This weekend is the perfect weekend to have three birthday parties on the agenda.
I am going to be out of town redeeming my Christmas gift from Jay ~ a Ladies Retreat down south.
I am SO excited.
I need it. There is something so powerful when a group of ladies get together and share, chat, laugh and even cry.
Knowing that you are not going through life alone and that you have an amazing support group other than your immediate circle of friends and extended family is always comforting no matter how perfect you think your life is. And while I know that my life is NO where near perfect, I feel blessed daily and I need to continue to do so.
Yes, even through the homework and the bickering and the losing my patience and the yelling and the dog hair in the corners and the sink full of dishes and the clean dishes in the dishwasher that need to find their home. We all need a moment {in this case about 48 hours} to ourselves to sit back and visit, make new friends, share stories and remind us that we are truly, madly, deeply blessed.
So, Jay will be with the children and doing school pick-up, dance class, Fish Stick Friday, Little Church and attending three birthday parties around town. I know he enjoys seeing Elliott & Holden interacting with their friends and watching them laugh and play with their peers.
It should be a win/win all around this weekend.
Although I’m sure I’m going to be the one that feels more refreshed and renewed when it’s all over, I hope that we can further appreciate our true gifts and blessings on Sunday evening when we’re all back together sharing stories of the weekend.
Thanks babe, for the chance to get away for a bit. I appreciate it more than you know….and I appreciate YOU!
What are YOU looking forward to as this week comes to an end? It’s supposed to be GORGEOUS!
When it comes to our kids’ birthday parties, I always have two things in mind….
Keep it simple.
Make it special.
This year we decided to have Holden’s party at the Wildlife Learning Center. We’d never been there, but learned that they do parties so I thought it’d be something different and educational at the same time.
To keep things extra easy, I scheduled the party in the mid-afternoon from 2pm-4pm so that I didn’t feel I had to serve a whole meal or heavy snacks since that would be harder to transport, keep cold, etc. I just made a huge batch of Safari Trail Mix for munching on and served two-bite cupcakes and mini ice cream sandwiches {the cutest & perfectly kid-sized ~ Ralphs/Kroger brand}. We had mini water bottles from Trader Joe’s that I covered in leopard print duct tape to keep with the theme.
{easiest party trick ever}
A big thank you to my talented friend, Richelle, who helped place and hang the decor as she is the event planning guru…
{embroidery hoops with remnant fabric purchased from Joann’s ~ all 3 hoops cost less than $5 to make}
{the “H” is just a piece of cardboard that I covered in yarn and the “6” is from the dollar bins at Michael’s}
The first 30 minutes of the party is a presentation of several animals with facts and a chance for all the kids to touch said critter.
{my fave, the porcupine}
After the live animal presentation, the kids went on a little tour of the grounds to meet more animal friends…
“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Holden, Happy Birthday to you!”
*****
I really try to make the party favors useful {which probably translates to boring for the kids, but perfect for the parents!}
The kiddos went home with some safari band-aids and a little mini B&BW hand sanitizer for their backpacks or lunch boxes…
The 3 and under crowd took home fun little monkey melamine plates…
…and the under 1 year old guest went home with a pair of giraffe mittens…
{ok, so I don’t know how useful mittens are in So Cal, but they sure were cute!}
*****
This non-profit was a pleasure to work with and the two ladies that ran the party were so great with the kids and very knowledgable. The only thing that bugged me was that the pavilion where the presentation and the party is held is right along the main thoroughfare and we had a few “party crashers”. I got irritated enough and kindly informed them that it was a private party and they went on their merry ways, but other than that, I think the safari-goers had a fantastic time and all seemed very engaged and interested.
The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. I was a little worried since we had some rain and lots of wind earlier in the week. Holden showed up in shorts and flip flops. Cannot ask for more perfect February weather than that!
I am always reminded each year as we celebrate our kids birthdays of the special group of friends that we’re blessed with in our lives. I loved that this party was a gathering of old friends that have known Holden since before he was 2, new friends that he has made this year in kindergarten, sweet next door neighbors and friends & family that traveled all the way from Orange County and San Diego.
