They planned an April wedding.  Outdoors.  {We’re in Seattle, people!}  WHAT?!

By God’s grace, it was magnificent!  Dan & Karina wanted a small intimate wedding under the cover of a crabapple tree.

Simple.

Pure.

Real.

And that’s exactly what it was…  {Honestly, what more do you need when love is the focus?}

Her dress was divine.  His eyes were bright.  Her smile was infectious.  His hands were nervous.

When they saw each other the world melted away; they said, “I do” and with the slip of a ring their hearts were tied forever.  *To see more pictures click on Portfolio/I Do {weddings}

Here’s what I do:

1. Chose the theme:  Pj’s & Pancakes
2. Choose a color palette: Bright Bold Pink, Blue, Green, Yellow & Red.  {Research ideas on Pinterest, Bing Image Search…}
3. I make a Zone Map {I know, I know…but you asked!} I draw out each area that will be used-For example: the Food Service Area, Drink Station, Gift Station, Craft Station.  Some of these areas might overlap {food & crafting might be done in the same place.} but drawing the layout helps me itemize what I need for décor and materials.
4. Time to get specific with the details: what food are we serving, what drinks are we providing, which craft are we completing, and any other extras along the way.
5. Finally, I make a timeline.  I break down the events by time so that the party stays moving and we aren’t left guessing

I really wanted to make this birthday special for Bella…something she would remember well past the following week…so I decided to make her a hot-pink “8” wreath to hang on our house door to greet her guests but then allow her to have it hang on her door for the next year.  I found the inspiration on Pinterest and just adapted it to make an 8!  It was cheap, easy and I would TOTALLY do it again!

In an effort to create a more lasting memory, I talked with Bella about having her & her friends make something together at her party that would hang in her room as a memento.  She jumped on it and wanted to create some sort of pancake art with each friend getting to “create” their own pancake and together it would make one large stack of pancakes.  Brilliant!  So I went to the fabric store and purchase complimenting fabrics that each guest could choose from and they cut out their pancake and added it to the stack then signed their name.  It’s adorable!!

The food was the most fun for this party!!  We did a serve yourself of pancakes with a plethora of toppings, donuts, a selection of cereals, gogurts and washed it down with Chocolate Milk!  It was a concoction of sugar and mayhem!!

After eating we played games and handed out prizes.  Then it was present time!  This can be a hard time for some but we’ve been doing it in fun way the last couple years…We start by asking the kids to pick a number between 1 and 30…whoever wins gets to start.  They sit with the birthday girl in a special chair and open their gift.  Then that guest gets to pick a friend to go next…the kids stay engaged and it provides the birthday girl private time with each guest to thank them and share in that special time.

Finally, instead of goodie bags, we had each girl design and decorate their own purse.  I hate the feeling of money flying out the window and sometimes a goodie bag can feel like money not-so-well spent so this year I wanted the take-away’s to be something they could keep and use.

Planning a party can be stressful and rewarding but remember on the day of the event, it’s about FUN!  Whatever happens, happens.  There is one magic nugget to throwing a seamless shin-dig…you gotta have a wing man, mine is my closest and bestest friend, Coke.  We bounce ideas off one another, keep our eye out for the best bargains and most importantly, we team up to set up, run, problem-solve and clean up all the details of that party!  She knows what needs to be done without me even asking and together we ROCK IT!

BONUS SHOTS:

This has been a BIG huge ginormous year, hasn’t it?!  You have handled yourself with such poise and grace, with laughter and strength and I am honored to be your mom.  In spite of me, you have stepped up to the plate and knocked it outta the park!  We began this year with your vision diagnosis and began an unchartered journey forward with the only given being that you and I would walk through it together.  You have met every challenge and grown incredibly!  This road has not always been easy or kind to you but you have persevered and continue to attack each day with such a joy that I believe you can do just about anything! My prayer is that one day you will grow to recognize all that you really accomplished and see yourself as I see you, a strong, beautiful, delight.

