We Have New Neighbors!

The house across the street from us just sold, and I am so excited to find out that we have some new neighbors moving in... WITH KIDS!!!! Woot Woot! The youngest of the three children is a little boy just a bit older than Charlie! Most people probably don't get as excited as I am right now about new neighbors, but our block is OLD and BORING! No offense to anyone living on my block.... :) I think there might be a younger couple all the way at the other end of the block, but they never socialize with anyone and I couldn't even tell you what they look like. We are pretty close with the neighbors directly next door to us because they are super friendly, have two younger boys, and have welcomed us to the neighborhood ever since we moved in two years ago. They have also been praying that a family with children would move in across the street, so when we found out the good news, we were all ecstatic! Time to start recruiting for a block party!

I was dying to meet the new neighbors so I decided to make a little "Welcome to the Neighborhood" gift. After doing some research on Pinterest, I decided to just fill a bucket with a ton of household cleaning supplies (things we all need around the house). Some of the other ideas were to bake something, but we all know how my cooking skills are. Luckily, I found all of the (name brand!) items from the dollar store (The Dollar Tree), except the wine! I found a cute little printable tag on Pinterest, and voila! A fabulous "Welcome to the Neighborhood" gift! :)

Click here for the free "Welcome to the Neighborhood" printable tag!

(In case you were curious, the new neighbors are SO nice, and loved the gift!)

My Fabulous DIY Boxwood Wreath!

So I have ALWAYS wanted a boxwood wreath for our front door. I think they just look so fresh, and go with pretty much any season! When I realized how much they were, I begged Peter to at least plant a boxwood bush in our font yard when we fixed it up last Fall. That didn't happen. So on to plan B! I did a ton of research and finally built up the courage (and energy) to make one myself! I know, I know. "You're a DIYer! Why wasn't that your Plan A?" That's what you're thinking right? I don't know! I have no answers for that! I do not have a green thumb, I kill every plant that anyone ever leaves me responsible for, so maybe the whole "greenery" topic of conversation scared me a little when thinking about making this myself. Anyways, I just went for it! And I think it turned out pretty darn fabulous if I do say so myself! ;) Here was my plan of action....

First, I grabbed an old grapevine wreath I had in the basement. It had some red berries on it and I kind of just ripped them off. :) I did see these at Hobby Lobby for $4.99 and I'm sure you could even get one at Walmart. You might even want to take a chance and try The Dollar Tree! They might have a wire one that would work just as well.

Next I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and went to both the "floral section" and the "greenery/bushes section". Hobby Lobby has some kind of rotation where different sections in the store are half off. During this trip, the floral section was NOT half off, but the greenery/bushes was! I found these boxwood garland bunches for $11.99 each bunch, but since they were half off, they came to 6 bucks each! I bought four bunches to start, and figured I could always return some if I didn't use it all. Just for reference, the code on the tag  is 473942.

Once I spread out my bunches, I basically just stuck one in the wreath and started securing it with these green twist ties. The twist ties were actually harder to find than I thought since most garbage bags now a days have the pull string in them. Our local Jewel doesn't even carry twist ties! I was pretty much freaking out last night in the grocery store at 10:30pm because I really really really wanted to get this wreath DONE! Once I calmed down, I thought to walk over to the floral section and see if they had any kind of green floral wire. On my way there, I passed the produce section... Ding! Ding! Ding! They have these green twist ties for the produce! Duh! :) Now don't go around saying I stole these or anything... When we go grocery shopping we NEVER use the twist ties. We just tie up our bags in a little knot. So I was simply taking all of the twist ties that we never took in the past. :) I'm sure hot glue would be just as sufficient, but I wanted to use twist ties just in case for some crazy reason I decided to take it down and make a new one in the future. I didn't like the commitment of the hot glue... :)

I probably could have just used three bunches, but I wanted a really full effect so I ended up using all four bunches of boxwood. 

Once all the boxwood was attached to the wreath, I came across a bit of a problem when I tried to pick it up! It got a little "droopy" and I didn't like how a lot of the ends were hanging. Solution, you ask? I hung it on the door and used a couple more twist ties to secure the loose "droopy" ends until I was satisfied!

It's still a little droopy, but I kind of love it just like this! As a final touch, I bought some burlap ribbon and made a nice big bow to attach to it! (from Hobby Lobby, also 50% off! So it was only $2.50 for the roll.) In my head I was imagining a linen textured ribbon that has wire along the  edges to make it easier to create the bow and keep it in place, but this will do!

Now I just need to decide which side the bow should stay on! Suggestions? I'm leaning towards the right....  ;)

Updated on September 5th, 2013...

And the winner is.... drum roll please....

The bow on the right! :) 

Thanks for all of your input via email, Facebook, and Instagram!

Father's Day 2013

So for this past Father's Day, I wanted to make it extra special and from the heart! My husband works SO hard just so I can be a stay at home mommy (teaching, coaching, summer pool manager at a Country Club) and I wanted to show him how much we (I) appreciate everything he does for our little family! :) SOOOOO I thought I would throw him a Father's Day Fiesta since he just LOVES Mexican food! I decorated the house with streamers, a piñata, dressed Charlie and I in sombreros and ponchos (Charlie's was made from a bandana with a hole cut in the middle), played some mariachi band music,  and of course I had authentic Mexican food delivered from a little place down the street! Don't judge. I don't cook. :) Here are some pics from our little fiesta!

On to the presents! Charlie was obviously too young to make anything himself for his Daddy, so I took the liberty of creating something WITH him. :) We did a little photo shoot in Daddy's clothes! 

Last of all, we went to the Father's Day 5K, an annual fundraiser at the school Peter teaches at. What a difference a year makes! Last year the little peanut was still in my tummy! :) 

Charlie James

Boy have I dropped the ball when it comes to writing on this blog! Oops! :) I'm going to try my hardest to start putting up more posts! It has just been SO crazy busy since Baby P. arrived! Quick update: we had a boy! Charles (Charlie) James Przekota! He is the sweetest baby ever! I know, you think I'm being biased because I'm his mommy... But I swear! He rarely cries, he's been sleeping THROUGH THE NIGHT since the night he came home from the hospital in his own crib, eats like a champ, and always has a smile! Ill post some pictures below, and most likely brag some more about him tomorrow! ;) I'm so in love with this kid! (He's now 9 1/2 months, but I'll add a bunch from newborn stage to now.)