboat, I am embarrassed to say that it actually my suggestion that we read it. It was horrible! 

Worst. Book. Ever.

I read about half of this book before I quit. I got it used on amazon for $1 plus shipping, not even worth the $1. It's about this lady who marries a guy with money and they are on the way across the Atlantic to meet his family. (Who does not know he married this women) The boat sinks and 40 people end up in a lifeboat with a crew member who helps them survive. People die off, left and right for no apparent reason. It's just really super depressing and kind of a gross to read about what happens to them for 14 days at sea. I just could not bring myself to actually finish the story. Life is too short to read crappy books. Better luck next month!

What I wore Wednesday, back to school!

This week has been a whirl wind! I mean crazy, meetings, meetings, meetings, unpack my room, meetings, move furniture, meetings, clean, more meetings... I could go on.

The first day with students was on Tuesday and I was so ready. Teachers spend so much time prepping and getting ready for kids, it's nice to jump in and meet everyone. I think it is going to be an amazing year. I have a student teacher for the first time and she is already awesome, I can't wait to see how things go for both of us. She is in a special program where "residents" are earning their masters and teachers licenses. It is a very intense full year process. I don't think I would make it through this program!

I never know how to dress for the beginning of the year, my school is fairly laid back dress code wise, but I like to dress up, I have tried to find a happy medium that is something like this...

I wore this to plan for the first week of school and have brunch with one of my favorite ladies in the whole school!

Chevron top: Very Jane

Denim capris: Forever 21

Necklace: Forever 21

Flip flops: Old Navy

I wore this to a training for my Boettcher resident student teacher.

Grey Tee: Thrifted from the Gap

Skirt: Old Navy, super old

Sandals: Target

I was running like a chicken with my head cut off this weekend, just trying to get stuff for my classroom and for my family that I knew I would not have time for this super busy coming week!

Top: Thrifted

Cut  offs: Made by me, from some old paint jeans with holes.

Flip flops: Old Navy

Last weekend we had a date night out with Brien's brother and my sister in law. They picked some really cool restaurants and bars in a neighborhood that I didn't even know existed. We probably stayed out too late, but it was so nice to be out and with each other, it was worth it!

Dress: Thrifted

Sandals: Target

I had to go to another training for our student teacher program. I am so thankful for the guidance they have given us to help, not only our students but our residents and ourselves too!

Dress: Target, old

Necklace: Very Jane

Sandals: Target

Who knew yellow was a neutral?

I sure did not know when I purchased these $5 shorts from Target that I would get so much use out of them! I have dressed them up and down, wore them to school (for work days) and running around in the heat doing errands and they are comfy and so bright and fun!

Dressed up!

Tank: Thrifted

Sequin sandals: Target

Casual!

Tee: Old Navy

Flip flops: target

Work day at school!

Top: Thrifted

Sandals: Target

Necklace: Very Jane

Make something Monday: Signs are my jam!

Last week on my last precious days with my amazing children we made... you guessed it signs! I have learned a thing or two over the years about how to make a good sign. For my inspiration I had these two lovely ideas...

Hobby Lobby $30 even with half off, no thank you.

and this little number that I just knew we could make!

So I ventured to the garage and found two pieces of wood that were the same size. I think they were left overs from the cabinets Brien used on our entertainment center, either way they were free and in good shape!

Callie and I each painted one. I decided to make a wash again using super watered down paint that we already had and did two coats on each piece of wood.

White...

and grey...

We had some lunch and let those puppies dry. Then I printed out the wording that I wanted to use for the signs. Here's a little trick that I picked up along the way... Print out your lettering and then trace it on the wood you are using with a pen. The pen pushes into the wood and leaves an outline of the words, how easy is that???!!!

For the grey sign I cut out a heart, traced, painted and let it dry!

For my white sunshine sign, I painted a little sun in the corner, you know what I am talking about, like a kindergartner does. Then the kiddos let me paint their feet and we pressed it on the wood. Kellen was a little challenging because he has super ticklish feet and we both ended up a yellow mess! His feet were not quite so neat, but hey, we were making memories!

Now I just had to trace and paint my lettering!

Here is the finished product, I love how they turned out!

All hung up and lookin' cute!

Thrifty finds last month

This month was another pretty swell month in the bargain department. I like to shop the thrift store on Fridays right before they put out all the good stuff for the weekend rush....

Target shorts: $5 on clearance! These have already made the rotation many times!

Navy J. Crew sheer blouse

Pink lace top Forever 21

Blue striped top, I don't know where this brand is from

Neon yellow Gap t-shirt

Navy and maroon Target pencil skirt

Polka dot Target khaki shorts, for Callie, I wish they had these in the grown up section!

3 new shirts and a pair of pants for the baby man.

Necklaces: Charming Charlies $8!

What's cookin' Wednesday: Monster cookie dough dip

A couple of weeks ago, we made a cherished favorite, monster cookie dip. We don't dip anything in it, we just eat it with a spoon. I justify that it is healthy because there is oatmeal and I used 1/3 fat cream cheese, that counts as healthy right??

Here is the original recipe

You need:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 fat)

½ cup butter, slightly softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups rolled oats or quick oats (I didn't use all of the oats, I just added until I liked the consistency)

1/2 package plain mini M&Ms

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Use an electric mixer or the kitchen aid to mix the cream cheese, peanut butter and regular butter together.

Next add in the powdered sugar a little at a time. 
Mix in the brown sugar and vanilla.
Slowly add in the flour and oats until the texture is to your liking.
Then, fold in the candy and chocolate chips.

We ate on this batch for a few days. The first day, I ate so much, I think I made myself sick, but it was worth it! 

The last of summer fun

One more precious day with my babies, how does this happen?!! For the past few weeks we have been soaking up the fun!

The neighborhood block party was a blast!

Performing science experiments with tums and sprite, it was interesting to say the least.

Callie tried out daddy's guns, she is good shot like her mama!

We drove by all of the landmarks in my OLD neighborhood. Here is the first house my parents lived in when I was a baby, it has seen better days!

Some one cut off all of her lovely hair, she looks so much more grown up!

Callie dug out her build-a-bear and we found out it was Rainbow Butterfly's birthday, that day. So, we had to have a party.

We are finally getting back to work on the backyard, little by little. Hello mulch, good bye dirt pit.

A much needed night out in Lo-Hi, kidless and wandering downtown!