My entrepreneur: we talked about how Daddy & I were so blessed because we get to do what we love as a job and when you are lucky enough to do that it never feels like “work”.  You promptly wanted to know what you were good at.  “What’s my talent?” you asked.  This topic has occupied many nighttime discussions throughout this year!  And while you have many talents, two rose to the surface.  1. You have been given a beautiful voice to worship God with.  Even if you are nervous to share it with others, it fills the walls of our house and God’s heart is blessed by it!  2. God has created the sweetest place for children in your heart.  These two talents have been inside you from the beginning.  Your tender compassion to protect and love little one’s is a sweet and precious gift.  Using your gifts, you created your first business: Mommy’s Little Helper!  Little Miss Business-Girl, you created a business plan, design and rates.  Way to go and follow what God has set in your heart!!

The times I have cherished most have been our evening talks…you always wait until bedtime to share with me about your day.  The topics are vast and deep…it could be about friendships, fears, school, Sophie or, my favorite, God.  Selfishly, I’m not sure what I enjoy more, talking with you or the idea that you trust me with your private thoughts.

So here you are, 8 years old.

Every year I’m amazed by you as well as challenged…but always proud!  Your joy, your light, your laugh, your animal-loving, string bean-legging, kiddo-cuddling…8 year old self.  My deepest prayer for you remains the same…that you would dwell in the tabernacle of our God for there you will find everything you need.  His love for you supersedes the love I have for you!!  (Amazing, I know!)  He has created you perfectly and beautifully.  I can’t wait to see what this next year holds…

Forever believing in YOU…forever yours-

Mom

I created this blog for several reasons: 1. Because I so valued my 365 project and looking back I remember every single day because I chose to capture it and I wanted to be able to continue that “life journal” in this format.  2. Because it’s healing for me to process thru writing and creating.  3. Because I wanted to hear from you, share with you, and be challenged by you!

This past 2 months has been overwhelming and rewarding both personally and professionally and instead of holding true to blogging/processing it all I chose to keep it private.  Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about that decision.  However, that’s what I chose and now I am *for the record* apologizing for my absence and letting you know…I’m baaaack!  (INSERT: devilish grin here!)

Yes, I will play catch up, as there has been so much to share…birthday bashes, weddings, trips and more.  Thank you for being more understanding than I am with myself. 

I became an overseer of the things below me and perspective was my friend.  How can I not feel complete and total peace in the midst of the storm when I realize how great, how big, how boundless He really is and when I recognize where I’m placed!? I reached out my hand, horrifically aware of its size, frailty, inadiquacy…and she placed her tiny trusting hand inside mine and I lost my breath.  She feels wrapped in my hands as I feel wrapped in His!  As she grows she will loosen her grip and begin to find her place in His hands.  But first, I must teach her to see the pattern of His finger tips; I must show her how beautiful it is to sit in His palm and how to find delight in being small.

silly

smart

adventurous

tender

alive

passionate

loving

artistic

spunky

delightful

trying

determined

and I’ve only been 4 for a month!

Watching her with Nate is a gift…I’m seeing her fulfill what God’s set in her heart…to care for children.  The world will be a better place because of her…  She will hopefully grow to understand that being given a chance to ”do” what you love is an unspeakable joy!  Just as her daddy and I are fortunate enough work in our area of passion, I pray that she too will have that same opportunity…and it all starts here.

When our eldest was at the age of getting out of her crib and into a big girl bed we were soooo excited!  All these milestones are celebrated in our house…however, what wasn’t celebrated was the early morning visits or late night creeps into our room from our newly freed bird.  Every parent’s dilemma, right!  Here’s a fabulous solution: the Wake-Up Light!  Literally, brillant idea-Go to the hardware store and purchase a week long programmable timer.

Then take your child on a special shopping date to select a “wake-up” light.  Make it feel like a rite of passage for them as a big kid!  It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money {we bought both of our kid’s lamps at IKEA}.

Then bring it home, plug it in, program the timer for what time you’d like them to wake up each day and what time the light should go out.  The rule at our house is as follows: kids can wake up on their own but they need to stay in their room until their light comes on.  Once the wake up light is lit they are free to exit their room.

