Summer Time Is ALMOST Here!!!!

Yeah, it's raining outside today but I can feel it....Summer is right around the corner!!!  I use to just wait for winter because I love the thought of fires in the fireplace, hot chocolate with marshmallows and, of course, CHRISTMAS!!!...but now I'm starting to find all the good in ALL of the seasons!!!  And summer time brings a bunch of positives out...more sleeping in without having to get the kids all ready for school, no homework, days at the beach...and then all the wonderful occasions to create for...like Family Reunions!!!

Life is so short, try to take a little time out this summer and spend it with your family!  It can be something as easy as picking a date and a park and inviting everyone to come out potluck style to hang out...no stress, just having fun....OR....if you're in the mood (and have great support) why not throw a huge Family Reunion BASH!

Special themes, save-the-date magnets, custom favors, games, personalized t-shirts, delicious food, family directory, genealogy reports, formal photos, reminisce over photo albums or even slide shows are great ideas to make a REUNION to REMEMBER!

Whether it be big or small, simple or elaborate...just try to slow life down a little bit this summer and enjoy it with family!

“The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.”

-Erma Bombeck

(Custom gum stick favors are perfect for summer time...won't melt like chocolate and will make ya smell good while talking to all those relatives!)

Scoop!

I LOVE this magazine! And love it even more this month because we're featured in it!!! :)))

Here's a sneak peek for you!!! :)  You can view the entire issue at www.mbaykids.com and order your own free subscription there, as well!

FREE CHOCOLATE!!!

Congrats to Jamie!  The winner of our very first Facebook Giveaway contest!!!

She won 100 custom designed Hershey miniature bars!!!

Once we hit 250 "friends" I'll think of something new to giveaway, so invite your friends & family to our page so they can join in the fun!!!

I

Sweet Cakes!!!

Baby powder scented diapers, ribbons and a new creative outlet!!!  Yes, I've been MIA because I've been rolling diapers and looking up ideas for diaper cakes!  I absolutely LOVE doing this!!!!  I have so many ideas of what I want to do with them but will slow myself down and take it a little slower than I want to! LOL  Ideas for sports related one's...uh hmm...Go RAIDERS!...and diamond princess ones...I want to do some with live flowers and a million tiers!!!  :))) Yes, I do watch Platinum Baby and David Tutera wedding planning and LOVE every bit of it!!!  This way I can decorate "cakes" and not have to worry about how they taste or if the top tier falls over!  I can custom decorate centerpieces and gifts based on my customers ideas and the theme of their parties...and the best part is that everything can be used!!! If you're going to spend money on decorations, at least you can get good use out of 'em here!!!

Prices start at $35 for a basic 2 tiered cake and start at $45 for a basic 3 tiered cake (like the first one shown below!).  You can reach me at sweetlyinfo@aol.com or (831) 578-7359 to get more info on a custom designed diaper cake!

So officially introducing my "Sweet Cakes".......

There you are, Sun!!! I've been waiting...

Now this is a Summer day!!! All summer went by with no real days for the kids to go play in the sprinklers or blow up the inflatable pool so today feels so nice!!!  Especially going from the heat into our nice cool house.  Our house was built for days like this.....just now as the sun starts to go down the light floods the house...it's so pretty!!!....but during the scorching parts it's nice and dark and cold! :)  Ahhh....heaven on earth!

(Actually, I do like all the different seasons, especially living here where we don't get extremes.  As nice as the sun feels, winter is probably my favorite....fireplaces, hot chocolate with peppermint, festive candles, Christmas songs on the radio all day and in every store.....so romantic!!!)

Summer days and nights are perfect for having people over for luau themed parties!!! My husband and I did one for our 10 year wedding anniversary and it was so much fun.  Tiki torches lighting up the walkway, everyone in brightly colored leis, terriyaki meatballs with pineapple...and, of course, Sweetly Designed games and favors! :)))

Luau scratch off cards, like these below, are a quick fun game to play to get everyone involved in the fun!  Scratchers are great because they don't involve any skills or thinking.  I've been at parties and when I hear the game is something really hard or embarrassing, I like to look around and watch everyone squirm.  Of course, those kind of games are fun for the wild and crazies but some people just hate to have to play them! LOL

So remove a little of that anxiousness for your guests and play a game like this! You can have as many winners as you would like and put whatever you want under the scratch off circle...a photo, wording, logo, etc.  I've even had people do a happy face picture for the winners and a sad face picture for the losers...funny stuff!

Prize ideas can be anything from actual lottery scratch off cards, to money, to little gifts, to something theme related like....a coconut!!! :))) The winners even come separated so if you want to make sure Great-Grandma Geraldine wins you can strategically make sure she gets a winner!!! :)))

Have fun with them!!!!

New Biz Cards!

Ordering new business cards is always fun!  I love tweaking the design and wording a little each time but I just love this brown look with the dark red petals! It's always a struggle to make sure enough of the important wording is on there.  This is the first time I'm ordering 2 sided cards which gave me lots of extra writing room!

So now the unveiling of my newest cards.....

THE FRONT...

AND THE BACK...

And now that's over with it's back to dancing with the fam! We are addicted to the Just Dance Wii game and I'm bankin' on pounds lost this week after all these calories we're burning!!!!! :)

A Rare Kind of Day....

So it's Saturday and my schedule is completely clear!!!! Other than having to spend about 20 min. finishing up a super cute baby shower order, I just don't know what to do with myself today! :)))  In these crazy times this is definitely a rare treat! Maybe I can think of how I DON'T want my day to go....I don't want to waste it by the hours that can, so easily, slip away by researching new ideas for my business on the computer.  I can get completely lost in time by checking out other candy wrapper websites, looking for advertising ideas or stressing out on what I haven't been doing, like updating my eBay accounts or adding projects to my website.  I also don't want to clean house! LOL But I'll probably have to do at least a little laundry...with a big family that's something that ALWAYS needs to be done.

Since this is my first "official" post, I guess I should clue you in on what and who my family consists of (I'll give myself a 5 minute limit and then, I'm getting off this computer to enjoy this beautiful day...a promise to myself! :P)  My husband, Jamell and I have been together since our Sophomore year of high school, way back in 1992.  Our oldest son, J.J. was born at the end of 1994, Tyson followed in '99, and then added 2 more to our family in 2002, our daughter Amaya and my brother-in-love, Orlando, who was 13 at the time. Talk about LAUNDRY!!! (and I guess milk and eggo boxes, too for that matter!!!)  A big family but I LOVE every minute of them! One of my favorite quotes is "appreciate what you have before time forces you to appreciate what you had" and I apply that EVERY DAY!  I watch them sleep, listening to them breathe or hear them laughing in a room and say to myself  "Just remember this".  It's important to me to have the people in my life know how much I love them, how much they mean to me and how much I appreciate them in my life.  They are the greatest Blessings and gifts I could have ever asked for.  Through good times and bad, I love having them all around me and thank God for them....they make living life that much "sweeter"!