Halloween Party Vatcher Style

Halloween has to be one of my favorite holidays. Maybe it’s the fact that you get to pretend to be someone you are not. Maybe it is because as a kid I never really got to celebrate it, so I am trying to make up for lost time with my kids. Maybe it is just because I know that means Christmas is around the corner! Or maybe it is all the fun parties that are thrown and that can be thrown. Either way, I love it!

 

This year my son is actually old enough to really know what is going on and to want to have a party. Me, being the planner that I am, never argues to throwing one. So, once again, I partnered up with Expo Party Rentals to see what I could do for him. They just came out with children’s tables and chairs. They are so cute.






Orange and black seem to be the normal colors everyone goes for. It says, “Halloween”. I wanted to be a bit different. I opted for Expo’s lime green and grape for the colors. So, when my mother-in-law went shopping, like she does so often, she could help but check out the Halloween section and see the many treasures. She ended getting the darling green glitter pumpkin you see on the kids table. She also got the most darling Frankenstein favor boxes that I filled with pumpkin bubbles, “No s’more tricks just treats” s’mores kit that I made along with some Halloween goldfish.

 

 

What kind of Halloween party would it be without cute treats? Plus I can’t call myself a “Pinterest mom” if I didn’t make some pinterest goodies. On the menu: Owl cupcakes, Chocolate Donut Spiders, Apple mouths,
Caramel apples, And not pictured: Spider web pizza, Oreo brownies, and Mummy dogs.

The kids had so much fun. They had a cute Spider piñata that had premade goody bags of candy. (I hated having to fight to get the candy when it popped growing up. Now I will never do it that way.)

 

 

When it came down to it, it was just a very simple party, but lots of love put into it.

 When it came down to it, it was just a very simple party, but lots of love put into it.

I just can't handle his cuteness!

Can I just say that I love this little boy more then anything! 

He is just the cutest and sweetest boy ever. 

And I am not just saying that because he is mine, he really just is!

This picture above is the day of picture day. 

I kept telling him that he had to smile and not do it silly faces!

This was him practicing. So, darn cute!

Tea Time

What girl growing up didn't pretend to have a "Tea" party? I know I did. I would get all of my stuffed animals and dolls set up at the table. Then I’d set out all of my grandma's tea cups and saucers—although I never really understood why we had to have a mini plate to hold our cups. I pretend to have "tea time" like the Queen of England would do. I would even stick my pinky out and everything.

Recently I was called to be an activities day leader with someone who instantly became a dear friend. We planned out the rest of this year with so many fun activities that, won’t only be fun, but will also help our young women pass off their Faith in God award.

One of the activities we planned was a "Tea" party. So, we partnered up with Expo Party Rentals and transformed the nursery room. We draped the walls with beautiful draping and some pink accent lights to bring more warmth and color to the room. Nobody could have known under the beautiful decorations there was a church’s nursery room.

We decorated the tables beautifully with lilac table clothes and a lace overlay. What tea party doesn't have lace? We set the tables with a formal table setting using Expo's double rimmed gold china and flatware and water goblets for a modern twist.  Of course we had to have some kind of pink in there somewhere, so we tied pink in with the napkins and the chair sashes. 

 

Flower, oh the flowers! We got to try out the new florist at expo. She did amazing putting together different vintage glass bottle pieces. Her arrangements added just the right amount of classic to a modern tea party. They were just beautiful.

Now, one can not have a tea party with out good food. We had beautiful cake pops, chocolate covered oreos, a cherry salad, tea sandwiches, and of course strawberries. 

Of course we had to have hats. Kelli, the other leader, put together some super cute hats for the girls to decorate. It was great watching the girls decorate the hats to their personalities, beautiful and unique. And, for the first time, I wasn't the only one in the room with a hat on! 

We had a lot of fun designing our event, learning about etiquette with the girls, and put together cute hats. But my favorite memory from our event was seeing the reaction of the girls when we finally let them come into the room to see the amazing set up we had put together for them. They could tell their leaders truly cared for them and wanted to make sure they had a great time.

School? How can this be happening!

