Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Supper Club - Winter {2}

Last night we met up at the Bulter's house for our winter edition of The Supper Club!  This year's menu was stuctured differently than previous seasons, but it was delicious nonetheless!
  
Before we get to that goodness above, a little bit about The Supper Club and how it works!
If you have been following for a while now, you know how it works already, but if not... 
here is how we do it, you know, THE RULES:
1. No kids.
2. The host comes up with the menu and then divides out the recipes to each of the supper club members to prepare for the party (we have four parties per year, each couple takes a season).
3. The host always provides the main dish/side dish with a variety of beverage selections.
4. Remember that it is sometimes best to semi-prepare your dishes and do last minute baking, chilling, slicing, or arranging at the home of the host.
5. Menu items should be new and adventurous.
6. Portion sizes must be small so that you have room to taste every course of the evening, so feel free to reduce recipes in half where ever you see fit. 

I love spending time with these girls!  Choosing the right couples to do this with is very important!  I do get to see them M-F at work, but for the most part, we are all business, so getting to hang outside of the classroom is very important to our friendship!

 THE MENU
Like I said above, this one was different.  The Butler's put a spin on the traditional Christmas meal!
***Click on the food/drink and it takes you to the recipe in case you want to try it.

Cocktail Hour:
Please note - we did substitute the sparkling grape juice with champagne
Appetizers:
  

Here is where it gets funky, usually we go onto another course or two before we eat the main dish, but because the traditional meal typically just has it all on one plate, we set out to eat our meal after appetizers and drinks!  Each part of the plate is broken down below.

Main Meal:





Dessert:

After dinner {and before dessert because our bellies were so full} we played a new game called What's Yours Like? and it was very fun!  I won't even try to explain the rules, just know that it requires lots of thinking and laughter!  I thought I wouldn't be very good at it either, because it is kinda hard not to give the clue that gives the answer away to the guesser, but turns out I won!

 Another wonderful evening together!  Looking forward to Spring, rumor has it we are eating an entirely Jewish meal!

If you missed out on our first year together, click here, it will take you to our first summer together {which will then take you to any other season from our first year at the bottom}!

If you missed out on the first year, or want to see what we eat last year, head to this post, where it will take you to our first summer together and at the bottom of that post, will share a link to the other menus! Click here is you want to see what we ate for the Fall season this year!  I NEED to work on a Supper Club tab for the blog, but until I have some extra time, I will just keep directing you to past posts if you are curious to see what we ate!


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Linking with some of my favorite party people!

Friday, January 27, 2012

My First InstaFriday!

I joined the IPhone world this week {as a result of my daughter accidentally knocking off the hubby's new Droid RAZR from the counter to the floor - loooooonnnnggg story, in the end I got an IPhone!}!  The first app I downloaded was Instagram!  I think I may be taking pictures with my phone for a while right now instead of dragging the big ol' camera with me everywhere!  I am super excited to capture the random stuff we do!
Oreo - seriously might be the cutest hamster that ever lived.  
Breakfast of Champions - white powder doughnuts are both of my kids favorites and they haven't had them in the morning for a long time, so when I brought them home the night before, they couldn't wait for breakfast!
Lola's homework - decorate your heart with things that make you happy!  When I asked her she said; family, Lucky Charms, Justin Bieber {she also told me today actually that she kissed him on the TV, girl is in love}, painting, hugs, kisses, grandpa and grandma, watching movies with brother, holding Oreo, and singing.
Foils in my hair - seriously, Zonia puts about 5,000 in there, I swear!

Just a few this week, but hoping to have more next Friday! 
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

"I can't believe it's not a dream!"

Those were the exact words that came out of Kyan's mouth after his party was all said and done!  He kept repeating it over and over and over again!  It was adorable and let me know just how much he loved his day {you will see in a little bit why, if you don't already know}!

