Frozen/Tinker Bell Birthday Party

Last month my sister talked to me about helping with my niece's birthday party invitations. We talked to Izzy and at the time she was wavering between a Frozen themed party and Hello Kitty. She finally settled on Frozen.

Fast forward to the week before the party. My sister (who was also trying to pack for their coming move to Florida) went to the party store to discover there were NO Frozen decorations to be found. At all. She wasn't sure what to do. In the end, they settled on a Tinker Bell/Fairy theme. The little girls at the party were none the wiser and they can do Frozen next year when their lives aren't quite so hectic.

Even though they are about to move, my sister still managed to make a beautiful "5" cake that was decorated with Tinker Bell and fairies.

She also had the little girls paint fairy bird houses – which was a big hit with the party goers.

Two little boys were also excited to take a turn painting.

While I know my sister loves going all out for parties, this party was still beautiful and the kids had a ton of fun. That's the most important thing anyways :)

Sometimes pizza, minimum decorations, a great cake and a fun activity are all you really need. Especially when you are about to move to another state!

The boys were particularly excited to play with the kazoo party favors. Though I was glad to leave Jack's behind!

The Frozen invite for the party. There's always next year! 

Tinker Bell turned out to be a fun party though.

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend Jack and I headed to Nashville to celebrate birthdays with family. This post is just a quick overview of our trip...

Friday night we went to my brother's party in East Nashville. He was having a big cookout at a friend's house to celebrate this year. My sister, her family and Jack and I were a part of what I will call the pre-party. We arrived at 7 and enjoyed meeting and visiting with some of Mark's friends. As the evening progressed, more people showed up. Unfortunately we had to take the kids home to bed before the grilling started (around 9:30pm). Good thing we brought snacks for the kids!

Saturday we celebrated my niece's 5th birthday. Needless to say, this was a very different kind of party! Four little girls, and two toddler boys enjoyed cake, painting fairy birdhouses, and running around having fun.

After the birthday party, the cousins cooled off with the hose. They had a blast spraying each other and running through the water. 

Saturday evening, we went out for one final birthday meal together. My sister and her family are moving to Florida at the end of the week, so it was also our last big family meal for awhile (though missing my parents and Daniel). We are sad to see my sister's family go. Obviously we won't be able to make regular weekend trips to visit them any more, but I foresee more trips to the beach in our future...

Chats with Jack ⎮ May, 2014

Daniel and I have this habit of quoting random lines from songs as a part of our daily conversation. About a month ago, we started quoting a couple of lines from the Cake song "The Distance" before Jack's bedtime. 

The line goes:  

"The sun has gone down. 
And the moon has come up. 
And long ago somebody left with the cup..." 

Now when we quote the sun/moon part, Jack automatically says, "somebody left with the cup." For some reason this always cracks us up. In more recent weeks, Jack will tell us "somebody left with the cup" when he is ready to go to bed.

Whenever we drop Jack off at Bible class or at childcare at the Y, he likes to run in and shout, "I came back!" in a very excited voice.

If you say Jack's name and he is within hearing distance, he will hold his hand up and say, "I'm right here" in his little sing song voice.

Recently Jack was saying that he wanted something, so Daniel started telling him that he wanted a pony. This happened a couple of times when all of a sudden Jack said, "Ok, I'll get you a pony." And he sauntered off. Daniel and I laughed and wondered what he would bring back. He brought Daniel a kiwi and said, "Here's your pony."

We had a good chuckle over that and I let Jack eat the kiwi – which he liked.

A couple of days later, a similar conversation ensued. Daniel said he wanted a pony and Jack ran and got a kiwi. So I told Jack that it wasn't a pony and asked if he knew what it was. He looked at the kiwi and said, "a zucchini?" Well, that's a lot closer than a pony!

I recently asked Jack what his favorite toy was and he told me, "when it's my turn."

Conversation between Jack and Daniel 

Daniel: Are you going to be a greenie?
Jack: Yes. 

Daniel: Are you going to be against nuclear and coal when you grow up? (Daniel works in the power industry) 
Jack: No. 

Daniel: Do you think electric cars are going to take off?
Jack: Yes. We drive cars.

On Memorial weekend we asked Jack if he wanted to go camping. He was very excited about this prospect, but said he needed his own backpack... which we have since purchased.

One of Jack's current phrases is "That's cool." How old is this kid? 

He also started saying, "Let's roll" when he's ready to go somewhere. I think he picked this up from me. I realized that I say it when we are biking.

Jack has a fascination with pretending to put out fires and just about anything works as a "hose" for him to put out said fires. He is also into pretending he is on a rocket ship and likes to yell "blast off!"

He calls lemonade "lemon-cade" and I love the sweet way he says "rests-a-raunts" for restaurant and "breaks-fast" for breakfast.

