Hot Air Balloons + Photography Problems

First up, anyone else suffer from this problem?

I see something cool or take pictures of my kids {or any random event}, download them on my computer, and I have literally 300+ pictures to sort through, edit, and prepare for blogging or Facebook sharing.

Let's be honest...I don't have that kind of time and/or attention span.  Clearly I need to find a balance.  Either that or a nanny.

So here are some unedited {gasp} pictures from a hot air balloon we went to a few weeks ago.

The whole thing was so funny.  My mom and I heard about the competition, and the website said there were daily launches at 7am and 7pm.  It's about 45 minutes from my parents' 'lake place', so we decided to shoot for the 7am {my kids are morning peeps} launch.

We asked a few different people where to go, and no one had a clue.  So we just drove around and around, basically chasing the balloons around the whole town.  You know, like crazy people.  By the time we have initiated this awesome plan, the balloons were up in the air.  We did get to see them land, though, which was cool.

So we decided to come back for the evening event.  We got what turned out to be wrong information {again!!}, and as we were sitting in the car, all unbuckled, waiting for it to start, my mom saw a hot air balloon basket driving down the road.

I launched that Honda Odyssey into drive and off we went.  My mom scurried in back to buckle the littles.  It was an exciting few minutes.  We ended up in a field, and before we knew it, there were over 100 hot air balloons preparing to launch.  Seriously cool.

As it turned out, it was an international competition.  I pestered a volunteer until he gave me some more information.  There are several flight patterns that they have to follow in air {all monitored by computer}, and the ones that do the best and land closest to the specified spot are the winners.

And here I thought they were just for looks.

Little Dude's First Birthday Party

Since the Sunbean's 4th birthday party is coming up on Saturday {a big hello kitty bash...obviously her choice, not mine}, I figured I'd better blog about the dude's party.

I know I'm all I-don't-share-my-kids'-names-on-here, but I can't really share details of the party without you mostly likely figuring it out.  Just please don't stalk us, mmmmkay?

The "Oh Henry!" candy bar was the theme for our little shin-dig.  I, of course, completely went overboard with the use of theme colors. 

The streamers were really easy...I cut circles and sewed them in a line.  Love how they turned out!

Those cute little pinwheel toppers?  A pain in the rear to make. 

In keeping with the 'henry' theme {just coincidence, you know}, we found some Henry's root beer and also got some root beer and cream soda from Trader Joe's.

This guy was an old pro at the cake smash by then, but he still loved it.  And managed to look adorable.

And as a bonus, Groucho Marx made a guest appearance.  Groucho had quite an obsession with the Resee's Pieces.

A fun little party for our fun little boy!

A Smashing Good Time {Part Two}

Remember this post?

I'm finally getting around to editing and posting some photos from this summer.  Here are the pictures from Little Dude's cake smash.  It was so, so fun.  He is just so fun.

Love this boy.

Two Facts

1. We finally have internet.  We moved a loooooong month ago.  I didn't realize how dependent I was on the internet!  I haven't been reading blogs at all, and I feel out-of-the-loop.  I'm ready to see what everyone is up to!

2. This darling girl is 4, and I love her so much.

Thurlby-licious

Do you know about Paul Thurlby?  Am I just super late to this party?  I stumbled across a link on Pinterest for one thing or another, and 20 minutes later I was on some random blog {you know how it goes} and I saw some work by Paul Thurlby.

I fell in love.  I just love the perfect mix of whimsy, modern lines, and vintage inspiration.  I love everything on his site.  I ended up using some of the alphabet cards to make some artwork for Little Dude's new room {we have the kids in their own rooms now}, and it turned out so darling.  I'll have to share once the room is put together completely.

If you like this kind of stuff, you've got to spend a few minutes looking through his portfolio.  It's inspiring.

Grateful Sunday

Well, helllllllo!

Long time no talk!  I think I'll just mush together a large brain dump + grateful post + update.  Mmmmmmkay?

love this face.

• We're getting settled in our house!  It's so fun to move back into a house that you love.  For starters, everything is the way I like it.  I love the carpet, fixtures, and paint colors.  Also, I know where everything goes.  I know what works.  It's easy to unpack.
• Speaking of packing, I didn't have to do it.  Working with relo was so awesome.  We lucked out with a fantastic moving team.  Two young guys that loved my kids.  They were super friendly and packed and labeled everything wonderfully.  It was the same guys that packed, drove, and unpacked.  We made sure to feed them a steady stream of Starbucks, pizza, water, gatorade to keep them on our side.  The Sunbean has been asking about them ever since.
• It's weird + nice to be back in our ward.  MacGyver had two callings by the second week...haha. I'm still slipping under the radar....no complaints here.  I did sub in nursery today, which was fun and tiring.
• In just under a year, our ward has changed a ton!  Tons of new families our ward our age.
• I'm working on a new modest fashion blog with my {internet} friend.  I'm getting excited about it.
• Little Dude is so funny these days.  He's getting bigger by the second.  It is so wonderful going from a three-level townhouse to a one-level home.  I can pretty much let him run free.  And a backyard {with a great view} for him to run in....it's fantastic.
• Oh!  And I got a new lens for my camera.  It's a 50mm.  So fun.  I love how much I can crank up the ISO and still get great pics.  I'll be taking some pics of the Sunbean this week, and I'm excited to put it to use.
• I'm taking her pics because her birthday is next Sunday.  I can't believe it!
• Right now, I'm sitting at the lake with a view of the water and the Olympics, while blogging on my computer via my mom's hotspot.  It's a great blend of nature and technology.  
• I'm just so thankful we've had a pretty easy transition so far.  Life is good!