a mom, a wife, and a me

The party favors!

For our recent Dr.Seuss party I decided to make One Fish two Fish Red fish Blue Fish fishing games. I had lots of left over baby food snack cans which I covered with wrapping paper I used through out the party to coordinate. I sewed each set ! white fish, 2 green fish, 1 red fish, and 1 blue fish out of felt. That was 65 fish to sew, very repetitive work. The fishing poles were dowels with stings and a magnet. They turned out way better then I had hoped for!

Cost break down:
Felt 1/2 yard of each color $4.99 (I have enough to make about 15 more games)
Magnets $3.50 (Regular $6.99 but 50% off coupon)
Dowels Left overs from something else

It was a very awesome alternative to candy and junk toys that normally come out of a pinata.

A party story.... :(

Although my husband doesn't understand my crazy need to make every party amazing Im lucky enough to have a great group of die-hard party attenders that love what I do. On Sunday we threw the very much antici[pated Dr.Seuss 1st birthday party for Danger. It was a great party, the sun was out (it was suppose to rain) it was warm but not to hot, the swing set was done, all the bark dust was laid, the kids were in great moods, the birthday boy was all smiles! That was all at noon when the party started... let me tell you a little about what happened the morning before. So some times I get a little to ambitious, I figured I had all the details planned to a T so a huge amazing first birthday cake needed to be made... a 130am trip to walmart 20mins from my house to get more Crisco and sugar for frosting was the first sign that I bit off more then I could chew, fast forward to me at 345 finally crawling into bed still dressed covered in frosting with a wonderful 4 "story" cake on my table, another fast forward to me waking up at 7, totally on my own time line ready to go, finishing up last min food getting the tables ready to take outside, jump now to 8:02... I blame what happened next one a flea, one small very itchy flea.. and a dog, a very itchy dog. Shelby was rolling all over the floor trying to itch her back and soon she found that the floor wasnt going to get it done, she had a great idea a table leg! Yes the same leg to the table my cake was sitting on, my very all cakes set to the back cake... I heard it happen while I was pealing egg shells... I froze. I knew what happened with out turning around. At 8:02, day of the party with a no room for error schedule, the cake was on the floor. The top two layers on the floor. The first two bowing from the weigh change, first thought totally break down, second thought I don't have time for that... cry later. I scooped what I could into a garbage can, the rest poor flea bitten dog ate. I re positioned the bottom two layed, and threw some cup cakes in the oven to save face. At which point im an hour behind. Then a bag of supplies turns up missing, no table cloths, no party twirlers, no streamers, no balloons. No freakin decorations to be found. I ordered husband to go get table cloths. I rustled though my every growing supply box found red and white streamers. No balloons poo. My cousin shows up, a little late, to mad dash set up what we can. No games made it out except the bubble wrap on the deck for "hop on Pops" The food landed on the table as the first people were showing up. My kids were dressed, my cupcakes frosted and that was that.... despite the crazy hectic morning, it was a good party with good friends and a very happy birthday for Carson William Patrick Parks. So I have decided this, although I have note books full of party plans down to the last details, I need to remember that its about why we are celebrating. No more cakes for me, cup cakes are just fine, besides only 4 cupcakes got eatin' because I make way to much food and snacks and the kids were stuffed full!

my daughter is sewing!!

I wish I would have thought about it while it was happening but my daughter asked to make her friend a gift for her birthday and said she wanted to sew it... so she came up with an idea and there we go. I forgot to take pictures of her actually sewing but here it is! A crayon roll purse out of pockets!

Awesome blogs I have linked to:

Conflicted

Im tired of life lately... something good needs to find its way in. The charter school we were able to get Justin into this year stinks... and although i have applied else where it seems we might be stick there for 2nt grade. :( I have been praying for a better option but so far we are 20ish, 30ish and 40ish on other schools list. Also what I thought would be a benefit of the school not getting out until July 22 (which educationally I think it great) I have found watching everyone else we know get out of school really stink to be stuck in school. If that were not hard pressing enough we lost our daughters preschool teacher, a woman who we both loved dearly, to a staffing change. They told us on Tuesday and she was gone by Thursday now my daughter will start summer session in a new classroom with new kids, which might be a blessing but now she is adamant she doesn't want to go... change is hard for that one. Poor me I have just been an emotional ball of tears the last few weeks. It REALLY DOES NOT HELP that I realized im at a way unhealthy weight right now (169 eeekkk) and have been on a self imposed diet (which just involves eating better and not so much all day long) and running on the treadmill at nap time and tring to get exercise when I can... I miss chocolate and soda and chips and donuts, yuumy cream or jelly filled donuts :( But most of all I miss starbucks, my 1200 calorie java chip that never did me wrong... stupid scale. And then there is my husband. I love the man dearly I really do but he has a crazy ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. He is pretty unsupportive unless he can see the insent gratification. Although my blog doesnt really show how involved with crafting I really am because I dont stick to it the way I want to (although 4 kids, a daycare, and photography business are great excesses) I have been thinking seriously about doing a few Christmas bazaars this years. I think What I make is good enough, however with 4 kids, a daycare and a photography business, it makes justifying my passion to do this a little more difficult for this man to understand. I guess im just conflicted about what I should do next. Granted I still have lots of time till the holiday season but I just wish for once things would just fall into place. Its hard to work so hard with out seeing a positive reward sometimes. .... maybe I deserve a tall java chip today... :(

Just a taste of the fun to come!

