Let Them Eat Cake

Yes! Let them! And the bride!

Last summer My Guy and I met with The Cake Lady and had a great excuse to stuff our faces with cake and buttercream frosting. We decided to go with this baker and later found out that her brother-in-law and family were neighbors with my parents many years ago!

Here is the inspiration picture of our white cake with buttercream frosting and swiss polka dots:

I love how it will continue the garden theme into reception!


We will need to arrange the flowers ourselves but I think that we'll be able to handle it!

Wedding cake love and all of mine!

Peace and Quiet

I recently saw this picture on a blog about this house in Iceland. My first thought: peaceful.

My second thought was driving with my parents through Western Kansas and passing abandoned farms and homesteads to which Mama is all but in the fetal position. Somehow her mind gets going about the good ol' days and homesteaders in Kansas trying to make it by on their farm. Until that one the day that cannot make it by anymore, so these families leave the homesteads.


Sometimes I wonder if there are not families that secretly live in these homesteads and enjoy the peace and quiet. Yep, they have escaped from the hustle and bustle to the peace and quiet.

But then again, they are not as lucky to live so close to Frank and Marie. And Robert.

I know, this post is neither here nor there.

Like they were just gathered from the garden...

... and not the grocery store.

I found this DIY tutorial about constructing a bouquet of garden roses that looks, well, garden-y. It uses spray roses but I am hoping to recreate this look with average size roses.

Find more information and tutorial here.


Pictures from Frolic!

Garden roses love and all of mine!

Bless My Little Color Blind Heart.

In my excitement to find 1. Easter outfits on-sale and 2. seersucker suits with coral ties, I apparently overlooked the fact that the seersucker was not khaki, but rather grey. Did you forget how impulsive I am?

Well, bless my little color blind heart.

And bless my Guy and Mama for not pointing it out to me until after I had the suits home, hung in the closet and noticed the GREY color on the tag. Thought for the day: Would they have informed me that I was color blind before I sent those three precious boys down in aisle in grey suits?

Who knows. Either way, I'm returning them to Target tomorrow and going to check out Sears that has a great selection of toddler suits to see what they have to offer, in coordinating khaki of course.

Here is what Mama and I have scouted out online:
It's not seersucker but it's closer to my inspiration pic below:

Red Velvet & Seersucker

My GranDaddy loves a good piece of Red Velvet cake and who can blame him? Somewhere, somehow I just learned that Red Velvet Cake is a Southern delicacy. However, my Uncle R has been known to say that the Mason-Dixon Line runs just north of our town. So bring on the Red Velvet!

Seersucker is absolutely adorable to me and also has a certain Southern flair. I had wanted to put my Guy's guys in seersucker but the idea was lost on him. I settled on decking out our Little Guys in seersucker suits. Seersucker suits: say that three times fast.

I found these adorable suits (with coral ties, sorry Daddy-in-law!) at where else, Tar-shay. I bought 4 suits to take to size the boys and will return one once they all have the right size. At $24.99 a pop and considering that they will get to keep the suit, I am very happy with the bang for my buck!


Coral ties with khaki seersucker. What do you think of the sailboats?

Von Trapp boys: Piercey, Stratty, and Big J.

Should I be worried that the seersucker didn't photograph well using my camera, hopefully it is just that my photography skills are less than par!

Southern love and all of mine!

For more Southern inspiration visit one of my favorite blogs: Southern Weddings!

Sharp Dressed Man

"Lace, do you know who sings this song?" is about the extent of the conversations with Z when riding in his truck. Sharp Dressed Man of ZZ Top is probably on one of his many mix CDs.

A Sharp Dressed Man is what I'm looking forward to seeing in June, and July.. and August... you get the idea. My guy and his guys will be sharp in khaki linen suits and I think that they will look "simply charming".

My Guy, his daddy, and I went to CoachLight this weekend to reserve suits for all the men. It was important to the Big M that we didn't stick any guys in pink ties, (apparently men can't tell the difference between pink and coral) so we stuck with neutrals and I think the guys will be very happy. We ordered one for Guy with an ivory tie, 2 for the Daddies with light brown ties and 6 suits with darker ties for the groomsmen. They didn't have little penguin suits for the ringbearers (3 little guys!) so we will be searching for Easter outfits :)


Groom
Groomsmen with brownDon't you want to love on those cheeks? My inspiration for ring bearers.
Mama, if you look real close on the left picture, there is a bicycle!

Here's to getting the groom involved and all of my love!

Black Ice

Sometimes I live vicariously through Daddy and Aunt Joyce's stories about growing up. One of the many stories I have heard is about my Grandpa and Grandma (the GP's) and all four kids loading up in the car and heading West to Denver to visit family. Between reading Little House on the Prairie stories and a few, "Mom! Rod stinks!" I am sure that there were many trips to remember. My dad tells of one blizzardy, wintery night the family took out on I70 West. Icy roads and snowy conditions I'm sure made my Grandma about as nervous as riding in a rowboat without a lifejacket. The storm worsened and my Grandpa hit a patch of ice to which my Grandma yelled, "BLACK ICE!"

Winter weather makes me nervous! A couple years ago, my Corolla Lola was hit by a snow scraper truck in Manhattan and took months to get through the body shop; to which 4 months later was in a hail storm and needed a whole new face lift. Poor Lo!

Lola is a fair weather fan.

