Magic wands , originally uploaded by byjen . So life's been crazy here but really that's no different than usual. I'd like to say things should be settling down, but I'm realizing that's not really true. We are just a few short weeks from the start of the school year. And then before you know it, it will be fall. I can't tell you how excited I am about the fall. I love the crisp, cool Sunday afternoons with football on in the background. Or baking with apples and pears. I love the smells of nutmeg and cinnamon. Or decorating for Halloween and planning Rebecca's birthday parties (she's a Halloween baby). And then Thanksgiving... And then CHRISTMAS!! I absolutely adore Christmas time. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but it's hard not to when you set foot in stores like JoAnn's with their fall decorations or Wal-mart with it's school supplies. But even with all the excitement ahead, I wouldn't mind a little bit of simple first. So I

Birth Day , originally uploaded by byjen . My baby girl is 3 years old today (yes, her birthday party was early)! I can't believe how fast time flies.

Dream Big , originally uploaded by byjen . "All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." ~Walt Disney Have a great weekend everyone. Next week I hope to share just a bit more princess from Kat's party. And I'm thinking some Christmas in July would be fun, so make sure to visit me here and on Etsy for the holiday fun.

Dress Cookies , originally uploaded by byjen . One of the many princess things we made for Katherine's party was dress cookies. We had cupcakes, but Rebecca really wanted to make these, too. We used a dress cookie cutter from an American Girl dessert book that she found and fell in love with months ago. She loves girly dresses and she loves desserts, so it's the perfect combination. We decorated our dresses using royal icing squeezed from Wilton squeeze bottles . I can't tell you what a great find these bottles were. Bags and even other squeeze bottles have been hard for the girls to manage (especially Katherine), but with the Wilton bottles both girls can easily decorate the cookies. Christmas cookies should be fun.

Katherine's 3rd Bday Party , originally uploaded by byjen . We had Katherine's 3rd birthday party this past Sunday and it was a great success! I hope to share more, but I am pooped. Poor Katherine ended her big party day with a fever, that just now went away this morning. So we need some extra sleep at our house, but unfortunately today's a work day. Soon we'll get some sleep....I hope.

L ast night I got a little bit burnt out on princess party prep (yesterday was house cleaning stage, not my favorite), so I decided to take the night off and watch a little bit of TV after the girls went to bed. Earlier in the week I had already managed to watch my usual summer stuff, the Next Food Network Star and HGTV Design Star , so I had to hunt for something to watch. Well I ended up watching the first half of the Hannah Montana Movie . Now I am not a Miley Cyrus fan or a Hannah Montana fan. I mean have never watched an episode of Hannah Montana. But I seem to be a sucker for tween/teen movies. I love the Princess Diaries (especially the second one) and I even enjoy the High School Musicals , but normally I would never admit this. I think I'm drawn to the innocence of these movies. And the music. I do love musicals. I guess these movies are the closest we get to musicals nowadays, other than Moulin Rouge  (which I loved as well). Nonetheless, I would classify these movies a

If you asked me, I would have to say I am not that good with words. Spoken. Written. Doesn't matter. It is surprising to me at times since I'm a rather sensitive and emotional person. I would think I should be able to express myself through words better. But I don't. In fact sometimes it's downright uncomfortable for me to find the right words. If I take a look at my family though it makes sense. I believe I've said this here before, but we're more of an express-ourselves-through-action kind of family. So it's interesting to me, as I make art, that words almost always find their way into my pieces, whether it be the simplicity of a word in my Word Art or a quote with an image . I do love inspirational words and quotes. Both are simple ways for me to express what I am feeling. Blogging has also been a great exercise for me, too. Having just completed Kelly Rae Robert's Flying Lessons , I've been inspired by many fellow flyers and their blogs. Th

Shhhh (Katherine's birthday present) , originally uploaded by byjen . After the girls went to bed last night I started on a tutu for Katherine's birthday. I hadn't really planned on making her a tutu (although I've always toyed with the idea of making a tutu). But what brought this cute little tutu to be was a chance encounter at JoAnn's the other day. I had the girls with me and we were looking for tulle to use as decoration for our upcoming princess party. And there in the tulle section was a woman filling her basket with all kinds of pink tulle. We started talking and she was making a tutu for herself (she's a in a princess bicycling club). She thought my girls would like the project so she discretely showed me the pattern she was working from (the girls didn't even notice since they were happily playing together). It seemed really doable. So I did a search when I got home and found the exact tutorial here  (and I love the blog discovery, Tea Rose , that

Tom & Abby's Wedding Gift , originally uploaded by byjen . One of my newest creations has safely reached it's new home, so I wanted to share it here. I've owed this to my sister-in-law, Abby, for over a year now, and finally creative inspiration struck and I finished it. I haven't had the chance to talk with Abby, but I've heard she loves it. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, too. I had to rearrange the letters and their names a couple times, but with some input from my daughter Rebecca and my hubby Daniel we got it figured out. I'm glad you like it Abby & Tom =) I'm also excited right now because my younger daughter, Katherine, is turning three later this month so birthday party prep has begun. I'm actually a little surprised to say she's requested a princess party. I've always thought of her as my little Diego, sharks, and dragons fan, but lately a little more girl has been coming out. So prep has begun for a fun princess

July 4th Parade , originally uploaded by byjen .

Dreaming , originally uploaded by byjen . Here we are. July 1st. Can you believe it, another year is halfway through? So am I where I want to be? Yes and no. I suppose that will always be true. But with it being the beginning of the month I think maybe I need to set some goals for the month. As I try to form a list in my head, I realize that a lot of my goals are still the same because I am having difficulty making them happen. Well it's time to " believe " I can make the change necessary to achieve my goals. So what do I wish to achieve this month? 1. Finish reading through all the amazing course material for Flying Lessons , especially the part on time management. Because wouldn't you know it, I am 3 weeks behind. It's so hard not to get distracted by all the lovely websites/blogs and art and books, etc.. 2. Start making a daily list of goals and working on them first before allowing myself to get off task. 3. Start weekly meal planning so that my family a