Im a party planner, I love parties, I would literally throw a party everyday if I knew my husband wouldnt leave me for it ;) So when I got pregnant with our fourth child, my little Danger, I was informed it was 'selfish' to throw a baby shower for my bump (IM just going to toss it out there I think it was just because my SIL was pregnant at the time with triplets and my MIL thought she should have the whole lime light... and the lemon light if I must stew) but anyways back to my story. I was shattered when she said this, and it may have been the hormones or it could have been that I had been planning in my head a super baby shower since we knew for sure this was going to be our last one... so I sat back, not even invited to help her throw my SIL a baby shower (by a woman who HATES parties) My BFF wanted to throw me a secret shower but never got around to it so I feel like Carson got jipped. Now im not being selfish or greedy, its not about gifts it about getting together with your friends one last time before you pop out another one and cant leave the house for 6 months ;) My other showers, the ones I planned were not about gifts, with my daughter we asked everyone to bring their favorite childhood book with a note in the cover for her, with my Coco we had a scrapbook party and it was a diapers only shower and it really caught me up on my lack of scrapping since the 3rd one. But my glory was going to be this last shower, this last celebrate a baby glory, was going to be a blanket shower where I was going to ask everyone to bring a blanket to donate to the local children's hosp. I was going to be have "sung as a bug" theme. (With hungry little caterpillar as my scape) so needless to say because I was told that a 4th baby shower was selfish, poor Carson has a blank spot in his baby book, empty pages where a baby shower was suppose to go... poor poor Carson... HOWEVER I am super mom, i figure fine he didnt get a baby shower he sure is going to get the biggest 1st birthday bash I can come up with so here is the invite, the first glimpse into the grandness that will be Carsons first birthday bash!

The art of giving gifts

There is an art to giving gifts... I should know im a very good gift giver but alas not so much of a reciever. I dont mean to be a bad reciever, I do say thank you and smile and write a fancy thank you card but sometimes its my own way of showing people how its done. (please tell me im not the only one who does this) When picking out a gift for someone you have to let go of who you are, not forever just for the deration of the shopping. If you see something cute that you love buy it... for yourself. You can not change someone with a gift. A gift is something you are giving some one to make THEM happy. So when you buy someone who lives in white tshirts and carheart pants (my husband) a bright red golfing polo (MIL) in hopes that they will put down their wrenches and car parts.. your really just trying to change them on a public platform where they have to smile and say thank you, its a waste of money and thought. I dont mean to have to write a blog about it but its my blog and ill vent if I want to (insert me sticking my tounge out here) So in responce we made a really cute flower pot thank you card that pops up and has a seed packet, why you ask, because she is a advid gardener. She loves planting, pruning, basketing (yes pictures that one house in the neighborhood that looks like a pretty little jungle covered in plants, thats her) I on the other hand can not even keep my weeds alive, I dont buy flowers, I dont water flowers and I dont get sad that my husband has never brought me home roses, im not a flowerer person. See what im getting at? A gift is a gift to make someone happy, to let them know you know them, you love them for them. So when I went to make a baby gift for my buddy who just had her first baby girl (she already has two boys, well 3 if you count her child husband ;) ) I didnt bat an eye and went stright for the black and pink and skulls. Thats who they are they are not I love Mommy pink bunny people they are punky funky black and pink and skulls kinda people. And I was just amazed how many people were offended that a baby gift could include anything other then pink and flowery and soft. But a gift is a gift to a person I love... and she is the going to be the cutest little punker baby at the play park ;) So remember when picking out a gift, its not for you its for them so pick something you know they will truely love, because its YOU showing THEM that You love THEM for being THEM.!

Ben 10 birthday pictures

I still can not beleive my cute fat sweet ball of baby turned into an independed carring skinny 7 year old on monday. He started life out like this

A cute hamalious NEVER EVER cried brown eyes love bug. And we have been so blessed with watching all of that turn into this.

I know I said it before but I can not beleive he is 7... its like not even kid anymore, its like big kid, its like the roll his eyes when I think im being funny, to old to kiss me at school, nose stuck in the DS old.... im not gunna lie make me a little teary :( BUT its not im into girls yet old so im good :)
So for this big kids birthday party (althought we invited the whole class and no one showed up... but thats another blog on its way!!) It turned out pretty great concidering I could not even come up with lame ideas in the weeks before because its hard to do aleins, and we are not talking little green men we are talkin HUMUNGASAUR..Echo Echo...Swampfire... those aleins are to complicated, so I failed in the creative show themed way but generic junk turned out better then I hoped!

The goody bags were kinda fun we made coloring books (i tutorualed about it) a pin on Ben 10 patch, a key chain (I got a bunch from OTC and they are an awesome fall back, and Justin made book marks.. which turned out cute. The bags doubled as a pinata bag, which I made out of cardboard and tissue paper!

The kids played Ben Ben alien (but just because they say they know how to play duck duck goose DOES NOT mean they really do) I stuffed 75 ballons with candy and charater cards and blew them up... they had to find ben, whoever found him started the next game. Then we had a sock war, which I think was the high light of the party, the kids loved it and it was so funny to watch they played a bunch of rounds of that then went for the junk food table ;)