11/6/17

A Girl-Themed Dinosaur Party to Celebrate McKenzie Turning 5


It's hard to believe that I am writing this blog post in regards to our little baby girl turning 5. It feels like yesterday that I wrote  A Love Letter to her when she turned ONE.  My how time flies when you're having fun! Parenting is hard work but I have to admit - It's so much fun! I mean after all the late night feedings during the newborn stage and the tantrums that begin around 2, there are those moments that you see their face light up in awe at you that makes all of the not-so- fun times seem not that terrible. Especially when they hit the age of 5. Their ideas, their dreams and thoughts become much clearer and a lot more loud and clear so when you as a parent can bring those ideas, dreams and thoughts to life - well,  It's Just Fun!

As many of you know, McKenzie didn't quite grow up to be the doll lovin', playing house kind of little girl that most of us were expecting. In fact, her interest are quite the opposite. Her newly found passion are those of the Pre-Historic Time Period - Dinosaurs! When I say "Passion", what I really mean by that is "OBESSION"!  I'm talking full blown obsession - to the point that Ryan and I are learning more from her than she is from us. We literally feel like we are talking to a full grown adult dinosaur specialist, thanks to shows like  Dino Dan, Dino Dana & Dinosaur Train!

So of course this year we went all out for her celebratory class snack birthday party. Because I tend to "over do it" with our kid's birthday celebrations, I compromised with my husband and agreed that we would plan big birthday parties every other year and smaller scale "just family" celebrations for the years in between. Well you can imagine the predicament we were in when she came to us saying how excited she was to have "A DINO BIRTHDAY PARTY" this year.  Since this birthday fell on a "small scale" year (see our Peppa Pig Party last year  here), I decided to use her class birthday snack as a way to kill two birds with one stone. 

Of course I do what I always do best and go to Pinterest for ideas. Since she's not really an All Pink Everything kind of little girl, I went with the more realistic Jurassic look for the decor and threw in a pop of Pink in the cookies and paper plates.  I then created a backdrop using a thick poster board covered with Moss from Michaels. I used Palm Leaves to frame it and other artificial plants I had sitting around the house. I purchased wooden letters that spelled out "Roar" from Hobby Lobby and hung them using twine to set the stage for the rest of the cake table.

I purchased our cake from our local grocery store Publix. They always do such a great job and are reasonably priced. I simply added a number 5 candle and dinosaurs that we had plenty of in every square inch of McKenzie's room.

Since this was just snack time. I offered the kiddos a bucket of Buggles as "Triceratops Claws" , Grapes as "Dinosaur Eggs" & Green Hawaiian Punch as "Prehistoric Punch" as well as mini bottled waters.
 The adorable party printables are from Etsy Shop, "Sweet Papermint". Shop owner, Marsha has the cutest printables in every theme imaginable. She is wonderful to work with and her files are crisp and clear and are so easy to download and print from your home computer.
These sweet Dinosaur sugar cookies are from a local baker here in town called Sweet Addiction's Bakery. They create the most adorable themed cookies for every occasion. See more examples here at our son's 2nd birthday party.





 I set up a long table for the kids to sit at and I simply topped it with kraft wrapping paper along with bright pink paper plates and dinosaur themed cake plates and party blowers. For the centerpiece, I used dino figurines, a large plush dino from home and framed a cute welcome sign from Etsy Shop, Sweet Papermint!




She was amazed when she walked in with her class and could not stop talking about it the rest of the week! It's moments like these that make me step back for a minute and appreciate how much fun mom'ing can be! Happy Birthday To Our Precious Girl!

10/4/17

Tween Girl Fashion Spotlight: Miss Artemiss Apparel + Promo Code

So it's safe to say that McKenzie is no longer our little baby girl! I can't believe she is turning 5 years old this month! Where has the time gone? It feels like yesterday that we were bringing her home with snow falling around us in Anchorage, Alaska.

