I heart....

PINWHEELS!!!!  

I don't know why I love them, I just do!~

I made these for Lauren's dedication brunch a couple of weeks ago.  Look!  You could do a whole pinwheel party!

I love the scalloping (that's a word right?) on these featured on Hostess With The Mostess

When I was looking for a cake pop cake inspiration I found this awesome party on Amy Atlas.  Love it. 

Maybe LoLo needs a Pinwheel Birthday Party!

7 Months Old! Whoa baby.

Lauren is seven months old.  Our amazing and beautiful baby is changing and growing every day.  I haven't weighed her lately but I know she outweighs a lot of her baby friends who are a year old.  18 lbs or so?

She wants to crawl, walk and dance.  She learned how to not just grab her feet but suck on her big toe.  She likes to eat avocados and bananas (especially if she can feed herself).  She is finally starting to establish a schedule (it still includes nursing every 3 hours though).  She sleeps in her own crib for a few hours every night.  She loves her daddy.  She loves watching her brothers and her dogs.

best. baby. ever.
edited to say that my baby loves the water.  She can play in the tub forever.  Kevin's baby loves her football and is super coordinated!

a peak at my morning

I will be completely honest with you.... Motherhood is hard!  Really, really hard.  I've had a few Mommy Dearest/Ms. Hannigan/Bad Mommy moments this week. 

But this morning we had some pretty awesome moments (unfortunately for you, I don't usually take pictures when my head is spinning around in the bad moments. or as my brother Benjamin used to call them "B.M.'s".).  So here is your glimpse at our awesome moments:

Patrick enjoying his morning paper (he went out to get it), Eggos and "coffee" (warm milk with a sprinkle of cinnamon)

Keith after dropping off Patrick at school.  The GIS to Patrick, "Is that your crazy brother?" So it begins.

LoLo on the move.  Ok, this is awesome and devastating.  Girlfriend is freakishly strong though.  just saying.

Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day is an interesting holiday.  I have come to appreciate my darling husband's attitude about Mother's Day: every day is Mother's Day.  In other words he doesn't wait until one day in May to tell me he appreciates me.  And for that, I am thankful.

This year, Mother's Day weekend happened to fall on the first weekend that Kevin went back to work.  This is the life we chose, no complaints.  We had a fabulous month of vacation together.  Point is, Kevin was working.  I went into the weekend with two hopes: 1) to enjoy the little bit of special time that we had together at the races (and it was special and fabulous: happy mother's day) and 2) God grant me the patience to enjoy my children instead of wanting to strangle them (ahem, you can't win them all).

As naughty as my boys were this weekend (both had precious toys taken away. both cried rivers.), I did get some special moments with them.  Kevin going back to work was a lot tougher than we realized.  Wow.  On Friday Keith snuck into bed with me.  On Saturday it was Patrick's turn.  So we got extra cuddles.  Nice gift.

We also had an extended conversation about my job.  According to Patrick my job includes: feeding Lauren, cleaning the house, doing laundry and telling them what to do.  Neither one thinks that I have a "real" job.  Patrick says that I used to but not anymore.  My kids' perspective: great gift.

I also got to close my eyes for a few minutes this afternoon.  I probably could have slept for an hour but a boy needed me.  A nap is an awesome gift.

To end our day, the boys and I screened Episode 3.  I love bonding with my boys over Star Wars. Jedi gift.

Now the house is quiet and I'm thinking about all of the Sunday chores that I have to do before I go to bed.  And such is life, good thing I love it.

A Great Day at the Races

We have been so blessed to find some awesome friends in our new neighborhood.  Great Christian families with nice kids, wonderful mamas and some pretty decent dads too.  Case in point, Cory and Josh.  We love their kids and have become fast friends with them.  They were kind enough to invite us to join them for La Feliz Guild's Derby Down event.  It was so fun.  Bravo to the Guild, they put on an excellent event!