We potty trained Jack over the Memorial Day weekend. I think he was just ready because we only had a few accidents and once I told him that he needed to tell us (or a teacher) when he needed to go, he pretty much caught on right away and did it. Even for church and childcare at the Y. We didn't do treats, but he does like giving us a thumbs up or a high five when he is finished. He basically seemed to understand that this was the next step to becoming a big boy. Interestingly we were out doing lots of fun activities that entire weekend we potty trained and he did really well, with no accidents.

We are still doing diapers at night until we are sure he can go all night but we are just about free of the diaper stage! I am grateful for Daniel Tiger and the episode where Prince Wednesday learns: 

"If you have to go potty, STOP, and go right away. 
Flush and wash and be on your way."

My only complaint is that I feel like the song needs a couple of more lines:

If you need to go potty, STOP,  
and tell a parent, and run to the bathroom, 
and go right away. 
Wipe, and flush, and wash and be on your way.

Jack really likes the song and will sing it when he goes potty, so thank you Daniel Tiger for your catchy little tunes to help little ones learn new things. 

Over the weekend, Jack started going to the potty independently and will tell us, "You stay there" and we are supposed to stand outside the bathroom door. He also told one of his teacher's at the Y that he could wipe by himself... It looks like we have a fairly independent kid. 

Cooking with Pinterest.7

Below are recaps of the new recipes I tried in the last couple of weeks:
 
Hawaiian Chicken and Pineapple Skewers via Where Home Starts
Unfortunately this isn't a real link, so I just went with the concept and made kabobs using chicken, pineapple and red bell peppers, with a BBQ sauce for flavoring.

These kabobs cooked really quickly on the grill. I served them with rice. Jack really enjoyed helping me make the skewers – especially since I let him eat the pineapple while we prepped the kabobs. Jack wouldn't eat the peppers, but seemed to like the rest of it. 

Parent Score 5/5 | Toddler Score 4/5

Fresh Fruit Popcicles via Pinterest
Unfortunately the original link no longer exists, but the idea is a simple one. Fresh fruit + coconut water and freeze. I couldn't find coconut water in my local grocery store, but I did find coconut milk and it was was delicious. I have seen a variation of this recipe that uses lemonade instead of coconut milk/water.

This was super easy to make and Jack loved them.
Parent Score 5/5 | Toddler Score 5/5

20-Minute Chicken Enchilada Bowls via Lauren's Latest
This really was a quick and delicious meal. I was surprised at how quickly it came together. I used butter instead of olive oil to saute my vegetables; and I left out the carrots and added squash and mini orange, red and yellow bell peppers instead. Since I have a toddler I also skipped the chili peppers. I have never made enchiladas before and could not find enchilada sauce at my grocery store, so I used salsa instead. My pan was feeling kind of full so I left the black beans out as well.

In the end, I had a delicious, healthy dish for my family – even if it didn't have all of the same ingredients as the original recipe. Unfortunately Jack was fussy at dinner and wouldn't touch his food, so I have no idea if he would like it or not. Daniel thought it was a bit spicy (I used a medium salsa). I thought it was just right.

Parent Score 4/5 | Toddler Score ?/5

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies via Six Sister's Stuff
This was a super easy recipe to make and it was dee-lish-us! Jack had fun helping me measure out all of the ingredients (as well as eating the raw cookie batter).

The recipe called for 2 cups of craisins, but I only had 1 cup in my pantry, so I also added dark chocolate chips and cut up pecans. You could do any number of combinations and these cookies would be great.

Jack loved eating these cookies as much as he loved helping me make them. I don't think you can go wrong when making sweet things for toddlers. This recipe made 60 cookies.

Parent Score 5/5 | Toddler Score 5/5

The Best BBQ Chicken Kabobs via Fabulously Frugal
This blog claimed they had the best BBQ Chicken Kabobs and they really were amazing. I didn't have the sweet paprika on hand, but they still tasted wonderful. I added portabella mushrooms and cut up zucchini to my kabobs and it was excellent.

We all really enjoyed this meal. The secret ingredient really did give it a nice smoky flavor. I may try this rub again with steak and shrimp or salmon. I think it would taste great with any meat.

Parent Score 5/5 | Toddler Score 5/5

Skinny Cheeseburger Casserole via Skinny Mom
I reduced the recipe by about half and added sauteed zucchini for some extra vegetables. Like the Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats I made a few weeks ago, the pickles really add a nice punch of flavor to this casserole. It would be easy to add in any number of vegetables and this would still be a tasty casserole.

Jack was somewhat ambivalent about this dish, but Daniel and I both liked it, and it made great leftovers.

Parent Score 5/5 | Toddler Score 3/5

Classic American Sandwich Bread via Smells Like Home
I wish I could capture the smell and save it in a bottle. This recipe smells heavenly while it is baking. This is the first time I have successfully made homemade bread. With my Kitchenaid Mixer, it was a breeze.

I liked the simplicity of the ingredient list and the ease of making it – you just need a three hour slot of time, like Sunday afternoon when everyone is napping.

This recipe gets a big thumbs up from my crew. We all loved it. Our first taste was still a little warm from the oven with a pat of real butter. Yum.

Parent Score 5/5 | Toddler Score 5/5