Sweet Baby Shower

I hosted (or used our house to help host) a shower for a friend from church.  It was really more of a meet and greet for her new baby.  This is her third baby and second girl but we wanted to do something for them.  I thought the spring colors would be nice and timed perfectly with my Easter decorating!  Just a few books, blocks, and such added here and there and, voila!, a perfect meet and greet baby shower! 
I made cupcakes and a sweet cake.  Judy and Tina brought cookies, Amelia made her wonderful lemon bars, Karrie made homemade mints and Joanna made punch.  I think it was a success!

Initial addition to the mantel

Cute advice cards I printed

Table full of delicious sweets!

My spring colored vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting

Four layer cake I made

The inside of the cake!  I was so proud of myself!  I used lemon curd as filling between layers. 

"Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth."  Colossians 3:2, NKJV

Fun St. Patrick's Day Food

Rainbow Pancakes

Leprechaun Sandwich, yogurt with rainbow sprinkles, and Skittles

Rainbow Cupcakes

K ate every bite!  J was finished with his before I could grab the camera.  Yummy!

May luck be our companion
May friends stand by our side
May history remind us all
Of Ireland's faith and pride.
May God bless us with happiness
May love and faith abide.
~Irish Blessing

Leprechaun Tricks

Last night our house was invaded!  J woke up and found tiny green footprints all over the house, sparkly shamrocks in every room, and clues leading the way to a hidden treasure.  Our milk was green and the toilet water was green.  That little green man even stuck a shamrock in one of our cupcakes! 
But he didn't leave a mess, he left a treasure for the kids!  J was so excited!  We had to run to keep up so we could help him with the clues.  What a wild and fun morning!

The first clue

More clues...I found the printable online (I can't remember where!) and wrote out the clues myself.  Some were original, some were not!

Rainbow twizlers and rolos for J...Idea from HERE.

Froot Loops and Corn Pops for K...My idea! 

J with his treasure.  He was thrilled!

I hear the same leprechaun left pots o' gold at some of our friends houses too--with trails of glitter and footprints leading to the treasure! 



May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.
~Irish Blessing

St. Patrick's Day Crafts

We have been reading St. Patrick's Day book and doing a few crafts to prepare for the holiday as well.  I have several St. Patty's day things to share with you over the weekend but tonight I'll show you the crafts we made.

Froot Loop Rainbow...This turned out SO cute!  I saw the idea HERE and knew J would love it!  K kind of liked it too because she got to eat while we created.  J got a little snack as well!  The gold is made of Corn Pops.  I cut out the pot from black scraps I had. 

Roy G. Biv, the Rainbow Man...This is a craft from my teaching days.  I'm pretty sure it came from Michelle.  J drew his face.  See the eyebrows and eyelashes?  He also drew a hair line.  That kid is too funny! 

Lucky Leprechaun...This also a craft from my teaching days.  J insisted that his hat be upside down.  He says he looks like a cooker (chef). 

Handprint Rainbow...I don't have pictures but we are in the process of making THESE.  We did both kids' handprints tonight and J will add the pot of gold tomorrow.  After his treasure hunt, of course!  That silly leprechaun visited our house tonight.  Just wait until you see what he did!

Spring Mantel

I finally finished decorating for Easter!  My mantel is bright and cheery for spring!

I found the subway art print HERE for free! I had it printed at Wal-Mart. 

The bird cages are from Hobby Lobby. I just picked them up Monday. 

I made the bunting from scrapbook paper, buttons, doilies, ribbon, and brads. They were fun to make and will look great for the baby shower coming up as well.

And don't you just love how my OCD got the better of me this year and I separated my eggs by color!?!

How have you decorated for the holiday? 

Cleaning House

I am hosting a meet and greet for a friend that had a baby recently so we have been doing some extra cleaning this week.  The kids helped me vacuum and dust their room one morning.  They both wanted their own dusting rag and J pushed the vacuum around for a while.  J actually did a pretty good job dusting the doors and changing table.  He started to help me in the living room but got sidetracked.  He told me I could just finish it later!  I love my little helpers!

Apparantly, the vacuum cleaner was dusty!

And the wall!

“All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.”
~1 Peter 1:24-25 NKJV

A Bag of Rice + Green food coloring = Hours of FUN!!

