Doughnut and Pajama Party

mauryn loves doughnuts 

when we started talking about a theme for her birthday party she wanted a doughnut party

i wasn't quite sure how a doughnut party would come together 

after talking through her ideas on the party we decided to have an early {9 am} saturday party and have all the girls come in their pajamas.

so it turned into a doughnut and pajama party!

i did not love how her invitations turned out

but this was our attempt at a doughnut

the table decorations were simple

mauryn wanted her party colors to be pink and purple so we carried those colors throughout her party

i used pink and purple paper straws in the milk glasses

i had extra fabric from the table runner and bunting that i used to tie onto the glasses

the table was set with pink and purple plates and napkins

i made a bunch of mini doughnuts and doughnut holes for the kids to decorate

we added a few glass cups pink and purple candies to add a pop of color to the table and for the kids to use as decorations on their doughnuts

i made a few large doughnuts to hang from our kitchen light

we also had streamers on our patio doors and a bunting over the streamers {pic was too dark}

when the girls arrived they started off by coloring pictures of doughnuts 

i also set up mauryn's ice cream shop from last year as a doughnut shop

yes i misspelled doughnut

i should not be writing at midnight after too many late nights/early mornings party prepping

i was planning on writing the short version donut but then decided to do the traditional spelling but i had already started the short version and well my mind was dead at the time of the night

so we just invented a new way of spelling doughnut. ha!!

i made a little skirt to go around the doughnut shop that matched the colors of her party

the doughnut shop was a hit

it was a great thing for the girls to do if they finished an activity and were waiting for the next thing

mauryn trying a doughnut from the doughnut shop!!

 once all the girls arrived, we read two doughnut stories

then we worked on a craft

the girls made and decorated paper doughnuts

they had jewels, mini pompoms, and markers to decorate

once they were through making paper doughnuts, we sang to the birthday girl

who thought it was far too loud!

then the girls decorated and ate their doughnuts/doughnut holes

there was lots of frosting and sprinkles involved

mauryn's frosted creation

we sent the sugar filled girls home with the CUTEST goodie buckets that marta made... they were the perfect colors and design for the party

we filled them with two glazed doughnut holes, a candy necklace, chapstick, and a doughnut necklace

the frosting colored lips and the little smirk are signs of a happy party girl!

Halloween 2012

i know its almost two weeks since halloween but

i've been recovering from a horrible cold/cough

and we've been in the midst of birthday planning/celebrating

i am finally getting a few minutes to sit down, edit pictures, and try to get caught up.

halloween was warm

really warm

in the 60's for trick or treating warm

so nice

we had a different halloween this year

our church hosts a harvest part the wednesday before halloween

since halloween fell on a wednesday the harvest party was on halloween night

morgan and i worked the harvest party

lance took landon and mauryn trick or treating in the neighborhood and then brought them to church for the harvest party

it was the perfect mix of trick or treating and getting to spend time with their friends

this year mauryn decided she wanted to be dorothy from wizard of oz

 as i was taking some pictures she said "mom get one of me skipping"

here she is off on the yellow brick road 

 landon wanted to be one of the avengers

he finally settled on captain america

showing off his throwing skills

 since morgan was helping at the harvest party she decided she should dress up

she wore the twister costume i wore last year

she makes a pretty cute twister board

 crazy kids before they're off trick or treating

 our friends hold an annual halloween party

it has evolved over the years.... it started as just adults, then families, and even families but no costumes for adults, and this year back to adults only in costumes

lance and i dressed up as little red riding hood and the big bad wolf

 morgan was taking pictures of us before we left for the party

lance was going to scare me for the picture

i slipped and started to fall

morgan caught it on camera

that big bad wolf is pretty scary!!!

Insta Joys

phew!  we made it through another week

its been a busy one

i am happy to put this week in the books

i found a few instas from a couple of weeks ago that didn't upload so i am adding those in this week

my instas for this week for slim pickings

my list for mommy's boot camp

my house was in dire need of some TLC

after a fun filled summer we had all gotten a little lazy with chores/routines

it was time to regroup and retrain

 scrubbing, organizing, getting rid of clutter

it was two busy days of non stop cleaning/organizing

it felt so good to get it done

the kids have been so much better about keeping up on their chores

i am pretty sure they don't want another boot camp weekend

for each home boise state game they assign colors for your section

its really a great marketing tool as you need to have the right color for your section

you do NOT want to be the person wearing the wrong color

we had to make a quick pit stop to pick up orange shirts 

this weekend....we're blue

good thing we're all stocked up on blue shirts

this boy loves music

letting him listen to his music while he does him math has been a game changer

school goes more smoothly

he is so much happier

 fall mantle

i love you

its finally cool enough at night to run the fireplace in the mornings

the fire + mantle makes the living room my favorite place in the fall

  

 itty bitty gummy bears

you are my very favorite 

he likes to sleep snuggled up with a pillow

{sigh}

i saw this little table at world market

i am in love with it

i have the perfect place for it in my house

this may be an early christmas present to myself

i don't know if it will still be around to go on my list!

i spend thursday afternoons watching my girls at gymnastics

its the only day i get to watch morgan practice this year because of how our carpool worked out

i am enjoying the birds eye view we have now in the new gym

kind of fun {and a little scary} watching the girls from above

i washed our bedding the other morning

i had time to get it washed and dried but then was gone for the rest of the day

i totally forgot that our bed was unmade until i went to crawl into bed at 9:00

ugh!

i was seriously tempted to just throw a blanket on the bed and go to sleep 

i knew i'd regret it

so i quickly made the bed then curled up in the freshly washed bedding

nothing like going to bed on newly washed sheets

how was your week?

what's on your agenda for the weekend??

landon has his last football game tomorrow. its going to be bittersweet to see their season end.

we are heading to the bsu game tomorrow.  we get our friends tickets as well so lance, the two big kids, and i are heading to the game. its supposed to be gorgeous tomorrow. i am so excited!

our sunday is full of lots of little things. hopefully a nap. 

linking up with jeannett.

