The one where Kimmie is in every photo.

This week I think I managed to jump into every photo.

All of these pictures were taken using Droid's "mytubo" app.

This past week:

Crazy faces.

Back-to-school shopping. No boys allowed.

The kids caught an unbelievably pretty lizard in our backyard. I don't like reptiles, but I like happy kids.

The messiest playdate I could think of.



Floating under the sun with a snuggly boy. Heaven.

A night out on the town with one of my best friends.

And now I am super duper sick.

Fever.

Chills.

Awful.

Thankfully, I have you guys.

I love you all.

Your emails make me so happy.

Your comments keep me strong.

Never in a million years would I think that strangers could make me feel so complete.

You are so good to me.

xo

What I Whipped Up Wednesday

I can hardly type right now.

My life has gone from picture perfect to WTF.

I have a whole mess of things going on.

Horrible, horrible things.

I can't get in the right mindset to feature everyone from last week.

I will have to do a double feature next week.

There are buttons on my sidebar.

If you link up, please follow this blog.

I don't require anything else from you.

I think that's it.

Happy Wednesday.

Or something.



InstaFriday (Playing Catch Up)

I missed last week's party.

My phone was in, what I like to call, "crackhead mode" where it repeatedly opens and closes apps on it's own in rapid-fire speed.

It spent a few days on time out.

Rehab went well...my phone is better now.

Since I have a Droid, I avoided linking up because I have major iPhone envy.

I then discovered Retro Camera for Droid and linked up for the first time two weeks ago.

With these photos, I am using Retro Camera, Dropico, Little Photo, and mytubo.

Right now Little Photo and mytubo are my very favorite Droid photo editing apps.

If you have a Droid, download them.

You'll love them.

:)

In the car in a Target parking lot. Kisses for mommy. Melting my heart:



My mother-in-law made this dress and matching bag for my daughter's doll while my daughter spent the night at her house. I am in awe of her Nana skills:

Your bunny wears clothing and fashion accessories too, right?

Flipping through the July Better Homes and Gardens issue, I found an article that suggests using paint chips to create a bunting flag. Lucky for you, you knew about that idea back in April when I created a few.

Lizards sunbathing on our strawberry patch. I'm pretty sure that strawberries aren't my favorite fruit anymore:

He decided to play "barber" and cut off the adorable front pieces of his hair. Then he cried that his hair wouldn't go back on:

After letting Daddy cut the rest of his hair, he got to pick out a toy at Ikea. (And we got an hour of quiet time thanks to Ikea's radtastic free childcare.) He chose an African American baby doll. Probably the cutest thing in the entire store, and these two are inseparable:

Chef Boyardee Homemade Pizza. It was on sale at Target so I bought two boxes. I should have bought more.

After dinner on the Huntington Beach pier, he was completely passed out. Typical man, I think. ;)

My first pair of shorts purchased from a store in many, many years. Thank you, Forever 21 for your lovely prices.

This is his "skateboard hat". He wears it when he wears this shirt. He also carries around his skateboard like it's a stuffed animal. I blame the skateboard clothing companies that mail us ads. Bahaha!

Don't have a fancy cake cover? Use a glass bowl. If you use Lemi Shine, you can actually get away with doing this in front of guests. (Cake made by the kids. Obvs.)

Did I say, "kids"? It's true. I have a daughter, too. She never appears in photos because she spends all of her time swimming. A rare moment where she's not using her gills:

We have 20 days left of Summer vacation.

I am sad to see these happy days drift away.

Have a lovely Friday.

xo

What I Whipped Up Wednesday

This week has been good so far.

In recent weeks, things were not so good.

It's so nice to get online and spend my "blogging time" with a good feeling in my heart.

Unfortunately this week is not so great for my best friend.

She has asked on her fan page for prayers, and since she has gone public with her struggles, I feel the need to ask you all to keep her in your thoughts, prayers, and wishes.

This little land of blogging can be so close-knit if you let it.

Please support my sweet friend.

On to the features.

