Your Thoughts

A few discussions we've had at our house lately-nothing too serious of course, but I'm wondering what others think:

• The hubs and I have actually discussed this for years.  When you hand wash dishes do you use hot or cold water?  I've always washed (especially rinsing) in hot hot water.  My hubby says the temperature of the water doesn't matter because the soap is what gets them clean.  I will catch him rinsing in cold water and have a bit of a freak out.  So does it really matter?  Does the hot water help get dishes a little bit cleaner?  Please tell me yes. :)
• Do you give gifts at every holiday?  I feel like the situation has gotten out of hand--there are lots of small goody gift ideas on Pinterest for every holiday of the year.  But I am not giving gifts for President's Day, St. Patrick's Day, etc.  Sure I might color our pancakes green that morning, but I have got to draw the line somewhere.  Otherwise the kids expect a gift just because it's the third Tuesday of the month.
• After months and months of no TV at our house (except for Netflix streaming through our Wii) we have finally gotten a hold of a digital converter and antennae.  Any shows I should be watching on regular network television?  I feel lost when I turn the TV on and don't recognize any shows!  Except The Biggest Loser, so glad to have that back in my life.  It is so great for motivation.  Oh and America's Next Top Model tonight....it's my one guilty pleasures all right? :)  I'm excited for Kelly Cutrone as a new judge.  Love that woman and how brutally honest she is.  Maybe I don't need show recommendations...

Happy Leap Day!  Should I have gotten you a gift?

Rapunzel/Tangled Party

I hate to do 2 party posts in a row, but over the weekend we were able to attend my niece's 5th birthday party.  My sister in law did an amazing job creating a Rapunzel/Tangled birthday party so I have to give it a quick mention.

I made these cookies for the dessert table:

The cake (WOW!):

I'm sure you've seen this idea floating around on Pinterest.  It is so cool and dramatic.

Cute dessert table.  My brother in-law literally whipped these cake stands up just for the party and they are super easy to make--I told my hubby to take notes so he could make me some too.

She got these cute suckers 12 for $1 and then I made little sunshines on them with candy melts.  Unfortunately some broke in transit, but they are still cute!

Playing pin the frying pan on Flynn Rider.

The cute birthday girl!

A Look Back...and Some Party Planning

We have been sick for almost 2 weeks now...it's like a bad house guest that eats all your food and uses up the hot water.  It has GOT to go.  I'm stripping all the beds and cloroxing the entire house to feel like I have any sort of control over it.

I am in definite need of some cheering up today so I started looking at the pictures from the kids past birthday parties.  They make me happy as it is one of my favorite things to do as a mom.  Here are some pictures to make me feel better (and makes me excited for the parties this year!).

Our son's first birthday party we decided to do a construction theme, mainly because I saw a cake I loved and we have access to a lot of stuff to go with it.
The picture on the invite...

 The favors...

 The cake...

 All the kids decorated hard hats...

 And played hard hat ring toss...

The birthday boy...he has grown so much over the past year. Our entire house was packed up during that party as we moved out in the next 2 weeks. That was the last get together we had at our beloved first home.

Next up was my girl's 3rd birthday party.  She told me she wanted a pink, blue, and Cinderella party.  Uhh, ok?  I could do that.  Thanks to Target and the Internet (how did I ever live without Google Images?) I think I pulled it off!  This was held in my parent's back yard.

The table and cake...

Our guest, Princess Amerah, who the girls were completely mesmerized by came to tell a story and sing some songs.  I was a little worried about this but it was so worth the money I spent (I asked her to do a half hour session instead of her usual hour minimum, which I'm so glad she was willing!). I highly recommend her.

I had no idea these rock candy suckers would be the hit of the party...they were of course pink and blue.

She keeps saying she wants a pink and blue birthday this year. Wish me luck on convincing her it's time for something different!

Hearty

We had a pretty laid back Valentine's Day and that's just the way I like it.  I've never been a huge fan of the holiday anyway, but it was fun for my kids to give and get Valentines (some even on our doorstep, thanks Mom!).  I did try out a new hairstyle on my little one just for fun and it turned out pretty cute.   I started out doing this style, but my daughter's pigtails just aren't as full so we pulled the ends up with red bobby pins.  I liked the arrow through the heart look.  Of course, an hour later (heck, ten minutes later) it looked a little mangled.  :)

We are all still battling colds and I just feel so blah.
Winter, I think I am done with you.

Just Popping Through

Need an easy (and I mean easy) Valentine idea?  Pop 3/4 cup popcorn kernels, melt an entire bag of  white chocolate chips and drizzle over the popcorn.  Throw in some M&M's and mix well.  Pour onto a baking sheet to cool and voila!  You have an easy and yummy Valentine treat.
I can't believe I've never done the popcorn thing before.  You can bet that this is what I'll be doing for neighbor gifts this Christmas.  It was just too easy and cheap.

I also added this printable from Our Best Bites to each of my bags so we could address them (I think my favorite thing about the Internet lately is the free printable).

What are you handing out for Valentine's Day this year?

The Ick Has Landed

The sore throat disease is making its way through our family.  We all sound like chain smokers.  It might be sexy on Adele, but not for my 2 year old, and he's got it the worst.  I'm hoping we can have a restful weekend and kick this thing.
I suppose I have Adele on the brain, I'm loving her music right now.
Happy weekend!

News

Something wonderful has happened at our house.  Scratch that, something magical has happened.  It's been going on for a few weeks but I really haven't told a soul for fear it would stop.  Thankfully, I think it's here to stay.

What is this magical, wonderful, beautiful thing?

My children have started playing....together.  I really needn't say more.

Except YIPPEEEEEEE.

p.s. my son rarely goes a day without some sort of bruise on his head.  i promise i don't neglect him.  he falls down.....a lot.

Let the record show....

Last day of the challenge.  Do something that scares you.

I am wearing skinny jeans.  And bright lipstick.  I wore it out in public and I'm posting it on the INTERNET.  Something that scares me?  Obviously.

Ugh for bad photos, the lighting was horrible.