We’ve found several benefits to using the wake-up light:

1. Keeps us from being woken up throughout the night or in the wee hours.
2. Takes the “parenting” hat off of us and puts it on the light!
3. Kids still have freedom in their own space but within the boundaries of goodness for the rest of the family members.
4. I know this probably sounds strange but when a child makes that huge transition into a big kid bed they tend to wake themselves up wondering…”Is it morning?  Can I get up now?”  Having the wake-up light helps them get a solid nights rest because they can trust that the light will wake them up.

So, give it a try!  I’d love to know your thoughts…

Seeing as how she is in a proper pre-school class and has a solid group of friends, we felt it was time for her to have a REAL birthday party.

*WARNING: this post will most likely be long.  I plan to cover the function/flow of the party and review things I tried.  Read on at your own risk!**

I love throwing parties but this one was tough!  It had to be indoors (because it’s February and miserable in Washington State!) and it had to involve boys and girls so…Carnival it is!  Even after I had the idea, I struggled with this one…nothing was coming to me.  But then, in the wee hours of the morning while asleep {which is where lots of us mom’s come up with brilliant ideas!} it came to me.  Create a room filled with balloons…just like the movie, UP!  After that spark of genius everything else fell into place!

We made old fashioned carnival games like: Ring Toss, Knock the Can and Basket Toss.  No carnival is complete without a tattoo station and face painting.  Since they were 3 and 4 year olds I wanted to be sure to have an art station where they could chill out for a while and color.  For our craft, I decided I would try out, the Pinterest sensation- Glowing lanterns!

{LUCKY GIRL REVIEW: Super cute and totally reasonable I was excited about this!  However, inside the glow stick the solution is contained in an inner glass tube.  So you must crack through that in order to pour the glow solution into the mason jar.  Not a great plan with little ones to have shattered glass.  YIKES.  Also, in order to have the proper effect keep this in mind-do it at night!  You’ll also need to continue to turn the jar over and/or shake it to recoat the solution around the walls of the mason jar or it will just collect on the bottom and the effect is lost.  Lastly, the color only lasts a couple hours…all in all, it was fun for them but I wouldn’t do it again.}

After the fun and games we had lunch: hot dogs, chips, juice boxes and popcorn!  **One of my favorite party tips: Flings!  They are collapsible trash cans…once you open them, they pop right into place and everyone throws their trash inside and then you pull up the draw strings and throw the whole thing away and it’s out of your life forever!  I found some on clearance at Target for $2.19 and I bought every single one they had left!

After everyone’s tummies were full we opened presents.  Presents are always tough on little one’s {and sometimes big ones!} so to finesse your way through the waters we did a couple things that I think really worked!

A.  Since this was Sophie’s first party, we coached her through how to respond when she’s given a gift.  Then we did some role playing so she could understand what she needed to do as the birthday girl AND as the gift giver.  I love to do this because it’s a fun bonding time with your kids and it prepares them for what’s ahead.  Having her play through both sides is important because it allows her to see how wonderful it feels on the givers side when they are appreciated for bringing a lovely gift.

B.  We let her choose the first gift to open and whoever was the giver of that gift was asked to sit next to her as she opened it.  This allowed them to share a special moment together, to be properly thanked for it, and {selfishly} created some great photo ops!  After their gift was opened the giver was able to choose which gift she would open next and the corresponding child would get to come up and repeat!  I would do it like this again for sure!

After all the loot was opened we had cupcakes and ice cream!  I tested another Pinterest find: scooping the ice cream into baking cups a day early for easy serving on the day of the party was AWESOME!  Total time saver, it was cute and I loved it!!

The last of the adventures, and my personal favorite, was creating birthday wishes…we had each child write their own birthday wish on a pre-made tag and attach it to a group of balloons from the UP room.  Then we faced the wind and the rain…

And sent them soaring…

The squeals of delight coming from the kids as the balloons whipped and soared was a FANTASTIC way to end the party. Everyone came back inside and as they left they created their own goodie bag of carnival toys & treats.

*sigh* If you made it through this post, well then, you deserve some sort of an award!   Sorry this was so epic in length!  Take some tips & tricks & always feel free to leave your own posted here!  We’re gonna be throwing parties for a LOOOONNNGGG time so hopefully we’ll get better every year.