... taking a leave until 2013...

Thanksgiving, a birthday party, and planning for Christmas

I have been MIA for 2 weeks.  Yes.  I am guilty.  But I have good reason!  My son's 5th birthday was 2 days after Thanksgiving.  My husband and 2 out of my 3 kids have been sick throwing up everything in their stomachs.  So yeah, it's been pretty busy and overwhelming for me.  I know it's not a good enough excuse.  Tons of bloggers are on posting and whatnot regardless of what they are going through.  But I had to devote my time to my family and therefore may have cause you (whoever you are) grief.  My apologies.

On the upside, here are some fun things I did for my son's birthday bash.  We went to Edinborough Park in Edina.  This is where he and all his friends climbed and slid down.  He eventually came up to me and told me he was dizzy and felt like he was going to throw up.  While leading him to the bathroom, he yelled, "I'm going to throw up RIGHT NOW!"  and barfed all over the stairs.

Edinborough Park Adventure Peak

 So my boys have been on this lego craze for some time now.  I have to blame Lego Ninjago for being so darn entertaining.  Even my husband and I sit down and watch the episodes with my kids.  You may call me pathetic, but please -join the party.  Sit down and watch them from the beginning.  It has a pretty good story line instead of just random episodes.  So, I wanted to be the best mom in the world.  And since Pinterest is the best site in the whole world for ideas... I decided to see what I could find to make my son scream with excitement.  Long and behold:

Candy Lego Men

 Oh yes.  They are so simple to make.  You just have to order the ice cube mold.  Pop some bags of candy melts in the microwave, place them in the molds, stick them in the freezer for 10 minutes, and viola!  Little Candy Lego Men.  For a complete tutorial, check out Sugar Swings! website.  Simply amazing.  I made these, put two in a bag and gave them out as party favors.  I also put them on the cake and on the tables as decor.  Everyone wowed. 

So now I'm off to thinking about Christmas.  My husband and I are planning this year's family Christmas.  I'm in charge (apparently) of decorations, crafts, and food.  So... I am on a hunt to find the best of the best.  This little felt snow man is adorable.

From Better Homes and Gardens

He just melted my heart.  Until next time!

Rainbow Birthday Party

So one birthday down for the month... another one to go.  My oldest son will be turning 5 on the 24th of this month.  He wants to invite his friends to go to an indoor park and have a simple birthday party with an extra cool cake and tons of party favors. 

Rainbow Cake by Lululu at Home

This is an idea that I still have to get his approval on. I just thought... it's colorful, fun, and all the kids would love it.

Rainbow Popsicles

Heart Shaped Cookies by Pink Preppy Lilly Lover

White Balloons with colorful polk a dot confetti

More ideas to come!

My daughter's1st Birthday

This week has been pretty busy (thus my delays in blogging new posts).  I have been up and about planning and getting things ready for my daughter's first birthday.  At first it was going to be a fairy birthday party... then it changed to all things pink and girly... then it changed to flowers... and then... all the ideas got enmeshed.  So here's how everything turned out.

Idea:

from Catch My Party

Reality:

The picture collage was from Michaels.  It was actually a gift my sister gave me for my baby shower.  You can find others like this here:  
I wish the "G" was more fancy, but instead of finding a wooden letter, painting it and coating it with glitter... I found this letter at Michaels.  Time saver.  I also forgot to write out the months on pretty cardstock cut into circles.  So last minute, I took the left over party favor bags, wrote on them with permanent marker, and taped it onto the pictures on the wall.  Next time... I will have to plan ahead and remember.

Ideas:

Pink Strawberry Twinkies from Pink Preppy Lilly Lover

Cheekecake Stuffed Strawberries from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Rose Cake from I am Baker

Ombre Cake from Ucreate Parties

 Reality:

Cheesecake stuffed strawberries were a hit.  The recipe for the creamcheese filling was delicious.  Definitely making these again!

Instead of making my own twinkies, I went out and bought a box.  I should have bought 2 boxes so they kids wouldn't fight over them.  I decided not to take off the wrappers at the last minute.  Maybe next time I will so it would be more presentable.  I'll just have sandwich bags near by just in case there are left overs.

