It Came! It Came! A Rug to Match My Shoes!

I might have mentioned a post or two ago that I found a fun new rug for Sweet Bee Cottage.  Well Worker Bee and I decided to use a bit of my etsy money and bit of some Christmas money to buy the rug for our upcoming anniversary.  

And.........it came today!!!!!

And.........it matches my shoes!!!!!

Who knew???

We don't really have time to unroll it and put in place tonight (or probably for the rest of the week) but I couldn't resist taking a peek at it.  Wouldn't you?

I thought you might enjoy a peek too.

Thanks for buzzing by!

Forgive Me Please for Bragging About Baby Bee....But I'm Just So Proud!

Today Baby Bee competed at our county History Day.  She has turned into a bit of a chip off the old block and has become a bit of a ham.  (I probably have not mentioned this before, but I LOVE to speak in front of audiences – after all, I consider my third graders to be a captive audience – and I am definitely a ham.  So is Worker Bee.  Baby Bee did not stand a chance.)

Okay, I digress.  I'll get back on track.

So today was the big competition.  They had won first place at the school district level, but since they were the only entry, they didn't know how good they might actually be.  

She and her group chose to do a group performance.  They wrote their own play, came up with their own props and scenery, and decided what costumes to wear.  Their performance was on the Great Depression and its effect on one family.  I really loved how they ended it with a ray of hope as the economy began to improve and their family's situation began to improve.  

Well their little group ended up being co-champions and will advance to the state History Day!  Oh my goodness I had such butterflies in my stomach as we waited for them to announce the winners.  

Now it means more work and improving upon their project, but what a fantastic experience this is going to be.

Buzz, buuuuuuuzzz, buzz.  That's bee speak for saying thank you for letting a proud Mama brag a bit about her little Baby Bee.  

However Did We Shop Before the Internet?

Most of my adult life I have lived with the internet.  I can still vividly remember the first time my husband and I ventured into eWorld with our brand new Apple Performa computer in 1995.  We were both so nervous about hitting that button that would actually take us............to the internet.

And just look at us now.  Blogging and shopping all over the world!

And now I have to confess.  I've been a bit busy doing a bit of shopping on that wonderful old internet.

Want to see some things in my virtual shopping cart?

source

I found this rug at Home Decorators.  It's an indoor/outdoor rug.  In a recent issue of HGTV magazine (which.....should I confess this......I think I might like better than the network) it mentioned this rug and how great it was.  Right now an 8 foot by 8 foot rug is sitting in my shopping cart.  Will I push that checkout button?  Thinking about it.  I'll let you know.....soon.

source

And then I found this great print over at PB Teen.  

(Is it wrong to love a lot of the things in both PB Teen and PB Kids catalogs?  I am "technically" a grown up, you know.  But you don't disapprove, do you?)

Have you met Katie Daisy yet?  

No? 

What are you waiting for? 

Head on over to her etsy shop to see cards and prints of her bright, cheerful, and whimsical art! 

 (I'll wait here until you get back.  Yes, I'll wait for as long as it takes.  Yes, you might be awhile, but I'll still be here.)

You can find her on her own website too.....Katie Daisy.

  She makes me smile.

So do you!

Thanks for buzzing along with me.  

P.S. We'll have to see if any of these make it home to Sweet Bee Cottage.  

Still Drooling Over More Finds at World Market

Good thing this store is not just down the street from me.  

I would be in BIG TROUBLE!

I really should be working on report cards right now, but blogging is a welcome distraction!

Want to be distracted with me?

Let's check out some of their Easter delights....

Whenever I see carrots I can't help but think of Joyce from Scrap for Joy.  Did you know she collects carrots?  We were in an Easter swap a while back and I was delighted to learn that.  Of course I had a hard time finding carrots at the time - but now they pop up all over the place.  

Aren't these adorable?

 They even have cute little springy wraps for little cakes.

(I couldn't resist the adorable little icing spatula to the right here.)

 Aren't these the sweetest  little egg shaped plates?

And they come in so many pretty colors!

 What are you waiting for?  Go get 'em!  

 If only Baby Bee were still a wee little one.  I would scoop up these plastic plates and glasses in a second.  Don't they have a charming vintage look?

 Oh no!  Hold me back!  I'm feeling the urge to head up to World Market right now.  

Whew!

I think my report cards just saved me (and my budget).

So.....what are you buzzing about?

Thanks for buzzing in!

Nice to see you.

(And thanks for being distracted with me.)

P.S.  I'm afraid I have even more delights to share from World Market!
 Can't help it - I'm buzzin'!

A Baby Bee Beach Bash

Edited to add:  Started this post the night of the slumber party and didn't finish it for a few days.

What a world of difference a 4th grade sleepover is vs. a 6th grade sleepover!  The 6th grade is much easier!

Right now we have 8 girls just hanging out in the sunroom after we brought them in from playing with beach balls in 44º weather in our backyard.  (8 girls screaming in the backyard at 10:30 at night hopefully won't upset our neighbors too much.)

One of the best ideas I borrowed from....well all over the place.....was a photo booth!

I bought some of those $2 tablecloths at the party supply store and we taped them up to the bookcases in the library.

I set up my laptop on a table and they took TONS of pictures.  I picked up a few props from Dollar Tree and the dollar bins at Target and had them handy in a basket in the booth.  

Our living room wicker chairs fit the theme perfectly and they even have apple green pillows on them now to go with the colors.

 We served cherry limeade and lemon-lime soda.  I couldn't resist getting some striped paper straws from Michaels in ------aqua of course.

All the colors were lime green, aqua, and turquoise!

I even found cute little beach pails in lime green at the party store that we filled with treats.

 Decorations were pretty simple this year - just some fun curly cues hanging from the ceiling and I drew a sandy beach on the giant chalkboard.  Pulled together a last minute bunting by adding the phrase Happy Birthday to the adirondack chair tags we made for the invitations.  

Only one craft this year!  YEAH!

We painted those great $1 wooden frames from Michaels with Martha's Beachglass paint and the girls glued shells on them.  

They turned out great!  Sent the photobooth pictures to Walgreens and they were ready in the morning for them.

I have video of the girls all singing along to Adele's Rolling in the Deep as they glued the shells on but I am not allowed to share that with you.  Just trust me when I say it was so sweet and charming.  

Of course we had delicious treats!

My friend SHE-Bee (long story as to her name, but let's just say Baby Bee will get a kick out of it) came over and helped us make cake pops!  

 A veritable forest of cake pops!

 The red ones?  Yeah, those are especially made for me!  (You know how I'm lovin' that red and aqua combo right now!)

Kind of reminds me of The Lorax trees.

 Nighttime beachball volleyball!  Hope the neighbors didn't mind too much!

And now for the morning after.....

It was a wonderful party and a great way to end her elementary school years.  

Next year she is off to middle school with new friends and new interests and I'm so glad we made time for this party to happen.  

My Baby Bee is growing up! (She says both proudly and sadly.)

So glad you're buzzing along with us!

It's a delight to see you.