Please bear with me...

I have had a tough weekend and I am trying really hard to get everyone's names exchanged. There were a few mix-ups but hopefully I straightened them out. If your email partner is different than the list that I previously posted on my blog, please email me so I can make sure which is correct.

Also this is my first time being involved in a swap, much less hosting one so I don't really know what I am doing...hahaha. But I think it will all work out fine and be a lot of fun!

I have to go back to the hospital to see my mom, please keep her in your prayers.
Thanks for all your help guiding me through the process of hosting a swap as well as well as the well wishes for my mom.

Sorry for the delay...

I have spent most of the weekend at the hospital with my mom. She has had some complications from her surgery and is having a tough time. I was able to get some of the emails out yesterday from my laptop that Mr.C brought to the hospital for me, but I still have a few more to send.

Thanks you for your patience and understanding. I hope to have the rest of the emails out today.
xoxo
Mrs.Charming

Partner List!

We had a drop out at the last minute so what I decided to do is put my moms name in. I will use my address and email for that partner and I will give the gift of goodies to my mom. She has been going through such a hard time that I think it will really brighten her day. She is still on bedrest from surgery so I'll do all the shopping for her!

Here is the partner list:

Jennifer S and Kate H

Jill E and Kelly S

Scarlet O and Maria M

Paige M and Maggi M

Kate B and Sarah S

Elizabeth P and Hillary P

Ali and Liz W


MMM and Lisagh K

Cara F and Meghan M

TCP and Magnolia Mama

Stacy D and Sherry W

Erin B and Jennifer D

Amy S and Anne W

Amy F and Gina F

Kimberly M and Cassie

Sara W and Impoverished Preppy

Gail S and Gabi R

ATC and Pearls&Grace

Kim in ATL and Penny R

Andie and Christian M

Lori D and Michelle H

Chelsea W and SLS

Joey Michelle and Mary K

KK and Kacey M

Kim E and Linda L

Okay hope everyone finds their name, if any problems, please email me at connecticutcharm@hotmail.com.

I have to go to my moms now, she is not doing to well from her surgery but later tonight or tomorrow I will get everyone their email out with partners information!

Swap Update

We have exactly 50 participants (that worked out well!) and I will post partners on March 29-30. Thank you to everyone who joined. I think I forgot to mention that after you recieve your package, it would be fun to post a picture on your blog of your gifts!

Remember to check back in a few days for the partner list. I will also be sending everyone an email with their partners information at that time as well.

Hope everyone's Spring is off to a great (warm) start! We are expecting snow...boo.

Thanks again for joining the fun!

Mrs.Charming

Last day to sign up!

Today is your last chance to sign up for the PREPPY SPRING SWAP! If you just found out about it, check out the link on the right. It has all the rules and information about it.

Most importantly, to be entered in the swap I need an email with you name, address, email, and blog address if you have one. This information will be sent to your partner only. When I list partners on my blog I will just list by first name (with last initial if necessary) or nickname with a link to their blog if they have one.

So far we have 46 participants! Hurry and sign up today if you want to join the fun!

Swap Updates

Just to answer some of the questions I have received:

You certainly can go by a nickname for privacy reasons, just let me know what you prefer I list when I post partners.

Also you don't have to have a blog to participate, when you receive your partners email, you can let them know a bit about yourself if you would like.

Feel free to post on your blog info about the swap and a link if you would like. Spread the word about our fun Preppy Spring Swap!

Remember to email me (connecticutcharm@hotmail.com) with your information to be entered in the swap. Commenting on the post that you want to join does not enroll you in the swap until I receive the email with the information listed in the rules.

Thanks so much to everyone who already signed up! We already have over 20 participants and there is still plenty of time to sign up! This will be lots of fun!

Happy Spring!!

Fun, Fun!

So many people already signed up for the swap! I am so excited! For any newcomers all info can be found on the link at the right. Please feel free to put info about the swap or link to my blog on your blog as well.