Unfortunately, Kevin had to go back to work yesterday.  He loves me Josh a lot so he took a quick nap and joined in on the fun.  We had fried chicken, mint juleps (ok, not a huge fan of the mint julep), yummy desserts and we bet on the horse races.  True confessions: I don't get out much and therefore had never wagered on the ponies!  We didn't win any money but it was a lot of fun.
 

Keith's Star Wars Party

Keith has been talking about having a Star Wars party for a long long time.  We finally got to make his dream come true.

In the past we have always hosted our "friend parties" at an all-inclusive party location such as Pump it Up.  For Keith's 4th birthday I just wasn't feeling it.  There are lots of great party locations in town, but he wanted a Star Wars party... so that's what he got.  At our house. For the very first time.  I was feeling very brave, Kevin humored me and did most of the heavy lifting.

There are lots and lots of great ideas for Jedi Parties.  Tip Junkie has some great ideas and printables.  Make and Takes had Jedi robes for each party guest!  And Vesna named her son Aniken so of course she had a fab party for him featured on My Little Jedi.

So, first things first.... The invites.  Keith loves the invite I ordered for him.  I'm not sure why people don't send pretty little invitations anymore.  These were super fun and totally affordable.  I ordered them from an ebay shop called Makaty Designs and you can print them yourself.  She printed them for me, included the envelopes and got them delivered quickly.  When Patrick had his Star Wars party I made some pretty cute invites but I just didn't have time for that this time.

 The final determining factor to have the party at home was finding A Wish Your Heart Makes because what is a Star Wars party without Jedi Training?  The company provides characters for an hour and a half.  The Jedi Training package includes light saber training, music and games, face painting and an appearance by Darth Vader.  If you have ever seen the Jedi Training at Disneyland it is a lot like that.  Super fun and cool.  The other two actors are Princess Leia and a Jedi Master.  They really have fun with the kids and are in character the entire time.  Keith had no idea they were coming to his party so he was very surprised.

 

After a bit of training.....

Lord Vader showed up.

Keith used the force.

And summoned the courage to fight him.

And pose for a picture.

So that was the entertainment.... The food and the decor:
The whole theme was a light vs. dark theme.  Green and blue for the Jedi kids and black with red for the Dark Side.

The kids had Jedi Dogs, Chewbacca Cheetos, Yoda Ears (edamame) and Fruit Sabers (that were the last thing on my list and were put in a bowl instead).

 This is the Dark Side.  The adults had Dark Side Dogs, Light vs. Dark Salsa, Vader Sabers (red vines), Sarlacc Dip (red pepper hummus), and Sith Strawberry and Spinach Salad. 

The cake was the best cake we have ever had.  Donut cake!!!!  Keith isn't a big cake or ice cream kid but he loves candy, marshmallows and donuts.  So I "made" him a donut cake.  Again the Jedi and Dark Side theme.  I wanted the Dark Side donuts to be chocolate but their was a bit of a language barrier and he was a little befuddled that I was asking about red sprinkles.  I made the stars and his name on the Silhouette.  The C3-P0 was from our Easter Decorating set.  Best cake.




The tables were decorated with Star Wars toys from our personal stash.  The kids were welcome to play with them.

Each guest received their very own light saber.  I found a couple of websites that carry decent light sabers. 

I also wanted to give them a little something more (because I'm crazy like that).  So I made Hoth Pops.  If you haven't heard of them that's because I made it up.  They were large marshmallows dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with sugar crystals.  Because Hoth is the icy planet. 

 I had so much fun planning the party for Keith.  He was lucky enough to receive some really nice presents from his friends.  Lucky boy. 

I wish I had got Lauren a little Star Wars onesie.  I found one in my endless searching for ideas that said: "This is not the baby you are looking for." 

Oh and one more thing.  You saw the Darth Vader picture for the Dark Side Buffet.  That was a photo my father in law took in Disneyland.  Cheap and easy... Costco.  And I like decorations that come from our existing belongings or can be reused.   Keith and I also found this poster
and it is his new obsession!  He loves it.