Phoebe's Arty Party Part I

I decided to break the big Art Party up into two different posts since I had a photo booth and most of my photos came from there. I'll try to get those posted tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm sharing the photos from the actual party. I didn't take as many of all my decorations like I usually do. I think I was too busy at the photo booth.

I used the paper chain idea again. I think it's my new favorite decorating technique. Sure it takes a bit of time, but it's cheap and packs a punch. Phoebe and Eli actually put most of this one together. I just used a package of construction paper. The tissue fans were ordered HERE because they had the right color combos.

I didn't get a good photo of the table I set up the living room to be party central. I used four card tables and lined them up white paper tablecloths and a roll of wrapping paper from Target for a pop of color.

This is where we did all our art. I had one of those ceramic figurines that you get cheap at Hobby Lobby for them to do when they got to the party...while I wasn't snapping their photos at the photo booth. A few kiddos had to take them home unfinished because it's pretty common for people to arrive at our house late for an event because we live so far out of town.

Then we did some multi-media art. I found 12 x 12 canvases on sale in packets of two at Michaels. I had all kinds of goodies to collage with, feathers, loofahs, sponges, straws, and a variety of paint brushes.  Most of the canvases just turned out grey since they used all the different colors!

I don't have a good photo of the cake table, either, since I used my kitchen table and it was backlit. Oh, and guess who forgot to roll the wrapping paper along this table.

We had veggies with ranch, pita chips with spinach dip, fruit k-bobs, fried mozzarella bites with marinara, colorful popcorn, punch (in THESE jars), and cake.

Oh my, the cake!

I admit, I was pretty darn proud of my cake. I'm not a great baker and I'm even worse at decorating. (You should have seen the ugliest cupcakes I took for Phoebe's snack yesterday for her birthday!) But this one turned out exactly as I had planned. Well, except for the fact that I had intended to make big, colorful dots with the icing, but I ran out. So I improvised with sprinkles.

And it was tall! Seven inches!  Phoebe was very impressed.

The colored popcorn was a big hit, too. I know there's a link on Pinterest, but I was lazy and just bought it from the popcorn place in the mall.  And I way overbought!  I sent home lots and lots of popcorn with the party guests. I think I should also mention that all the food was thought up by Phoebe (well, except for the pita chips and spinach dip...I figured we needed something savory with all that sweetness) hence the inclusion of fried mozzarella bites which necessitated the buying of a Fry Daddy.  Oh yes, I've become one of "those" people who owns a Fry Daddy.

Again with the badly lit photo, but it's still sweet. She loved her cake and was so excited for her friends to see that even though it was white cake, the layers were all different colors!

Getting ready to blow out the candles. The lighting is better here.

Here's the inside of the cake. I wish the green layer had been more of a lime green than a forest green since it was so close to the color of the blue layer. Oh well. It was still the most spectacular cake I've ever made.

This was one of my favorite parties to put together. Then again, I think I say that about all my parties. Brad was impressed, too, and asked why I never throw him a birthday party like that. I told him that adult parties intimidate me because I'm not cool enough to know what normal, fun adults would want to do. Kid parties are a lot easier. They are so much easier to please. :)

Happy Leap Year! Anyone doing anything creative or special this Leap Year?

Happy Birthday, Phoebe

Baby Girl turns 5 today.

Sigh.

Turning five is a big deal. It's as if she's taking that giant leap from babyhood to childhood. Five is when she'll open the door to being a big kid and walk through leaving behind the toddler you've grown to love. You still see them as your baby, but really, they're not.

This is the first year she's gotten this whole birthday thing. Last night, she counted up all the "special" things that were going to happen on her birthday (there are ten) and declared, "I'm not scared! I'm just excited!" This was the year she lost all her baby talk. (I'm so glad I wrote about it HERE!) She's grown long and lanky...taller than any of her friends. This was the year she finally figured out that the deer crossing sign had nothing to do with SANTA'S REINDEER. This was the year she started her last year of preschool. This was a year of a lot of "last times" and I probably didn't even realize most of them at the time.

