Friday, April 27, 2012

Videos

Two short videos for your entertainment:

This one is less than 2 minutes and is Brianna reading/singing a book. The first part you can hear Hunter screaming from upstairs - he wanted Brianna to come up and play with him.




Second video is very short - I just think it's really funny to make kids say the word "cinnamon".


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Local Business: Cupcakes

I like to talk about local businesses if I am really impressed with them (some I have spoken about in the past are Tucker Jo's, The Little Toy Store, Classy Paci Boutique, Spirit in the Sky Massage, and local farmers).

I never knew about C Cups Cupcakery until a friend of ours from church started working there. One of her first weekends working, our whole family decided to stop in for a snack of cupcakes. Let me tell you - these cupcakes are so. good. They have such a great variety, it is totally worth paying a little more out of pocket for something that is professionally done, local, and delicious!! You might be able to get something cheaper at a grocery store bakery or from a box but it's not going to taste like these.

I can personally vouch for chocolate, lemon, cherry, and snickerdoodle. I downed almost an entire handful of cupcakes by myself the day that our whole family went!!

Another thing I liked about this business is that in the small seating area they have, they had a small table for kids to draw on. This entertained our 3-year old and 18-month old while we finished off our cupcakes and cleaned off our table. Very cute idea!

I definitely recommend that you check them out, and they will be at Springfest this weekend, so - perfect opportunity to stop by their booth!

C Cups Cupcakery
105 E Pennsylvania Ave
Southern Pines, NC 28387
(910) 246-2877
Website
Facebook

Monday, April 23, 2012

God Gave Us Love Review


I have read one of Lisa Tawn Bergren's books before, so I was really excited to see God Gave Us Love offered as a review book. This one did not disappoint! I love Little Cub and I love the way Bergren talks about things on a child's level. In this book she explains, through a discussion between Little Cub and Grampa Bear, why we should love others, even when they seem to be unlovable. The Grampa Bear character does a great job of explaining how God loves us, and that when we love others we are showing God's love through us.

My 3-year old loves these books and they aren't books I get tired of reading to her. I love these characters and I highly recommend these books to parents or teachers.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Go here for details about this book.
Go here for an excerpt from the book.
Go here for an author spotlight of Lisa Tawn Brergen.

Brianna's Birthday Bash

Okay, I know I just wrote the longest post ever about Brianna but this one is totally new info, I promise.

Brianna's birthday bash actually started on April 17, the day before her birthday. April 17 is my mom's birthday, so you know what that means - double birthday party!!  This year the 17th was on a Tuesday, which is our day with my parents, so it really worked out!

Grandma made a confetti cake with three candles!



Blowing out the candles together:


Birthday hugs while me and Grandpa sing Happy Birthday:



The next day, Wednesday, April 18 was Brianna's actual birthday. We started off the morning by painting waffles! Waffles are her favorite breakfast food, and I saw this on my new favorite blog No Time For Flashcards. So easy - just put a little milk into bowls and put dye into the milk and mix. Then just paint away!



Brianna wanted to wear her new "birthday outfit" to school. It was given to her by her friend Gracie, whose mom owns The Classy Paci Boutique. In this picture she is yelling, "It's my birthdaaaaay!"


On the way to pick her up from school, Hunter and I stopped to get her a balloon from Harris Teeter. (Tip for thrifty moms - they are free!)



When we got home I told her she could have anything she wanted for her birthday lunch. I wasn't surprised when she chose noodles.



After lunch she proceeded to take a 3-hour nap which was really bugging me because we were waiting to surprise her with her birthday present - a new kitchen set!!


Leila found this kitchen set for us at a preview event for a kids consignment sale in Georgia. At just $35 she knew she had found a steal! This kitchen set even has the sounds of boiling water, coffee brewing, and some other things. There are magnets for the fridge, and on the back there is a grill which turns red when you are cooking. It also makes sounds as if something is being grilled. There are tons of little details on this kitchen!


While Brianna slept, Hunter helped himself to her new toy!


On Friday, we had lots to do to get ready for the party on Saturday! We had family come into town and guess what they brought? An old-school Radio Flyer tricycle! How cool is that? (Another consignment find by Leila!)





Hunter wasn't really getting the hang of the tricycle, so he was sticking to what he knows best - soccer! Luckily his aunt Jenn and her boyfriend Seth are patient enough to play with an amateur!


Saturday morning we were up bright and early, and by 7:00am we had THIS in our front yard:


Friday night I had made one of Brianna's two birthday cakes so it could harden overnight. This is a white cake which is rainbow on the inside. The outside is just fondant, which, once hardened, can be drawn on with edible markers. So Saturday one of Brianna's tasks was to decorate her cake! (Juju and I ended up helping after she was bored of it!)




This is the holder I made for the silverware for her party. I got a formula can (I saved a bunch from when Hunter was a baby for times like these!!) and wrapped scrapbook paper around it. I taped it using double-sided tape. Then I made a bow from some ribbon I had in my craft bag and I used floral wire to tie it onto the formula can. Voila!



Brianna wanted her rainbow doodle cake, but she also told everyone she was having a "pink and black cake"! So... here is her chocolate cake with chocolate icing and almost an entire container of pink sprinkles on top! Hah!


The rainbow doodle cake: (I will put this recipe on my recipe blog for step-by-step instructions)














The weather was perfect, so we pulled out the pool! All the kids had a blast in it. This pool was totally worth the $10 I paid for it two years ago. Haha!








Brianna got such perfect stuff for her birthday. She got Play-Doh, stickers, activity books, card games, books, craft supplies, bubbles, clothes, lots of Color Wonder supplies, fruit snacks, skates, and hair barrettes just to name a FEW things!! One of the coolest things she got was a butterfly in a jar. Not a real one, of course - go here to watch a short video about it. I would take a video of the one she got but she took it to preschool with her for her special treasure today!!

Another thing she got was a new set of sheets/comforter for her bed! After she got moved into a toddler bed, her Oma and Opa decided this would be her birthday present. They would email us selections to show her, and after showing her many designs, this was the one she always went back to:


I wish I could take a picture of her whole room. This bed set just completes everything, PLUS her new kitchen is in her room. I love that her room is becoming her own place slowly. She loves being up there.

I feel like her birthday party was a huge success. We didn't invite friends from church or preschool, just our family, and we are really glad we did that. It wasn't overwhelming and people were happy to linger for several hours... especially since we paid to have The Mosquito Authority come and cleanse our yard last week!! No mosquitoes all summer is the guarantee!

I couldn't have been any happier with how the day turned out. Thank you everyone who joined us! And thanks to everyone who made it through reading this entire post. Haha!