PinterTEST Kitchen

last year my friend jessica came up with a great idea called pinterTEST kitchen.

pinterTEST kitchen encourages people to stop just pinning but actually start doing.

i love that it gives me the motivation to look through my boards and try something.

i haven't been great about documenting with photos or posts on what i've been doing but since its the first anniversary of pinterTEST kitchen and jess is doing an awesome giveaway, i scoured my photos to see if i had any pins documented.  i had a few pic and a few other things that we've tried but i forgot to take a picture.

here's a quick review of some things that were hits in the past few months around here:

 

fruit salsa: so so yummy!

we ate it on homemade cinnamon/sugar chips

its a perfect refreshing summer treat

white chocolate toffee snickerdoodles: oh my yum!

the recipe called for chocolate chips and toffee bits, but i substituted white chocolate chips for regular chocolate chips. i loved the combination.  

butterfinger pie: super super easy

3 ingredients plus the crust

i made this for a going away party and i got to scrape the bottom of the pan

from what i tasted it was good :o)

star braid for 4th of july: morgan did mauryn's hair

the directions were easy to follow

it was a fun, cute style for the 4th

broccoli and rice cups: i made these into a meal rather than a side

i had some chicken to use up and added it in

i also doubled the recipe since it was going to be dinner

my children who don't like broccoli complained but everyone else liked them

pb banana bites: i am not a huge fan of bananas but i love peanut butter and chocolate {more pb than chocolate}. i thought these would be a great quick snack.

i didn't love the frozen banana.  i snacked a few as i was making them and liked them in the prefrozen state better than frozen.  if you like frozen bananas, then you would probably love these.

check out jess's blog and see what other pins people have tried this month!  i love getting new ideas and seeing what has or hasn't worked for people.

Insta Joys

fall decided to arrive this week

our mornings have been quite chilly

we start our school days in sweats and snuggled in blankets

yesterday we even turned on the fireplace for a bit 

i am loving these cooler mornings

its time to break out the jeans and sweatshirts

mornings with a cup of hot tea

soup is back on the menu

we had cream of potato this week... yummy!!!

 you know what happens when your phone is locked

you get photos bombed by your tween soon to be teen

 again and 

 again.

these little photo sessions are clogging up my photo stream

they definitely make me laugh and bring a smile to my face

crazy kid!!!

 i made a trip to the library last week

i think i got a little over zealous in my book collecting

i found a few on my fall reading list, books by some authors on my fall reading list

i couldn't help grabbing what i could find on the shelves

i forget school is in session and there isn't as much time to read

we'll see how many i can get tackled in the next few weeks

always so many books and so little time

 the little lady had a stomach ache on friday night

she thought she was going to be sick

whenever my kids think they have the flu i make a bed in the bathroom

it makes clean up so much easier if they get sick

thankfully she fell asleep quickly and slept through the night

phew! dodged the flu bullet..... for now

 sometimes its hard to put aside my daily to do list

i can get focused and wrapped up in the laundry, cleaning, and meal prepping

the other day the sun was shining, it was a perfect fall day

mauryn wanted to go to the park

i laid down the vaccumm, changed out of my pi's, and we headed to the park

it was so worth it to trade my to do list for her to do list

burpees

ugh ugh ugh!

burpees have been part of my daily workout for a few months

landon wanted to join in on the daily torture burpees

he asks every day how many i did

then he proceeds to do more than me

this is one contest i am totally fine with letting him win

 i am joining in with marta to run/walk 41 miles in october

she's been putting together challenges all summer

it was the june challenge that got me going and upped my miles

i use nike+ when i run inside at the gym

i love that the new upgrade keeps a running tally of miles

i only need to add in my saturday runs

thanks marta!

 i received this mug as a gift from my fellow homeschool moms

i love it

its so pretty

i love the verse... something great to meditate on while i sip my tea in the mornings

these were morgan's hands yesterday after practice

yikes!!!

she ripped and got blood blisters

the life of a gymnast

battle wounds of a hard/good bar workout

at least she'll have the weekend to let her hands heal a little bit

how was your week?

what's on your agenda for the weekend?

we have landon's football game, a birthday party, BSU game to watch,

and our biggest task is getting everyone outfitted for my brothers wedding in two weeks {EEK!}

the two little kids are done

morgan and i will head out tonight maybe to try to find her a dress

sometime this weekend we'll get lance's outfit complete

me... not sure.

i have a dress i can wear that i like and fits well

i've worn it to quite a few weddings so i feel like i should update and get something new

we'll see... i might look around a bit when i am out with morgan at least i know i have a plan B

enjoy your weekend!

linking up with jeannett