All For The Smiles

In less than 36hrs we will be hosting Stinkers 4th birthday party at the house. This is our 1st party at this house (we moved last September) this is also his first party at a house (we have done a park and the zoo but never house party for him). My "Things To Do" lists have been going for MONTHS. Yes don’t worry you aren’t seeing things. I said months....

An edited version of the front and back of the invites/ tickets I created for the party!

You know me the planner-worker-be how did this party come about:

1. I saw a Groupon in January for an outdoor movie screen (snagged it and set the theme "Drive-In Movie Party)
2. In March and April I started to research ideas for decorations, projects, invites, food...
3. I made all invites in July/August
4. Started printing pictures for centerpieces and cupcake tower about 4 weeks ago
5. Bought all candy and made the concession stand 3 weeks ago
6. Made all of the thank you gifts last week
7. Premade some BIG ice cubs and blocks of frozen lemonade for the beverage station couple nights ago (this way we aren't running through bags of ice or watering down drinks)
8. Prescooped the ice cream last night!

Posters I made. The top sign for the front of the house to direct people to the backyard and the 2nd sign was ideas I found of "cars". That sign will go on the car supplies table with the cardboard boxes, paper, glue, and other supplies.

I can go on, but you get the point.... we are ready (ok no not yet I have about 1 page of things to do tonight and tomorrow morning).

So I move on.... WHY? Why do I do this? That's easy... I do it for the smiles!!!

By no means do I feel like we spoil our kids. Almost everything at this party is handmade (took hours to make, but didn't cost much at all). I am not making it a competition to outdo anyone elses party. I am not trying to earn "Best Mom Award" and throw a party everyone will talk about for years to come. I do it for the smiles. I know my kids best and at each party the little elements I include are for them it's that simple.

Hidden Elements for this party:

• Hot dogs (Stink is a picky eater but Hot Dogs are something he doesn't hesitate to eat)
• Chips (well everyone likes chips)
• Popcorn (I hate it but he loves it)
• Candy and more candy (Enough said)
• Concession Stand (He loves to play pretend. Let's pretend we are really at the movies...why not!)
• Making the cars (He loves pretending, I can visualize him now with all his friends in cars sitting together)
• Pictures and more pictures (most of the decorations have pictures. Once again that is for him. He loves to see himself as a baby and hear stories)
• Cupcakes (I chose cupcakes to serve and prescooped the ice cream so I too can enjoy the party. It's that simple)

With that said, my checklists are calling my name and I must continue on. Stay tuned for the pictures and party recap!

*** Check out how the party turned out here ***

To New Beginings

Hi! It's been a while! WELL, actually it hasn't. My Sister and I jumped into a summer blogging project together over at Sister2SisterJourney. It was tons of fun and we plan to share the pen on occasion on that site, but the truth is our day to day life we have different stories we want to share as well. So here is the place I will call "home". This is my spot to laugh, cry, vent, learn, and recap the projects/ crafts and much more!!!

A quick recap of the summer....

• This past summer we had 4 travel tournaments for Sport. We are so proud of him and his team for completing their first travel ball season playing over 50 games in the season!

• We had a great boating season making it out on the water quite a few times even for some weekend get aways.

• This past holiday weekend I am extra proud of mine and my sisters kiddos for placing 1st in the family skit night. They all did such a great job remembering their lines and performing.

• I gave my green thumb a try.... I failed miserably with starting with seeds but we didn't give up. The start of Spring we purchased a few pepper plants and two tomato plants... right now I have an overflowing garden of veggies. I did manage to get green beans from a seed and so far we have had 2 side dishes of them from the garden. YEY!  

• Stinker.... well he is stinker. On a casual Tuesday evening he was playing with his car and somehow he slipped into the TV stand. Thankfully no stitches but I feel the need to update you on this because he now has a super cool (wink wink) scar right in the middle of his nose for the next several years. What a ham!

 

OK so of course that was the cliff notes version of our summer. School is officially in session and we are ready to "Fall" into our routine. Sending good luck wishes to my NEW Middle Schooler (6th Grade) Sport and our Little Guy is in 4yr Old Preschool. More stories and entertainment from both later Im sure.

If you liked what you read and would like to follow along please join by email, pinterest, facebook, twitter, or instagram.

 

My Four Corners

Life is like a puzzle. The most important parts to my Life Puzzle are the corners. Take a look at my corners that keep me together.


My Hubby! Meet Jason... he is a few (years older than me) but his childish behavior still has me question if Im really not older than him. He works full time as a laser something something. Seeing as how his job is in the medical field you cant often plan on the procedures he performs. Therefore, his schedule is impossible to plan around and always keeps us guessing and on our toes. He is a sports fanatic, extremely smart, and big hearted guy.

Sport - Is 12years old and in 6th grade Middle School. He is our Baseball All Star! He plays for a travel competitive baseball team that plays 10 out of the 12 months in a year. Jason is one of the coaches. Sport is the BEST big brother anyone could ask for!!! He has a HUGE heart and will help anyone. He tends to be shy and saying he is easily distracted from daily chores and housework is putting it mildly. He is very smart and often times I compare him to rainman when he brings up certain facts. I look forward to my daily discussions and everything he teaches me.

Stinker - He is our little angel and will be 5 in September. After struggles getting pregnant (due to my PCOS) we feel blessed to have him with us. He is smaller than most in his grade, but his BIG personality makes him a leader. Unfortunately he got my clutsy gene and so bumps, bruises and cuts are a daily occurrence for him. His immune system stinks so we are often facing some sort of cold, sinus, or other little bug that tries to take him down but never succeeds. He is such a strong little fighter! Our little Man loves to help out in the kitchen and is very creative, energetic, and always good for a laugh.

