Baby Shower for Paisley

I threw a small baby shower for my friend Paisley on Saturday.  It was her third baby, but first girl so I figured she NEEDED to have some girly things!  We made it a super small party with only about 10-12 people coming.  I went very light on decorations (only using things I already had) and I did a do it yourself salad bar!  My sister in law Alisa gave me the idea and I LOVED it!  It was so perfect!  I went to Winco and grabbed up anything from the bulk bins that I thought would make a good topping. We already have lettuce and spinach in our home all the time and I just had to add a few more veggies and we were set!  I also had some plain pasta too.  I made 3 dressings, BBQ Ranch, Oriental, and Italian.   The Oriental was a big hit, if you want to try it it's super easy and only 4 ingredients - Mayo, Honey, Sesame Oil and Rice Wine Vinegar.  Here's the link to where I found it. http://saorganics.com/applebees-oriental-salad/      I just realized looking back at it that it also calls for mustard, I didn't put any in because I'm not a big mustard fan and it's delicious without it!!

 I was able to prep and cut up all the vegetables, make the dressing and pasta's all the day before.  All I had to do was set everything out!  I even had gotten my dishes out and put sticky notes in them with all my topping so I knew I had a place for everything!

At the last minute I got the idea to put the dressings into squeeze bottles and it might just be my new favorite thing!  Seriously try it!   I had these laying around and hadn't used them much, but they are perfect for dressing.  You are really able to squeeze such a thin line that you can put all over your salad and get good coverage!  And it's not messy! 

The best part was is that all the leftovers are things we would actually eat and are mostly healthy!  I have stuff for salads for days and can mix it up!

I also did an Italian Soda bar.  I LOVE Italian Soda's and already had the syrups and cream and since we had the Soda Stream I didn't even have to buy soda!

See, super simple - not my usual all out party, but it was still very nice!

I wasn't in the mood for doing cupcakes or other extensive desserts, so I made cookie dough earlier in the week, portioned it out and froze it.  Then just popped them in the oven that morning (the ONLY thing I had to cook!) and put them in these little treat bags.  It was perfect - people took one as they were leaving (or some as they came in!)  and I wasn't left with an overabundance of treats laying around!

This was seriously one of my favorite menu's for a party and I KNOW I will be using it again!  Everyone really loved it it was so easy!

Ready for cutting!

I'm getting ready to make Alisa's new babies quilt! I just LOVE making blankets/quilts for my new nieces and nephews.  Picking out fabric and patterns is always fun!  So here's my latest stack ready to cut!

The Story of the Racoon

Adam's parents and his brother Isaac will especially appreciate this story.

Adella, we have noticed, is VERY particular about things being a certain way.  She's likes to organize things and there are just certain things that have to be the way she wants them!  One of those is her bed.  She only want certain things in there - and she HAS to have those things!   For the longest time neither Charlie or Adella were attached to any 'lovies' or other blankies or toys for bedtime, but then all of a sudden Adella especially got hooked on her 'buggie' as we call it (it's a tiny blankie with an animal on one corner, we have no idea what kind of animal it is, it looks like a bug, so that's it's name!  Charlie's is obviously a sheep so it's called sheepie!)

Adam used to tease Adella and throw random stuffed animals or blankets in her bed and she would just chuck them right back out as soon as she got in.  He once even put Charlie in and that did not go well!  

So it was very surprising when one day we brought out this little guy and put it in her bed and she left it!   She seriously loves this little guy!

Now it may not seem like anything special, but you see this is a raccoon.  And when Adam was little one of his favorite possession was a stuffed raccoon too!  When his brother Isaac came along, he was so happy to have a brother after dealing with two sisters, he lovingly game up his precious possession to him. 

Adella is a total daddy's girl, so it's no wonder she would have the same taste in stuffed toys as her daddy!

Sunday Fun Version 8.18.13

We've finally figured out how to keep Charlie and Adella awake on the short ride home from church - we give them applesauce pouches!   The last few weeks, they've actually still been pretty wide awake when we get home, so we have some milk and snacks before nap time.  (Sorry about the yellow color in the pictures, I'm still learning my new camera, apparently I still have a lot to learn!)

 And then they started a fun game, they started swinging and banging their legs/feet on their chairs, in rhythm of course. 

 They would stop and then start again and laugh and laugh!

 And then one started to escape, so we were done!

The one with expensive taste

Adella recently discovered stickers.   And if you're gonna love something, you might as well love the most expensive stickers you can find.

 At least she tried to help put them back away.

 Just kidding, lets stick some more on. 

Melting Pot

Here's the deal, dates don't come too often for us because well it's spendy!   We do date nights at home after the kids go to bed, but sometimes you just need to get out!  The last time we actually went out by ourselves was our anniversary in March! (OK, we did go to the temple when we were in the Dominican Republic).  But last Friday we went on a real date- we even PAID a babysitter for the first time!   Adam had wanted to take me to the melting pot, but didn't know how we could get out of their for under $100.  But lucky him he was reading the paper the next day and saw that Deal Chicken had a special!

It was super yummy, but I will admit it took FOREVER!  Which I expected it to be slow, but really, it took 2 hours and we didn't even have dessert!  We opted not to (even though I know it would have been delicious) but the thought of paying for the dessert and adding another hour onto our babysitting tab was a little frightening!

Pajama Love

Charlie has this one pair of pj's that have a whale on them and I die every time he puts them on!  They are stretchier than the rest of his pj's and so they hug him a little tighter.   I had to try to take a picture so I would remember how cute they were since he's almost outgrown them!   But given it was night time and he was running around, getting a good pic was hard!

 And then, we had to do a little popcorn popping, Adella's favorite primary song!

Project Life Week 32

Project Life Week 31

Sunday Fun Version 8.11.13

We had a few extra minutes on Sunday so I let Charlie and Adella go outside for a couple minutes- hoping to get some wiggles out before church!

 I love how Charlie always crouches down when he sees something interesting!

 Adella helped me make pasta salad for dinner, she actually did stir some at first, but found licking the spatula and her fingers to be more fun. 

 Don't worry, we warned our guests that she was 'highly' involved in the preparation!

Visiting Grandma Button

On one of our trips to visit Grandma Button, Charlie and Adella took a spin in her wheelchair.

They honestly weren't big fans

It was nice to see Grandma doing so much better!  

She's on a mission

Last week there were a few 'cooler' morning.  At least cool enough to handle a short walk and some park time!   Charlie and Adella have gotten pretty smart with the walks around the park and start pointing and yelling as soon as the playsets come into view- I think I may need to alter my route if I want to get any exercise in!   So after torturing them for a bit, I finally give in and let them play.  The funny part is what happens when Adella gets out of the stroller.   I park it right next to the slides but she wants nothing to do with that, she knows what she wants and goes for it!

 She got a little side tracked at first heading for the big kids swings.  I don't think she realized they weren't the right ones. 

 But then she corrected her course.   I zoomed out on this one so you can see how really far away the little kid swings are from the rest of the playground!

And then she made it!  All this from the girl who hated to swing just a few months ago!

And of course Charlie is always happy to oblige in swinging! 

Sunsets

I love a good sunset! Luckily AZ has some pretty good ones, especially after a rainy cloudy day!