December Twenty- WHAAAT?!

Can you believe it is already the end of 2013? I can't! This year has had so many ups and downs, I am ready for 2014, and can't wait to see what kind of magic it has in store for us!!

I can say I have completed my Christmas shopping! So it's safe to say, if there ain't anything under the tree for ya now, there ain't gonna be anything! Lol!! 

This year, I wanted to take different approach to an advent calendar with Miss Mayhem. I have always made a point with her every year since her 1st birthday to take her to get a toy and give it to the Marines for Toys for Tots, and she loves "helping" a child that wouldn't get much. So when I heard about this Random Acts of Kindness advent calendar/Christmas countdown from a mommy friend, I knew it was right up our alley & she would love it!

Some of the RAK have been bringing cookies to a neighbor, dog treats to animal shelter, helping decorate, etc. 

There has also been a LOT of hot chocolate sipping around here! 

My kid can't stand the taste of peppermint, yet wants to twirl a candy cane around in her mug?! 

Miss Mayhem had her school Christmas performance, and I can't think of much else that is cuter that a bunch of preschoolers singing songs off key! 

Christmas Parties have been had, gifts have been wrapped, neighborhood lights have been toured, parades have been watched and the house has been decorated! I think we may be ready for Christmas? Here are a few pictures I'll leave you with! 

Have a merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!!! 

Xo!

Jess

Mayhem is 3!! *Photo heavy!*

Welcome to My Party Post!

For the last probably 6 months, Miss Mayhem has been obsessed with horses. We took her to the rodeo a while back, and she was in heaven! She was upset when it was over, and did so well watching the entire thing on a hot Sunday afternoon! That outing definitely sealed the deal on the idea we had for her birthday party. I really didn't want to do a Princess party yet, she's really into them, we go to Disney all the time, she knows her princess stuff, but I wanted to do something different and just cute that would represent her and what she is into at this time in her life! This meant it would be a Cowgirl Birthday!! I worked on this party for awhile, it was a blast, & I enjoyed every aspect of it (which isn't that crazy for me because I love doing parties, especially a good theme like this)!! Here are some pictures and details from her big day.

Invites: 

Party Decorations: 

Cowgirl Wreath

I always do a wreath, I guess it's just "my thing", I love wreaths! Hehe!

She is 3!! 

This sign hung on the gate next to the sweet table. Again, just to keep the theme cohesive throughout the party.

Name banner on the food table. 

All of my center pieces for the tables. I simply wrapped ribbon and/or burlap, around a few jars and cans I had used over the past few weeks & put baby's breath (super cost effective & looks "country"!!) in each container.

So Many Treats to Choose From!

I love the mini hat! 

Here is our "Sweet Saloon". We had gum balls, suckers, cupcakes, chocolate 3's, root beer barrel candies, chocolate covered pretzels, and to die for sugar cookies that were made to match the invites.

Thirsty?! 

This was the "Watering Hole". I did custom cups for each child using some vinyl & my Cricut (again, more horses!) and more of my flower pieces. I love the simplicity of them! There were also two old whiskey barrels we used to hold the cold drinks, one with water, IBC root beer in glass bottles, & another with beer for the grown ups.

Lunch is Served!! 

And the food table in all of its glory! We did "On the Ranch Veggies & Dip", "Mustang Mac & Chz", "Buckaroo Beans",  "Wild West Sliders", & "Crooked Corn". My mom and I stumbled across the most amazing BBQ joint in Downtown Covina, and everyone raved about the meat & sauces.

Games:

1st game up was pin the badge on the cowgirl! My very talented sister whipped this painting up for me at the last minute (thanks!!!), this game was adorable!

Cowgirls! 

Pinning the badge on the cowgirl! 

Next up was the Pony Races! 

My corral of ponies! 

I made all of the stick ponies. I love how cute they turned out & it was great to see how excited the kids all were to get to take one home! Here are a couple tutorials I used to make them, and I did a couple of my own twists to them..

And they are off!! 

The race was pretty fun too!

The last activity was the piñata! A perk to a November baby is having a great use for all that Halloween candy!! 

Swing Birthday Girl!! 

Cake: 

Simple, but beautiful & girly!!

Blowing out the candle! 

Miscellaneous decorations/ etc I had for the party: 

I got these little muslin bags and did the stamps on them, love! 

I made this little rag garland for the back of the Watering Hole. All random supplies I had on hand, & they happened to match the theme. 

Hats for any Cowboys or girls that didn't bring one! 

Here are a few random fun pictures from a great day! 

My sweet girl & I posing for a picture on the saddle! 

Love my amazing family! 

My cousin and his family came out from Vegas to celebrate with us, too! How cute are these two?! 

My mom having some bonding time with her great nephew

Mama giving her sweet girl some kisses! 

All in all, It was a great day, and fun had by everyone! I hope you enjoyed looking through the pictures as much as I enjoyed putting the party together! I couldn't have done it with out all of the great help I got from my family and friends that were willing to put in a couple hours work in the morning to get all of the fun set up for my vision to come to life!

& now, to give credit where credit is due! 

Cookies: Momo's Cookies 

Birthday shirt: Ari's Angels

Cake: Albertsons Bakery 

Cupcakes: Sam's Club

Chocolate Pretzels: My nanny! 

BBQ meat: Ribs to Spare, in Downtown Covina 

Invites & Toppers:Pretty Party Creations

Banner & signage: Mayhem Creations 

Busy summertime!