Rosie Grace - My Little Girl! She is such a cuddle bug and sweetheart. She is very protective of all of her family but truly can't hurt a fly. I mean that literally... she hates going outside (LOL).  I would love to dress her up everyday but the boys done allow it. Have no fear I sneak in the cute pink and "diamonds" where I can.

So there you have it those are my main corners to my life puzzle. Throughout my blogging journey you will notice many other important pieces to my life puzzle. Enjoy the ride with me as I continue to build it each day.

School's Out for Summer

Suprises JUST BECAUSE are the best! Recapping on some of my favorite childhood moments, which Christmas and Easter morning are pretty high on the list, which of course resulted in new toys, games etc. As a Mom, I feel that those days still rank high up there, but not for the gifts for myself but to watch the faces of my kids.

Well, I decided to do something a little different than in the past which I had a color coded planned out calendar for all my summer help (sitter, grandparents, etc). Guess maybe Im the only one who LIVES off calendars and gets excited about them. This year my plan of involvement even way far away while sitting at my desk.... I kicked off the summer with a surprise for the boys. I created a "School's Out for Summer" themed basket. It included sunny and rainy day activies.

Included in this basket are the following:

* Squirt Guns

* Water Balloons

* Kool Aid Packets

* Books for quiet/reading time

* Brownie and Cake Mix

* Scoop Ball

* Popcorn (good snack for picnics or rainy movie day)

The ideas and options to fill this basket are endless and could also add up quickly, but I didn't want to overload them where they don't appreciate or use the items if they have too many choices. My plan is to make another basket in the middle of summer with completely different items.

If you have any suggestions let me hear it so I can start to research for sales now.

Over the Rainbow

Working full time I defintely get in a rut sometimes when I miss these simple but fun special days such as Valentines Day, Groundhog's Day... I am so excited when they fall on a weekend day. So funny that years ago I would have a countdown to this day because it's a big drinking day. Me now... I had a countdown because I was so excited to try out these cute pancakes and this visual picture of "pots of gold" scrambled egss I had in my mind. #IlovebeingaMumma!

 

Happy Saint Patricks Day 2013!!! 

 

My colorful pancake batter

 

The boys eating up their pots of gold and rainbows.

 

Well the thought was there but it didn't turn out exactly how I hoped. Better luck next year.

 

Hubbys breakfast hash with 2 over medium eggs in clovers (green bell pepper). With a side of coffee and irsh cream of course! 

Ethnic Night 4 - Czesc' Poland

Thats right! The Reseigh's hoped in our car and traveled ALL the way to Poland today. And I mean all the way as in less than 5minutes from my house to my parents house (Nonna and Papa).

Yet again, allowing time to slip by us we haven't had an ethnic night is so long I felt it was time. With Lent season just starting it was perfect timing to "travel" to Poland and make some pirogis to have on hand for the Lent season. Nonna and I are allergic to fish so it makes meatless Friday meals tricky. This should help out a bunch!

We began the day bright and early preparing the pirorgi filling (Potato and cheese) at about 10:30AM.

Nonna began to cook up the Kapusta (sauerkraut) which is best brewing all day anyways. Set it and forget it is the best way! We took this time to discuss with Sport the different kinds of Kapusta (sweet vs sour) it really does depend on your preference. It was so much fun to reminance with my Mom the battle of Kapusta that her parents (my Nanny and Papa) would put all of us family through. Nanny would make her version and Papa would make his. We know they are both watching over us today still arguing over whose was the best and NO I am not going to ever admit the winner in my book.

Once the filling was completed the dough was made. We ended up going through 4 double batches of dough which made a total of 165 pierogis!!! We ended up running out of filling and played "hide" the filling in our last dozen. We ended up with some Kapusta filled with Swiss cheese and salami and American cheese, cheese only.... believe it or not they were all GREAT!!!!

Close to 8lbs of potatoes peeled, cut, and washed. Sport did so well peeling it took a while but great to learn. We also have the little potato washer in the background. He took that job VERY serious.  

Everyone hard at work.

Dish washing time.... his favorite!!!

First attempt at rolling the dough and YES my little stinker had to be the first to crank the wheel. Once he learned it wasn't as easy as it looked he stopped. 





Assembly line. It was fantastic to all work together.
 

Thumbs up from the little tasters.

 

Mark it up as another very successful trip around the world. This was our most tiring of them all which totaled over 7straight hours of standing and cooking. Great job team!!! Best part is passing on the family recipes and traditions. I love "traveling" with my family! Pack your bags I think the next trip is Bulgaria!

Groundhogs Day 2013

"What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today." - Quote from the Groundhog;s Day Movie.

If you haven't learned by now, I am a big advocate of food fun and art. You will notice from working a Monday-Friday job, I tend to leave my food fun for the weekends. How perfect Groundhogs Day is on a Saturday! Check out the meals I made and their reactions. It was good fun and even better it tasted good!


Snack:
Groundhog Pudding

Dinner:
Groundhog meatloaves with the cave of mashed potatoes. Made with Pennsylvania Baked Beans

Look at that face. It looks like alot of work but he insisted on even stirring up the meat.



These beans were VERY sweet but tasty. Pennsylvania Baked Beans have meat in them which caught us off guard but all thumbs up and I would make again for sure.

Cooking up the meat for the beans (hmmm never had meat in my beans before) but remember we are doing this Pennsylvania style.

Finished product! I used a water chestnut for the back of the face, capers for the eyes, croutons for the ears, ketchup for the nose and two small dabs of sour cream for the teeth.  

Look he even does dishes (kinda) he adds more dishes than what were actually dirty and if you notice we stick to plastic when he helps. *** Caution Flor May Be Slippery if JJ is helping! *** 

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