Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Ryder's Birthday! Since I'm pretty sure this kid is going to be The Next Iron Chef I knew he would want to help make his cake. 

So yesterday morning after I put Lucy down for her morning nap we baked his Funfetti Birthday cake. NO, it's not made from scratch. But don't sit there and tell me you didn't love Funfetti when you were little.

The only thing bad thing about baking a cake with a 4 year old in the morning is that they certainly do not want to wait until after dinner to have a bite.

SO, I did what any normal person would do, I let him have a bite from the back. I see Paula Deen doing this all the time when she makes stuff, so I assumed it would be alright. Icing on his face.....and in his hair. He stuck his face in the bowl to lick it afterwards.

Last night I made his favorite meal. Baked chicken with rice, crunchy ranch potatoes, corn on the cob, and broccoli. I am new to broccoli. I seriously just tried it for the first time maybe 4 months ago. Dear mom, why didn't you ever make it when I was little??!

Then, we ate cake! Here I am sporting my favorite cardigan from Urban Outfitters. I feel like Ernie when I wear it.

No need to ask Lucy twice if she wanted any cake. She happily shoved it in her mouth.

After we ate cake Ryder got a few more whacks in on the balloons George and I hung from the ceiling the night before. Those Ninja swords I ordered for his party have come in handy--I just hope they actually make it to his party.

Between all the cake baking and eating, and balloon hitting, we had a picnic lunch.....in the living room(it was FREEZING outside!), and opened gifts. 

He is such a sweet boy and I am so thankful God gave him to us. When I found out I was pregnant with him I think I cried for a week straight. I was only 21 and had never even held a baby. I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self that everything works out wonderfully and that Ryder will tell you he loves you 20 times a day and that your are his best friend. :) He is really awesome.

Save Your Money Kids!

Look what came in the mail yesterday for Ryder & Lucy...

 

 Two cute little banks from Mudpuppy! I found these last week on OhDeeDoh!

George and I are Dave Ramsey fans so this little bank fits in perfectly with what we want to teach the kids. 

Our hope is that when they leave our house all grown up they will think debt is evil and laugh at people who want them to sign up for credit cards.

I also love that there is a slot for sharing. What a perfect way to teach about tithing. I haven't decided yet on how we will deal with the share money once it gets full. I definitely want to involve them in the process of giving their money to the church or someone in need. 

And with the way Ryder has been searching out every nook and cranny of the house for coins it will be full very soon!

I bought ours off Amazon, go here to check them out! They have lots of different designs to choose from.

Have you started teaching your children about saving? Do you have them save up for a big toy they want or do you just build their savings accounts up? Im trying to decide what we will do with the save money too.

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It's Ryder's 4th birthday today so we are enjoying him and baking cakes! See you friends tomorrow!

Let's Make A Plan

Sometimes my need for things to be pretty makes buying essentials really hard. I mean its January 16th and I STILL haven't bought a planner for the new year. I just haven't been able to find one that meets all the criteria I want. I want it to be a monthly planner with wide open spaces of lined paper for me to jot down lists and doodles and whatevers.

But above all else, IT MUST BE BEAUTIFUL.

Guess what? Most people have already bought their life organizers so it is slim pickens over at Barnes & Noble and Target. Slim. Pickens.

Just today though, it occured to me that I dont really need a fancy weekly/monthly planner with all sorts of areas to write in. Let me tell you what I do need. Just a simple little monthly pocket calendar that I can easily flip to see whats coming up overall. Im a stay-at-home-mom. Im not going to be scheduling 5 different things on one day with two kids. Maybe when they are older, but for right now Im still sane. One or two commitments, max. Perfect to jot down in a little square :)

And as far as my list jotting and doodling goes, I am SOLD on these guys. $12.95 for three beautiful notebooks. Go here to get them.

Now, back to the monthly pocket calendar. Lets see, when you think of a pocket calendar what do you think of? Ugliness? Maybe some sort of kitten or puppy in a field of sunflowers? Maybe a Thomas Kincaid image? Maybe a "funky" (dear God help me) cross with some quote about reaching for the stars? Um, you are correct if you pictured any of these things. That's mostly all there is.

Until....

I stumbled across this on Etsy.

I love it. Simple and modern and just what I need. I can know what's going on here and scribble all I want in my notebook. And for only $11.50 I am happy to purchase this. If you think these are the coolest planners ever you can go here to check them out.

Do you like having notebooks to jot down in or do you have everything in your planner? I'm glad I have finally found a system that works for me. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday! Ryder's birthday is Wednesday so we will be partying it up over here!

Favorite Finds

If you have not heard of these yet, get ready.

About a month ago one of my friends was sipping away on these and I thought it was the coolest thing EVER.

Later that same day I saw them at Target and bought a pack of every flavor.

