Planning and throwing a party is one of my absolute favorite things to do. But to be honest I was so stressed about this party. Emily begged for months to host her first slumber party but we only had one little problem. Our home was still under construction! I tried to convince her of letting it go but she wouldn't let up. I finally agreed but was so concerned about throwing this party. The idea of a slumber party was daunting on its own, hello 13 tweens under my roof. But hosting while under construction was another level.
I'm a lover of all holidays and I'm always talking about how much I live for traditions. To this day I remember traditions from my childhood and I just love creating new ones with my kids. I hope they carry some of them on with their families. One of our greatest traditions is making treats and enjoying them during a movie night. Especially this time of year we love camping out in front of the tv and enjoying food and family.
A "charcuterie" board always make food that much more fun so I've been having fun creating different Halloween boards. My first Halloween Treat Board consisted of mandarin pumpkins, candy corn & pumpkins, Halloween Oreo's, Moose Track Ice Cream, and Spooky Spider Popcorn.
Making the popcorn couldn't be any easier. You can pop popcorn or you can do what I did and just buy Skinny Pop and then melt orange chocolate and drizzle on top. I added Halloween sprinkles and set in the fridge for an hour. In the meantime I made the spider plate for the popcorn which consists of cutting black pipe cleaners to the desired length and hot glueing to the bottom of a black paper plate. Then 3/4 of the way down the pipe cleaner you bend at a 45 degree angle. Lastly, hot glue googly eyes to the top of the plate.
To make the mandarin pumpkins you peel a mandarin and then slice a very small piece of celery and insert in the top. Plain ice cream isn't nearly as fun as ice cream with sprinkles so sprinkles were added to the top. I put it all together on a board and let the fun begin!
I celebrate every holiday with a brunch or breakfast. Sometimes it's to kickoff the season and other times it's on the actual holiday. I think every time I create a new holiday celebration I think it is my favorite one. But this one is really high up there; takes the cake!!!!
Most of our holiday celebrations are breakfast but this one was a brunch because I wanted to do more lunch food. The menu included mummy quesadillas, spider donuts, ghosts chips, monster teeth and ice cream sandwiches, and ghost milk.
Our kids finished the craziest school year and survived the roller coaster!!! There were days I didn't think we would make it but my girls are so positive and resilient. Surviving the mayhem of distance learning deserved a party!!! We celebrated with our neighbors and had the absolute best day celebrating and kicking off Summer.
We host Easter nearly every year at our home and I just love hosting a party. Due to the pandemic we obviously couldn't host our extended family but I wasn't going to bypass the festivities because it was just our immediate family. I decided to create an outdoor Easter Brunch so that we could get outside to enjoy the beautiful weather but more importantly so that we could share in our neighborhood celebrations!
There isn't a holiday that goes by that I don't do a special breakfast. The surprise element is long gone but there isn't any less excitement from the girls and now Jack wants in on the fun. I keep everything simple and affordable so it doesn't take a lot of time or money. I use many things over and over in order to accomplish that. Most of the time I use our colorful RePlay tableware but I had these supplies left over from a party so I decided to use them. I made the garland years ago from paint sample cards and the only other decor was some fresh tulips and our letter board.
Traditions mean so much to me; they remind me of my childhood and bring such joy to my heart. I hope that my children will continue these one day and fondly think of their childhood memories. We take any excuse to celebrate, craft or create and here are some of our traditions:
I take holidays very seriously; I'll take any reason to celebrate! This year especially called for extra fun and festivities (thank you Corona) so leading up to Easter we had lots of fun moments including this Easter lunch. I love doing stuff like this because it doesn't take much effort but it means so much to my girls. I hope one day they look back at all these memories and want to continue these traditions with their children.
Easter time during Quarantine called for crafts. Not only to keep us busy and entertained but more importantly as a way to connect with friends, family and those who are lonely. One of the greatest gifts from Shelter in Place has been the ways that we are finding to connect and to spread love. Our first craft was paper carrot feet. We painted the girls feet, cut them out along with cutting strips of green card stock. Glued the strips to the feet and then wrote Happy Easter on the front. On the back the girls hand wrote this joke, "What did the rabbit say to the carrot? It's been nice gnawing you." They then sent blessings and signed the carrot card. We mailed these to a few family members and then to a local retirement home.