Back to Black Ice. Black Ice is the story of my travels this semester. Every time I try to head home or back to Manhattan it is either snowing, sleeting, ice remains or a chance of a blizzard is looming. One particular night, I had to drive home in Haley Beth's Silverado Sylvia with no heat with windchills below zero and icy country roads, answering my Daddy's calls every 13 minutes making sure that I was not in a ditch somewhere. I made it home, only to be nearly attacked by Zach's precious pooch Harley.

Have I told you that Zach brought home a puppy and he was the hero of the family? I haven't? Well that is another blog another day friends!

Zachary B and Harley Bean. Bird in there.

Today, Blake and his sister Amanda, and I headed back to Manhattan to meet a wintery mix and more than a few cars in ditches (including one snow scraper --ruh roh!) We made it safely and I am working on not "nagging" his driving skills.

He should drive with my Grandma.

Here's to hoping for warmer weather! All my love!

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalms 46:10

This next week and a half will be about being still and having faith. I always think of my mom when I hear this verse and today it has been ringing throughout my mind. I think that it has to do with my upcoming interviews with a few school districts around the Kansas City area.

So leading up to my interviews on March 1st, I thought that I would give myself a bit of a homework lesson to research each district and let you know about each as well. An extra prayer for my job search would be appreciated :)

Paola USD #368: Ensuring Success for All Students.
Elementary Schools: 3

Spring Hill #230: Building a Foundation for the Future
Elementary Schools: 2

Olathe #233
Elementary Schools: 34

Gardner-Edgerton #231
Elementary Schools: 6

Blue Valley #229: Education Beyond Expectations
Elementary Schools: 20

Shawnee Mission #512
Elementary Schools: 35

Ottawa #290
Elementary Schools: 4

More to come this weekend!

Everyone else on the mountain feels the same way you do!

I finished up Parent Teacher Conferences today and Blake took me out for cheap burgers and fries to celebrate! This evening we are taking it easy and watching the Winter Olympics because The Office isn't on this week.

Lindsey Vonn just crashed on one of her skiing runs and it takes me back to a place that I don't like to let my mind wander -- Spring Break 2006 skiing in Colorado. My family, along with a group of other families, and Blake went skiing in Colorado in 2006 for Spring Break and I was excited to ski there for the first time. After the first trip down a blue run on the first morning, I was over it.

I couldn't ski.
I couldn't "snow plow".
I couldn't stay up on my skiis.
I couldn't work the mountain like I was able to in Westin, MO.
I was not a happy kid.

After a few hours of trying, I sent Blake on with the rest of the group and I figured I would hike down the mountain if I had to. Blake had tried to help me, Haley tried to help me, even Zach tried to help me, that's right Zach tried to help the Boom. I ended the day on the slopes with sore muscles and a worse attitude. As I turned in my skiis, the rental man said, "You must be a great skier, these are pro men's skis." No wonder I couldn't ski.

I tried the second day with a fresh attitude, beginner skis and sore muscles that I had never experienced in 6 years of competitive sports. Day 2 = Not much better. I spent the rest of the day "smiling and faking it" and trying to keep up with Blake and our friends Taylor and Katie. I ended the day early sipping hot cocoa at the lodge.

The third and final day, my parents took pity on me and we worked over the green slopes. Towards the end of the day I had reached my emotional breaking point and had a meltdown. At this point I got a "Come-to-Jesus" talk from my dad that went something like this:

"You're a Madden, and Maddens don't give up, they succeed; always. You gotta get through this, no matter what. EVERYBODY ELSE ON THE MOUNTAIN FEELS THE SAME WAY YOU DO!" I look over and can see someone who I think was Shaun White doing back flips off the half-pipe next to our run and exclaim through my tears, "HE DOESN'T!"

So the moral of this story isn't about getting back on the horse, no way. The moral comes down to when Blake and I are raising kids and decide to take a skiing trip, their mama will be at the lodge with snacks and hot cocoa, not on the slopes. Not even close.

A special thank you to the Winter Olympics for bringing back that traumatic experience every four years; see you in 2014!

"Smiling and faking it" at Rabbit Ears Motel.

Daddy's Little Girl

I talk to my mama everyday on the phone, texting and/or emails, usually multiple times per day. I rarely talk to my dad on the phone and if I do, it's not too long before I hear "Well, here's your mom..." or "Well Stacey, I gotta go". Lucky for me, when I make it home he catches up on our talks with an, "You're the only one who will let me talk to you." Cough, cough Z!

I am probably most like my dad more than anyone else that I know except that I am noticing those moments -- "I'm turning into my mom". My daddy and I have the same sense of humor and laugh at the same lines in movies. We also enjoy the same small things in life, a quiet cup of coffee on the porch starts a summer morning off better than any other way that I know.

Team A at Dad's Master's graduation from Baker University.

Here is a story to let you know what a great guy he is: Every Valentine's Day, my dad sends my mom and all three girls roses. Why? To spoil his girls so that one day when they have their very own Valentine and he tries to send roses, we can say, "*I don't need your roses, my dad sends them to me." What a great daddy right?

*I wouldn't recommend actually saying this, it might not turn out so well for you either.

So here is a top 5 list to get to know Ron! :)

5. "Everybody else on the mountain feels the same way you do!"

4. Clark, Audrey's frozen from the waist down. That's all part of the experience, honey. -Christmas Vacation

3. Hear , ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. Proverbs 4:1

2. He's just like you Dad, only brilliant! -Father of the Bride

1. "I don't care if you're mad, you're going to smile and fake it!"


What does this have to do with Backyard Chic? He's walking me down the aisle :)

Love to you and your Daddy, and all of mine!