I have had a busy month for July and this first half of August! So here's just a quick catch up game! We've had birthday parties, the fair, Justin Timberlake concert, my birthday, pasta making, shooting, the beach, & just lots of good family time and me being busy working with my cricut! Ha! Here are some pics to help fill this post! 

Having a cupcake at her friends birthday 

 Playing in the sand at Newport beach 

Cute pails I made for the kids for the beach 

Car show with daddy

Having a great night at the RoseBowl with Justin Timberlake/ JayZ, and a couple awesome girlfriends! 

Birthday decor I made for a friend's daughter's party 

Some birthday love! 

Me shooting my new gun! 

Pasta noodles and bow ties M & I made

Having fun with water at the park on a warm day! 

Hopefully this all comes out well since I am rushing on my phone! :-) leave some comment love!

It's about to get real!

I have been going back and forth about writing this for a few days, so I am just going to let it flow! Let me start with a little background on this post. I am a member of MOPS, it is an amazing organization, and I love all of the fabulous ladies I have met through it! One of the speakers at my old MOPS group was Jana Alayra. (She is an unbelievably amazing, inspirational, beautiful person!) Her talk was about authenticity. It has stuck to me more than you could ever know. I really see people, specifically other moms, and myself in such a different light.

Being Authentic is such an important part of life, especially motherhood. This is real life. Who else is there to be but yourself? You are teaching your child before you even realize it, by the example you are leading. So why care what anyone thinks of you? I am not changing any part of myself or my life for someone else's opinion. We all have those hellish days where we are looking less than amazing, but we need to just remind ourselves that we are moms. This is the real deal, no out takes, or redoing it; what is important and matters isn't what someone else's thoughts are on your outfit, hair, whether you give your kid juice or not. Everyone has an opinion, and to be totally honest, no one is right or wrong- we all are doing the best we can for our families.

Everywhere you look, from the TV (thanks Lifetime, not sure what the point of Pretty Wicked Moms is supposed to be) to the playground, women are competing on who is the best. I guess I am just so sick of these mommy wars of watching women just rip each other to shreds because they think they are doing something better than the next. No one knows what someone else is going through, even though they look like they have the perfect life on the outside. Next time you think of competing in the mommy war, think to yourself, am I being authentic to myself? my beliefs? my family? Be the friend that you want to find.

By the way, Jana also has a song, Gift from Heaven (the "coffee song") that always brings me to tears, because it reminds me so much of some of my most treasured friendships.

until next time! xo, 

Happy 32 months!

Since I forgot(read as Oops I wasn't keeping track of this blog) to document her 2 1/2 year birthday, I figure I will today, and she is 32 months old!

Favorites...

Color: Hot Pink & Purple

Princess: tie between Belle, Rapunzel, Tiana & Snow White 

Show: Doc McStuffins 

Toy: Doc Mc Stuffins Dr kit

Food: noodles with meatball sauce (&cant forget the meatballs!) & pork

Song: Call me maybe & Belle song 

Movie: Tangled & Beauty and the Beast

Shoes: ones she can buckle herself 

Hobby: gardening and swimming

My sweet girl playing with her play-doh

What you call...

Yourself: Keni Meelah 

Mom: Mama

Dad: Dada 

Grandma: Yaya

Aunt: Ampee

Likes...

Going to school 

Making new friends 

Helping in any way she can 

Going to Disneyland 

Playing with play-doh 

Singing songs in the car with mommy 

Dislikes...

Food: red meat 

Being called a baby 

Taking naps 

Having to clean up

You speak so well and so many people cannot believe how much you have to say and how well you can articulate a sentence at 2 1/2 years old. You can count to 5 (sometimes 10 if you feel like it!) in English and Spanish. & are very descriptive with your colors, shapes, sizes & feelings! 

Xoxo my baby girl! Mommy is so proud of you! 

Plans?

What are your summer plans? I think for us, 2013 will be the year of "staycations". There are so many awesome & fun things to do around us, we are going to take advantage!

We had family from Fargo, ND visit for a week earlier this month. It was fun, and we hit up some So Cal tourist spots. One specifically being theme parks. We went to Disneyland with them, which anyone that knows us, knows that isn't anything too special, LOL! M and I have gone an absurd amount of times since we got our AP's last October. But nonetheless we had a great time, and DH for once had people he could go on the "big kid" rides with, & that I know he loved, hehe! It is just crazy to do a theme park with a 2 year old, it is so much fun, but you see a completely different aspect of it then you did when you were childless!

San Diego was also on the itinerary, so it was really nice to get to meet up with my sister since she lives in SD. M loved checking out Seaworld and catching all of the shows. I think the Sea lions were her favorite! (& the dolphins since we got soaked.. ha!) After catching all of the shows, we were hungry, sun burned, and tired, so off to Old Town we went to grab some dinner.

I'm hoping we make it back down to Seaworld a few more times this year since we had such a fun time (& the rest of 2013 is free from our 1 day ticket!), and who knows what other fun we will get ourselves into this summer, but anyway, we will enjoy it! =)

Until later-

P.S. Here are a few pictures of our summer so far!

Swimming the day away! 

Fargo goes to Disneyland

M meeting Fawn for the 1st time

Shamu!!! 

Mommy, Ampee, & M having fun at Seaworld SD 

Check out all of these fish around me! 

Elmo's flying fish

You got a Makini??

Water play! 

Always reading a map