Category Archives: my pad

birthday balloon surprise

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birthday balloon surprise
I can’t say Tessa was overly subtle about us making a BIG deal about her 16th birthday, so the challenge was ON to make it a special one. I’m happy to say Steve & I were quite successful in throwing a fun & memorable party for a dozen of high school aged kids (not bad for jumping into parenthood starting with a 15 year old ;-)  – CHECK Tessa is also joining us for .
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minute to win it party

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minute to win it party
The holiday season is so crazy around the stores, we schedule our staff celebration in January.  This year we thought it would be fun to put together our very own minute to win it party.  I promised there wouldn’t be any video… but couldn’t resist sharing a few still shots of our talented team in action. We had 3 different teams compete in 9 different events for fun prizes. First up – Breakfast Scramble: .
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til’ next year ~ christmas

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til’ next year ~ christmas
Another thing on my to-do list for December was to give a little holiday house tour on the blog.  So… 15 minutes before the start of our New Year’s Eve party I zipped around the house & captured a few shots of our festive  abode. One of the many things I love about the Christmas season is the cozy ambiance it creates in our home.  All the extra lights & baubles just makes me .
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joy, peace & love to all

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joy, peace & love to all
Wishing all our firefly fans laughter & joy (our first ‘family photo card’ with our German exchange student, Tessa who has brought much joy & fun into our lives) peace, (image via the lonely heart) and love this holiday season. I love this song & the uplifting lyrics… Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air I know I can count on you Sometimes I feel like saying “Lord I just .
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tree of gratitude

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tree of gratitude
Typically Steve & I travel to West Michigan for all holidays since both of our families are there, but since we’re hosting an exchange student &  recently  had our kitchen remodeled our family is coming down to Detroit for Thanksgiving this year. I don’t get to host family functions that often so I wanted to create something out of the ordinary to celebrate this day of gratitude. So I put together this PDF that .
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kaiserschmarren

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kaiserschmarren
Tessa, our German exchange student gave us this lovely German cook book upon her arrival this fall and we broke it in for the first time when she invited her friends from the international club over for some breakfast dinner. Here’s what ya need for 2 servings… 4 eggs 1 cup flour 1 pinch salt 1 tsp vanilla 7 oz of whipping cream or milk 1/3 cup raisins cooking oil powdered sugar fruit preserves .
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gettin’ it done diy style

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gettin’ it done diy style
As Danielle & Dena, our store managers & the rest of their elves are busy turning catching fireflies into a winter wonderland, I’m spending all my time at the studio playing photographer & graphic designer for a.i paper design. Now… real photographers – don’t laugh at me until you’ve tried to shoot 4 to 6 frames with plexi-glass in one setting without getting obvious glares.  I even asked one of our Yellow Door gals .
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Our German Daughter Arrives in 4 days!

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Our German Daughter Arrives in 4 days!
So… a couple of our friends hosted exchange students last year & really enjoyed the experience.  I always thought that exchange student programs were for parents with high school aged children but it turns out that host families can range from single adults to empty nesters to families with kids of any age. After my friend said goodbye to her Chinese daughter this June, she decided to become a volunteer coordinator for Youth For .
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kitchen makeover 99% complete

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kitchen makeover 99% complete
                                          I’m happy to say, I can bake a cake, wash a dish & boil pasta again in our snazzy new kitchen.  Now we just await our new smaller dining table & chairs, then we’ll do a little house tour of our cozy home soon. Like seeing what’s happening at my home?  Then sign .
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kitchen makeover… getting closer

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kitchen makeover… getting closer
As I mentioned in a previous post, our home has been under construction for the past month… but things are really starting to take shape quickly.  It’s quite something how just removing a few walls drastically changes the feel our of cozy cape cod Next comes the paint, subway tile, countertops & lighting… Stay tuned… Craving a face lift around your home?  We’ve been very pleased with Vincent James Construction. Like seeing what’s happening .
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