And then there are the same friends who, year after year, are my cupcake passer-outers, clean up crew and schlep-everything-to-the-car helpers. Thank you to my Stevenson Ranch ladies ~ Karen, Melissa & Janet for always lending a hand. We may no longer be able to meet at the park and chat once or twice a week, but I still love you, of course, and will always remember those times special times we spent together before school came and interrupted our social life! Darn it.
THANK YOU to all who came ~ we loved having you there to celebrate Holden’s special day with us.
*****
Cannot believe our baby will turn SIX tomorrow…
It’s been a WILD 72 months, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!
We love you to pieces, Holdy, and hope you enjoyed your party and celebrating with your friends ~ both animal and human!
Holden’s party is just 3 days away and I’m doing as much as I can now to alleviate stress and extra running around in the next couple days. The fact that the party is NOT at our house helps A LOT!
But, there are still little things that need to be done like packaging party favors, picking up plates and napkins and adding a little something extra to plain water bottles.
The party is mid-afternoon so I figured a light snack along with cake & ice cream would be enough. Elliott had her 6th birthday party at a local state park and the guests created their own trail mix. They really seemed to enjoy it, but it meant packing and hauling lots of extra containers to hold all the items. I decided this time around to pre-make the mix and serve it out of big glass canisters with a huge serving spoon.
: Safari Snack Mix :
This is the perfect thing to toss together to feed a crowd and can be tailored to easily fit with any theme.
Here is what I used…
2-6.75 ounce boxes of Annie’s Ginger Snap Bunny Cookies
2-12 ounce bags of Jungle Animal Cookies {same brand as the pink & white Circus ones}
1-16 ounce bag of Snyder’s pretzel twists
2-4.5 ounce bags yogurt raisins
2-5.5 bags dried pineapple
2-6 ounce bags banana chips
1-12 ounce carton Whoppers
1-11.8 ounce bag coconut m&m’s
2-3.1 ounce boxes of cupcake bites
1-10 ounce bag mini marshmallows
1-20 ounce jar of lightly salted peanuts {served in a separate container on the side in case of allergies}
I just mixed it up in two batches in a large bowl and divided into gallon ziploc bags to keep it fresh until party time!
There are so many other things that you could add and/or substitute into this mix…
Goldfish crackers {I’m not a big fan of the rainbow variety, but they would add lots of color to the mix}
This morning I jumped on Pinterest for V-day teacher ideas and immediately got overwhelmed. I set out on a few errands and figured I’d get inspired somewhere along the way. I had seen some cute mustache mugs at 99cents Only and thought I could fill those with some hot chocolate or Starbucks VIA packets or something so I popped in there and all of a sudden that idea didn’t sound good anymore. I spotted some little single tulips that hadn’t bloomed yet and thought I could doctor them up for Thursday. But then I thought they may bloom before then and look bad by the time we deliver them {I worry about stuff like this!} so I put them back and came across these super cute post-it notes….what teacher doesn’t need post-its?
Aren’t they so cute?
Of course I had to come up with a cheesy tag line to go on the card…
{I will, of course, add an apostrophe in “let’s” to be grammatically correct}
The kids will write their Valentine greeting on the back of the little tag.
Easy peasy, right?
The kids will sign and address some 60+ valentines this weekend which I coincidentally also picked up at 99cents Only a couple weeks ago. They have cute ones and you can’t go wrong for a buck ~ Elliott will pass out sweets & cupcake ones and Holden will hand out pirate cards.
How can cupid be visiting again? Coming up on mid-February already….
Well, this morning I got up and packed 2 little lunch boxes after having 3 and a half weeks off! Again, I found myself feverishly roaming the aisles of Vons and Ralphs over the weekend searching for lunch box worthy items that my kids will eat and that are not complete junk.
We made it up and to school on time in the freeezing So Cal temps and it feels good to start back into our weekly school routine. No more late to bed and late to rise. No more jammies ’til noon.