Heidi from Fostering a Creative Life made this amazing Ballard-inspired jute weaved jars:

Cori Ann from Cori Ann's Creative Living helped with this lovely bathroom re-do:

Jam Hands whipped up some yummy garlic cheese sticks:

Megan at Contented Sparrow made these radtastic $5 lamps into these happy beauties:

Angee from Sunshine in My Life showed us this cute handprint birthday cake:

And the most voted-for link last week was from Lacee at Mommas Like Me with her tiered plate trays:

Thank you to everyone who linked up!
If you were featured, be sure to grab a FEATURED button off of my sidebar.
:)

Also, a few things...
There are new buttons on my sidebar finally! Feel free to grab any that you like.
If you are a "fan" on Facebook, you'll notice that sometimes I feature links from the party THERE. Be sure to click "like" so that you know when you're getting a shout-out!
Oh, and THE AWESOME BUTTON on my sidebar usually takes you to a link from one of the linky parties... be sure to see if your idea is linked up to that button as well!

Now that that's over...

Some guidelines:

1. Must be your post- any idea, recipe, project, craft, tutorial, or makeover you'd like to share.

2. Must be linked to the specific post; not just your blog's URL.

3. Grabbing a button or linking to the party is appreciated and helps people find your links every week!
4. You do NOT have to link-back, but I DO ask that you at least follow this blog.

5. Commenting on the link before you and/or after you makes you radtastic.

Remember that every week, the first link and the most-voted for link are featured automatically!

Happy Wednesday!
xo

September Sponsorship

The last time I posted about sponsorship here on the ol' blog was back in May and the beginning of June.

If you've had ad space here during that time, you got 3 months for the price of one.

You can call me lazy awesome.

;)

I'm switching things up around here since things got a little complicated with ad space last time.

For September:

All buttons will be 150x150 pixels.

All buttons will be $10.00 and will run the duration of September.

Once your payment has been made, you will receive an email from me with a questionnaire that is set up interview-style about your blog.

Please email the responses back to me; along with your button, the link you would like your button to go to, up to 10 links directing my readers to specific posts or shop items, and up to 5 photos that you would like my readers to see.

A post with everything mentioned in the above paragraph will be typed up and created just for you. I will notify you of the date your post will go up so that you can spread the word and get as many people as possible to get the "in a nutshell" idea of your blog.

Only with links.

And photos.

:)

I will only be offering ad space to 20 buttons this time around, and have received emails since June about available space here.

Space is extremely limited and the blog stats have never been higher!

If interested, please email me: SugarAndDots [at] gmail [dot] com

Be sure to include your PayPal email address so that I can bill you easily.

I am so excited to see the new buttons here in September!

Oh, and What I Whipped Up Wednesday will be posted this evening!

I can't wait to see all of your links and blogs!

Happy Tuesday!

xo

Confessions.

1. I can't open child proof bottles without a major struggle. I blame this on the strength of my hands and not my intelligence.

2. I watch Good Luck Charlie. I DVR all of the episodes and watch them while I eat lunch. If my kids are in the room, cool. If not, it's DVR'd. They'll watch it eventually.

3. Laundry is not impossible. Our washer died and was replaced by a $50.00 large capacity washer from Craigslist. I had no idea what I was missing out on. I actually like doing the laundry now...please don't tell my husband.

4. I can bargain like a maniac. Scratch that. I can bargain like a really cheap sane person. That $50.00 washing machine mentioned above was offered on Craigslist for $100.00. I am a strong believer in living life with an attitude of, "The worst they can say is 'no'."

5. At the end of last school year, I promised myself I would paint every room while on vacation. We have three weeks of vacation left. Every room is still white.

6. I was asked to be the PTA President at my daughter's school. I agreed. When it comes time to do the public speaking, I will probably die of fear. Someone please volunteer to read my eulogy.

7. I graduated high school early with a 4.2 GPA. By graduating early, I started college a semester before my original graduating class. To this day, most of them have graduated. I have not.

8. Have I mentioned that I despise math? I was really good at mathematics until it started hooking up with the alphabet.

9. I just applied online to go back to school full-time. Hopefully I'll fit in since I now have crazy awesome acne from the stress of it all.

10. When I read anyone type the word, "alot", I have a mild panic attack and desperately avoid sending them this link. If this pertains to you, I won't be mad if you click the link and become wiser. Just saying.

11. At night, if I hear any noises, I freeze and listen for monsters. I've done this for twenty years. I will do this until I'm too old to hear noises anymore.

12. I automatically hit "ignore" when I don't recognize the number calling. Also, if you call me from a "blocked" number, I'm going to assume you know that I don't want to talk to you.

13. On Facebook I post pictures I look good in, even if my friends or family don't. I'm nice enough not to tag you if your eyes are closed, but you'll still be there beside me looking blind while I rock my arm pose.

