Birthday Banner

There's a birthday coming, and with it comes my incessant need to create a tradition. I know. That's the dumbest thing ever. But it's true. With every event, or holiday, or moment, I find myself losing sleep over how to either a) capture the "moment" or b) to be able to recreate it. And, lets be honest, the best, most long-standing traditions are not ones that have been conjured up in someones head, or read on someones Pinterest board. They're sudden, spur-of-the-moment, not-intended-to-be-sacred, pauses in time. (Like my family's tradition to watch the very wholesome, family movie "Christmas Vacation" on the eve of the birth of our Savior every year. Don't judge.)

Anywho, as I was perusing FB a few months ago, I saw a photo of a girlfriend's daughter on her b-day, sitting in her highchair with a subtly decorated kitchen in the background. This stuck out to me because said girlfriend was preparing for the big b-day shindig... which was to be over the upcoming weekend. And then I realized, she decorated her kitchen (nothing over-the-top) for THE birthday. The actual day this precious girl left the womb was being celebrated by her Mama, her Daddy and her little sister. Oh yes, the party was to follow, but they didn't miss The Day.

Duh.

It sounds so simple. It is so simple. But I've missed it. Don't get me wrong, we have b-day morning photos, and make a huge deal out of the entire day that the b-day party is taking place, but the D-A-T-E has been overlooked. Drat.

And then came the light bulb!

As I looked back through old photos of The Girl, I realized I have a great "cake" photo of her from all 3 previous birthdays. What fun! A birthday banner!

Each year, I'm going to take that sacred "cake photo" and add it on to this simple, I'm-not-a-scrapbooker banner. And, just to kick it up a notch, a few things will be included on the backside: How we celebrated; What she asked for; and Her own signature (or an outline of her hand if she's too young to write.)

This is a great, simple way for me to catch a moment, without having to maintain a scrapbook. It will also store easily, and make for great decorations (and conversation starters?) in years to follow. To make it extra-suspenseful, I'm going to bring out each "pendant" that many days before her birthday each year. (ie. 3 days before her b-day I'll hang up her 3rd Birthday Pendant, and so on...)

Time to go and make #1 for The Boy.

Nothing spells LOVE like B-B-Q

Since about mid-May, I've had the pleasure of putting many "Pins" to use as my sister-in-law and I planned a couples BBQ wedding shower for her brother/my brother-in-law and our new (almost) sister! The trickiest part of this whole deal was finding adorable things on Pinterest and attempting to  find sneaky ways to get them to one another to read/check-out-- without the Bride seeing what we were up to!

Anyway, here's how things ended up. It was a great evening with friends and family. And, as much as I wanted to pray against rain, I took one for the farmers and told the Lord we could squeeze the tables inside if need be. However, as you all know, that was not an issue... and we continue to wait for the rain.

As our guests arrived, we had each couple fill out a hilarious Mad-libs pertaining to wedding advice for the couple. They were read aloud as the couple-of-honor opened their gifts.

Apparently a few shower guests thought these were real "sliders." They're actually a yellow cupcake cut in half, with half of a chocolate cupcake stacked inside as the "burger." A little yellow icing (mustard)... a little red icing (ketchup) and a toothpick... and voila! (Props to my friend Mrs. R who made these for The Girl's 1st b-day and coached me along as I attempted to remake her art.)

This simple/inexpensive piece of decor was not a Pinterest find thankyouverymuch! I hijacked the Bride & Groom's Facebook photos. Then, I printed them at Sam's Club. Finally, with some hemp and clothespins I had in my crafting "stash," we hung them as a backdrop.

One of the main reasons we chose to do a BBQ (besides having an awesome park-like backyard) was because of this... S'MORES BAR for dessert! We hunted around our local grocers to find out what sorts of marshmallow flavorings they offered (strawberry, toasted coconut and jumbo) and then came up with the menu (see next photo.)

Thankfully, my FIL was thinking ahead and thought to call the police department who Embrace the Pace to see how the burn ban would affect this main-piece of our party. Luckily, we got the go-ahead. Phew!

I've decided when having a buffet, either a menu or placards in front of each "dish" are helpful to guests. We went with a menu. Pre-wrapped silverware with a "dig-in" tag was a fun, whimsical touch, too.

And, to keep with our theme, we labeled mason jars and encouraged guests to write their name on their jar and keep it "in sight."

The other hostess helped with putting pens in all the centerpieces so we wouldn't have to go on a mad-hunt when game time came around.

Centerpieces were: mason jars spray-painted with stained glass paint, aluminum cans wrapped in scrapbook paper, and sitting on a round piece of scrapbook paper. All were placed on a tablecloth of "butcher-block" paper, purchased by the roll at Dollar Tree.

And there you have it. Behind me (as I was taking this photo) were yard games: corn hole, ladder ball and horseshoes.

This was so much fun to plan. It was especially fun because: 1) I live with my in-laws and don't currently have a home/yard to manage. 2) I live with my in-laws and have help with my children. and 3) I live with my in-laws and am not presently working. So, what I'm saying is, I'll likely never in my life have the time I presently do to devote to an event like this. It was fun ;)

940 Saturdays

Friday night in my most-recent Readers Digest, I read this:

940: The number of Saturdays between the day your child is born and the time he or she turns 18. The phrase might serve as a reminder to cherish the time you have with your child and use it wisely.
-From No Regrets Parenting by Harley Rotbart, MD

Wow. Only 940? That doesn't seem like many!

When we got pregnant with The Boy, The Hubby started a Saturday morning tradition with The Girl in which the two of them went on a doughnut expedition. Each Saturday, they'd wake up and ditch me to go and find the most wonderful of puffy, filled, iced confections. Not only did I get an hour or so to myself, but they got their much needed one-on-one time and most of the time they remembered to bring me one, too ;) In the end it was a win for all parties involved.

