Becky's Time to Shine 40th Birthday Party

Last month we had a special party to celebrate my sister Becky turning 40! We did a 40th party for my sister Jenny a couple of years ago, and thought it was a fun way to celebrate her special birthday so wanted to do the same for Beck. We decided to go with a gold/glitter theme as it is so fitting for Becky. I designed the invitations and printed them on a sheet of gold vellum.

 Then I cut out a piece of glitter cardstock just a little larger than the invite, and attached the invite to the cardstock with a decorative brad. I got all of those things at Hobby Lobby and they were really simple to put together.

I made an individual cupcake stand covered in glitter via a tutorial I had pinned awhile back. We decided not to do a cake since we were serving parfaits and cookies, so just got a fancy cupcake for Beck and this was the perfect way to display it.

Here's Beck holding her little cupcake stand. Isn't she gorgeous?! I hope I can look that good by the time I'm 40. :)

Of course Manny had to help Becky blow out the candles. :)

We also used an idea via Pinterest to display pictures. I bought a helium tank at Hobby Lobby, along with some cream and gold baker's twine to tie on the balloons. I printed the pictures using the Printacular app and picked them up at Walgreen's the same day. They cost a little more that way, but it's convenient for procrastinators. ;)

We printed pictures from over the year's and she along with everyone else really enjoyed looking at them. I love this idea so much and will use it again in the future!

My mom made a couple of cute glitter jars for flower and candle holders. They were so pretty! She also put together some parfaits and we had Eileen's Cookies, per usual. We served shish kabobs, rice, and a fancy salad - can't remember what exactly. My mom put all of that stuff together. :)

Here is the birthday girl with little MB.

And here are some of the girls! We had so much fun just hanging out and eating and chatting.

And then there's Maeva. Who, since being exposed to the greatness of sweets at her first birthday party, nearly hyperventilates at the sight of a sweet treat. She was growling at Patrick here so he'd share some of his parfait.

Beck, we love you SO much and had such a fabulous time celebrating you!

4th of July 2013

 

We spent the week of the 4th up at my parents house. My sister and her kids were there too, and we had a lot of fun!

 

As I've mentioned before, my parents have an outdoor amphitheater. It is currently showing "The Elijah Factor" and the kids had SO much fun being in it while we were there.  They are glued to my moms side all week as she prepares for the show. Here they are "walking on water" a la Peter & Jesus. :) And then we have Maeva, who spent every passing minute finding anything and everything to climb. She's obsessed. I am not. I am exhausted and aging prematurely.

Of course we spent some time cooling off in the lake, and we also went swimming with Becky, Gabi, & Zack one day. Manny & Maeva LOVE riding in this floatie together!

One day we made a trip into Tulsa for a little shopping. That was nice and relaxing! Said noone ever shopping with kids.

 

For the 4th, we went to a local yacht club on the lake to eat dinner and hang out to watch fireworks. 

Manny particularly enjoyed the endless supply of ice cream and cookies. Let's be honest. I did too.

We had a great time and the kids did good overall. Manny had been sick the day before and I think that caused him to wear out a little quick that night. He was not so much a fan of the loud fireworks. Thankfully Papa was able to comfort him. :)

And finally, I had to include this picture of Manny. The look of sheer joy you see here pretty much encompasses his feelings of being at my parent's. They live on several acres, so when we're driving around on their property we don't make the kids get in seats as we don't drive far (or fast - despite how this picture might look). Manny absolutely loves everything about spending time with my parents, and it reminds me of how much I loved my childhood too. Mom & Dad, you guys really are the best!! :)

Five on Friday {7.19.13}

Somehow another week has flown by without me blogging any of the things I wanted to...womp, womp! Next week is going to be my week though...I can feel it! :)) At the very least, I can always throw together a post for Five on Friday, so here we go!

1. {WATER SLIDE} Manny had some birthday money he was supposed to use to pick out something, and we found this awesome thing! It is called the Mega Tidal Wave Water Slide and you can get it at Toys R Us for $39.99. It is a HUGE hit and provides hours of entertainment. Not gonna lie - I'm pretty close to taking a spin down it. I love that it has a good sized pool at the bottom too for me to lounge in Maeva to play in. 

image via

2. {PINK LIPSTICK} I'm really picky about lipsticks. Like I find a shade and wear it for a decade. (Hello, Toffee by Mary Kay. Thank you for carrying me through my teens.) I've been on the search for a while for a good pink lipstick, and think it's safe to say my search has ended now that I've found MAC's Girl About Town Lipglass. It's a bright (but not too bright when applied correctly) and fun pink, and it has staying power.