And while I know that her fifth year will hold lots of wonderful times and at some point, I'll look back and remember when, right now I'm just a little sad that she's not five anymore.

Sigh.

Still Editing...

We survived Phoebe's fifth birthday party. I can't wait to post about it, but I have to wade through the 603 photos I took. And that's not an exaggeration. I actually took 603 photos. I think it's a new record.

Until I get them editing and posted, I'll be spending my last day with a 4-year-old child.  (sniff, sniff)

Project 52: Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever was this week's theme for PROJECT 52.

Hmmmm. Hard to interpret since this year's winter weather forgot to show up. It's been in the 60's and 70's here and I know we're not the only ones.

So I took a photo of what I usually do when we have cabin fever. I bake...even though I'm not very good at it. This week I was working on Phoebe's birthday cake. And it was so pretty!

Not quite sure how the actual cake will turn out, but the mess it made in my kitchen was a lovely one.

What I'm Working On This Week

I'm getting ready for Phoebe's 5th birthday party this weekend. It's an "Art Party" because, as the girl says, "I love art!" She thinks anything to do with crayons or scissors or glue or tape is art. School is her favorite place because she "does art all day long!"

I found the invitation template on Pinterest (where else?). It's a free DOWNLOAD, but it did eat up a heck of a lot of ink! Then I stuffed each one with 8 crayons from a 120 count Crayola crayon box. If I'd known back in the fall that this is the party we'd be having, I would have stocked up on the 8 count crayon boxes when they are on sale for like 40 cents because the 120 count box has lots and lots of crayons in pink/red shades, but not so many yellow/orange shades. I felt like my boxes were heavy on the pinks and that frustrated this control-freak just a little bit because I couldn't do a ROY G BIV variation in each box.

But handing out an actual crayon box was super fun. The kids *loved* them!

So I've been spending my week in a plethora of bright colors. It's been awesome! Seriously, I think this is the party I've had the most fun getting ready for. Party details coming next week.

Until then, I'm buried under a pile of art supplies, balloons, and rainbow colored food.

Eli's Life

I found this on Eli's bedside table the other night.

It reads (and I'll do a little translating):
"My life has been hard and easy. My sister Phoebe is 4 years old. Her friends are nice but Phoebe is mean and bossy. My mom is 33. She's kind of mean but usually nice."

Posting this makes me a little nervous for a couple of reasons.

First, I'm afraid you'll see just how hard it is for him in the writing/spelling area and how far behind he is.  I feel that, at almost nine, his writing ability is closer to that of a young first grader.  It breaks my heart.  I can only see how much I haven't done for him in this area.  To be honest, I don't always work as hard on this with him as I should because we just end up going round and round. Which leads me to the other reason I'm nervous.

Second, the last few weeks have been especially hard between Eli and I.  I find myself constantly pushing him and pushing him to do more, behave better, exceed expectations. I'm a LOVE AND LOGIC failure because I know the consequences of his mistakes will not be enough to make him change. I know my boy. I know how he thinks, how he operates. I know what he's capable of.  So I push and I push and I push.  I can't let anything go because there are so many things he needs to work on. Especially the last few weeks.  I keep thinking that this too shall pass, but I'm praying that it passes soon. I'm not sure how much longer I can take it. I want to enjoy my child again. I want to want to spend time with him.  I want to, at least once, be the fun, understanding parent. But someone has to address the disobedience, the disrespect, the bad attitude, the social awkwardness, all the things that should be a thing of the past but we are still working on them.

And if anybody tells me I'm doing a great job or that Eli is awesome and wonderful and amazing or  anything else that might be encouraging, I might throw up.  It's not how I feel and, apparently, neither does Eli.

Homemade Donuts: I Might Be Obsessed

Despite the photo, this is not a Valentine's Day post! I promise.

It's about donuts and the easy-peasy ones I made for Valentine's Day. The ones that were super yummy. The ones I pretend are "healthier" than regular donuts because they are baked and not fried.