Today, we are celebrating her getting closer to the big milestone of 5 with the sun shining bright with extra heat to spare here in South Georgia!  As much as I like to think of her as my little baby, it's hard not to notice how tall she has grown within this past year alone. Going from "toddler" sizes to true "girl" size has really shaken me out of my denial. I'm so proud of the sweet young girl she has become but I have to say it's a little sad as I go through her closet setting aside all of her 5T outfits for donation :'(. I know, I know...I'm a little too sappy for my own good, lol!

My mixed emotions did start to look up as I came across the cutest little girl fashion line that a friend of mine sent my way this week called, Miss Artemiss. It's a New Orleans based, high-end apparel line for young girls that is inspired by the magical surroundings of the city and it's unique ties to the cultures of the world.


The concept behind this line offer three whimsical themes: Mystic Story, Fleur De Lis Story & Swamp Story. Each print is hand-painted with beautiful illustrations that celebrate the untamed nature and the charm New Orleans exudes.


I couldn't help but indulge in a little bit of fine apparel for our little girl stepping over that 5 year milestone and decided to add the Bee Tee and Bee Print Tote to her big girl wardrobe. I can't wait to add a little bit more each month from this collection throughout the fall season!

The Packaging is beautifully done and had my daughter jumping up and down excited to see what was inside.




Our Package came with a sweet note from the designer herself and another wonderful gift that my daughter put on right away! 






This sweet bee tattoo was such a sweet touch and an unexpected surprise in our box. Needless to say, she did not want to wash it off.


Even More Exciting! Miss Artemiss is offering 15% off promo code for all new Instagram followers and website subscribers for purchases over $35! So be sure to follow along on IG at @MissArtemiss!


10/1/17

Cactus Theme Birthday Party: Haines Turns Two!

So I am a tad late on posting this sweet little cactus party we put together last minute for our lil man, Haines.  Our precious baby boy turned two on September 11th. This particular week was a little hectic to say the least. My hometown of Houston, Tx  just had a hurricane push through causing much devastation to the homes of friends and family members of mine. Fast forward to this week, we received news that a Cat 5 Hurricane was headed in our direction and would reach our house here in south Georgia as a Cat 3 on Haines's Birthday.   Needless to say my nerves were a little on edge, however I still made it our mission to celebrate our little man. 

Thankfully I ordered these letter balloons ahead of time not sure exactly what our planes would be but I'm so glad I did. A few days prior I began looking around the house to find a way to make what we had laying around work as decoration because plans of a big shindig were out of the question at this point.  I came up with the idea of a little Cactus/fiesta theme using the mini succulent plants I had more that I remember scattered around. So I made a quick call to our local cookie master with my fingers crossed,  that she would be able to throw together a dozen cactus theme cookies. To my surprise she did and they were ready right on time. I purchase a pre-made vanilla cake from our Publix bakery, hung up Haines's name in balloons and set up a little table using succulents that I put inside a few cactus glasses from the Dollar Store, a birthday cake and cookies for display. Viola, our Pre-Hurricane Birthday Party went off without a hitch! You would have never known that we had a pretty scary storm scheduled to touch down the next day.  
It was the perfect distraction for this mama though since I couldn't keep my eyes, worry and fears off of the weather channel! Luckily by the time the storm hit us, it was reduced to a tropical storm and we kept our power the entire time. 

As I look back on these photos, it brings such a sweet memory of us spending time as a family together celebrating Haines and the precious little people that GOD has blessed Ryan and I with. Even in the middle of fear, worry and chaos that was going on during this time, I just know that GOD was here to calm our nerves (well mine mostly) and provide us with a beautiful way to slow down and spend time together as a family while we  celebrated the gift He gave us just two years ago. 
















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Source Credits:
Haines's Cactus "TWO" Tank: Our5Loves
Haines's Balloon Letters: MagnoliaBloomBoutique
Cactus Theme Sugar Cookies: Sweet Addiction's Bakery
Cactus Stem Glasses: Dollar Tree
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