St. Patrick's Day has become one of my favorite holidays because who doesn't love bright colors, rainbows, magic and a little luck?!?! I always enjoy our holiday breakfasts but this one was extra fun to put together. It was just the joy and light we needed in this crazy time. We also got to enjoy it a bit more because we didn't have to race off to school (hello quarantine bonus).
This St. Patty's Day treat was so simple and quick to make and added lots of fun to our holiday brunch. It stores well in the fridge and can be enjoyed for many days.
Ingredients:
Lucky Charms (2 Cups)
Rice Chex (1 Cup)
White Melting Chocolate (Two Squares)
Pink Sprinkles
Directions:
Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments. Dump in Lucky Charms and Chex and mix. Top with sprinkles and lay on parchment paper. Put in fridge to harden. Once set crumble up and put in an airtight container.
I try to find new class Valentine's gifts each year for my girls and I also try to avoid junk since they get plenty of it on this holiday. This year I gave the girls a few options and they both chose Slap Bracelets. When I picked up the girls from school several of their classmates had them on and the girls said they were such a hit. I also found it was a great option for boys and girls. So many of the cute ideas were only appropriate for one gender. I found them online in bulk and so it was really cheap. I found the printable online, printed and cut them out. Lastly, I used a little craft tape to attach the gift tag to the bracelets.
I've included a couple more ideas that I used in our Valentine's Week of Love. If you've been around here for awhile you know I've done this activity with my mom since I was a very young girl. We've continued the tradition my whole life and were so excited to pass on the tradition to my kids. This year was so crazy that I didn't get to photograph a few of the gifts but here is a small sample:
Donut Valentine's: "I DONUT know what I'd do with you!"
Candy Bouquet or Gift Basket with Valentine's Poem
The Christmas season doesn't truly begin until our North Pole Breakfast. We may have visited Santa and the decorations have been going up over the past few weeks but it doesn't feel real until Jingle the Elf returns from the North Pole.
“This is a sponsored blog; while the views expressed here
were genuinely mine, consideration was paid to me by Macerich/HGTV’s Santa
HQ.”
We live for traditions in our house and one of our favorites during the holidays is visiting Santa at HGTV's Santa HQ inside Fashion Fair Mall. We've been going for several years and so the girls start asking for it as soon as Christmas starts sneaking into our house and around town. It's usually our first holiday activity so it kicks off the season.
What makes Santa HQ so special is you don't just wait in line and visit with Santa for a minute but you have a full interactive experience before meeting the big guy! There are four stops prior to Santa, each offering a new bit of fun.
The first stop is probably our favorite; the Naughty or Nice Meter. Each child inputs their name with the help of an elf and then stands on an interactive board to see where they fall this year. After the meter makes its determination the child's name appears on the appropriate list. I think Santa is very forgiving because all three of my little animals made the Nice List. Seriously, Santa, even Jack?!?!
The second stop is inside the first room and is the Magic Mirror which turns you into an elf where you can choose an elf and an outfit and then send yourself a photo. Also inside this room is where you can make your own Elf-ID which you can also send to yourself.
In the next room you can use an iPad for Elf-Ray vision and catch an elf along the ceiling and walls. Santa's Sleigh Command Center is also available for you little elves to play and navigate.
The last stop before the grand finale is a professional photo opp with a backdrop and props. Of course they save the best part for last and you get to climb into Santa's sleigh and chat with the main guy himself. You know sometimes Santa is having a good day and other times a bad day but Santa was PHENOMENAL with our little ones. He was beyond patient, kind, friendly and warm. Our kids had the best experience not only telling Santa about their wishlist but reading about the elves and even the Christmas classic, Twas the Night Before Christmas. Santa even helped Madi to read on her own.