It is a dreary day here in Connecticut and I am stuck indoors anyways since I had another cortisone injection in my back. I just ate way too much for lunch...leftover St. Patrick's Day Dinner. I think it may be nap time...if only my L would nap. If she does though she is up until 11 pm and that does not work out well for Mr.C and I. We like to have our evenings together.

I just finished some online shopping for Easter for the girls. Yes ridiculous express shipping charges and all. I have not had my act together with Easter at all. I don't know when the Easter Bunny started bringing gifts and not just candy but it is probably because E is not a sweets fan and I used to get her books, little toys, etc. instead. L would be fine with all chocolate but I always feel like I have to make everything even for them. If E gets gifts then L gets gifts. Since L will get candy, E will get candy, even though she won't eat it. Do I drive myself crazy with this a bit??

This year my sister is having Easter at her house and I am SO glad. I am not up to it. I don't even know why I ended up hosting St.Patrick's Day dinner with my parents. But Mr.C did help out A LOT with that. But I am looking forward to a long Easter weekend where I don't have to care if the house is a mess, I don't have to cook the meal, I am bringing glazed carrots (easy recipe) and that's all. I really hope the weather brightens up a bit so it starts to feel like Easter time!

Thanks again for everyone who signed up for the swap! And there is still plenty of time to sign up if you haven't yet. It will be so fun to get a cheery Spring, preppy, pink and green package in the mail!

PREPPY SPRING SWAP!

I decided to go ahead and host the Preppy Spring Swap.
I have never participated in a swap, much less hosted one so I'll try keep it pretty simple.

RULES:

Sign up by: March 26
I'll post partners on: March 29-30
Send out items by: April 18

Budget: $20 (not including shipping)

To sign up: email me at connecticutcharm@hotmail.com with your name, mailing address and blog address.

I will list randomly selected partners on my blog by first name (or nickname) with links to their blogs so you can check out your partners blog for inspiration! I will send you an email with your partners email and home address on the day I post them.

Theme: Preppy Spring with a color theme of pink and green.

Details: You will send your partner 6 items (somewhat preppy, springy) in the colors pink and green. Items can be homemade, secondhand, candy, thrift store find, whatever.

Each item must represent 1 letter in the word SPRING.
Example (but not limited to):
S - stickers
P - pencils
R - really pretty picture
I - interesting Spring recipe
N - notecards
G - green ribbon

Use your imagination and creativity to make things fit. I think this will be fun! I think I covered everything. If not and anyone has any questions, leave a comment or email me at connecticutcharm@hotmail.com.

Happy Spring and have fun!!

Preppy Spring Swap?

I have been toying with the idea of doing a Blogger Swap to celebrate the beginning of Spring. I have never participated in a swap so it is all new to me. But I have seen others and it seems like a lot of fun.

PREPPY SPRING SWAP

Some ideas: Each item has to start with the letters S P R I N G, all items must be pink and green, with a somewhat preppy style. Homemade or thrift-store finds (or at least Marshalls!) works out great too. I was thinking of a budget of $20 not including shipping.

For example:
S - Sweet smelling soaps
P - Pink candle
R - Ribbons
I - Interesting Spring recipe
N - Notecards
G - Goodies (pink/green M&Ms for example)
You can use your creativity to make things fit (P for pink and G for green is in there so that's handy too)

Does anyone else think this may be fun?

In the next couple of days if I receive comments that some of you may be interested, I will post the rules, dates, and how it will all work.

I am SO looking forward to Spring and I thought this will really get everyone excited too.

Let me know what you think!

Castle Cake

This was my inspiration for the Castle Cake
So now you will all see what it was SUPPOSSED to look like...hahaha. I did my best though. Cake decorating has not come easy to me but I try! The girls also helped me make it putting on the candy and frosting, etc. but I can't blame the lopsidedness on them... I don't exactly know how that happened. One thing is I didn't use the baking pans specified in the recipe, I used a large sheet cake pan and cut it, which made it difficult to frost because you know how hard it is to frost cut cake. Crumbs everywhere! I just kept filling in more and more frosting...I think thats why the kids loved it so much too-all the frosting!

