Elisabeth's Whimsical One Year Old Birthday Party

My sister, who has 4 boys, was so excited to collaborate with a baker to make this cake. It was perfect!

 I helped make some balloons, but this flower basket was by my fabulous sister, Pookie the Clown!

 Paper garland made by me and my mother in law using scrapbook paper.

I made this adorable birthday crown. It is actually very easy and fun to make! Just make a paper cone out of sturdy cardstock and embellish it. I used cupcake liners for the paper flower and I cut up crepe paper and glued it on the top and bottom.

 These cute boxes and picks are from Micheal's. Adding cotton candy to them made them useful!

The scrapbook paper used in the garland and party hat made a cute #1. I think I will try and do this every year!

These napkins were the inspiration for the theme. We quickly planned this party during a vacation, as in like, one day, so it was fun to come up with something whimsical, inexpensive and matching.

 This gift is pretty much only given as a cruel joke for the happy parents.

 Trying on her first pair of sunglasses.

 Elisabeth with her aunt Lindsey and Grandma.

 She threw a fit for a few mintues, but then resumed to joyfully eating her cupcake.

 Daddy taking her to get all cleaned up.

 Entertainment for the night was a magic show by her cousin Casey and uncle Stephen.

 Her very first pigtails!

 Aunt Pookie's lionhead bunny had lots of babies!

 Elisabeth with her Daddy's parents.

linked to Everything Etsy's Crafty Girl Linky Party

Keeping it Real: Getting in Shape

Today I am keeping it real. My family started p90x about 2 months back. We were dedicated too. I want to see some changes in a few specific places, especially for the summer when skin is in! But then life happened. My husband traveled for work a lot, I worked a lot of nights. We went on a mini-vacation. We burnt out and got tired. Not of the actual workout, no we love it, we love the way it makes us feel, and even after a short while we started to see results! It was having to do it at 9 or 10 at night that got hard. So, somehow, we are going to have to figure it out because we need to get back on track.

We try to eat healthy, but we are certainly not perfect. Sure, I am a sucker for SPIRAL Kraft Mac n Cheese and burritos, but I draw the line at corndogs and red meat!! We grab pretzels instead of Cheet-ohs, water instead of soda, whole grain instead of enriched/bleached, healthy cereal instead of junk, oatmeal instead of poptarts, trail mix instead of cookies, fresh berries instead of candy. We bought a pretty great blender (the Ninja) and drink quite healthy and tasty smoothies every night. We planted a garden. The past few years, we went on a pretty strict diet of watching food documentaries, Forks vs Knives, Food Inc, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, Supersize Me.... and others, so we are fairly educated on what needs to be done here. It is amazing to realize how many food lies there are around us (see ad above! ;)



pretty pink papaya smoothie by keepin it kind vs carrot papaya muffins via blisstree

Even though we are fairly in shape people, we can always be better. Not just to look better in our clothes, but to feel happier in our skin. To have a healthful glow and energy. To teach our kids how to make wise food decisions. And that, for me.. means we can still have our treats and goodies... just in moderation and small servings. When they beg me for ice cream, I say, "Okay, but you have to eat a banana/apple/carrot first". Now I have to live by that rule as well... at least dark chocolate is practically a ladies' vitamin!

So, during the season of summer travel and out of school boredom, try not to fall into the snack trap. Have goodie bags of healthy snacks laid out, drink lots of water. Don't go shopping hungry and don't buy crap... if it isn't in your house, you can't eat it! And the one I need to work on the most, is meal plan. Exercise! Because Batman cannot look better in a frilly, pink dress than I do.