Spend less time in line and purchase a FAST PASS which will allow you to pick a 30 minute window on a specific date. You prepay for your picture package and skip the line when you arrive. You can also opt-in for text reminders. Also during your visit you may consider bringing a new toy for HGTV's Help Through the Holidays Giving Drive. For more information and special event dates check HERE.
We absolutely love Santa HQ and give it two thumbs up. It keeps us coming back year after year and would love to hear what you think about the experience! Merry Christmas!
Since Emily was very young I've thrown a small birthday breakfast to celebrate the day and it's become such a fun tradition. It's very simple but makes the girls so happy and feel very special. I almost always use our Re-Play tableware to add the pop of color to our kids table but sometimes I use paper goods. In the past I've done a donut cake but this year I did a pink pancake tower with chocolate drizzle on top.
Emily paints a rainbow wherever she goes! She lights up any room and she finds the silver lining to any cloud. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate her 8th birthday than with a Rainbow Roller Skating Party. She is now of the age where roller skating is doable and would be fun for her and her friends so we picked United Skates Clovis for her party.
This post is sponsored by General Mills. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Does anyone else have kids that are HUNGRY all day long but only for snacks? (Come mealtime they couldn't be bothered by hunger.) My girls could eat all.day.long and I run out of snack ideas. I try to keep things healthy but I also try to add as much fun to Summer as possible. So every now and then we indulge. Insert NEW Peanut Butter Chex Cereal from Walmart...and we are NUTS about how it's the secret ingredient to summertime sweetness. We had the perfect afternoon while brother napped "cooking" together and then a little front yard picnic for snack time. It was so delicious we all could have finished the bowl in one sitting. Daddy tried to hoard it and finish it himself but us girls didn't allow that.
This post is sponsored by General Mills. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Summer is flying by way too quickly; it's our favorite time of the year. We are soaking up all that summer brings including slow mornings. During the school year, mornings are always hectic, rushed, and chaotic, so I make a point to make mornings more enjoyable during the break. Every now and then, I make it even more fun because hey it's summer and I can! My girls always are so excited to bring me breakfast in bed on Mother's Day, and so I knew they would get such a kick out of me doing breakfast in bed for them. It was even more exciting to have a breakfast party in mommy's bed.
What kid doesn't love Cheerios?!?! So we had to give the NEW Blueberry Cheerios a try for our family breakfast in bed. After a little taste test, I already know it will be for sure a summertime staple for breakfast, and I know it will stick around as soon as school starts because it's a quick and easy option. The girls love the fun new flavor, and this mama loves that it's made with real blueberry puree.
I'm always looking for simple ways to create memories with my girls, and I want to encourage you to do the same. Life is crazy, and we all need opportunities to slow down and appreciate our time together. It's not about the "things" in life but way more about the moments. Breakfast in bed was fun and memorable and only took a little milk, cereal, and a whole lotta fun. You can find the NEW Blueberry Cheerios at your local Walmart.
I'm so excited to share the pictures from Jackson's baptism so get ready for overload! There are just so many amazing shots.
I think because Jack is our final baby his baptism was extra special. I was able to really savor the sacrament and truly appreciate it. We were so lucky because his baptism was private which made it so intimate. It made my heart so content to have our family surrounding him on such a beautiful day.
For anyone that knows me you know how much I love throwing a party, bringing a theme to life and sharing all the details. As much as I love entertaining I also like to keep things simple because I don't have endless time or money. For Jack's baptism I wanted a natural theme that included succulents and eucalyptus.
I used metal rings and wrapped eucalyptus around them. I didn't use anything to attach them to the ring just wrapped several strands around the ring. I found out the hard way that you can't do this ahead of time. I first did it about 36 hours prior to the party and they wilted so I had to get fresh eucalyptus the day of the party. The wreaths hung above a table with a bible and a sign. The bible is intended as a gift to Jack on his confirmation when he is a teenager. All of our guests signed the bible and highlighted their favorite verse. I warned everyone ahead of time to find their favorite verse and keep it in mind so that people were prepared.