Some pictures

My completely lopsided castle cake for the girls princess party...but they loved it and when asked what her favorite part of her birthday was, L replies "My castle cake!" Not the gifts, food, decoration, guests, it was the cake, so the time (and frustration) that went along with making it was so worth it. When I was little my mom used to make creative cakes she would see in Good Housekeeping or just make them up and I remember every one of them, the catepillar, treasure chest, ice skating rinc, etc. I don't remember gifts I recieved or even who was there...but I remember the effort my mom put into the cake and it means so much to do it for my kids now.


For E's class party this is her Valentine's Mailbox. Have to brag, it was the envy of all her friends, but I love crafting with her so we got really into it. The cups are filled with Valentine's candy that she gave out to her classmates. I stayed up until 2:30 am curling all those damn ribbons. But they looked cute and I am officially "coolest mom in the class." Especially after scoring bunches of tickets to the Hannah Montanna movie and bringing all E's friends. It was a blast though. Even Mr.C went. Mr.C and I go back and forth about the whole "role model" thing but E has never been interested in anything like this, she has always been such a bookworm, so we figure its ok to indulge her a bit. It's just fun, and she's so serious that she needs a bit of fun like that.


Maryland/DC trip. I think there is a picture in there of the backs of Mr.C, E, L, Mr.C's twin brother and his fiancee. You can even tell from the back how completely different they are for twins. The don't even look like brothers. His brother looks a good 7-8 years older than Mr.C (which is funny because his fiance is 38!!!) He's 31.
Oh - and notice Mr.C carrying my pink and green bag for me! It got to heavy with my back and all and he is such a good sport, doesn't bother him a bit to carry purses. Sigh...love him so much.

Random Bits

After trying unsuccessfully to put up several pictures today on my blog - I GIVE UP! I finally have some time to do this and of course...not working. I will try again later this afternoon and will just have to spend my free time now browsing others blogs.

Some updates:
My mom is doing really well, she had surgery and has a bit of a long recovery time but we are all helping her out and she's just going nuts stuck home, so we try and make sure someone visits everyday.

I had a procedure done for my back that unfortunately was unsuccessful. It is a cortisone injection that we are going to try again. Sometimes it takes 3 injections to get relief.

Mr.C had his wisdom teeth out on Friday and is doing really well. He drove me nuts as a patient because he can not sit or lay in bed all day, he wasn't supposed to talk and he was on his phone, working from home, etc. He is one of those people who if you tell him he can't do something, he will prove you wrong to the extreme! But he is doing better everyday.

Girls are doing very well. E is having her CMTs at school and she is such a perfectionist that she has been obsessing about it a bit. L has completely backtracked with potty training. Cries and throws a tantrum when I try to put underpants on her. She was doing so well for a while...I'm not too concerned though, I know she'll get it eventually!

I hired someone to help me with decorating the beach house. I just had so much going on and I really want everything ready for the summer, so I thought I could use some help. I'm still very, very involved but its been really helpful to have someone else to do this with me.

Our friends with the baby girl who I wrote about earlier are doing wonderful. She came home and we attended a party for her over the weekend. She is a miracle and so beautiful. She has a feeding tube that they taught her parents how to give it to her but other than that she is great! She had open heart surgery that was successful and she is doing so well. Can you imagine as a mother being told your baby has a 40% chance of survival and then to be able to bring her home and have everything work out so well? I am just so happy for them.

We will be going to Italy at the end of August for Mr.C's twin brothers wedding. Their dad has a villa in Tuscany so we will be staying there. I am so excited. We decided to stay for two weeks because we are bringing the girls and we want to do all the touristy things with them. The wedding festivities are going to be a weeklong event so it is going to be quite a good time I am sure!

Will try and post some pictures later of our recent trips and events. Hopefully I will have better luck!