My Little Monkey Baby Shower

On April 20th, 2013, my nieces and sister in-laws threw me a fun BOY monkey themed baby shower. Since my nieces were both expecting babies soon, I helped them out with some details of the party such as using my digital skills in designing decorations, game printouts, and invitations, which they all appreciated. 
The Baby Shower Invitation

Credits: The papers and clothes line with baby clothes are by Megan Farrow (Studio Flergs). Monkey doodles and alpha are by Kate Hadfield The fonts I used are grumble and FO-Giggles.

Decorations

The decorations included the following: a branch with hanging Monkeys in a Barrel Toy, diapers, and other clipart, Diaper Babies, Diaper Cake, framed ultrasound pictures, banners were made by using a couple templates scalloped circle, onesies templates, and diaper templates, framed boy subway art was from Simple Scrapper, framed "Z" button art, a homemade baby quilt, beach balls, and crinkle baby tag blanket, which were made by my amazing sister in-law Marilee. Not shown in the pictures, there were cute center pieces on the tables (buckets filled with foam, green gems, and sticks with either a diaper, monkey, or onesie clipart on it).

Baby Shower Games

What's in the diaper bag? I got the ----> Template for the purse clip art.

Baby Name Scrabble
Guess how many M&M's are in the bottle
What is in your purse?
Guess Jen's Baby Bump Measurements
Prizes
The prizes were random girly things from the Dollar Store (shower wash, bath salts, lotions, nail stuff, picture frames, candles, hand soap, etc) wrapped in a bag or tied with twine.

Food

My family brought many yummy goodies (finger foods) to eat such as Italian deli rolls, chicken salad sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, fruit platter, and veggie platter. As for the dessert, they served chocolate dipped rice krispie treats, cupcakes, and raspberry swirl rolls. We drank two types of juices or water.
Thank You Favors

My husband and I made these mini chocolate chip banana breads by using a pan that had six bread molds in it. They turned out very moist and delicious! I have been using this recipe for years and cannot figure out where I got from. We have made it many ways (muffins, bread, mini breads, and added optional ingredients).
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
2 c. flour
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
2 1/3 c. mashed bananas
Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. In another bowl cream together butter and sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas. Add banana mixture to the flour mixture, stir well. Pour mixture in a 9X5 bread pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. If doing banana muffins you can cut the baking time in half, which is what I usually do instead of the large bread loaf.   Optional ingredients: Depending on your mood (sweet, chocolate, or spicy) you may add 1. tsp vanilla extract, 1 c. chocolate chips, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp allspice.

A Perfect 10 Owl Birthday Bash

 A Perfect 10 Owl Birthday Bash!

 As most people, we all live on a tight budget and don't have excess money to spend on a big birthday party. So for my daughter's birthday, I made a DIY owl themed girl birthday party using a lot free templates and  purchased a digital scrapping booking kit called Penelope kit by Shabby Princess.
The  Owl Birthday Invitation

Credits: For the party invitations, decorations, birthday banner, games, party favors, etc, I used paper and elements from the Penelope kit by Shabby Princess. I used font grumble font and FO-Giggles.
The Decorations and Food
The Light Pink and Chocolate Brown Party Supplies (plates, cups, napkins, plastic wear, and table cloth) are from Oriental Trading. The serving platters and flowers are from a local Dollar Store.  I designed food cards, a Happy Birthday banner, and misc decorations that I taped on a stick.  The silver buckets were filled with foam and blue and pink gems, which are from Walmart. The balloons are from a local party supply store.
The Food
The owl fruit platter contained an owl, which is made out of a pineapple, lemon slices eyes, grapes pupils, cantaloupe nose, and oranges as wings. We served grapes, strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, and orange slices.  The owl cupcakes: I was inspired by One Charming Party by using Oreos and Reese's Pieces for the eyes and nose.  Owl finger foods were crackers, cheese, lunch meat, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and olives. We also served vanilla cookies, Oreos, and Reese's Pieces.
The Games and Craft

Stick the Owl in the Tree
Owl Word Scramble
Owl Bingo I used this --> Template
How Many Jelly Beans Are in the Jar? (the winner took the jelly beans home).
The Owl Craft

Supplies: scissors, Elmer's glue or glue sticks, craft feathers, pencils, colored construction paper, and googly eyes.  Directions With the desired colored construction paper, trace the owl body and beak from a free Template, draw feet, and use a stencil for the oval shape in the middle of the body. Cut them all out. Trace both hands for the wings and cut them out. Glue together the owl pieces. Stick or glue on googly eyes and feathers.
The Owl Mask Photo Booth

The Party Favors

"Owl Keep Your Place" Bookmarks are made by me using Shabby Princess's Penelope kit.
Owl Treat Bags Template (supplies: templates, brown lunch bag, glue, and scissors)
Cute Owl Necklaces from Oriental Trading
Candy-Sour Gummy Worms, Air Heads, and Ring Pops
Glow Sticks from the Dollar Store
 Owl Masks Idea Mine Template and Coolest Free Template
The Presents

The party was a total "Hoot"! Everyone was happy to celebrate little sister's big 10th birthday!

I'm old enough to have a 14 Year Old!

I cannot believe that my teenager daughter is 14 years old! On April 5th, 2013, we took her to Denny's for breakfast. So what did my 14 year old want for her birthday? The answer was obvious! A pink acoustic guitar, iPod earphones, flowers, sunglasses, clothes, purse, chick flicks, and Toy Story Dolls.

Later that same day, her friend came over with some birthday cupcakes. Then she went shopping with her friend and watched some movies at our house with two friends. We bought her a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake from Coldstone! Overall, I think she had a great day and felt loved by many friends and family members on Facebook who wished her Happy Birthday!

 

You know you are pregnant when you...

You know you are pregnant when you...

1. crave bagels with garden cream cheese spread, pepperoncinis, sliced tomatoes, and cracked pepper.

2. misplace your cell phone and was later found in the garbage can.

3. have no energy to clean or cook and require naps to survive.

4. gag due to the many outside smells while walking the dog.

5. caught talking the unborn baby after feeling flutters and kicks.

6. consume Tums as an extra daily supplement of calcium due to heartburn.

7. get dizzy a couple times a day from sitting/laying down to standing up.

8. pee 3-4 times during the night and cannot find a comfortable position to sleep even with a large body pillow.

9. are easily annoyed with stupid drivers and you find yourself yelling at them when they cannot hear you in your car.

10. are faced with the options of either peeing your pants or puking on the floor. (I chose peeing my pants while throwing up at the same time in the toilet, lol).

11. wake up with a leg or foot cramp in the middle of the night, ouch!

12.  find yourself hungry every few hours and undetermined on what to eat.