Blessing Bags!

Growing up, my parents always tried to teach me the valuable lesson of not taking what you have for granted, and that somewhere, someone always has it worse than you. I very distinctly remember every year right before Christmas, my parents making me go through all of my toys and fill a few trash bags full of stuff. I wont lie, I hated it. They were my toys. But every year, I did it, and we would take those bags of toys to the local battered women's shelter and give the toys to the kids staying there. Of course, now I understand why they made me do it, it was a great lesson, and it got rid of my extras. We will be doing the same thing with our daughter once she gets old enough to understand. She may not like it, but I know she'll someday be thankful we did it.

This lesson has obviously stuck with me, and while out and about with my family a few days ago, we came across a homeless man on the side of the road. I felt bad for him, and I knew I had a few dollars in my wallet. I tried to hand them to him, but traffic was about to start moving and he wouldnt have been able to retrieve the money without risking being hit by a car. Now, realize physics was not my favorite class in high school, I tossed the money towards him, fully believing it would reach him. Wrong. It barely made it out my window before floating and fluttering to the ground. I felt terrible. Terrible doesnt even describe it. I honestly felt like I looked like the biggest jerk on the face of the planet.

So I decided that night that my family and I would be putting together what we now call "blessing bags". I had seen a similar idea on pinterest last year and saved it away for something to do in the future. Well, it was finally time to use it!

We went to the Dollar Tree to get our supplies. You cant beat everything for $1! I didnt want this project to put a damper on us financially, and lets face it, that stuff (most of it) is as good as stuff you find at Walmart.

Lauryn was super excited to help mommy put the blessing bags together! Each bag was a reusable canvas tote, we figured that a reusable bag would be better for the environment and the homeless.

We used a large ziploc bag to put the basic hygiene items in. They included:
  - Tooth brush & tooth brush case
  - Tooth paste
  - A small bag of floss picks
  - 2 packs of tissues
  - A pack of baby wipes
  - A stick of deoderant
  - Small first aid kit
  - Razor
  - A comb
  - A box of feminine care products for the women

The "food bag" was filled with the following:
  - A bottle of water
  - A Small apple juice juice box
  - Cup of applesauce
  - 2 packs of peanuts
  - 4 granola bars
  - Breath mints and Gum
  - 2 of each: plastic fork, spoon, and knife

This was just a small bag of miscellaneous items. Including:
  - 2 pens
  - Some change in a coin roll
  - Reusable drinking cup

Once we put everything inside the bags, they ended up being about half full! Not too shabby if I do say so myself!

I knew I was going to need an easy way to tell the gender of the bags apart, and I also knew I wanted to provide them with a few resources. So I figured, what better way to do that than by printing the resources on pink or blue paper. I included the name and phone number of the 2 shelters in our area. On the backs of these resource cards, I also wrote a small note to them. Kind words and encouragement.

The 4 bags we made fit nicely behind the drivers side seat in my car. Perfect to easily grab and hand out the window!

Happy First Birthday Lauryn!

Its amazing how fast a year goes bye! Lauryns first birthday was April 12, and let me tell you, she was the happiest birthday girl Ive ever seen! So heres a few snapshots from her birthday day and her party! Party pictures were taken by J.Gerren Photography! If youre in the Camp Lejeune area and are in need of some pictures I highly recommend her! Not only is she a great friend but shes an amazing photographer! Onto the pictures! :)

We started the birthday girls big day by filling her bedroom floor with over 110 balloons. All blown up by mommy and daddy. She LOOOVED it! We plan to do this every year.

Birthday breakfast! Pink whole wheat strawberry banana pancakes! I think from now on though were going to do Cake Batter Pancakes! How fun would that be?! And I think she'll survive not eating a healthy breakfast one day a year :)

After breakfast we went for her birthday pedicure! Her very first one, which she loved! She's such a girly girl and I love it!

Going for her first bike ride ever! This was her big gift from mommy and daddy. Seriously the best $100 weve probably ever spent. This bike is super sturdy and itll grow with her for years!

