{Bike Birthday Party} Custom Party Shirt!

While I'm posting about Charlotte's bike birthday party, I would like to send a HUGE shout out and THANK YOU to Memorable Designs for making Charlotte's bike themed birthday shirt!

She loves it and still wears it all. the. time!

Shannon, over at Memorable Designs, makes shirts, water bottles, cups, wine glasses, cuff bracelets, wedding signs/plaques, sandwich boxes, key chains, party signs, ornaments, etc... go check her out!

Memorable Designs on facebook
Memorable Designs on Etsy

{Summer Activities} #26 Make Ice Cream

For 4th of July this year we were up at my parents house on the lake in Georgia. The girls got to make BOTH homemade ice cream in an old fashioned hand-crank ice cream maker (of my grandma's) AND make homemade strawberry sorbet with my mom.

 

How lucky are these kids?

 

Homemade Ice Cream

 The girls got tired of cranking so it was mostly pop pop, myself, and Uncle Andy.

But then the rain deluge came so we had to finish in the garage...

And of course sampling!

 

 

And then Homemade Sorbet...

 And again... a sample of course...

 



 

 

Check out our progress as we make our way through the 101 almost free things to do with kids this summer from stay-a-stay-at-home-mom.com

For all other posts in this category go here: {Summer Fun}

Oh boy.. 7 months old, already?!

What fun did Lizzie have during month 7?
Road trip up to Georgia
First boat trip - ok so maybe she doesn't look like she's having fun...

First beach trip (yummy sand)

Busch Gardens
Glazer Children's Museum

How is Lizzie sleeping?
Bed between 8 and 9, up around 6 to eat, then back to sleep for a few hours

What is Lizzie eating?
Mommy milk and some formula (to stock up breastmilk for a mommy/daddy weekend away)
Loves avocado, apple sauce, bananas, most fruit.
Homemade vegie puree
Tried egg for the first time and thought it was ok
Not so much a fan of the stage 2 mac n cheese or anything (not that I blame her)
LOVES the pouches, and I love how easy they are

What "skills" has Lizzie mastered (or working on)?
Sitting all by herself and catching herself when she starts to fall
Moving forward! She does "the worm" right now. Gets up on her arms and knees, then flops forward, repeat.
Pretty good at "downward facing dog" and "planks"
Started saying "da da da da da"

Plans for month 8 include...
Host a Luau party
Aquarium
Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois road trip
Beach hopefully
Lots of pool!

Happy 7 months Lizzie!

Weekly Meal Plan #68

SUNDAY
Grilled Steak and chicken with asparagus, sweet potatoes, and macaroni and cheese

MONDAY
Surf n' Turf Salad (with leftover chicken, steak added to the grilled shrimp)

TUESDAY
Mushroom Chicken Bake

WENDESDAY
Andoulli Sausage Red beans and rice

THURSDAY
My parents get into town, so either take out... or something easy

FRIDAY-SUNDAY
Out of town for a kid-free wedding weekend!

Recap

 Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Grits

 Chicken & Spinach Stuffed Shells

 Chef Salad

Crispy Baked Tilapia with mushroom cheese ravioli

{Summer Activities} #83 Feed the Ducks

The girls got the opportunity to Feed the Ducks at Busch Gardens the other day.

 It's such a small thing but the girls get a kick out of it. I love that they can interact with nature in this way and the girls love checking out the different ducks and fish that come over.

Check out our progress as we make our way through the 101 almost free things to do with kids this summer from stay-a-stay-at-home-mom.com

For all other posts in this category go here: {Summer Fun}

Weekly meal Plan #67

SUNDAY was...
Lemon & Garlic Shrimp and Grits

MONDAY was...
Chef Salad

TUESDAY
Belated Anniversary Dinner date
(or wednesday's dinner)

WEDNESDAY
Mushroom Chicken Bake
(or anniversary dinner date)
THURSDAY

FRIDAY
Pizza Night

SATURDAY
Welcome back Luau party for friends who moved back to town

Recap

 Skinny Taste Chicken Parm

 Grilled Shrimp on Salad

 Burgers

 Tricia Yearwood's Chicken Tortilla Soup

*tastes way better than it looks here... it is awesome!*

 Andoulli, Red Beans, and Rice

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

As always, if you are interested in a recipe that I don't have posted anywhere, send me a message!