We are doing a few St. Patrick's Day activities this week and I thought it would be fun to make a sensory tub for J.  I thought K might like it too!  I dyed a large bag of white rice and a box of pasta green.  I added some gold coins, glittery shamrocks, and a couple of leprechans.  J used cookie scoops to dig for gold.  His horses joined him too.  K even had fun moving a few pieces of pasta from a bowl into a cookie scoop.  I had to watch her though because she tried to eat them!
I think we will have sensory tubs at our house for every holiday!

She was eating yogurt while she was playing.  That's the white stuff on her face.

How To Dye Rice and Pasta

What you will need:

Pasta or rice

Liquid food coloring

Rubbing alcohol

Large ziplock bag

Paper Towels

What you do:

Pour pasta or rice into ziplock bag.  Add a couple of teaspoons of alcohol and a few drops of food coloring.  Close the bag and shake until all of the pasta/rice is colored.  If you are having trouble spreading the color around, add another teaspoon of alcohol.  For darker colors, leave the pasta/rice in the bag for a little while.  (I wanted the pasta darker so I left it alone for about 15 minutes.)  Pour the pasta/rice onto a THICK stack of paper towels.  You may want to set these on a cookie sheet so you don't risk staining your countertop!  Spread out and let dry.  Once dry...play away!!!

**By the way, I remember doing this in college so I don't remember the exact amounts of everything.  It doesn't take much alcohol.  Shake a lot before adding more.  There are also recipes all over the internet.   

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven."  Matthew 5:16, KJV

Fifteen Months Old

Little K is growing and, boy, is she busy!!!  Blake says she never walks anywhere--she runs!  She gets one little arm swinging and those tiny legs move.  She follows J around everywhere and tries to do everything he does.  He is so sweet with her and lets her take his toys away, play right beside him, and doesn't complain too much that she requires a lot of attention.  She loves to wrestle with him.  We make him lay still on the floor and she will jump on his belly laughing the entire time.  She is getting big enough that I can leave them in a room to play (for a very short time) while I fold clothes, make beds, or get dinner ready.  I love listening to them laugh with one another and play so well together!
K loves to play outside.  She knows when we get her boots she is going to play in the yard.  She swings, digs in the dirt, and slides (with no one holding her, so Blake tells me!)  She likes to ride with Papaw to check the cows or put out cubes.  She yells his name every time she hears a tractor drive by our house. 
She is talking more.  We still can't understand all she says but she is making sounds that hint at words.  She says Seth, tractor, Bible, yes, Elly (that's Mamaw and Papaw's dog), cows, and Jamison.  She can also quack, moo, bark, and meow (sort of). 
She likes to play with her purses and often carries one around the house while she does other things.  She likes to brush hair.  Mom found a pony that has long hair and she will comb it's hair for the longest time.  She likes to color, look at books, ride Rody, and is starting to climb on everything.  She likes to play with my makeup and pretends to put it on, and she loves trying on shoes! 
At her physical with Dr. D, she weighed 20.8 pounds and was 30 inches long.  His advice was to feed her more potatoes.  I don't think that will be a problem.  She still eats anything we give her and would eat all day if we let her! 
What a fun, sweet girl we have!  I love my tiny bundle!

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living soul."  Genesis 2:7, KJV

Time and Buttercream

It's been a long day!  I am not thrilled with time change weekends.  It throws the kids off and makes for a miserable Sunday.  K cried a lot today and J was pretty grouchy too.  He even went to sleep during worship tonight and that NEVER happens!  K didn't sleep during either worship today and she usually does.  Ah well!  After a week, things will get back to normal and we can enjoy the longer days and warmer weather. 

I had most of my cooking for this week done already but I did make a couple of chicken dishes last night.  I also made a cake Friday night.  It was delicious!  I made my own lemon buttercream icing so I will share that recipe with you.  The recipe for the cake can be found HERE.  Have a great week!


Lemon Buttercream

2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest and juice from one lemon
1 teaspoon lemon extract, optional for taste
4-5 cups powdered sugar (about 3/4 bag)
1-2 Tablespoons milk
dash salt

Cream butter in mixer until color pales.  Add shortening and flavorings and mix well.  Add powdered sugar and salt.  Mixture will be somewhat crumbly and thick.  Add milk tablespoon at a time until creamy.  You want the icing to be thick enough to spread on a cake but not hard.  Beat with mixer until very smooth.