I was inspired to make donuts instead of our traditional heart shaped pancakes by a trip to Target where I saw a heart-shaped donut pan and the recipe it featured looked pretty easy. I'm always up for easy. Especially the kind of easy I can make them night before! Although, I think they would be even been better eaten them the day they were made, but since Valentine's Day fell on a Tuesday, we didn't have that luxury.

Baked Donuts
2 cups cake flour (I didn't use this because I didn't have it; I used all-purpose flour.)
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour pan (I used Baker's Joy). Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a large mixing bowl. (I didn't do this either. I never sift. And yet I always wonder why I'm not such a good baker. It can't possibly be because I'm lazy and never follow the exact directions!) Stir in buttermilk, eggs, butter, and vanilla; beat until just combined. Fill each cup 2/3 full. (2/3 cup was way too much! I figured this out on my first batch. It spills over the edge and you don't have the pretty heart-shaped hole in the middle. I filled each additional panful only a scant 1/2 full. I probably could have gotten 4 pans worth had I done this first, but since I didn't, I only got 3 pans.) Bake 10-12 minutes, until the top of the donuts spring back when lightly touched. Cool 5 minutes in the pan; invert onto cooling rack and cool completely. Glaze and decorate as desired.

Glaze
powdered sugar
milk
vanilla

Pour a bunch of powdered sugar in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Add just a teeny-tiny bit of milk and a splash of vanilla and stir. Keep adding little bits of milk until desired consistency is reached. (This is just like cookie icing, but you want it way thicker than that. Almost thick enough to stand on its own. At least, I did. I didn't want all the icing to fall down the sides and through the middle. I wanted it to sit on the top and hold the sprinkles. I think mine could have been a little thicker than it was and it was pretty thick!) Dip each donut, top-side down, into the glaze and let the extra icing drip off. Place on waxed paper or a cooling rack to set the icing. Top with sprinkles (if desired) before the icing is set.

*This is my own glaze recipe. I figured if it works for cinnamon rolls and cookies, it would work for donuts. The donut recipe came from the pan packaging. I'd love to try it with a chocolate glaze or dipped in butter and cinnamon sugar. Yum!

So there you go. Easy donuts. I'm dying to try more recipes and pinterest has been a big help. Here's a few:

* BIRTHDAY DONUT These are adorable!

*CHOCOLATE DONUTS Need I say more?

* How good would PUMPKIN DONUTS be with a hot cup of coffee on a snowy, winter morning?

* Maybe RED VELVET DONUTS for Brad's birthday. Or PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE DONUTS for my own. Or LEMON DONUTS for a baby shower.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful obsession.

Let's blame it on Pinterest, shall we? I might have even bought some regular shaped donut pans so I can try a few of these recipes out soon. We'll call it an early birthday present to myself. :)

So for all of you who thought I was crazy for making homemade donuts for Valentine's Day, you can see it's pretty easy. You should've known it was since that's the only kind of baking I do!

Happy Donut Making!

Show and Tell: Valentine Tee

For a holiday I don't care much for, I seem to be posting a lot about Valentine's Day. But I'm pretty sure this is the last one, though. At least for this year.

At the very last minute, I decided I needed to make Phoebe something to wear for Valentine's Day. She didn't have a dress or a tee or even some polka-dot heart tights. It was Pinterest to the rescue!

I found THIS tutorial and it looked easy enough. After spending about an hour trying to figure out how to make the dress, I chunked the gray tee back in the "clothes to be up cycled" pile decided a tee would work just as well...and take a lot less time!

Here's how it turned out.

I wish I had jammed the ruffles up together a little more so the black wouldn't peek through like it does. I had plenty of fabric. But I had already sewn down three rows when I realized that and I was too lazy to fix it.

I didn't crochet the hat. I bought it at the local children's consignment store. I don't crochet or knit and I have no plan to learn. But it does look pretty sassy though, right?