Then... there was my cake.  My poor cake.  A few things went wrong.  First, I tried making these babies from Glorious Treats but in pink:

But... when I used the cookie cutter to cut the cake, the cake crumbled and fell apart.  It was devastating. So since I had 3 layers left... I decided to make a cake.  I have never made a cake like this before.  I have never tried to frost a cake to achieve a beautiful look.  I went out and bought a cake frosting kit.  Frosted the cake with store bought white whipped vanilla cream cheese frosting.  Turned out okay.  Then I used the same frosting for my flowers.  First I tried on the sides.  The flowers were droopy.  They didn't even look like flowers anymore.  So I took the frosting off and tried it on the top.  But the frosting kept expanding.  My first thought was that it was too warm in the kitchen.  So I opened the window and stuck the cake in the fridge.  After 20 minutes, I tried again.  Same thing happened.  I put the cake back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.  Nope.  Frosting failure.  Maybe because it was whipped, the frosting wasn't hardening.  So I spread the whipped vanilla cream cheese frosting all over the cake.  Since I was short on time, I thought I could hold off and buy more frosting after a few more hours.  And then when I got to the party site (20 minutes away), I realized that I didn't bring my cake frosting kit.  So in desperation, I went out and bought one of these:

The icing didn't turn out the way I wanted it to... but it wasn't that horrible either.  I just did the top of the cake instead of the entire cake like I had anticipated on doing.  

Idea:

Popcorn Cupcakes from Barbara Beery Kids Cooking

Reality:

(My 5-year-old son helped me fill up the cupcake liners and write the names on the party favor bags.  Instead of using real popcorn, we used the cheddar puffs.  They were more infant/toddler friendly.  The favor bags were filled with pink gummy treats, toys, and candy necklaces.  Candy necklaces can be found at Michaels (candy section near registers) and Walmart (in party favor/decor section).  I looked all over Target, different grocery stores, and even gas stations!  The party favor bags were on clearance (97 cents) from Target.

For dinner, my husband and I wanted to create a menu that was kid friendly and yet easy for my daughter to eat since she only has 3 teeth and cannot chew really well.  We decided to go with comfort food to warm up the party room.

Menu:
Slow Cooker Pot Roast over buttered mashed potatoes, green beans wrapped in bacon, baked mac and cheese, and rice.

Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Toast Recipe from All Recipies

Slow cooking the Pot Roast gave me so much time.  My husband made me make pot roast in 2 slow cooker.  (Costco gave us the best deal on the roast.)  We ate about 10 lbs of roast.  I added mushrooms, onions, and carrots when I had 3 hours left before the party.

Green Bean Bacon Bundles from How Sweet Eats

These green bean bacon bundles were good.  I followed the recipe exact.  However... I think I would have rather had asparagus.  Too bad they aren't in season and are completely overpriced at the grocery stores!

Idea:


Reality:

 


















The pom pom tissue paper flowers were really beautiful when I made them.  And then when I brought them to the party... they were ruined.  I tried my best to make them beautiful again.  Next time... use smaller width ribbon... and ivory/cream tissue paper instead of white.

My daughter wore a cute simple tutu dress from Target.  It was a gift from one of my close friends.  The hairpiece was given to my daughter as a gift a few months back.  I believe it was from the Children's Place.  Stockings are from Target as well, I believe.  They were borrowed from my niece.

BTW... I scored this blue dress from Target recently on clearance for $7.  What a steal!  There's also the same dress in pink. 

Seven9

So I'm looking through recipes and blogs today and I come across the most beautiful earrings.

Seriously.  These babies are so stunning.  So I clicked on the link and went to the etsy website.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/seven9?ref=seller_info

Right away, I linked my sister.  We are both in awe.  What is even more amazing is that the jewelry are so affordable.  I think I'm going to get myself something.  The difficult part is choosing.

Hurry and get yours today!

Strawberry delights

I have this crazy obsessive impulse when I find a new blog I like to go through all their previous posts.  Even if they have like 113 pages, I have to go through all of them.  Why?  I have no idea.  I think it's so that I don't miss a single creative idea.  Crazy right?  Yeah.  I know.  But... I can't help it.