Our Winter Break was wonderful and even though it was almost a month long, it flew by. I was thumbing through my camera roll this morning while sipping my coffee and couldn’t help but smile.
Our break was full of…
{package shipping}
{advent candle lighting}
{cookie baking}
{manger viewing}
{blessing bag delivering}
{sno-cone slurping}
{gallery wall hanging}
{In-N-Out lunching}
{fro-yo play dating}
{Vegas date night laughing}
{Lolo & Lola enjoying}
{pearly white polishing}
{prayer bead making and reconciliation preparing}
*****
Twenty-Thirteen is already proving to be a busy one…the pages on my new Much Ado About You planner already have glitter gel penned commitments into the month of May! I love having big things on the calendar to look forward to, but at the same time I like quiet, family weekends where we work around the house and go on outings to Hollywood, LA or Santa Monica.
Right now I’m enjoying preparing for Holden’s 6th birthday party. How can it be? I recall printing the invites and gathering goodies for his 1st birthday celebration like it was yesterday……
Here is a hint to this year’s theme {because you KNOW there is a theme, right?}…
I’m so excited. Elliott’s 1st birthday was jungle/safari themed so I am loving coming up with similar {wild} ideas, but for an older crowd this time ~ kind of bittersweet because this is the last big party for Holden. From here on out, the birthday festivities will be much lower key and include just a few friends.
Twenty-twelve was unique and held many new and wonderful moments, however, we can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in Twenty-thirteen.
As in the past couple few years, I challenged myself to come up with 12 photos, one per month, that represent just a dozen moments in the past year and again, it wasn’t easy ~ there were so many.
{January morning in Redondo}
{Big Top Birthday for this 5-year old}
{Reading award for this 1st grader in the month of March}
{Little prayers at Easter Mass}
{Birthday sleepover to celebrate our mermaid who turned 7}
{Celebrating Popsi’s 80th at the Happiest Place on Earth in June}
{Meeting new friends in HOT July}
{Two full time scholars in August}
{Legoland with Nor Cal cousins over Labor Day Weekend}
{Annual Yosemite trip over Fall Break}
{This long haired boy and the start of the season in November}
{A small, comfy, cozy & perfect Christmas!}
*****
It always saddens me when we box up the ornaments and vacuum up the pine needles, but when I look back on this year and recall all these moments in time, I realize that life is going by all too quick. In what seems like a matter of a few months, we’ll be digging the Christmas boxes out of the garage again. As much as I love the holiday season, I need to remember that there are eleven other months out there that we can make just as beautiful.
Again, thank you for following along here this past year….my hope is that in 2013 this little blog will share lots of new ideas, thoughts, recipes and ideas.
As you visit this space in this new year, please know that I appreciate you!
Let’s do this…..
XO
P.S. I’ve included links to 2010 & 2011 month-by-month posts, too!
Yesterday we decided to climb out from under the wrapping paper remnants & crushed gift boxes and take a stroll around Santa Monica to deliver the blessing bags we assembled last week. I wish we had hundreds more of them, but we agreed to find five recipients and hand them out along with a smile.
Next we saw a gentleman sitting on a park bench with a big suitcase and a Subway sandwich he was about to unwrap. The kids were running a little ahead of us and were skipping and screaming near where he was sitting. He looked up and shouted “Get your family away from me!” a couple times. Of course, we have our children’s safety in mind at all times, so we quietly walked by him and sought other folks in need of a little blessing. I look back and should have maybe went over to him alone and just placed a bag on the bench where he was sitting, smiled and walked away, but at the time I was a little put off by his outburst.
We moved on and I noticed a man with a big McDonald’s bag who was handing out hamburgers by the dozens. Some people were sleeping and he kindly left them a sandwich on their belongings. I saw him hand one to a sweet woman who responded with the most grateful smile and immediately followed it up with a blessing bag. She was so darling and thanked me so genuinely.
