St. Patrick's Day - 2011

I've really gotten into following a lot of the great crafting and party blogs out there.  I really enjoy the printables.  In an attempt to prepare for my little one's 4th birthday in April, I decided to try out some of the free printables out there for St. Patrick's Day.

These are my pots o'gold for the wee ones in my life.  Found the pots at a party store and the candy coins at the drug store.  The rainbow cupcake toppers are from http://www.picklebums.com/  The favor tags are from http://bethproudfoot.blogspot.com/  Didn't have my scalloped punch yet, so we just went with them as is.  Kiddos didn't mind!  I also found these great St. Patrick's Day cootie catchers, that my girls just loved!  There are from bnute.blogspot.com  So glad there are such creative ladies out there who are willing to share their printables.  As a working mama, I find time to put things together, but rarely have time to create things of my own! 

Georgia took these treats to share with her friends at the daycare (they aren't as strict on snacks as the school is!).  I got these treat bag toppers from anythingbutperfect.com  Filled some snack size baggies with Lucky Charms, stapled on the toppers and viola, lot's of happy pre-schoolers!

It was our turn for snack again at Girl Scouts and the meeting just happened to be on St. Patrick's Day, so of course we had to go all out!  Mrs. Alicia brought green Kool-Aid too, but I missed getting a picture of that.

Found this great idea for a fruit rainbow on a  Craftomaniac-Monday-link-party  It's from Gluesticks  Called my local grocery store and ordered a fruit tray.  Working Mama doesn't have time to cut all the fruit, make supper, and get everyone to scouts by 6!  Just took what wouldn't fit on the platter and made rainbow fruit salad!  And of course we had to have a pot o'gold at the end of the rainbow!

Ordered cupcakes when I ordered the fruit tray as well, asked them not to decorate, just green icing, because I found these great cupcake toppers at http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/  So, since I figured the girls would like the St. Patrick's rings and such, I left the store decorations on and just added the cupcake toppers too.  You can't have enough green on St. Patrick's Day, right?!?

"Work smarter, not harder!"

Now that I've got my toes wet in the land of printables, I've embarked on my own creation.  A Green Hornet 4th Birthday Party for our little Georgia!  When the movies came out at the first of the year, she got hooked on the old reruns of the TV show from the 60s thanks to Grandpa.  She loves the Green Hornet and especially Kato and his kung fu skills!  Stay tuned to see how it turns out. . .



7th Birthday

OK, I admit I took the easy way out on this party.  Emma's birthday is 13 days after Christmas, so I booked a "Glitz & Glam Birthday" at the local party place. 

 Miss Emma, 7 going on 17!

I was pleased with the decorations, especially since all we had to do was show up!

 

Pin the bow on Hello Kitty!  I did buy this and take with us.

The girls LOVED having their hair, nails, and make-up done, and Mommy certainly would not have been up to that all on my own!  Thanks to the ladies at Party World!



Emma's turning 7!

 January 6, 2004

Emma Lauren Walker

1st Birthday! 2005

2nd Birthday! 2006

3rd Birthday! 2007

4th Birthday! (with sister Georgia) - 2008

5th Birthday! - 2009

6th Birthday! - 2010

Check back to see how the 7th turns out!

My attempt at being "Martha"

Here are a few pictures of the snack I made for my daughter's girl scout troop meeting last night.  Must say, perhaps next time I will:  make a practice batch, not wait until an hour before the meeting to make the snack.  Oh well, lesson learned.  These two recipes came from Disney's Family Fun.  The Fruit Gobbler and Marshmallow Pilgram Hat Cookies.  And I must say a huge thanks to my mother for dipping the marshmallows, while I built a turkey out of fruit!  Couldn't have done it without her!  The little ladies seemed to enjoy it very much.  There was not a grape or cheese cube left on the tray.  If we'd had more time, I wanted to slice the melon and pear for them too.  We had to bring home a really sad looking "naked" turkey instead.

Next project is Harvest Blessing Mix for the preschoolers at church.  That's on my agenda for Saturday.

Have a great weekend!  And remember "Let common sense be your guide and graciousness your goal."

A new day

In my quest to improve myself, as a person, a wife, a mother, an employee, etc., I decided to purchase Emily Post's Etiquette:  With Illustrations: Complete and Unabridged.  I started reading it last night while waiting for my oldest at her dance class.  I must admit I am a bit intimidated.  Parts of the book are amusing, giving the dated references to men in top hats carrying canes and carriages or motor carriages.  I am also not so sure how many times I will use the instructions of proper etiquette in box at the theater or opera.  However, I would like to memorize and put into practice the rules on introductions.  Although, I wonder how I am ever supposed to remember all the rules, is there a rhyme?  You know like, "i before e, except after c. . ."  I can see how that could come in very handy at my job, as a good Pharmacists wife, in church settings, etc. 

I have also decided to resign from a few of my activites so I have more quality time to devote to the ones I have chosen to keep.  Something has to give, if I am going to meet my goal of a tranquil, quality homelife. 

The Perfect Wife by Joyce Priddy

The Perfect Wife by Joyce Priddy

The perfect wife knows how to provide the harmonic balance within the family unit. She knows how to balance career, domestic chores, taking care of the children and support her husband emotionally. The perfect wife has many roles to fulfill and finds it both a challenge and rewarding. Not every woman wants to be the perfect wife. Many women will purposely try to be something different to establish their independence. Even those women that rebuff the idea of a perfect wife, read on. There are many deep emotional rewards for striving to be the perfect wife.

The perfect wife knows how to smile at those jokes that aren't really that funny. She manages a small laugh and doesn't remind her husband that he has told that joke before repeatedly. Without her husband knowing it, the perfect wife embraces these age old jokes over and over as if they were brand new. The perfect wife will know that one day her husband might be in a nursing home not able to even recognize who she is. It will be that day that these age old jokes will be a memory that keeps her going daily to visit her wonderful husband.

The perfect wife finds the energy to pick up the piles of clothes, socks strewn about and the glasses that never make it back to the sink. Instead of clearing up after everyone and feeling like a maid, the perfect wife is proud of her home. It will drive her nuts to have the little messes here and there. She cleans up without a second thought as to who did it last time or why everyone around her can't seem to walk to the kitchen sink. She knows that one day the house will be childless and there won't be laughter as everyone is gathered around the TV watching a movie and forgetting their dishes. The perfect wife covets the memories that are being made in the household from an active family life.

The perfect wife wakes in the middle of the night to toss the covers back onto her husband because she wants him to stay warm. She doesn't sit up and wonder why she had to marry someone that thrashes about and snores so loudly. The perfect wife cherishes the quiet moments when she can watch her husband sleeping peacefully. Deep down she knows that one day her bed will be empty because she has become a widower.

The perfect wife learns how to cook the dishes that are her husband's favorite to eat. Eventually, she even learns to like some of these dishes herself. When he calls her telling her that he will be late getting home for dinner, the perfect wife smiles and puts the meal on warm. She knows that it is a blessing that she has a man that is willing to work very hard to financially provide for the family. At least her husband is out working late and not at the local bar picking up women or ending up in jail. There will be a day that the only food her husband might be able to eat is puree meals from a straw.

The perfect wife does not look at just today. The perfect wife does not keep score as to who has contributed the most or contributed what to a relationship. She values her marriage and embraces her friendship with her husband. When faced with multi-tasking and keeping the family balance, the perfect wife focuses on enjoying each moment for she is wise and knows that the precious moments of today are not forever. it is from the perfect wife that many of us could learn to cherish today and let yesterday's problems stay in the past.