3. {SANDALS} I picked up these black and gold bow sandals yesterday when I was returning something at JcPenney. They were on sale for $4.99, and they were having an additional 10% off, so I got them for around $4.75 with tax. Such a steal! (FYI they are not with the shoes, but in the accessory section where they have some shoes hanging - if that makes sense? I can't find them on their website unfortunately.)

4. {MY LITTLE CLIMBER} Maeva has become quite the climber. Last Saturday we went to storytime at a local bookstore with my friend Katie and her daughters. Of course I knew MB wouldn't be interested in listening, but I didn't anticipate that every time I turned around she would scale the bookshelf within seconds. She is lightning fast!! I'm scared for when she starts walking. :)

5. {CONFETTI BACKDROP} I'2013/07/diy-party-backdrop-tutorial.html" target="_blank">DIY Party Backdrop Tutorial has been receiving some love lately!  Earlier this week BlogHer contacted me about syndicating it, and then babble.com also contacted me about featuring it in their Top 10 Confetti Crafts. And yesterday the whole party was featured on Kara's Party Ideas. I'm not saying that to be "braggy", and I hope it doesn't come across that way. It's just fun when you put work into a project and it gets recognized by others, because often times after I make/do something I start questioning myself or if it's really cute, or if I'm the only one who thinks so. Ha! :) So this was just a nice little treat to hear some positive feedback on it. 

Have a great weekend friends! :)

Five on Friday

Today I thought I'd link up with Five on Friday for a little randomness! 

1. {RHONNA DESIGNS APP} I am a loooong time fan of the incredibly talented Rhonna Farrer Designs, and when I heard she was releasing an app I could hardly wait. It came out about a week ago, and I can't get over it's amazingness. The app is called Rhonna Designs, and has officially landed a coveted spot on my home screen as it is hands down my favorite fun photo editing app. I still haven't even begun to see all it has to offer. Tons of chalk art quotes, frames, clip art, fun fonts...it's kind of crazy how much stuff she included in it! She has some video tutorials that I hope to watch soon because I really think the options are endless with this - I discover something new each time I play with it. The app is only $1.99 and all of those things I mentioned are included, unlike so many other apps where you have to buy more packs of designs. I promise you, if you love apps like A Beautiful Mess, you will be blown away with this one. And I wasn't asked or paid to say this - but you guys know how excited I get about a fun app and I always love to share them with others! OH, and I thought this little chalkboard art was perfect for Manny as his favorite word lately is awesome. And he's definitely all about being awesomer, as evidenced here by the rocking hair and headband.

2. {RESIDENCY GRADUATION} Last week, we attended the residency graduation for the program where Patrick serves as associate faculty. It was fun to get out for the evening, and I was super proud of him because the first year residents selected him for the Physician's Teaching Excellence award. He really enjoys being an attending there and it was neat to see him honored like this.  

3. {SMILE BOX} I saw the idea on Lynsey's Instagram for a smile box, and thought it was super cute. I decided to put one together for a fun care package for a friend. It's just a regular box, and I painted the inside flaps with craft paint. Once it dried, I added the letters I cut with my Cricut. You could also just use stickers from Hobby Lobby, etc. Lynsey did hers yellow themed and it was really fun! I think there a lot of neat options with this...of course my go to is just random stuff from the Target $1 spot. Have you been lately? Mine was freshly stocked yesterday and was amazing.

4. {VASELINE SPRAY LOTION} I've heard so many people talk about this vaseline lotion that I finally decided to give it a try, and I love it! It's just a quick, simple way to moisturize (which I'm the worst at - so lazy.) Manny loves it too! 