These awesome straws turn plain white milk into those lovely flavors above. The milk is flavored as you sip it through the straw. Its pretty awesome.

Ryder LOVES them. He isn't exactly in love with milk but ever since I bought these straws he asks for it all the time.

The only down side to this is the flavor wont last for an entire cup of milk. Maybe 10 sips tops. But those 10 sips are quite delicious!

My fav is the Strawberry. 

Now go buy some! You're gonna love it!

Let's Work It Out

I don't have a weekend run-down post for today. It's for no other reason than than this weekend was just pretty boring. We mostly sat around the house, played outside, went to Moe's, and drove to church in a monsoon.

BUT! I do have something to share!

Over the weekend I did do one thing that has left such an impression that I am still thinking about it today......

......and that would be because my legs are FREAKING KILLING ME.

I have seen people posting all these awesome workouts on Pinterest and I just have not been able to jump on the bandwagon. Mostly because when I read the list of things you will be doing in the workout the word "burpee" and "frogger" comes up every single time. 

Let me tell you something. I don't know what the hell a burpee or frogger is.

So sorry, these workouts aren't for me. The last time I seriously exercised was in high school.....when I cheered(using that term loosely, as not a one of us could do any sort of tumbling)......in 10th grade. So all my exercise knowledge comes from what our coach made us do. Which was usually a ton of crunches and a ton a laps to run.

Well, the other day as I was blog hopping one of my favorite blogs, Creature Comforts, did this post about the Nike Training Club app.

I was super pumped. Not only does it give you a description of what a burpee is, it shows you a short video demonstrating each exercise throughout the workout. I mean, its a dream come true!

Each workout is 45 min long and it gives you tons of different workouts to choose from. And, since there is a beginner level I was sure it wouldn't kick my butt that bad. Um, no. 

Listen, I didnt even come close to finishing half of the workout before I felt like I was going to die, and my legs are still burning.....two days later. Like so bad that it makes me want to cry at the thought of having to sit down on the floor. 

So anyway, I think I have found my workout partner. Oh, did I also mention that for most workouts you need no equipment? And HELLO!! its FREE!!

This shuts up my excuses about not wanting to pay to go to a gym and not having time to go anywhere. I did this in my backyard.....and looked like an idiot I'm sure. HA!

Have you been exercising? Was it a goal for the new year? 

Hoping I can keep this up!

Poooor Pebbles

*My dad calls Lucy "Pebbles", like from the Flintstones because her eyes are so big. And her hair is a little reddish too...

 

My sweet girl wasnt feeling very good yesterday. She has a cold and has been running a small fever.

When Ryder got home from school and after Lucy picked at her lunch we all went outside to cheer her up.

After I gave her some Advil she started to feel a lot better, but she was still super clingy.

Ryder finally went over to the trapeze part of his swing set. We have had this thing for a year now, and he has always been scared of it. But yesterday I  showed him how to hang upside down....

After I showed him that's pretty much all he did the rest of the time we were out there.

I got on the trampoline with Lucy while Ryder was acting like a bat and just sat with her. The sun was shining and it was warm out, it was so nice. Then the bat decided to get down and come take our picture. He is all about taking pictures, and maybe I shouldn't let him hold our expensive camera but he is super careful. And if I didn't, I would never be in any pictures!

 (yea, Im still rocking the chipped tooth......someone recommend a good TTown dentist so I can get it fixed! The dentist I have went to for almost 20 years doesn't take our new insurance, so we are on the hunt!)

 

I finally got her to smile. You can look in her eyes and tell she doesn't feel good though :(

I am hoping she feels better today, she was up for a while last night running a fever. If not we will be making a trip to the doctor......on a Friday.....in the middle of winter. Should be a quick trip -_-.......... 

Hopefully this weekend can be full of relaxing and staying home.

Ombre Love

I am loving all things Ombre so much right now.

In case you didnt know, here's a definition for ya:

Ombre: refers to a gradual change in shade from light to dark or from one color to another.

Lets look at some pretty pics :)

*Beautiful Flowers

*cakes

Those cakes are super beautiful. I really want to go to a wedding where they have tons of smaller cakes or pies instead of just one big cake. 

*drawers

My pretty friend April pinned these the other night, and I love it. Great minds think alike!

 *backdrop

This backdrop is made of clothespins! How awesome is that! 

*dresses 

Look at those dresses! And lets not forget my love affair with huge ballons, THEY ARE AWESOME.

*cake  

This cake is so beautiful. My birthday is coming up next month, I think I will be making this for myself :)



 And apparently, Ombre hair is super popular right now.

I remember last time Courtney 
did my hair she told me roots were awesome! Whoop! I can wait another 6 months before I get my hair colored again, HA!


Have a lovely day friends!