Started off with some close friends {a few he has grown up with, a few from school, & cousins} playing in the backyard!  This year we kept it very low key and I will have to say that it was the least stressed I have ever been at any of my children's birthday parties EVER!  Everyone had fun playing with the bikes, scooters, 4 wheeler, football, and wagon in the backyard!  The kids were all old enough to keep themselves entertained, so much adult visiting time was had!  We had pizza for dinner!

 Once we lost light, the kids came inside to sing "Happy Birthday" to Kyan.  I knew exactly what he wished for when he was blowing out his candles, but little did he know it was about to come true!

After we all ate chocolate chocolate cupcakes {homemade of course, requested from the birthday boy, no store bought cupcakes for him} he opened presents!  His Bey Blade collection went from two to 12 in a matter of minutes - no joke!  Not a single blade was repeated either, how lucky is that?
We did save the best for last however...
Kyan has been told for the last few weeks that he has to be 8 to get a hamster.  All of the books and stores recommend at least that age before becoming an owner, so I was trying to buy time.  However, I am admitting that I am a sucker and when I started to ask Kyan about other things he wanted for presents, he asked if he could celebrate his birthday in the summer, because maybe he would be closer to 8 and could get the hamster then?  He also brought up the fact that he plays T for Teen games and he doesn't get in trouble, even though that is breaking the rules, sooooooo......how could I argue?  Plus, in Kyan's defense, he is very responsible and if any 7 year old could take care of a hamster, it is him! 
We wrapped {I should say his Auntie Kiki wrapped} all of the stuff that goes along with the hamster separately and he continued to figure out that he was one step closer to getting what he wished for.  When he opened the cage, it had a note that said it was for a future furry friend, and at that point, he was confused.  So I clarified that he now had all of the stuff for when he turned 8 and he could get a hamster then!  He very sweetly said okay, but you could just tell that wasn't sitting right.  
Auntie Kiki {the one who hunted down for the perfect hamster for him earlier in the week} was the one that was the actually giver of the hamster.  She called him over and asked if he could help her with the back of her shirt.  Of course he did and in it was hiding his new hamster {big thank you to Auntie Rae for capturing his reaction to seeing his hamster for the first time}!

 It is safe to say that he is completely smitten with her {as is his sister, who thinks that she is both of theirs}.
 Meet our new hamster, I am sure it won't be the last post about her either, she is pretty cute!  She is so good when you hold her, but seems to sit the most still with Kyan.  She loves her veggies, climbing in her cage, and getting exercise!  She also knows her name already and comes right to the part of the cage that opens/closes when you talk to her, letting you know that you can get her out to hold her!
Glad to make your dreams come true sweet 7 year old!
I really BIG love you!
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PS - if you are wondering...Picnik is closing {I am so sad, I love how user friendly they are} so I am trying to find some sort of program that still does collages as well as Picnik did {they took away that feature for some reason before they close in April}.  I do my editing in Photoshop, so I am not terribly worried about that part, but the collages, I am...I take way too many pictures and want to put them all up, but my posts would be way too long, so that is my solution for picture overload!  Tonight I used Kizoa and I really liked it!  To be able to download the pictures onto your computer, you do have to pay for the premium package, and I clearly did, so I am hoping that I get what I need from it. From what I did above, I think it might not be that bad.  I have to quit crying over Picnik and move on!  This might be my solution!

Friday, January 20, 2012

And just like that, he is 7.

Seriously, where did the time go?  Just the other day I was anticipating his birth and now he is already seven?!   I remember struggling with birthday number four and it seems as if this birthday might just put me over the edge!  I am not ready for him to be seven.  It is one step closer to becoming 10...then 16...then...gwah, he will not get bigger, I need to freeze time!   Just need to find the remote with the pause button first.
Kyan has one of the biggest hearts I know and is just the sweetest little thing.  It isn't uncommon for him to come home from school with little I LOVE YOU MOMMY notes tucked safely inside his folder, or sweet Post-It notes stuck to my night table telling me the fun things he likes to do with me or the reasons why he loves me.  The best is when out of nowhere I get the, "I love you mommy" straight from his mouth.  Kyan is the best son and big brother this mama could ask for! 

