Birthday Sneak~ Cupcakes!

I REALLY want to share what Finnley's party theme is.. but I can't, yet!  I can share a picture of my test run cupcakes. I know I have 4 months to go but 3 of those 4 months are THE hottest of the year and I am not about to be baking when it's 90 degrees out! So I want to perfect it now!

I think the first try may have been just right.. think I need to tweak the frosting a little more though! And since I was working on taste, and I don't want to give away the theme.. they will be much better looking on party day!

I just made a regular vanilla cake batter and swapped the oil for maple syrup! Then used my regular butter cream and added a few tablespoons of maple syrup so it' more of  a glaze and it's topped with some crumbled tiny pieces of bacon. I know, kinda weird but also really good!

Have y'all seen this Pajama and Pancakes Birthday here?

Or this one?! They made the table a BED!! I think they are calling it a Night Owl Party! So cute!

There are a few elements of those 2 parties I am hoping to incorporate! 

I should have a few more sneaks soon, waiting for some packages in the mail, and working

 on a few crafts for the party!

Memorial Day Goodies... reposted

I shared all these goodies last year.. and I think they are all still my favorite, so if you missed it last year check them out HERE!

These are probably my favorite thing on the whole post!

I have a busy week and cannot wait for the 3 day weekend!!



Tooth Fairy Fun!

I LOVE the whole idea about the Tooth Fairy! I hope my kids lose all their teeth believing there is a Tooth Fairy! I will probably cry if someone spoils it for them!

Like I said the other day we had our first lost tooth. I knew it was loose, but I didnt think it would be out, and I really don't think it was ready, someone was just a little determined to wiggle the little (and I mean TINY) thing right out!  I am sad I wasn't prepared, I have been OFF my game. Working on getting back in the groove!  But the things I want to do are stuff like this..

Tooth Fairy Door!

source

I am really sad that I didn't get this done.. but I think the Tooth Fairy can write Ramsey a note and he will believe it!

There are LOTS of FREE printable certificates and stuff too! Like coloring pages..

HERE, HERE

THIS one is my favorite... especially for older kids! Hilarious!

I think we will probably write our own letter for next time, and there are lots of free fairy clip art images to use too!

I made a little tooth fairy box pre kiddo's but it is obviously girly. I think the boy and I need to make one for him before he loses his next tooth. There are some cute tooth holders out there. I like these, all from etsy.com

I have a feeling Ramsey will want a treasure chest type instead of a pillow. I'll share as soon as we are done!

One thing I did make was a Tooth Fairy Coin. I made it after he went to bed and HOPED the glitter was dry. I didnt send anything with it, so he has had the last week to think about it and what it's for. I have until he loses his next one to decide what he will be able to do with them!

I just used the wooden circles, painted them blue/aqua then stamped a tooth on one side and a fairy on the other, then painted with mod podge so the ink won't smear and then glitter glue. If I had more time (and what I will do on the next ones) is rough up the edges a little, so they aren't so new looking!

There are all kinds you can buy, but I would rather save the money and make them.. We gave him $5 for his first tooth, but won't be doing that again. So I think the coins can be good for a small thing, like renting a movie or getting 1 Lego Minifigure (those are really popular here right now).

I also hope I can remember to leave some sparkles around next time!

I know for sure what our daughter will be getting her first lost tooth.. This adorable charm, I love charm bracelets for girls. I can remember where pretty much all of mine came from or what even they are from!

What do you all do for the Tooth Fairy?



Not much is new!

Just same old same old. But I love it! I feel like we have been super busy lately, doing what? Nothing really! School 5 days a week, dance class 2 days and T-ball the same 2 days usually.  The rest of the time I have no idea where the time goes! 

Excited for summer, can't wait to take the kids to some U-pick berry places again, they had so much fun last year and now I know a little more about what time of year for what berries, kinda late this year though because of the rain.

I have been working on Finnley's Birthday Party stuff, still not sharing what it is yet (I think I jinx myself and as soon as I share it gets really popular)!

So excited for it though, being a little less reserved and trying to make more stuff myself, partly because I can't find what I am looking for and partly because I want to spend less!

And honestly, one of the reasons I haven't been posting as much would be Pinterest!  who doesn't love that?!  Email me if you need an invite, the more the merrier!

I hope to have something to share soon, I haven't been cooking anything other than usual lately, birthday's are too far away, I haven't thought of anything for Father's Day! Sorry!

But I did take a few pictures of my muffins, I LOVE this one of my girly!

And the tooth fairy came for the first time, I totally failed at getting everything I WANTED to do done though.. It looks like he lost 3 he is so gap toothed from sucking his thumb. I love his sweet freckles!

It has been 1 year!

Since Finnley had his surgery! I can't believe it has been a year, it has gone by SO fast and I really didn't know how things would be, but I didn't expect them to be this easy! His recovery went well and you would never guess he had surgery if you saw him!

Going to share some pics, but they get a little gruesome a couple down, just a warning!

Just a couple pictures, but you can read/see his whole hospital stay and some before and after HERE.

Pre Surgery

Just after surgery. The IV in his neck left 2 tiny tiny little scars, I see them everyday, but you can't see his scar on his head because he has a lot of hair!

Less than 72 hours after surgery! Smiling! He seriously is the happiest little guy ever! I don't think he has stopped smiling since!

4 months later and you couldn't even tell!



That horrible week feels like it was years and years ago usually, but days where he bonks his head on stuff reminds me how fragile he was less than a year ago!

Better

I said the other day how I was SO behind on housework, well I still am a little but by the end of the week I will be caught up! (thank goodness)

I love that my Home Management Binder can help me get back on track in 1 week (or less) Having designated things to do each day of the week really helps me make sure nothing gets skipped and nothing ever really gets too dirty that it takes more than a few minutes!  Laundry has been a total pain lately, the kids dressers are over full because we have crazy weather, 70 one day freezing overnight! I am ready to pack all the sweaters away already!!

Meal planning

I usually stock up when there are things on sale that I know we will use. And this week that is coming in handy. I went grocery shopping but didn't take a list because I hadn't planned anything, that was a week and a half ago. Luckily I hadn't been slacking for too long and we still have plenty of groceries for the week and I don't have to go to the grocery store again!  If I do this right we shouldn't have any reason to be eating out at all this entire week!  Our weekday meals have got to be easy and not time consuming! Between T-ball and dance class we have 1 free night a week. So those other 4 nights can get really hectic if I don't have a plan and most of the work done ahead of time!  Things like browning all of the ground turkey at once (and then freezing it in meal size bags) saves a ton of time later on, and we can buy the big packages and get a better deal per pound! 
If things are on track we have a few bags of hamburger, turkey and chicken breast already cooked in the freezer all the time. I have a daily plan in my HMB and one of the first things is to check the meal plan and see if I need to thaw anything.
The crock pot is another thing we use a lot, not as much in the spring and summer but fall and winter it is easily a every other day thing!  Once the weather is a little more reliable we grill pretty much everything!

I haven't gotten into Once A Month Cooking, but I can imagine I will have to soon! Right now we have 1 in school and 2 in activities, next year it will be even worse (worse as in busy, glad they enjoy doing stuff though!) OAMC info here.

I did get all the Spring/Easter stuff put away and everything dusted today. I am not putting anything else out until I am caught up on house work, that is good motivation for me since it's pretty empty without it!  But I did get something new in the mail the other day and it needed a place to be until I get the next bins out.  So I cheated a little!

I have a weakness for old pictures! No idea who any of these people are since I bought the pictures! But I love them. I love the way they look, how they feel,  and the sweet stories our older kids make up about the people in the pictures!