Now, it's a family affair. Most Saturdays, no matter what city we're in, we get up, get dressed, and let the hunt begin.

I did some math after reading this statistic (don't worry, I used a calculator) and discovered that we only have 732 Saturdays left with The Girl. WHAT? How is that even possible? In four short years we've whittled away more than 200! (Hold in the tears. Hold in the tears. Hold in the tears.)

Immediately, I was convicted (once again) of my selfishness. Just that morning, The Hubby had been invited by my FIL to go play a round of golf. SELFISHLY, I wanted to cross my arms, stop my foot and say, "I've been here with these yahoos all week... the three of us REALLY need you here... for our sanity... and you want to go be away from us for 4.5 hours of swinging a stick with your Dad?"

And then it hit me.

"... with your Dad."

You see, the thing is, even though they've already had their 940 Saturdays, I had the opportunity to allow them both #941 or #1265, or #1560. It wasn't about "leaving us." It was about time away, not working, to unwind, exercise, laugh and talk ... with his Dad.

So ... what are you doing with the 940 "Saturdays" you've got with your kids? Are you making memories? Are you doing chores as a family? Are you realizing there are only 52/year? (Lets not get all legalistic here, your "Saturday" might very well be Thursday, or Monday, or whatever day works into your family schedule!)

The point is will your son or daughter one day want to come back to your home and continue to have that special one-on-one time? Will they crave the warm feeling in their heart when they think of the fun, silly, spontaneous, ritual, SACRED things you did together at least once a week? Will they want to build those moments into their family life someday?

I hope so... for both your kids and mine.

Birthday craftiness

Today is my most wonderful mother-in-law's birthday. If there was an ideal mother-in-law, it is mine. She is loving, respectful, generous, caring, giving, joyful, patient and relaxed. She's so good at her dueling roles of daughter to elderly parents and active "Nana" to her three grand kids. Most of all, she loves Jesus a whole, whole lot. (I'm sure that's what keeps her going on the weeks she goes from watching the little ones to care-taking the aging.)

A few months ago I showed her some of the cute "word art" on Pinterest. She loved it. So, I channeled my inner craftiness, and whipped these up for her. They're not perfect, but I'm happy with how they turned out. They don't match, but I think they'll be a lovely asset to the toy room.



Happy Birthday, Andrea Beth.

What a blessing you are!

Just call me Alice (In Wonderland)...

I've never seen "Alice in Wonderland" all the way through. All I know is that it's kind of freaky and a rabbit sings a song about being late. Somewhere in there, however, I think there's something about a tea party?

Anyway, I was slightly pumped when I was asked to host a table at the Ladies of Grace Church spring tea. Not only do I have a ton of my grandmother's entertaining pieces, but it's only about the fifth time I've used our wedding china! I also thought it would be a great opportunity to use some of my Pinterest "pins," but that wasn't necessary. My dear, creative friend-- the other SRG-- was the brainpower behind this work of art. We decided on a yellow/green/black color scheme-- which stemmed from the idea of a lemon centerpiece, with hints of lime.

We started by getting all options out on the table...

For "placemats" there were plenty of ideas. Chargers were $2 each at Hobby Lobby. Tempting, but I decided on scrapbook paper which was half off of $0.59.

Now... how to make it not look like scrapbook paper...

                                    

Next came the favors... yellow watering cans from Dollar Tree, pens and coordinating Post-It notes from the Target Dollar Spot, and green M&M's from the South Bend Chocolate Cafe.

Now for the centerpiece. It started off catastrophic as I realized that lemons don't stack. (Duh!) They also don't hold together with Scotch tape (FYI). However, if you ever need to stack lemons,

employ the ever-helpful toothpick!

The lovely black and white plate is actually the cake plate from our wedding, which my sweet sister made for us almost seven years ago!

And now to piece it all together...

And, incase you're curious, here's what the other tables look like. So fun!

 Wouldn't you know... I AM late for a very important date! BEDTIME!

In the words of James Taylor...

... "Shower the people you love with love; show them  how much you care."

Our Growth Group (a.k.a. small group, life group, small church, etc.) had so much fun showering the M's with love as they prepare for their first born.

In preparation, there might have been some child-labor laws that were broken... we call it "playing Cinderella" ...

Guests were instructed to sign the guest book puzzle (yes, I got the idea via Pinterest...) and write their name on a small piece of paper for another game, too.

 

This will be fun when baby girl is 2 and can finally attempt the puzzle... Mom and Dad can attempt to remember this shower...

Take a slip of paper from the creamer cup... write your name on it... put it in the sugar bowl...

Guests were also asked to bring a baby photo of themselves for a rousing game of "Guess Who?" It was determined that most of our mothers have yet to let go of our baby photos, and therefore, most of us do not have them in our possession!

Guests were also asked to bring a dish to share. This worked splendidly, as we had quite the smorgasbord... and I didn't have to do all the cooking ;)

Guests were also asked to bring a onesie that described themselves... things got very creative at this point. (Notice the bottom row... 4th from the left. It's half Ohio State, half Notre Dame... sewn together. Can you say, CRAFTY?!)

Mom & Dad used those slips of paper that guests left in the sugar bowl in the foyer (see above) to try and determine which onesie described who...

And, because this was a co-ed shower, we had to do the most fun game of all. Baby food guessing! Each guest was given multiple plastic spoons (no double-dipping for this germaphobe!), a piece of paper and a pen. As the jars were passed, they had to attempt to guess what the food was. This was highly entertaining... especially when it came to the guys answers...

And, of course, there was the gift opening. Is this the most adorable tu-tu ever?

Congrats M Family! We can't wait to meet your sweet girl!