Ingenious Invites

Hi everyone, I'm back with another crafty creation.
After ya'll bragged on the corner cabinet redo, I couldn't pass up this opportunity to share!

Joseph's thirteenth birthday is coming up soon.
Now that we've decided what kind of party he's having, it's time for me to whip up some invites.
I have always printed my own invites.
Birthdays, Christmas parties, house blessings, etc... all homemade!
Don't get me wrong, I love the look of the professional ones.
I just don't love the price.
Not to mention that I can usually do them so much faster.
So here's what I did.

First, I had to run to the Hobby Lobby for supplies and inspiration.
I found my background paper on the clearance isle... SCORE!!!
At 35 cents per 12x12 page I bought all they had.
I'd rather have too much than too little. (is that just a southern thing?)
Since the background was so busy I decided to print the invite on white card stock.
Card stock is a must have at my house, so we'll count it as free.
Good deal, so far we're only a couple of dollars into this.
Next I found these adorable "Spare Parts" brads.
They were $2.99 for a pack of 50.


Last but not least James picked out the aqua colored envelopes.
They were in a 12 count pack for $2.99.


Phase two was the fun part!
Luckily I remembered to take pictures.
I just love a tutorial with pictures!

It took me a little while to come up with the wording.
I looked online at tons of invitations for ideas.
Once I decided on my wording I typed and printed my invites.
Luckily I was using the card stock that I own in bulk.
So, when Joseph said that "slumber party" was too girly it was easy to change to "sleep over" and reprint!
I printed them 2 per page and trimmed them down to size.
I trimmed the background paper as well.
Using my industrial strength paper trimmer helped the job to go fast.


Next I rounded all the corners with my handy dandy corner rounder.
Oh how I love to round corners!
Then I lined up the invites and punched holes in the top corners.
Finally, I attached the card stock to the background papers with the colored brads.


There you have it, ingenious invites.

Voila!!! :D

And just look at how proud these sweet boys are of their crafty mama!

Just Say NO!

In a morning conversation...

James: head down asleep at the table
Mama: James, wake up and eat your breakfast baby.
James: I don't WANNA go to school today.
Mama: But James, today's your field trip to the High School.
James: no response
Mama: in my most optimistic voice, You get to see the drama club perform a play today!!!
James: looking me right in the eye, Can't we JUST SAY NO?!!
Mama: Umh, no! :D
Joseph: who was solemnly eating his breakfast, now perks up and smiles.

Gotta love breakfast with the Hinsons. ;>

Have a great day everyone and remember,
when life pushes you too far...
Just Say NO!!!

Not Me Monday Part 9...

Hi everyone, happy Not Me Monday...
the day where anything can and will happen.
This Monday was thankfully uneventful.
I worked with Andy, did some cleaning and even took the boys to the gym for a workout and swimming.
I had bathed James and he was shaving (with a pretend kit, promise!).
As I was fixing dinner I heard Joseph yell, "Mama come look at this!"
Here's what I did not find...

Apparently Joseph and James were horsing around.
Which led to Joseph falling into the tub on top of James.
You can see Joseph is still in his swimsuit!
Happy Not Me Monday!!! ;>

Painted Wood Party

Hi everyone, I want to introduce you to my "friend" Edie over at LifeInGrace.
I can't remember how I stumbled upon her blog, but thank goodness I did.
Edie has great decorating taste that I recreate regularly.
Yes, for those of you that remember my slight obsession with finding a bird to paint white, you can thank her! :D
We were meant to be "friends" because she reminds me of my real-life friend Lori.
We have the same fireplace.
And, she just left her full-time medical practice to be a stay at home mom.
Not that I had a medical practice.
But, I totally identify with leaving the hospital to prioritize home.
So with all that said, click on over to her blog!
She is hosting a party to celebrate painted wood.
Her painted wood project for today is Her Kitchen and it's gorgeous!
Enjoy!!!

Week In Review

There were a couple of fun times this week that I wanted to revisit with you.

We'll start out with my baby sister's birthday.
She turned 25 this week.
I think she may be having a hard time with it.
My only consolation is that whatever her age, I'm always older than her!
We celebrated with an Italian Girl's lunch at Lombardo's.


Here's our Mom with Addison and Claire.


The birthday girl herself!

Rachel has a friend that bakes most of the cakes for our family.
This year Rachel chose a white cake with strawberry filling, yum ;>
Her charming husband had them add on "Quarter of a Century"!!!


Our other big event this week was t-ball.
James had games on Tuesday and Thursday.
Tuesday night we froze.
And then...
Thursday (with jackets in tow) we enjoyed a beautiful evening!
Here are a few pics from the games.
Enjoy!!!

