Valentines Day Fun

Instead of going for a fabulously romantic Valentine's Day for Ryan and I we decided it would be better to shoot for something that might actually happen and would be fun for all of us so...we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day by throwing a little Cupcake Party! Bailey and her friends Taylor and Hanna were coming and Collin invited his very best friend, Ryan, to come over and play on Friday afternoon.
To get ready I made a couple batches of cupcakes, both regular and the minis, got a variety of frostings, jimmies, sprinkles, and colorful candies in red, pink, and white and we were ready to go. I found that by using sundae bowls and glass prep bowls I could create a simple but pretty table-scape.

Although the two little boys were busy playing "Nerf War" in the backyard, the girls were completely dedicated to their cupcake challenge! Once the cupcakes were decked out in their sugary finest we ordered heart shaped pizzas and the girls rounded out their party by playing Rock Band, creating the "CrazyGirls" and rocking their little hearts out. As the evening drew to a close the kids took home their cupcake masterpieces and my kiddos went to bed very tired but very happy!

Looking Back

You have to bear with me as I'm learning the whole "blog" world of wonders, but I wanted to share some of life's little things that we've been busy with the last couple weeks.
First, Bailey and Ryan attended their 4th Girl Scout Daddy Daughter Dance at the end of January. Bailey was the only girl from her troop to go but that didn't give her a moments hesitation...for her and Ryan this is a "must" event. This year's theme was "Bella Notte" and would offer dinner and dancing, flowers and photos all for the low low price of $30 (which honestly can't be beat)! Partially out of necessity but mostly out of fun I went shopping for a dress to surprise Bailey, she had an older dress that would have worked but what fun is that? She's also been working so hard in school lately and I really wanted to give her a little surprise to reward her efforts.
So a day or two before the dance I bought the dress and carefully laid it out on her bed, after school once all homework was done I told her I had a little something waiting on her bed. You've never seen a happier little girl and I thought she looked just beautiful for her and Ryan's big night...but being her mom I would have thought she looked beautiful in a flour sack.

The big dance was a wonderful success and hopefully a special memory that neither of them will forget.










But Bailey isn't the only busy kid in this family and Collin has been running full throttle with Basketball and Boy Scouts. This month was the big Pinewood Derby for Pack 297! Collin's car did very well and we were so proud of all the work he put into it. He definitely had some help; I'm not about to let a 7 year old operate a scroll saw! That being said he did pick the design by finding one of his matchbox cars as a model, helped draw the pattern on the block, sanded, painted and decaled his little heart out! Our final product (drum roll please...)
It wasn't the big winner for our division, but honestly the winning car obviously had more adult help than Collin did! Not taking 1st place definitely was a lesson in "sportsmanship" that Collin didn't relish, but he'll learn.

Why Keep Swimming?

So why is "Just Keep Swimming" so important? I guess you could say it's a mantra of mine, inspired by none other than the lovable "Dory" from Disney's Finding Nemo. It all began when I started working out on the elliptical machine after a LONG break from real exercise. You know when you hit the point where your lungs are burning, your legs have the strength of Jello, and you're convinced you won't last a minute more that's when my little phrase came to me. I now use it on a daily basis...Just Keep Swimming! In fact if you happen to be at my house when I hit that point you're likely to hear me singing in a very out of breath voice "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, what do we do, we swim, swim, ah ha ha ha ha haaa I love to SWIM!" And something about that little phrase keeps me going.
So after using it on the elliptical I managed to find moments in every day where "just keep swimming" seemed to do the trick. Watching what I'm eating and heading through the grocery with temptations on every aisle...Just Keep Swimming. Difficult day dealing with kids...Just Keep Swimming. Laundry piled to the ceiling... Just Keep Swimming. I found that it was an inspiration to me, a forgetful little blue fish gave me a catch phrase to inspire me to keep my head up when things aren't easy, and to simply move forward until I was beyond the challenge at hand.
All that's left to say is "Thanks, Dory", I wouldn't be the same girl without you!