She didn’t even study what was in the bag, but immediately said, “Oh, I can use everything in here!” She embarrassingly asked me for a quarter…she said, “I know I’m not supposed to ask you for money, but do you have a quarter for the bus?” I fished around in my wallet and handed her two.
She was so sweet and interested in the kids {who, at first, stood over by Jay, but then made their way over to us} and asked how old they were. She said that was so nice that they came out to do this because surely they would rather be doing something else. I wanted to stay and chat with her….listen to whatever she had to say and take in as much information about her that she was willing to share.
Was she a mother? A sister? A wife? A Widow? A grandmother?
What brought her to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica overlooking the pier, the ferris wheel and the big blue Pacific?
I wished her a blessed day and we proceeded to leave three more bags on the meager belongings of two neighboring bench mates and a man on the grass who were taking naps under the late December Southern California sun.
*****
This is truly an eye opening experience and I’m so glad the kids were along and we could do this as a family. I am forever changed after speaking to this woman for only a few short minutes. I hope that when the others awoke from their slumbers that they felt loved and acknowledged when they laid eyes on their hamburgers and gallon ziplocs filled with small tokens from our family.
We look forward to making this an annual thing. Next year we’ll make up many more and focus on the streets of Hollywood.
Here is a link to last year’s post of what exactly was in the bags. {this year we added a bottled water, walnuts, trail mix and a pair of men’s socks}
Thank you to Leslie at Top of the Page and Julie at Joy’s Hope for sharing this act and opening my eyes to a way to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Here is the blessing bag post ~ as shared by Leslie.
I share this experience because I want to record it and remember it in years to come. I want to recall my exact emotions and the joy that it brought to these complete strangers just minding their own business on {their} park bench. I share this experience because it is so awesome and I want to encourage YOU to think about linking up with some friends and assembling some bags, now or next year, and give all the glory to HIM.
Ahhhhh, this weekend was one of those action packed weekends that you look forward to, have so much fun during and are exhausted after.
It started with Jay’s birthday on Friday…he took the day off and we {including my brother-in-law and his girlfriend who are visiting from NYC} had a quick lunch at The Habit before picking the kids up at school.
{Jay shares his birthday with Pearl Harbor Day}
Anuja and I stopped for our first Gingerbread Latte of the season before taking Elliott to dance class…
{polishing the routine for next weekend’s recital}
After dance, we clinked margarita glasses and toasted the birthday boy at our favorite Mexican restaurant here in town {for all my SD people, this place reminds me of Tio Leo’s}…
{nothing like a margarita on a Friday night}
On Saturday morning, Anuja and I treated ourselves to a spa pedicure, hit the mall for a bit and then grabbed Chick Fil-A and took it home to the hungry troops…
{had to go with this RED for my holiday toes}
The younger, single ones headed to Hollywood for the night while Jay and I went to his holiday party at The Ronald Reagan Library in Simi. Always a good time…
{fun, cheesy pics in front of the green screen ~ first stop, Paris}
I love that the attire is business casual…for me, it makes for a much more comfortable evening. I found this jumpsuit at Macy’s on Black Friday for around $17. It needed to be hemmed and instead of taking it to the tailor, I attempted to hem the pants myself with fusible bonding web…note to self: next time make the trip to the nearest tailor. My jimmy-rigged hem held up through dinner and dancing so all was well…
{we returned to the nation’s capitol and posed in front of The White House with Jay’s co-worker and his wife who we enjoy the party with each year}
{as the night progresses, the props come out in Times Square}
All that traveling worked up an appetite…we had appetizers, buffets and desserts from around the world, too.
{Gangnam Style under Air Force One ~ oh goodness! So sorry, Honorable Mr. Reagan}
Then God’s grace took us from getting “Low” with FloRida late Saturday evening to our beautiful parish early Sunday morning…
{amazing homily from one of our deacons}
After church, we headed to Hollywood to spend some more time with Rodney & Anuja before they returned back to the East Coast today.
