Thursday, February 28, 2013

Mack's 4th Birthday

Like I mentioned,
Our little dude turned 4 a few weeks ago and last Saturday we got to celebrate with family and friends!
He is obsessed with cars.  He can name every make of car driving down the street and I'll ask him, "how do you know that is a Corvette?"  His response, "look at the tail lights Mommy!" 
All he wanted was a "Camero, Corvette, Mustang Birthday" so I did my best to make that happen.
And before you're even slightly impressed, let me just say I'm really good at copying!  Pintrist offered great ideas and SIMONE made it gave some super cute printables!!



The kids started at Driver Registration where they received their pit pass, drivers license, and a car.
 
 
Then they had to take their official Mack's Motor Speedway photo!
 
 
 
 Outside we set up various race tracks for the children to play with.
 
 
And Daddy built an amazing race track just for the party!
 


 
 
I kept the food simple by ordering pizza! (I'm learning!) and simply made the cake and cupcakes (recipe to come - it's my favorite chocolate cake recipe!)
 
 
 
Our artistic Daddy did the chalk boards!
 

 
How crazy cute are these Teddy Bear Racers?  Thanks Pintrist!
 
 
 
Some popcorn, pretzles, and goldfish crackers for "Nuts and Bolts" snacks
 


Perhaps this was my one original idea - I stopped by the Camero dealer early one morning and took some photos.  Then I went and had them blown up at Staples for $7!  Super fun!


 
 
The Grandmas and Great Auntie made great Race Cheerleaders!
 
 
 
Each kiddo went home with their Hot Wheele, a small trophy, a small wooden car that they got to decorate and a wheele yo-yo!
A great time was had by all!
Check out Simone Made It on Etsy for some cute party printables!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Celebrations

It's been quite a weekend!
We celebrated our little man turning 4 with a Race Car Birthday (more photos to come!)
And one of my favorite days of the year - Oscar Sunday!
We went to a fun party where we were to come "Red Carpet Ready"
So I pulled out some vintage couture (aka thrift store purchase from 1994) and added a little top knot to complete the ensemble!
 Me and my handsome on our way to the Red Carpet!
 Lots of Movie Snacks!


The Little Ladies in the photo props!
And a little family photobooth fun!
Do you like my son's "Oscar" attire?
 
Hope you all had a great weekend!


Monday, February 18, 2013

More Love

The Little Ladies went to a ball with their Daddy
 
 
They had a wonderful time playing dress up and twirling in their gowns!
 

There is something really special about the love between a Daddy and his daughters!
 
And now for a little Monday Recipe Love!
 
Most recently it was our "Valentine Corn", but a few months ago it was called "Christmas Corn"!
It's very simple.  I found it on Pintrist and you can add any different ingredients to it.
 
Popcorn
1/3 c. white chocolate chips
holiday sprinkles
 
It's just that easy, pop some corn, melt 1/3 cup of white chocolate chips in the microwave, starting with 20 second intervals and stir.  Don't over heat it or it ruins the chocolate.  Once it's smooth, pour it over the popcorn and toss to coat.  Add the holiday sprinkles of choice, spread out on waxed paper lined baking sheets (at this point you can add a touch of salt if you wish to make it sweet and salty!) and let completely cool and harden.  I placed my sheets in the garage to cool more quickly. 
Break apart and enjoy!
For the Valentine Corn I added Rice Chex cereal, pretzels and some mnms.
 
Happy Presidents' Day!
(if you want to know when I post, click the facebook link in the right column and "like"
Not My Own facebook page!)


Thursday, February 14, 2013

LOVE

 
I adore Valentine's Day!!
 
 
Love is such a powerful thing.  The lack of it can kill someone.
The abundance of it can give life.
 
 
I recently have experienced Love in a way I never have before.
 
 
Love so personal.
 
 
Love that is intimate and comepletely life changing.
 
 
Love that struck me in the most unexpected place, in the most unexpected way.
And I'll never be the same.
 
 
Happy Valentine's Day.
May you know that beyond anything else
YOU ARE LOVED

Monday, February 4, 2013

Blogging... Sometimes

Hey Friends,
After a month or so off, I'm back... kinda!  I have to be honest, taking a break from blogging was great!  I just started to feel like I don't have much to say anymore and sometimes writing a post felt like, well, like a chore.  That's lame.  That's not what this is about. 
  I used to journal all the time - I loved it!  It was my time to process and my time to focus in on God.  Life got complicated with children and my time to journal flew away for a season, but I found that blogging filled that void in a way.  The truth is, I have a lot to say right now in my life! But my blog is not the place to write about my current thoughts and struggles, it's just too personal and not really for the world to hear at this time. So I've returned to traditional journaling and it's been wonderful.
To sit and just write with freedom, knowing that no one will ever read the raw, honest waters of my heart is very life giving for me.  I don't have to worry about grammar, language or making sense to anyone.  I don't need to wonder if anyone will respond or leave a comment!  It's just a private world for me alone and it can be as big or small as I wish.  God is the only "follower" of my private journal and the truth is, He knows my thoughts before I write them, so there is no hiding from Him! 
I've struggled with the balance of being honest on my blog and being appropriate!  I've had people tell me that my life seems so perfect from reading my blog!  I'm shocked!  I feel like I've confessed some pretty big struggles on my blog, yet I know that I haven't written the complete story because some things just aren't for everyone in the world to hear about, and many struggles I have involve other people who don't want to be exposed on a blog!!
Part of my hiatus from blogging was to see if I have anything to write about if I don't write about what is going on in my life right now - the real stuff - the messy, ugly, inappropriate stuff that really is just between me and God.  And I guess my answer was, "sometimes."  Sometimes I have some things to share, a recipe, some fun things with my kids, some struggles that God has said are ok to share for the benefit of building others up.  Sometimes I have some things to blog about, but not every Monday, Wednesday and Friday!
So I'm going to return to this little blog and post things as they come to my blogging heart!  And I'm not going to be a slave to this and force myself to blog a certain number of days a week and suck the joy out of it!  I'm going to blog as I feel led - ooooo, that sounds spiritual!
I'm trying to set up a facebook page so that it's easier to see when I'm posting (you can click the "follow me on" facebook tab on the right column - not sure if it totally works yet!!!  Then click "Like" on my page)
 
So, for today, I'm sharing a recipe I made yesterday for Super Bowl
which was a tragic loss for our 49ers!
 
Pizza Pull Apart Bread
My uncle in Michigan sent me this recipe and it was very yummy!
 I'll be making it again!

Ingredients
1/3 cup favorite flavored dipping oil (I just used olive oil)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 (16 ounce) pkgs pre-made pizza dough or homemade pizza dough
1 (7 oz) pkg sliced pepperoni
1 (8 oz) pkg shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Separate pizza dough into small bite sized pieces.
3. In a bowl add your favorite flavored dipping oil. Toss dough pieces in dipping oil to lightly coat.
4. Layer dough pieces in bottom of bundt or fluted tube pan, next layer sliced pepperoni, shredded cheese and sprinkle with garlic powder. (I also added some dried oregano) 
Repeat layers again, and end with final layer of dough pieces.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until the bread is browned and cooked through in the center, 30-40 min
6. Remove from oven, and invert the pan on a cutting board; the bread will fall out of the pan in one piece.
7. Serve by pulling the bread apart into individual servings with optional marinara dipping sauce on the side.

Happy Monday Friends!!!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...