Out for her birthday dinner! We went to Red Lobster, and found out she LOVES flounder, who would have guessed?! I asked our waiter to assemble the birthday crew and we ordered dessert. They sang to her, which she thought was the greatest thing ever, and then she attempted to pick up the ice cream and devour it whole. I dont think my husband and I have laughed so hard in a long time!

Now onto her birthday party fun! I got in waaay over my head with this party. I didnt realize how long it would take to get everything together! Thankfully we have amazing friends who were willing to show up an hour early to help us finish, which we did JUST in time. It reminded me of TV game shows, you know, when they have a time limit and finish just as the buzzer sounds? Well our buzzer was sounding and people were filing in our front door as I was laying out the rainbow fruit tray! I breathed a huge sigh of relief once it was all ready and I could relax and enjoy the party I had worked so hard to plan!

Lauryns party invitations! I bought them at Party Suppliers and printed them myself! I love how they turned out!

Guests were greeted by a zebra ribbon wreath which I made. It took quite a long time to make but it was soo worth it!

We filled the entry table with "A Year of Lauryn". One picture from every month of her life. I bought the wooden frames from Michaels, unfinished, and did the zebra pattern myself with white and black acrylic paint and some painters tape! They were super easy and turned out really cute! We then labeled the frames with a pink glitter number for her age in months.

 The candy bar complete with the main decorations! I made the poufs myself, Ill make a "how to" post about them hopefully before the move! They were super easy though, cheap, and look great!

Another shot of the candy bar!

So many goodies!

This was Lauryns "smash cake". She demolished the cake by the way! Pictures to come!

These were the cupcakes I made for everyone else! In pink and black zebra striped cupcake liners. The cupcakes themselves were even zebra striped thanks to Duff Goldmans Zebra Cake Mix! I bought the boxes at Michaels for $7.99 a piece, each box made 18 cupcakes. Topped the cupcakes with hot pink buttercream frosting as well as black sprinkles and tiny edible pearls.

I purchased the pink and black licorice as well as the lollipops online, but made the dipped marshmallows myself! They were a big hit!

Sugar cookies, decorated with Candymelts and edible pearls! These were really tasty but took a looong time to finish. The pearls all had to be put on one at a time by hand, very tedious!

Again, the gumballs and sixlets were purchased online, chocolate covered pretzels were made by me. Everyone loved them!

It all looked fantastic!

I wrapped the water for the party in zebra duct tape that I found at Michaels! Love the way it turned out!




 These were the party favor bags I made for the kiddos! All I needed were some plain white bags from Michaels, a "Thank you" and Zebra stamp, as well as some Zebra print paper and some string!

Goodie bags were filled with tiny bubbles, which I bought at the Dollar Tree! I got 9 bottles in a pack and only paid $1! SCORE! I also tossed in a small bag of animal crackers and the recipe for moms!

My mom's best friend from high school was so kind to crochet these little zebra hats for the kids! Everyone got one in their goodie bags!

Arent they the cutest in their little zebra hats?!

Our party girl decked out in her Zebra hat!

Look at those rolls above her knees! Gosh I love her!

Time for cake!!! So glad we stripped her down to her diaper before cake time!

 Look at that smile! She loved her cake!

She seriously had such a great party! I was so pleased with how it turned out and received so many compliments! As stressful as it all was, it was totally worth it and I cannot wait to start planning her second birthday party! So long as she doesnt get any older! 

Happy St.Patricks Day!

Forgive me for not posting so much lately, there is soooo much going on for us right now! This will more than likely be my last post for a few weeks, I'll explain later! But I wanted to leave yall with a few pictures from our lame St.Patricks Day celebration. Celebration probably isnt even the right word, but it snuck up on me so fast! I didnt have time to prepare like I wanted! Next year will be better! I promise!!

She loved her St.Pattys breakfast! Green whole wheat pancakes, green grapes, green milk and a green sippy cup, all to match her green shirt, bib, and bows! I made sure no one was going to pinch her today!