{from the SCV to the W}
We like to joke and say that my BIL has achieved Baller status…he travels a lot for his job and as a result accumulates a lot of points. When I have the opportunity to hang at the W for a bit, you better believe I do. And the house Bliss toiletries may or may not have jumped into my bag…
{no shame in this girl’s game}
The kids love to visit hotels….not that Hollywood loves when kids visit their hotels, but they were pretty well behaved. I may’ve had to give a couple of stern looks and warnings spoken through clenched teeth in the lobby, though…
Yes, this is over the lounge area in their suite…I said a few prayers that the sheer curtain was still intact after we left. White leather couches scream at the littles to jump and climb all over them…
Sitting still….
We then wanted Anuja to experience The Grove so we headed there for lunch and a stroll…
We had lunch at The Farmer’s Market then did some browsing.
{Dylan’s Candy Bar}
I spent some alone time in Anthro and wrote a letter to Santa, adding something to my list around every turn…
{just the tip of the wish list iceberg}
Reminding myself the whole time that it’s better to GIVE than receive….
*****
See, told you it was one good thing after another this weekend! Good thing we have five days to recover before next weekend hits. Elliott has a dress rehearsal on Friday night, her recital on Saturday afternoon and we’re seeing The Nutcracker with Gramma on Saturday evening.
Until then I have 150 cards to address and some baking to do….
Well, this weekend we finished off our first AYSO season….
It was bittersweet, of course.
I will not miss coaching, although it was not terrible at all. But I did my duty and stepped in so that 5 sweet little boys had a team to be on. A HUGE thank you to Coach Tim, who fortunately knows the game, for assisting me. And to Jay for filling in as the ref from time to time!
Elliott absolutely loved her team ~ again, the nicest group of girls….it absolutely broke my heart that she burst into tears and was SOBBING as she watched the little video she received from her coach at last night’s party. “I just want us all to be on the same team again”, she said through tears and catching her breath. I love that she is sentimental like her mama. I love that she enjoyed it so much that the thought of not having the same team again is heart-breaking to her. That means that she loved this season and that she has special memories attached to her first soccer experience. And that was the goal….to learn, to play your best and to have FUN.
The season seems like it started long ago in some aspects and in others it seems to have gone by in a flash. Just a mere 4 months ago we didn’t know we were going to be The Cotton Candy Girls or The Sharks. We didn’t know who would be on our teams. And we certainly didn’t know that we would enjoy it and be signing up again for Spring ’13. When Elliott and Holden both expressed a joyful “Yes!” when I asked them if they wanted to take a little break and play again in a few months, I without hesitation went to the first registration night and signed them up. Yes, two games dominate our Saturdays, but we are laying the athletic/fitness foundation for our kids and it is most definitely worth it.
{Friday night clinic before practices even started}
{Her first practice}
{His first practice}
{Picture Day}
{Oodles of snacks}
{Getting instructions from Coach}
{A muddy end to the season}
{Easiest most stress-free party ever}
{Receiving her trophy after pizza and video games}
*****
I didn’t want to have a banner sitting around in my garage so I cut out the boys’ names and made little plaques for them.
I used some 8X10 artist canvas panels that I found at Ross. I taped them off with 2″ painter’s tape and brushed on some acrylic paint in the team color and removed the tape to reveal almost perfect stripes. I just hot glued the soccer ball on and picked up some ABC’s & 123’s stencils, traced their numbers onto the canvas and colored them in with a thick black Sharpie. I found some little shark stickers, added those and then covered with a light coat of Mod Podge to help keep in place. Then I just got a thin Sharpie and added our team name and the year.
{Tape off and paint your canvases}
{Add the finishing touches}
{Shark bite gift tags}
{Wrap some twine and add a blue candy cane and you’re done}
And the Cotton Candy Girls certainly couldn’t go away empty handed. Found some Bonne Bell cotton candy lip smackers at Target and added some sweet treats to a little cello bag and voila!
*****
Yes, I’m glad the the season is over just in time to enjoy the holidays, but I will miss the friends we made and cheering {loudly} at the games.
Again, THE GOAL was to have fun and I can certainly say we achieved that.
