Brooke's Bargains 25 and a Redo

I haven't been to any yard sales in two months! I've missed it. You know how I said every week seems to have a theme like "Ava Day," "Random Day," "Home Decor Day"? Well, today was "Baby Reid Day"! I wish Britt could have gone with me, but she just got back from a week in Gatlinburg and has to work today...

My mom wanted a exersaucer & bouncy seat for her house for Reid and now she's keeping a few children in addition to Ava....total: $14.

I've been seeing this milk glass in blog world & love it! I got this lamp for $5.

Always needing small Tuperware for taking lunch to work...$0.50.

Movies for my mom...$1 total.

Reid's loot: hooded towel, 5 pjs/onsies, Osh Gosh jeans, Old Navy khakis, Children's Place pants, brand new shoes, and more...$10

I got these at a children's consignment store last week. New from Target $3.50 (I saw the same ones in Target yesterday for $12.99. Ava loves her "princess sparkly shoes" :)

I've been working on this table. Remember it was a cherry finish. The table & chairs were one of our first purchases together. I was ready to change it up a bit after 7.5 years! The chairs are taking a long time...

I met Shannon & her girls Caitlyn & Mary Catherine for dinner this week. Ava loves Catitlyn! We had fun catching up...I started back to work Thursday. I can tell that my body is wondering what is up with getting up so early! It certainly takes a while to get back in the groove... My students will come back on August 5th.

10 Year Class Reunion

I had such a wonderful time at our 10 year high school reunion! It was great to hang out with my friends that I do keep in touch with & to see people that I probably haven't seen in 10 years. You know how dress shopping is stressful? I normally have something specific in mind for a certain event and can't find it....Well, I had a very stressful week, LONG story, and my sweet, thoughtful friend Niki bought me a dress; I didn't have to shop or try on anything- it fit perfect; I got a necklace to match and that was done! So thankful!! One of my best friends Meg was in charge of getting it all together--she did a phenomenal job!! We had the reunion at the Como Inn. Como, MS is one of those OLD southern towns that never seem to change; it's like walking down the street in the 1960s, maybe. Anyway, it's a cool place with a famous steakhouse and several cool bed & breakfast-type places. The tables were beautifully decorated, and the catered appetizers were yummy. One of our classmates is now a photographer, so he set up in one corner & took fun pics (we even took one in the old clawfoot tub on the side of the dance floor...gotta get my hands on that one..and we played dress up in the decorations:). We watched our senior video and laughed like crazy at ourselves! The sad thing about the night is that not even 50% of our class came...I think they would have if they would have realized how much fun we had. At the end of the night, there was just a handful of my closest friends still on the dance floor dancing to some songs we loved in high school. Then about 12 of us stayed upstairs in the awesome, picturesque inn (there's a pic of the room we stayed in)! We sat on the deck for a while reminscing about the night and high school and started the morning out there too with our coffee and homemade goodies left by the "innkeeper." Ron and I started dating a few months before my senior year in high school, so he's known a lot of these people for over ten years; he said he had a great time too which makes for a perfect evening: a much needed night out!

A little more about the birthday:)

I forgot to show her invitation that I found on etsy, and Brittany took some other pictures...

I guess I get the taking pics of gifts from my mom; she would take a group picture of our "Santa Claus" presents...It's fun to look back & see what was exciting to us at certain ages...The cards were made by Jamie:)

Dora the Explorer Summer Fiesta:)

The birthday girl slept 'til 11 this morning! When she woke up, she had a leisurely bath, got her nails painted hot pink, ate her new favorite breakfast: Rice Krispies, and played dress up most of the day!

Thank God the rain stopped in time for Ava's party! I had planned an outdoor party with her swimming pool and new slip 'n slide, so I was trying to brainstorm about indoor options...BUT the sun came out & it was as close to perfect as a birthday party can go.

I found Ava's invitations on etsy.com. And I attempted to make homemade cupcakes/icing; people said they were good...I haven't been able to taste anything for about a week, but that's a story for another day. The cake was a surprise from an 85 year old lady in my hometown that adores Ava:) She did a wonderful job! Ron helped me with the idea of a nacho bar...pretty easy! I picked up balloons in the traditional Dora colors:) The pinata was found at a yard sale last year!

Ava had a BLAST! She was on a sugar high for sure!! Finally at like 10 p.m. we had to take the candy away. I love the simplicity of children when it comes to their entertainment; she was thrilled with the very inexpensive slip 'n slide. Her laughter and smiles melted my heart all day.

My mom and sister are always awesome about coming early to help, and when I came inside from watching the kids with the pinata--they had already cleaned up all the food! So sweet. Also, my brother-in-law Job videoed lots of the party. I did not take as many pictures as last year:( That was probably my only regret for the day (that and poor Mary Abbott getting eaten up by ants!)

My grandfather was able to come; he doesn't travel much because of his age and health, but he hasn't missed any of Ava's birthdays. I always love when people don't seem in any hurry to leave; several friends stayed to visit and let their children play longer.

Then Ava & I turned on her new movie, and she ended her day by falling asleep on her mommy:) Precious!

Tomorrow I'll show you some of her really neat gifts; people can be so creative!