5. {BLOGGING} So not to be Captain Obvious here, but I haven't kept up with blogging like I'd like to. I do a fairly decent job of taking pictures and sharing on Instagram - except this week when my phone has almost refused to take a picture because it says there is no memory, despite the fact that I've deleted 100's of pictures, apps, and texts. Talk about RAGE. But back to the topic at hand. I think I'm going to start doing a weekly Instagram recap. I know, I know, if you follow me on IG that's old news. BUT I want those pictures included in my blog book, and since I've abandoned Project 365, this seems like the way to go. Plus the majority of my family that reads here doesn't have IG, so a lot of it is new to them also. So get excited! Or not, and click away. I understand. :)

Have a great weekend friends! :)

My LASIK experience

This would be me in the 4th grade sporting my first ever pair of glasses, which oddly enough, I thought were the coolest thing ever. There is so much greatness in this picture I don't think I can begin to address it all, so we'll just focus on the glasses for now. Is it a problem that they covered well over half of my cheeks? Needless to say, glasses have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started wearing contacts in middle school, which was life changing for sure! But I never could really see perfectly with contacts as I had strange vision.

So naturally, I've dreamed of the day when I could get LASIK. And it just so happens, that day came a couple of weeks ago! I had it done on June 21st and to say it was a life changing experience is an understatement. I did have to go without contacts for 2 weeks prior to the surgery, so that was a bit inconvenient. Have you ever tried floating in a lazy river with glasses? I can only imagine how cool I looked. And of course MB was obsessed with ripping them off my face. My glasses also give (gave!!) me horrible headaches, so it was a long 2 weeks. As Patrick would remind me though...just suck it up and keep your eye on the prize! :)

The morning of the procedure I started to get a little nervous. (I may or may not have studied Manny & Maeva's faces closer than ever before in the off chance that I was the first person to go blind from LASIK. I've never claimed to be normal.) But luckily everything happened so quickly that I wasn't able to get myself too worked up and it was just fine. :) I was there for 3 hours total I think, though the actual procedure took maybe 10 minutes. I thought it would be weird that I was awake through the process, but it wasn't at all, and was actually kind of cool. They had a lady talking me through everything and explaining what was happening and how much longer it would happen for. It really didn't hurt at all. There was one part that was a little uncomfortable, but only for a few seconds and it wasn't even my eye that it hurt, but some pressure on my face from the equipment I guess. But again, it wasn't bad at all. I was so pleasantly surprised!

Before I knew it, the whole thing was over and I was on my way home to rest, as they tell you to go home and sleep immediately thereafter. I was flipping through my phone the next day and saw that Patrick was kind enough to document my recovery for me. :) I really don't remember the picture on the left (and the fact that I'm posting these on the interwebs confirms the fact that I have no shame). We had just gotten home and I was doing my eyedrops before I could go to sleep. I had 3 different drops I had to use, but had to wait 10 minutes in between each one. So I was pretty out of it here, and Patrick said I was telling some really random stories. I always have interesting reactions to meds. :) Oh and I had to sleep in goggles for the next 4 nights, but the sunglasses were only required the first 24 hours. Thankfully, since I looked like The Terminator in them.

My recovery was amazingly easy. I would describe my immediate vision as seeming like I was wearing old contacts. I could see really good when I woke up that afternoon, and even better the next morning. When I went for my follow-up that day, I tested as having 20/16 vision! Absolutely mind boggling to me. Do you ever just become amazed at science? How brilliant do you have to be to invent this kind of stuff?! It really is something else. Just a random deep thought for the day.

Truth be told, the hardest part of my recovery was probably the fact that I couldn't wear eye make-up for A WEEK. And yes, I'm vain enough that this means I wore my sunglasses the majority of the time I was in public, even inside. I took this picture while waiting in the Wal-Mart checkout line one day. As if the people around me didn't already think I was crazy for wearing my sunglasses inside, I went ahead and confirmed that by taking a selfie (posing like a boss, might I add) while I was waiting. It's hard being so cool.

And of course Manny had a gazillion questions about all of this. I had to put eyedrops in every 4 hours for a week, and one day I went into his room to see him with his head tilted back and holding his sippy cup over his eyes. I said, "Manny, what are you doing?" And he said, "I do my eyedrops just like mama." I think my favorite though was the morning he was crying for his goggles "so Manny can sleep just like mama'. Only my child would think of this first thing in the morning.

So yes. It still doesn't seem like I can actually "see". I find myself at night starting to take my contacts out...it's so weird. The only thing I would say is my night vision can be a little sketchy, only noticeable really when I'm driving. My vision isn't bad necessarily, but definitely not as strong as during the day. I've heard this can be an issue. For my fellow LASIK people, did this get better for you with time? I'm about 2 weeks out right now. Would love to hear other's experiences as well!