{Bike Birthday Party} Party Activities & take-home Favors

Since we had moved into the house a week prior to Charlotte's 4th birthday, it was DEFINITELY not going to be at our house (either one). So a park party was planned. It was bike themed because this was when Charlotte got her very own "big girl" bike!

Being a bike party, I selected a park with a nearby basketball court for the biking part; and everyone brought their bike, trike, etc. What I did not "select" was the darn weather... it was oh-so-chilly; but to be honest I'm sure the adults felts it more so than the kids.

I had the favor bags set up when the kids arrived, since it was both the party activity AND the take-home.

Here is the birthday girl on her brand new bike!

And here is the birthday girl riding her birthday bike, with a balloon attached to the back (just like in Angelina's Birthday book)

Here we have some mommy's helping to decorate the bikes with crepe paper.

Every attendee got a baggie of bike spoke beads in their goodie bag too (yes, this was the only picture I got of the spoke beads... see she's holding her spoke bead baggie within the red heart)...

And EVERYONE loved their homemade bike tassels, shown on Jillie's handle-bars. I made these using ribbon, pipe cleaners, and some electric tape...

More bike decorating...

Lastly, at Walmart I found these license plates for $1 complete with stickers so everyone could put their own name on it. How cute, huh? To make the letters stay on better, I used wide clear tape on top so the stickers wouldn't come off.

Along with the bike tassels, spoke beads, and license plates, the kids got some suckers, twizzlers, AND their very own "Charlotte's birthday bottle of water"...

{Bike Birthday Party} The Cake

Guess who turned 4?!

Ok, so it was like 4 months ago and I am just now writing about it... but still. My oldest baby is 4!

So at the time of her 4th birthday, we had literally JUST moved into our new house like... a week prior. So I knew I would be unable to whip up an awesomely homemade decorated cake for Charlotte's Bike Birthday Party. So I went with the next best thing; I cheated.

I made my way over to the local Publix (Gasp!!) and ordered a half of a sheet cake with nothing on it but a border. And to be honest, I screwed that up and asked for pink, but more on that later.

So we get home and my mom and I open up a bag of skittles and decorate the quickest and easiest birthday cake that either of us has EVER done!

Literally, it took maybe 7 minutes. (oh and I say that I screwed up in asking for pink because, duh, there is no pink skittle. Mom and I "fixed" this by throwing on some multi-colored sprinkles to "blend", lol).

Now I won't lie, this is not an original idea, I saw it online... somewhere. At the moment I can not find my inspiration, so if you did this, let me know and I can source you, so sorry! Apparently, I did no pin it.

Anyway, so if you are in a pinch and want to "Decorate your own" cake... sorta, skittles are the way to go!

Happy 4th Birthday, Charlotte!

{Summer Activities} #11 Fly a kite

The other day we brought out the butterfly kites that my mother-in-law gave us a year or so ago. Now, the girls and I have attempted to fly kites before, and I'm not gonna lie... I am horrible!

So after the pool the other day, I bring it out and after a few failed attempts tries my husband comes over and...

{click image to enlarge}

Do you see that?! Who knew hubby was so AWESOME at kite flying?! I mean honestly, look how high that thing is?! And we're not even in some open field, just our backyard.

{click image to enlarge}

I was floored! Go daddy!!

Check out our progress as we make our way through the 101 almost free things to do with kids this summer from stay-a-stay-at-home-mom.com

For all other posts in this category go here: {Summer Fun}

Weekly Meal Plan #66

Back to reality :D

SUNDAY was...
"Family Dinner" with friends -- I brought a salad

MONDAY
Grilled shrimp on a salad

TUESDAY
Andoulli Sausage, Red Beans and Rice

WEDNESDAY
"Dash & Dine" for hubby's work... apparently they go and say "hi" to people, have a drink or two, then pick up a dinner to go.... yay free meals!

THURSDAY
Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake

FRIDAY
Italian Drunken Noodles

SATURDAY
Pizza Night!