Or maybe that's just the gal wearing it. I'm a little surprised she wore it all day long, but she did. Wonders never cease.


* A yummy new PASTA RECIPE over at Eating at the Taj McCall!

Project 52: True Love

I have another confession to make (it seems to be the WEEK for them), I did not take this photo. Eli did. It was easier that way than figuring out how to get the camera angle and timer and all that other stuff right. Standing Eli on a chair seemed much easier. :)

The photo I took for this week's PROJECT 52 was a re-make of one that someone took of me and Brad in college. I wanted to post it, too, but I couldn't find the original. Probably a good thing, really. Who wants to see how many wrinkles and changes have occurred in fourteen years?

But that's why I love the idea of this photo.

If nothing else, we're still here.

Happy Birthday To My Dad

Today is my Dad's birthday.

It's hard to think of something creative and inspirational to say. I want him to know how much I love and appreciate him, but those words just seem to fall a little flat.

Instead, I'll tell you what I love about my Dad. Because, really, I have the very best one. You might think yours is the best, but you'd be wrong. At least you'd be wrong in my book, and today that's all that matters.

My Dad is generous. He thinks he's not, but he is. With his time. With his money. With his love. He will find a way to give you what you need...even it means going without something he might need.

My Dad has an amazing sense of humor. He is able to laugh at life and himself and even in the worst of times, he can find something to laugh about. And he can give you something to laugh about, too. I remember him wearing a surgical glove on his head for a few hours when I was in the hospital when I was eleven and making my sister laugh so hard after her C-section that she thought she had bust her stitches even though her baby boy was down the hall in the NICU.

My Dad is kind. He seems to be able to find those people who feel on the fringe and make them feel that they belong. Maybe it's because he loves people. Maybe because he knows no other way. Maybe it just boils down to the fact that he is kind.

My Dad is loyal. He and my mom have been (mostly) happily married for 36 years. There have been really bad times. There have been really good times. He still loves my mom (you can read about it HERE). Are they just lucky? Maybe. Happy? Mostly. Determined? Definitely.

My Dad is a teacher. He's good at it. Whether it be teaching his children to drive or run or play soccer or teaching a Bible class at church, it comes naturally to him. Even when not in a traditional role, he's a teacher.

My Dad is godly. His faith has not been easily won. Sure he was given a leg up in this faith-world by having amazing, godly parents who led amazing, godly lives, but his faith is his own and hard-earned. I've watched him struggle and wrestle and come out with an unshakable trust in the Lord. He comes as close to anyone I know as knowing the heart of God because he spends ample time in His presence. This has blessed my mom and me and my siblings and everyone who knows him more than anything else. This real faith radiates from him and cannot be hidden.

My Dad is a great grandparent. He loves my children. He sees the very best in them even when I can't. They know, as do their cousins, that no matter what, Grandaddy loves them and always will. They cannot do anything to change that.

My Dad is a rebel. Oh sure, you might not think so when you see a 50-something, middle-class man, but deep down there's a rebel. Not so much the traditional kind who lives a life of hard living and bad choices. But he's never been one to "go with the flow". He'd much rather rock the boat and push people to think and inspire them to change and grow. His (unofficial) motto is "Some dust never settles"...he stole it from a Harvey Davidson catalogue geared toward the Baby Boomer generation. Just tell him that things have to be done a certain way because they always have or that he can't do something and wait and see what happens.

My Dad is a great cook. My Dad is a hard-worker. My Dad is a great friend. My Dad is a reader. My Dad is sentimental.

My Dad is truly the greatest. And it's his birthday.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

I love you.

What Valentine's Day Really Looks Like

I have a confession to make.

I don't really like Valentine's Day.

I know, I know. What's not to like? Flowers. Chocolate. Jewelry. Pink and Red. It's all right up my alley. Except that I don't like Valentine's Day.

To me, it seems like it sneaks up on me every year, it's just one day, and it feels like we have to jam all the festivities into one 24-hour period. It's exhausting. Plus, I'm not a romantic so most of the stuff people usually do to celebrate the holiday seem contrived and trite. It's just not my holiday.