So that's pretty much it in a nutshell. I know I'm not the first person to have LASIK and it's not a huge deal, but I've gotten a ton of questions about it so I said I would blog my experience. I really didn't know what to expect so maybe some of this info will be useful to someone considering LASIK. Or if not and you've made it this far? Congratulations for putting up with my ramblings. ;)

Manny & Maeva's Birthday Party - Part 2

Thanks for the kind words on the details of the kids' party! It really was a lot of fun to put together. It'd been awhile since I'd done a party of any sort, and I really enjoyed having a "project" to create for and work on.

When I said I had lots of pictures of the kids to share, I wasn't kidding...and this is cutting it down to about a fourth of them. :) But here we go! Oh, and you will likely notice I have far more pictures of MB than I do Manny. That's what happens when she's still stationary and he is bouncing from one thing to the next faster than I can snap a pic.  


Getting a family picture is never an easy task, but I was pleased we managed to get one with the majority of us looking!

The kids' adorable outfits were made by SheShe Made. Ashley totally outdid herself on finding fabrics and coming up with designs to match my theme so perfectly! We did an applique of the American Bulldog for a shirt for Manny, as well as a bloomer set for MB. She wore her bubble for the first part of the party, and changed into the bloomer set after her cake smash. I loved them both so much it was hard to decide what to have her wear when! (good "problem" to have)

Manny thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake icing. He didn't even eat the cake part. Nice.

I wanted to document the guests the same way I did at Manny's 1st birthday party. I just got a blank piece of cardstock and taped it to a colored piece to frame it. I took pictures of the guests holding the paper (though I missed more of them than I realized!), then used Photoshop to add their names to the picture. I then printed the pictures of the guests and put them in a little flip book so Maeva can start learning everyone's names. Manny loves looking at it too! :)

Of course we can't forget the guest of honor - Sawyer himself! He was so good with all the party guests, and Manny was just giddy having him there.


My parents got MB this little car that she absolutely loved.

It was so cute watching her try to open it. I couldn't get enough pictures of her little ruffle butt. I'm obsessed with her in a bubble like this!
 

Just some random pics from the party. I was so thankful MB was in a good mood for it! Choosing a party time always stresses me out a little, but this time (1 p.m.) worked perfectly for both Manny and MB thankfully. 

MB absolutely loooooved her cake. She buried her face in it and just went to town. 

She was definitely a happy camper. She'd never had cake before but now that she knows what's up, she throws a little tantrum if she sees cake because she wants it.

I do know, however, that if I want her to smile for a picture I just need to shove cake in front of her. So there's that.

We tried to get Manny in a picture, but he was a little annoyed with me wanting him to stop playing so we didn't push it.

At the end of the party, I realized I never got a picture of Manny & MB together, so decided to give that a try. This little collage is a "short story", of sorts. We start every photo shoot the same way. Put MB down and get her situated, then talk Manny into coming over and sitting down for a few seconds. Maeva had her beloved remote in hand, and Manny had one of his trains. It's nearly impossible to photograph them without extra objects. Then Manny decides to go in for a kiss, while she decides it's time to take her bow out. Turns out MB didn't want to be kissed, thus beginning meltdown mode. Oh yeah and Manny started picking his nose. Never a dull moment when we decide to attempt a photo shoot!

We tried to get a picture of all the cousins at the very end of the party, but everyone was exhausted and kind of over it at this point. I still think it's cute. MB might not agree though. :)

One final party detail to add, then I'll be done talking about it. :) For thank you cards, I borrowed an idea from my friend Hillary and designed them to be like a coloring sheet, so Manny could color the letters and the dog. I also left a spot for me to write a little thank you note. I put a picture of Manny and Maeva at the party on the other side so people could have as a keepsake or to frame. Now while all that sounds good-great-grand-wonderful, I will admit it was a bit of a process. Who knew Manny would get bored so quickly with coloring the same picture?! So we had to space them out and just do a couple a day for awhile. And sometimes he'd scribble where I was supposed to write the note, so that was interesting. People seemed to really like them though so I suppose it was worth it in the end. :)