James with Ethan (our friend and team-mate)

Big Daddy of Love

James At Bat

Beautiful Saturday

Hi all, happy Saturday!
I hope ya'll are enjoying this fabulous weather as much as we are.
Today was so beautiful James and I had to make a stop off at the local nursery for some flowers.
Aside from the fact that I don't sweat pretty, I love warm weather!


We started off our day with T-ball pictures at the park.
I love watching 5 and 6 year olds have their pictures made.
The poor photographer is at the mercy of those spirited children.
During team pictures one little girl kept rubbing her eyes every time the photographer tried to snap a pic.
Poor guy!

While Joseph and Andy made their rounds doing yard work, James and I ran errands.
We also did a little cleaning and gave Maggie a bath.

Whew, going to Auburn last weekend was fun but playing catch up on house work is not!

The boys did top off our evening by grilling out steaks.
There is something about males, meat and fire.
It must be a guy thing!??
Our dinner was delicious, thanks boys!

Tooth Fairy Update

Remember the tooth fairy story?
Yes I know, it was entertaining wasn't it?!

Since James got money in exchange for his tooth, he is obsessed with the tooth fairy.
He is always wiggling his teeth and updating me on which tooth is loose.
He has even stooped so low as asking Joseph to punch him in the mouth!
I am doing my best mommy job of explaining to James why all of this is inappropriate.
But, those of you who know James realize I have my work cut out for me.

I thought I'd share with you the latest installment.
But first a little background.
I am a girl living in a boy world.
Yep that's right I am totally misunderstood!
We have two bathrooms, I ONLY use my own.
Therefore, I'm not ashamed to say this...
Sometimes when I take off my bra I hang it on the bathroom door handle.
(Please say that someone else out there does the same?!)

Now on with the update.

Yesterday morning started unlike any other.
The boys had just finished eating breakfast.
While I got their clothes ready I sent them to brush their teeth.
I sent James into my bathroom, just to avoid any brotherly chaos.

After several minutes I went to check on him.
I noticed that the bathroom door was partially closed and I didn't hear any water running.
Hmm, wonder what he's up to??
I quietly walked towards the door to peak through the crack.
James had hooked my bra onto his tooth and with my bra still attached to the door handle he was slamming it shut!
He had rigged up a way to pull another tooth!!!

I busted through that door like the new sheriff in town.
James got "popped" for not doing as he was told AND for disobeying my instructions to stop prematurely pulling his teeth.
I wish you could have seen the look on his face!

God, thank you for blessing me with a sense of humor.
I now realize that it is a prerequisite for motherhood.
Thank you also for blessing me with children who keep me laughing.
Every good and perfect gift is from above.
I look forward to MANY more entertaining stories! :D

Not Me Monday Part 8...

Hi everyone, welcome to another addition of Not Me Monday.
Today's installment may be the best one yet!
This actually took place Saturday night during an almost non-stop drive from Auburn.

My friend and I certainly DID NOT use these two car doors and three blankets as a porta-potty.
AND, this vehicle WAS NOT parked in the middle of I-65 traffic.
NO, we would NEVER stoop to such!!! :D

War Eagle Weekend

The ABC's of our War Eagle Weekend...

A is for Auburn, one of our favorite places to getaway.

B is for brick. We visited our brick outside the stadium.


C is for Cute Cheerleaders!

D is for Drake. James and Drake are like two peas in a pod!

E is for Emma. Because how often do we get to take a prissy little girl to Auburn?!

F is for fuzzy dice that James used to muffle the noise!

G is for going out on the field for the first time!

H is for the Hinsons striking a pose on the fifty yard line.

I is for interceptions on the field. (and for I can't lie, Joseph came up with that one!)

J is for Joseph & James.


K is for kids having fun!

L is for Lebo, Coach Lebo that is.

M is for memories that we'll enjoy forever.

N is for napping... just kidding, there was none of that! :D

O is for the orange and blue that filled the stadium.

P is for pizza! We enjoyed a delicious pizza lunch at the Mellow Mushroom.

Q is for Quentin Groves. The boys got autographs and pics with their favorite player!


R is for real friendship. Only real friends who know your quirks can vacation together!

S is for swimming at the hotel. James' favorite part of the vacation!

T is for taking a break from the game.

U is for Under Armor. The boys favorite sports wear!

V is for victory. We hope to see these players have lots of victories this fall.

W is for "What's your favorite color?" the question that James asked all the players he met.

X is for xtra large muscles! One player told Andy he could bench 450lbs!!!!!

Y is for the young men that represent Auburn University.

Z is for the z's that we were ready for at night!

Foto Friday

With Buddy Cat on duty all is safe...
At Home With The Hinsons. :D