Blessings, Happy Mail & Bacon

I have been running at high speed since my last post. Preparing for a half marathon, trying to get all my training in, work, Bible study, helping to plan a baby shower and getting ready for Sweet Pea's fourth birthday party! And then there's all the mundane stuff...getting the kids to school, T-ball, soccer and everything in between.

Yes...spring is busy.

But, in my Bible study this week, I was hit by this excerpt:
"I forget that even those daily tasks give me an opportunity to glorify God. I glorify Him when I have a heart that is grateful for those "mundane" tasks, when I recognize that everything I have is on loan from Him, and everything I do can be used for His glory."

Corinne Baur, Running by The Book: Becoming Physically and Spiritually Fit

I needed that reminder this week. So, I count it all as blessings....

God has blessed me with health and the ability to train for a half marathon.
He has given me an awesome opportunity to work in ministry with an amazing group of people.
He has brought women into my life through Bible Study that speak truth into my life.
He has blessed me with talents and abilities that I can use to bless others through events and fellowship.
God has given my husband and me the most amazing kids! And I love to celebrate them!

And celebrate we will!! This is the inspiration for Sweet Pea's Birthday Party...

A Strawberry Shortcake Baking Party!! She invited her closest little girlfriends and we're planning some fun baking activities for them to do. Here are some of the things we've gotten in the mail this week...

Yesterday, my mom and I went the fabric store to get some fabric (and lots of burlap) for the party and the shower

We also picked up 30 pounds of bacon, which we got for a screamin' deal. I split it with my good friend, Katie. I don't think we'll be buying bacon for the next year or so.

So, for dinner tonight...BLT's, of course. By the way, do you bake your bacon in the oven? If not, you should! It will change your life!

UPDATE: Here's how I do my oven-baked bacon:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Arrange bacon in a single layer on a baking sheet
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on how many slices you have on the baking sheet)

If you wanted to make the clean-up super easy, line your baking sheet with foil. And that's it! Perfectly cooked bacon :)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party

Our birthday theme for our sweet baby girl's first birthday was Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

We kept things simple and just had our families over for dinner, cake and presents.

Snacks while dinner cooks...

I had set up a little caterpillar of balloons, but the head popped and the kids started playing with the "body" before I could get a picture. That's just the way it goes sometimes. This was the look I was going for...

via

I get points for trying right?

I also set out The Hungry Caterpillar book and the baby book my sweet friend, Kaitlin, made for me (complete with photos from the first year).

For dinner, I made this. YUM! (It calls for habanero peppers, but I substituted jalapenos and put in less than called for just to make it more kid friendly).

Sweet baby girl's favorite food right now are BANANAS. So, for dessert, we ate banana cake...

I purchased this edible cake topper from here and it worked perfectly! It came as a sheet, I placed it on the cake and the image melted into the cake! It was fantastic!

The Birthday Girl, got her very "smash cake"

She wasn't quite sure at first...

But then she really got into the spirit of things...HA!

After a quick bath and jammies, we opened some presents

and Sweet Pea and Silly Willy got in a balloon fight....

Then it was time to wind down and Sweet Pea settled into a chair with Auntie Dina to read some books.

It was a fun and relaxed evening with family

And now I'm in party planning mode for Sweet Pea :)

Enjoy your weekend!

One

Our sweet baby girl turned ONE on Wednesday! I can hardly believe it!! It seems like yesterday we were bringing her home for the first time.

In honor of her first birthday, Sweet Pea and I made cupcakes. After our pizza dinner we got to enjoy our "funfetti" goodness.

I tried a new frosting, inspired by Pinterest. It consists of only COOL WHIP & INSTANT PUDDING. While it's no buttercream, it is a nice, light alternative. And WAY better than stuff from a can. I even used light Cool Whip and Sugar Free pudding (made with skim milk) and the kids didn't even say anything!

You can find the recipe here.

We had a real party for her tonight, but I am pooped and can hardly keep my eyes open, so I am off to bed. I will post pictures of the party soon!

Have a great weekend!

Baby Boy Gifts

As I've mentioned before I have a lot of pregnant friends right now. A few have already had their babies and my hubby's cousin is due any day now! For their little guy, I made these...

They are naming him Ryan, hence...the "R". These are easy and fun to make. And you can't go wrong with onesies and burpies!

In other news...I keep forgetting to mention that I got an Editor's Choice Award from Craft Corners. They featured me in their weekly segment, Best of the Web. You can see it here. I am totally honored and excited! They've got some cute and great ideas for crafts.

I hope you're having a fantastic week!

Easter Weekend

I've missed quite a few days weeks blogging and have lots to catch up on. I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Every year, my family does a big Italian meal for Easter dinner and it ALWAYS includes ravioli. On Thursday my mom and I made them, with Sweet Pea's help!

My Great Grandmother always made them from scratch without any of the fancy tools...impressive! This is her in her younger years.

My mom said she always dressed sharply to go anywhere. She was German, but learned to cook from Great Grandpa's mother, who was from Italy.

My Great Grandparents

We went to Good Friday service and then dinner out with my parents on Friday.

Saturday was Easter Egg Hunt day...

The kids wanted nothing to do with the Easter Bunny. HA!

On Sunday, we went to church and then out to my parents' house for our yummy Italian feast! I ate waaaay too much, then topped it off with this...

Mmm! Cannoli. SO good!

We did another little Easter egg hunt for the kids on Easter afternoon in Nana's garden.

We went home and crashed from a busy, but fun weekend. I hope you had a blessed Easter! 

The angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!

- Mark 16:6