I think this little conversation I had with Eli on Sunday sums up my feelings about this particular day.

Eli: "What are we going to do on our day off on Tuesday for Valentine's Day?
Me: "We don't get Valentine's Day off. You still have to go to school."
Eli: "WHAT?! But it's a holiday! Valentine's Day must not be very important if we don't get to miss school!"

My sentiments exactly.

I figured I walk you through a typical Valentine's Day around these parts. Maybe you'll see why I find it so stressful!

5:20AM My alarm goes off. I hit the snooze button.

5:30-6:20AM My alarm goes off again. This time I get up, take a shower, get dressed, and ice the donuts I had baked the night before.

These were heavenly. I'll post the recipe later this week. :)

6:20AM Turn on the kids lights. They like to have a little time to "wake up" and this way, I don't have to yell at them to get moving over and over again. Start the sausage in the skillet on the stove.

6:30AM-6:45 Make the kids are up and moving. Both of them get dressed, make beds, and brush teeth before they head down to breakfast. Usually this takes a bit of cajoling, but his morning they had a special Valentine's Day treat waiting for them so they moved a little faster.

These weren't anything special...mostly little toys I had picked up in the clearance section at Target after Christmas. But I'm a firm believer in the packaging makes a present so these had a lot of bang for my buck.

6:45-7:30AM We eat breakfast, open our gifts, and then there's a little time to play before Eli heads out the door for school at 7:30. We carpool with the neighbors and it was not my day to drive (yay!).

7:30-8:10AM I help Phoebe finish getting ready for school. This includes fixing her hair, finding her shoes, assuring her that she would, in fact, be wearing the hat I had bought her, and taking some photos of her in her Valentine tea finery. Here's a preview.

8:10-9:20AM Chore Time! Clean the kitchen (including sweep), check emails, dust, call about Eli's baseball sign-ups, and order stickers for Phoebe's party. Leave for Bible Study at 9:20.

9:45-11:15AM Bible Study. We're (slowly) working our way through THIS book. Loving it. Loving the ladies I'm on this journey with. Not loving the ugly parts of my heart it's revealing.

11:15-11:30AM Help set up for the Valentine Tea.

11:3-12:30PM Phoebe's Valentine Tea. It dawned on me while I was there that this was my last KU Valentine Tea after attending every year for the last 8 years. I think it was supposed to make me kind of sad and sentimental, but it really didn't. Sometimes I think there's something wrong with me.

Phoebe and her buddies, Cade and Ellie.

Phoebe and her friend, Chloe.

A family photo. Isn't Brad a good dad for wearing a red shirt? :)

12:30-1:30PM At this point, I have an hour before I need to pick up the pizza for Eli's Valentine party at school. I grab a quick taco at TANGO'S TACOS with Brad and Phoebe. Oh my heavens, I love this place! If you live and Amarillo (not sure if it's a chain) and you haven't tried it, you are missing out! Go there today. After Tango's, we make a quick stop at Sonic for a large Diet Coke with lime and extra ice and a small Sprite for Phoebe and head to get the pizza at Dominoes.

1:30-2:00PM The pizza wasn't quite ready so I have to wait a few minutes (the guy totally didn't understand that today was timed down to the minute and I only had a very short period time in which to pick up the pizza and head to the absolute farthest point from this location before hitting the state line to make it to the elementary. At this point I wonder why I ordered from this location and then make a mad dash to school.

2:00-3:00PM Eli's Valentine Party. It's a crazy time. The other room mom planned this whole party (it was awesome) since I was out of commission for two weeks. She called it "Grider Town" and each station was a part of the town. There was the "coffee shop" with hot chocolate and a chocolate fountain. I manned the "pizzeria" with my pizza. There was the "bakery" where the kids decorated cookies, the "art gallery" where they made handprint hearts, the "tattoo parlor" where they applied temporary, Valentine tattoos, the "doctor's office" where there was a giant "Alien Operation" game (I have no idea where that came from!), and the "Photo Shop" where they made foam shapes for the class photo another mom had taken last week. Like I said, it was a-MAZ-ing!

