a bit of catch-up: letting the cat out of the bag.

now that we finally have internet again at our house (yahoo!), i found some pictures on our laptop that i never blogged about. one being the day we celebrated Jae's and my birthdays plus let my family in on the big baby secret!

monday february 18th:

we started the day with lunch with my family at olive garden.

then we came back to our house for some hanging out, games, cake, and ice cream.

{and the announcement that no one knew was coming! :)}

Jae's cake (courtesy of my mom)

my cake (courtesy of mom)

singing happy birthday to eachother

annnd the presenting of the surprise cake :) i am sad we didn't have one of us ready with the camera to catch the reaction of everyone. but it was classic! lots of screaming from my mom and sisters.

so fun.

{un}wrapped.

i finally got a couple presents wrapped yesterday before Jae got home.
there are only two, but i was excited to have something to put under the tree.

a couple of hours later, Jae and i were painting (yes, painting again...or still...whichever).
it was too quiet in the house, so Jae went to investigate.

our conversation went something like this:
J: uh Mara, did you put some presents under the tree?
M: uh oh. what did she do?
J: she tore one apart.
M: well which one?? don't look at it! can you see the present?!? don't look!!!

that little stink pup!!

needlesstosay, that present is re-wrapped (and the ribbon on the other one was re-done as well...) and they're both sitting up on the entertainment center now. seriously, i feel like i have a toddler in our house!

gifting.

i decided to pull out my best crafty-ness and make a little something for a few of my neighbor friends.

yes - this is about as crafty as i get, so be impressed.

i thought they were fun!

what you'll need:

*container with a lid (i got mine at michael's for 50% off!)

*hot chocolate

*red & white peppermints 

(and something to crush them up with...i just used a spoon)

*mallows

*chocolate chips

and bam!

simple, i tell you.

what are your fun neighbor/coworker/friend/whoever else gifts this year?