14. Sometimes I will type out full sentences and then look at the computer only to realize that I wasn't even typing.

15. When I run into a spiderweb I suddenly turn into a ninja. My ninja alter ego also appears when I've overslept or if one of my kids is about to get hurt. Sometimes I wish someone was recording my ninja skills.



Happy Monday.

xo

What I Whipped Up Wednesday

Before I begin, are you on Facebook?

Do you like Sugar and Dots on Facebook?

You should, because there is a giveaway going on over there right now.

:)

Last week...

Hollie at The Seven Year Cottage made Sweet Tea that looks and sounds uber yummy:



Jamie at The Letter 4 made a video tutorial for this adorable Hair Braid:

Emily at The Happy Home whipped up a Chocolate Trifle that is making my mouth water:

Laura at Come Together Kids made this awesome Chalkboard Notebook:

And the most voted-for link was for the Craft Room by Bec at Little Lucy Lu.

Thank you to everyone who linked up!
If you were featured, be sure to grab a FEATURED button off of my sidebar.
:)

Also, a few things...
There are new buttons on my sidebar finally! Feel free to grab any that you like.
If you are a "fan" on Facebook, you'll notice that sometimes I feature links from the party THERE. Be sure to click "like" so that you know when you're getting a shout-out!
Oh, and THE AWESOME BUTTON on my sidebar usually takes you to a link from one of the linky parties!
Now that I'm blogging a bit more these days, I know that the linky party disappears from the front page of my blog. The pageviews are massive every week, so I'm sure you are all just blog hopping via the link to my site at the bottom of posts, right?
To make things slightly easier, I have added a button at the top right of my sidebar called "linky party".
You can now always get to the most recent linky via that button.
I am also running the party from Tuesday at 7:00 PM PST until Sunday at 11:59 PM PST from now on.
HOLLA!

Now that that's over...

Some guidelines:

1. Must be your post- any idea, recipe, project, craft, tutorial, or makeover you'd like to share.

2. Must be linked to the specific post; not just your blog's URL.

3. Grabbing a button or linking to the party is appreciated and helps people find your links every week!
4. You do NOT have to link-back, but I DO ask that you at least follow this blog.

5. Commenting on the link before you and/or after you makes you radtastic.

Remember that every week, the first link and the most-voted for link are featured automatically!

Happy Wednesday!

Front Porch Makeover

Hello lovelies!

Last week I finally finished my front porch makeover.

I'm not gunna lie...

I super big pink puffy heart my new outdoor space.



Since we moved in six months ago, our front porch was a catch-all.

A "white trash wonderland", if you will.

Some neighbors down the street threw away four white rusty patio chairs.

They are big and heavy, and obviously from a few decades ago.

They lived on my front porch for a long time.

Enter red spray paint, some handmade pillows, an old wreath, some vintage Mason jars, and a yarn pom pom garland.

I think my neighbors like us more, now.

:)

On top of the crate ($9.99 at Michael's) rests the new Ikea catalog.

Watch kids play on lawn while flipping through home decor awesomesauce?

Yes, please.

The pillows are made from two Target dish towels and one yard of fabric.

Don't look at them too closely, mmkay?

;)

The birdy candle thingy was found at a yard sale and spray painted.

Never turn down something that has potential.

The linky will be open tomorrow evening.

Don't forget to vote once per day!

Happy Monday!

xo


Linking up here!

InstaFriday (My FIRST!)

I am in love with the concept of this linky.

Unfortunately, I suffer from a chronic case of iPhone Envy.

Instagram?

Nope.

But thankfully someone has created an app that doesn't make me shy away from posting.

Thank you, Retro Camera for Droid.

:)

My first InstaFriday: Home Edition:


A chair on my front porch and the new Ikea catalog. Bliss.

This kid on the other side of me interrupting my Ikea visions with news about lizards and bugs. Love him.

And on the other side of me, a little girl making yarn pom poms. So creative and so beautiful.

We took a trip to the new Toys R Us near our house. This is ALL we bought. Mwahaha! *evil laugh*

I finally found a new home for my faux rosewood wreath; right by the front door. Perfect.

A bug catcher with five baby lizards inside. Our new house has critters in the yard. Half awesome. Half terrifying.

I just discovered the awesomeness that is a Pineapple Slicer. Heaven.

The Girl made dozens of these. Pom poms > Everything else.

Happy weekend!
xo







PS: If you click this link and vote for me, you earn 500 cool points. Just saying.