I asked him about his favorite things, you know, as a 7 year old:
Color:  Blue
Toy:  Bey Blades
Fruit:  Bananas
TV Show:  Dude, What Would Happen
Lunch:  Panda Express' Orange Chicken {he eats adult meals now, throws it down like it is nothing}
Outfit:  New Pink Mouse shirt {feels like one of the big boys in this shirt...thank you Creels}
Game:  Skyrim
Snack:  Gushers {squeezes most of the juice into his mouth before he pops the rest in, gross!}
Book:  All of them! {he really does love reading everything} 
Animal:  Bears
Song:  Give It Away by the Red Hot Chili Peppers {Has always calls it Take It Away, so cute}
Best Friend{s}:  Jax & Ryan
Cereal:  Mini Wheats
Outside Play:  Riding my skateboard
Drink:  Diet Coke {don't ask, both kids are obsessed about drinking it right now?!}
Thing to take to bed:  Bear & Blanket {they look rough, lemme tell ya, but he can't live without 'em}
Breakfast: Pop Tarts
Sport:  Football
What do you want to be when you grow up?  Football Player
What is one thing you hope you get for your birthday this year?  A Hamster

I am going to ask him the same questions as long as he will let me, think it will be fun to see how his answers change over the years!
 

Really BIG love you birthday boy!

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Valentine's Day Wreath: RE-POST!

As I was hanging up my Valentine's Day Wreath this weekend, I thought that it would be fitting to re-post the most viewed link on my blog to date {that has happened to get quite a few pins lately as well...did I tell you how much I love Pinterest?!} since we are nearing Valentine's Day and all working on our decorating!


This heart shaped wreath was very simple to do, it just took many nights of cutting and rolling those pretty felt flowers before I could put it all together!


Want to make your own?  Click here to take you to the original post where I give you the step-by-step tutorial!

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 PS-Can't wait to show you some other projects I have been working on:  Lola's quilt (just need to finish the edges, but have to hand cut all of it, so hoping to find the time soon), Kyan's Cardinal's blanket (he is snuggling with it already, need to take good pictures), & Celeste's duvet cover (a knock-off from pottery barn, making progress)!  I have been sewing my little heart out, working with so many different types of fabric, and loving it!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Dinosaurs & Football

Kyan has been counting down the days until today!  It was special for two reasons, the first being that today was field trip day with daddy!  They went to the Dinosaur Museum in Mesa.  Daddy's only insructions were to take pictures for me {since it was his turn to go, I went with Lola} and he did a great job capturing their day together!  Kyan reminded him in the morning for me and I didn't leave the house without begging for a few text messages later on with pictures of my boy!  While I did not get them as they were happening {you know, technology issues}, I did get them emailed to me tonight before I posted!
 When I came home from work, Kyan was so excited to tell me about his field trip and to show me all of his goodies, especially his new mini T-Rex stuffed animal and his gold that he panned for!  Glad he and daddy got to have such a special day together!

The second reason today marked such a super awesome day for Kyan was because it was his first football game playing on a new team and in a new league!  They were supposed to play last Saturday, but with the opposing team's coach out of town, it was rescheduled for tonight!  He has another one this Saturday!
He has improved a lot from last year and continues to mainly play quarterback while on offense.  His coach always talks about how well he throws the ball {even though they don't throw much in games yet}.

Sometimes the only thing that will keep her busy is to take goofy pictures of her.  It was so cold tonight and it kept her distracted for just a few minutes, so I guess whatever works...right?!

Back to the action...

The last touchdown of the game belonged to Kyan and he was so proud of himself!

 The final score was 14 to 24, with the Slugs {our team name} on top!
 A great way to end Kyan's perfect day!

Really BIG love you Kyan {I am freaking out that you are going to be 7 in just eight days where did the time go my sweet baby boy!?!?!}.


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