     My Little Man is in SCHOOL!!!!! How is this possible? I keep looking at him and seeing my little baby boy that I brought home from the hospital, what seems like yesterday. He was so excited. I couldn't even get a decent picture of him looking at the camera.
     It is so cute that every morning he wakes up and asks, "am I going to school today?"  He really enjoys going and seeing his teacher and all the other kids. I sure hope that last all year long.

Chicken and spinach!

Wednesday Recipe!

I LOVE pinterest! I love every recipe that I have made from there! The following two recipes are what I made for dinner tonight! LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Hope you enjoy it as well!

Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cooking oil, divided3 small eggplants cut into long strips2 cloves garlic, finely minced1 red chile pepper, finely diced1 tablespoon ginger, finely minced1 stalk green onion, chopped1 tablespoon soy sauce1 tablespoon black vinegar1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions:

In a wok or saucepan over high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat wok. When wok is hot, add eggplant in a single layer. Cook 1 minute and flip over each piece so they cook evenly. Cook another 2-3 minutes, flipping occasionally.
Push eggplant aside in wok and add 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Add garlic, red chile peppers, ginger and green onion. Stir these aromatics until they become fragrant. Combine aromatics with eggplant and stir fry for one minute. Add soy sauce, black vinegar and sugar and stir to combine all. Serve immediately.

Korean Beef and Broccoli

 Korean Beef is a very standard dish. Just about every Chinese restaurant sells it but it's usually made with flank steak and sauteed with broccoli. My recipe is less expensive and easier because it uses ground beef and some really simple ingredients and I served this with steamed broccoli which was delicious.On that note . . .

1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar (I like it sweet so I usually do closer to 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (see note)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers (to desired spiciness)
salt and pepper
1 bunch green onions, diced (don't skip this!)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown hamburger with garlic in the sesame oil. Drain most of the fat and add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper and red peppers. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions.

My little Harper

This last Friday my little Harper will be FOUR months old. So, I know I am late at doing this post but hey, better late then never.

     March 4th I was scheduled for my regular weekly apt til giving birth. Michael took the morning off for my apt as well. As I was getting ready it was just like any other apt, but Aaron wasn't awake yet (8am) so I asked Michael if I could just go on my own and it would be a lot faster. There wasn't anything real special about this apt.
     When I got in with my doctor, she asked how I was feeling. Of course I felt great! I had been having contractions off and on for about a week now but nothing that would say that I was in labor. So, I joked around with her telling her I was hoping that she would check me and tell me I was far enough along to be sent across the parking lot to the birthing center to have my baby. She just laughed and said, "we'll see!".  Well after going in and seeing how far dialated I was, turns out I was at a 4, she just said,  "okay I'll have the nurse draw up your papers".
     I didn't quite understand what she meant so when the nurse came and gave me my paper I asked her what exactly I was doing with the papers. She told me I was going across the street to get checked in to have my baby that day!!!! I was sooooooo excited! I called mike and he laughed at me cause I was telling him about me just joking around with the dr, but it being real. The funny thing was, I didn't feel any signs of labor. (it was great!) So, I told Michael to take his time and finish his homework and gave him a list of things to grab, my hospital bag the babies hospital bag, my pillow, and a blanket, makeup bag, etc..
     When I walked into the birthing hospital The lady checking me in almost didn't believe I was in labor cause I was just acting like it was another day, no pain. To be honest, it was just like another day only with a baby coming, no pain at all.
     Fast forwarding about an hour.

 Sarah had picked up Aaron and was BEYOND excited that Harper was coming that day, but I told her and Michael not to really tell anyone except our parents just incase Harper was on a different schedule then the Dr had in mind. So, our parents knew and were all excited.
     When Michael finally arrived with all my gear and makeup, I immediately wanted to put my makeup on cause I didn't want to look bad in the pictures again like with Aaron's birth. Again the nurses all laughed at me and had never really seen anyone so not in pain when this far into labor and not having an epidural. I did end up getting one just cause I didn't want to feel her come out, but as far as labor pains went, I didn't feel my contractions even though according to the nurses they were very strong.
Long story short, I finally got to push and 30 mins later my baby was on my chest and Michael was able to cut the cord.