I loved her outfit today! Unfortunately she wasnt in it long. It was SOOO hot today! So...

So, we busted out her amazeballs zebra pool and let her go for a swim after a picnic lunch in our front yard! Too bad she didnt have a green swimsuit!

And of course we ended the day with dessert. A green filled cupcake! They were super tasty by the way!


Again, sorry for the lame post, and the lack of posting coming up, I will explain all soon!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!

"The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold cold wet day" - Dr. Suess The Cat In The Hat. 

Dr. Suess books were some of my favorites growing up, and we have invested a ton of money into our daughters collection of Suess reads. Being she isn't in school yet to participate in Suess Week, I figured it would be a fun family tradition to celebrate Dr. Suess' birthday every year! I had started the planning for today a few weeks ago, searching Pinterest for ideas (I'll include recipes/links at the bottom of this post!). And all my research paid off! We had so much fun, and I've found even more ways to make Suess Day next year even more Suess-tacular!

 This is Thing 1. Our 3lb Yorkie named Eevee. She hated me all day for making her wear this shirt. But when I found it on Ebay, I HAD to buy it!

And Thing 2! Isn't she the cutest with her Thing hair?! I don't think the feather lasted for more than an hour, but it certainly completed the outfit!

Suess breakfast for Lauryn and hubby. Whole wheat Truffula-Chip pancakes and a strawberry banana Suess hat!

Chowing down on her Suess-style breakfast!

Lunch was an all natural string cheese and red bell pepper truffula tree, along with green eggs and a ham sandwich! Lauryn was unable to participate in the ham sandwich, due to lack of teeth but she thoroughly enjoyed her truffula tree and green egg!

A special treat for after lunch! 1 fish 2 fish jello! This was ridiculously fun to eat!

I even made some Beezlenut Splash for hubby and I at dinner! It contains soda, so Lauryn couldn't partake in this either.

And we ended the night with some mini Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes!

I seriously cannot wait for next year! Ive found decorations to make and more food options! So much fun!


Recipes/Links:

Truffula Chip Pancakes:

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
4 Egg Whites
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups Milk
2 Mashed Ripe Bananas
Food coloring
1 4oz Container Organic Strawberry Greek Yogurt
Sprinkles

1. Combine the whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Beat egg whites in a separate bowl, then add to dry mixture. Add EVOO, milk and bananas to dry mixture.
3. Once mix is well combined, stir in a few drops of food coloring (I used pink), and sprinkles.
4. Cook pancakes on a heated skillet until golden. Then remove to a plate.
5. Smear pancakes with Greek Yogurt and add a few sprinkles for decoration. Serve warm.


Strawberry Banana Suess Hats:


1 Large Banana
3 Large Strawberries
Lollipop Sticks

1. Cut the bananas and strawberries into chunks.
2. Layer the chunks onto the lollipop stick until you're satisfied with the hat height.


1 Fish 2 Fish Jello:

Blue Jello
Swedish Fish
Clean fishbowl

1. Prepare the jello as directed on the package, pouring it into the fish bowl.
2. Let the jello sit in the refrigerator to stiffen.
3. Right before serving, remove the jello from the refrigerator, and using a butterknife, make small slits in the top of the jello. Add Swedish fish to the slits to make it appear as they are swimming. Serve immediately.

Fair warning, the Swedish fish get really gummy and slimy when left in the jello. We had left over jello, so I put it back in the fridge, and the fish got gross. Im sure kids would still eat them but they were super chewy!


Beezlenut Splash:

2 packages jello (we used red and blue)
1 2 liter of Sprite

1. Prepare jello as directed on the package. Let cool in the refrigerator until set.
2. Once jello is set, cut into 1" cubes.
3. 30 minutes before serving, pour Sprite into a glass pitcher, add jello cubes and refrigerate until ready to serve.

The jello actually flavors the Sprite while it soaks. Its really yummy!


Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!