Eli and his silly friend, Cooper.

The photo of my children together I took the entire day. Epic Mommy Fail.

3:00-3:45PM Help the other moms clean up the party. Bring home an entire pepperoni pizza after trying to pawn it off on several other moms. At least we have dinner for Thursday night.

4:00-5:15PM Finally make it home. At this point I realize that my Stay-At-Home-Mom where I actually stay at home have probably come to an end. I spend a moment (a really brief one) missing the days when my children were very small and we didn't leave the house for a few days at a time because we didn't need to. Change into yoga pants and a tee shirt because I'm all fancy like that. Decide that Eli doesn't have to practice his spelling words because, as he stated, it's a holiday and it should feel like one, and let him go run his mile. He's training for a 5K in April...more on that later. Unload the car and try to covertly throw away all the Valentine crap treats the kiddos got at their parties. This only works so well. I decide to sit down for a moment to look through the COUNTRY LIVING that came in the mail and I may or may not have dozed off for a minute.

5:15-6:30PM Brad comes home and we start our traditional Valentine's Day Dinner: Fajitas and Fondue. Brad makes the best fajitas so he does most of the work. I mostly set the table with our hokey Valentine tablecloth, candles, and wine goblets and help the kids clean up the playroom and finish their chores.

Every year I think we made a terrible choice in starting this candlelight dinner tradition. It's so much work! But then I see Phoebe's face when she sees it and hear her cry, "This is so exciting!" and hear Eli making plans to start a restaurant that serves "fancy fajitas" served on tables with candles and I realize that this is why I do it.

I didn't serve anything fancy in my wine goblets, just plain ole' pink lemonade, but they loved it. They thought they were so big. And Phoebe didn't spill it!! Wonders never cease!

6:30-7:00PM Fondue Time! I didn't drag out the fondue pot this year, (I was too lazy) but just melted chocolate chips and evaporated milk in a bowl in the microwave. But look at all the yummy stuff we ate with it!

Phoebe finds this spectacular. She loves chocolate dipped strawberries and I think she ate her weight in them.

It apparently causes her to be silly because she just got gigglier and gigglier. (Is that even a word?)

7:00-8:15PM I crashed on the couch (because I was exhausted) while Brad cleaned the kitchen, got the kids in and out of the bath, read to/with them, and got them in bed. Best. Valentine. Gift. Ever. Really, I'm pretty blessed.

8:30PM Kids are in bed so I head to bed myself with intentions of posting this blog and catching up on EATING AT THE TAJ MCCALL blog.

9:00PM Fall asleep. Romantic, right?


So that's my Valentine's Day. I'm pretty sure it doesn't look any different than anybody else's, and deep down I'm not sure it isn't what it's supposed to look like. I can only hope that I somewhere in all this busyness, I showed my children and my husband that I love and cherish them more than they can imagine.

And maybe that's what this day really means.

I guess it's not so bad after all.


* New recipes up over at Eating At The Taj McCall. You can find them HERE and HERE.

A Valentine For My Husband

I've fallen in love many times... always with you.

 ~Author Unknown

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Valentine For My Children

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach. 

 ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Happy (Early) Valentine's Day!

Ten on Ten: February 2012

Yesterday was TEN ON TEN. It almost fell on the same day as PROJECT 52, but not quite. I'm sure they'll overlap at some point, but I haven't checked my calendar to find out when.

Here's my attempt to find much life and beauty among the ordinary things of our day and take a photo on the 10th of every hour for 10 consecutive hours.

I think my favorite photo is the one of the spools all lined up and hanging on my wall in my craft room. And my least favorite photo is that of my large Diet Coke with lime and extra ice from Sonic. My brain was tired by then and I couldn't find anything inspirational to shoot. That Diet Coke hadn't kicked in yet! :)

Happy Ten on Ten!