This week, I have been obsessively looking for strawberry dessert ideas for my daughter's birthday (which is this Thursday).  Why am I being so obsessive?  Well, my husband isn't a dessert kind of guy (even though he loves cheesecake).  I can't find a single dessert to please him.  Every time I show him a new dessert recipe, he kind of just shrugs and makes a face.  I mean... how can you make a face at all of these yummy desserts???


Strawberry Sweethearts Cocoa from Two Peas & Their Pod


No Bake Strawberry Milk Cheesecake by Sprinkle Bakes




Mini Cheesecake Bites from Cooking Classy


Strawberry and Cream Mousse from Hot Polka Dot


Strawberries and Cream Pie from Just Putzing


Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Meringue Buttercream from Brown Eyed Baker


Strawberry Coffee Cake from Cooking Classy

I'm starting to lose my mind.  I really really do not want to go buy a store bought cake.  My husband will just have to deal with it.  Counting down... 3 days till my daughter's big day.

Paper Straws

I'm back!!  After a few days of being sick in bed with the flu... I have returned.  

So what's been on my mind?  Paper Straws.

 
(Picture by Style Me Pretty)

This past weekend I went to a friend's baby shower.  They served little snacks, desserts, and drinks in mason jars.  Everything was really cute.  I was walking around with a drink, chatting away and sipping on my drink through the white and red paper straw.  At first, everything was swell.  And then... after 30 mins or so... my straw got... well... soggy.  The straw was just soaked.  Yes, I understand that the paper straws are paper (hence the name)... And I'm sure it's eco friendly by being made out of recyclable materials... but this just isn't right.
 
Don't get me wrong... I think paper straws are adorable.  They come in a variety of colors and combinations of striped, chevron striped, polkadot, solid colors, etc.  


(from Shop TomKat)

I do wish someone would create a paper straw with a plastic liner inside.  That would be amazing.  I am sure someone could create it by also being eco friendly.  Someone, help me create this!

Mexican Food

I have a weakness.  This my husband knows is true.  Actually, I have 2 weaknesses when it comes to food:  Pasta and Mexican.

Taco Braid

I am always in the mood for one or the other.  Once I overheard 2 of my youth members (my husband is also a youth pastor) say they didn't like mexican food.  My mouth utterly dropped to the ground.  How dare they!  Mexican food is like Chinese food... it's not an acquired taste is it?  I thought everyone liked Mexican food?

Step by step instructions.

You know where they serve the best mexican food ever????  And I mean EVER?!  San Diego.  Hands down.  I measure how good a mexican place is by their nachos.  I can't help it.  That's my standard.  

Chicken Tamale Pie

My favorite nachos place by far has to be from a hole in the wall taco stand in San Diego.  I can't even begin to tell you how good it was.  Let's just say I went there 3 times in 2 days.  I could have kept going but my husband insisted we try other places.

And once my husband and I stopped at a restaurant on our way to the airport and had the best mexican seafood soup.  My husband burnt his tongue while slurping it down and didn't even complain!  Yeah, that good.  I don't even like seafood (yeah, I know, I know) and it was delicious.  We look forward to visiting my sister-in-law in San Diego.  Sounds like we need another trip.

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

So I bet you're wondering why I am not posting recipes and pictures of nachos.  Well, let's just say I haven't tried or tasted anything that even comes close to the nachos in San Diego.  Not even a teeny bit.  I am beginning to wonder what ingredients they put in those heavenly nachos.

Something Fruity

Beware.... you may not be able to contain yourself.  All of these pictures below are from Bakers Royale.  Bakers Royale has become one of my favorite sites.  The blogger, Naomi, makes the most beautiful treats and she shares her wonderful recipes.  She makes me want to bake and make desserts -even though I would usually rather slave away at making a delicious hearty dinner.  I have to say... I am in the mood to attempt these delightful treats.

Strawberry Shortcake Popsicles anyone??  The are extremely easy to make.  So easy that I might just make them for my daughter's birthday!


What about this Strawberry Icebox Cake from Bakers Royale?

 
Or... these Strawberry Lemonade Trifles?
 


Frosted Raspberries and Creme Bites
 

 Mini Berry Tarts
 

Strawberry Shortcake Bars


Yum, yum, yum!  Thanks Naomi for sharing your recipes.  I cannot wait to try them!