Parker's Big Party

I am finally getting around to posting pics from Parker's birthday party. It was a huge success. Parker had lots of guests, lots of food, and lots of fun!! There was an overcast that day so luckily it was a "cooler" day for us with made it somewhat better but still hot!

Saturday morning I started getting everything made & set up. First up I started the oreo pops! Very easy to make and makes very cute table decorations.

Blooming cheesecakes, an idea I got from my friend Jessica. 

Party favors - Little shovel, bucket, swirl pop, crazy straw& flip flop gummies

A few decorations inside

After that we worked on the cake table once it was close enough to the party and the icing would melt in this heat! I didn't think ahead about a couple things so I had to buy a simple Happy Birthday banner last minute and use a picture to tape on the wall to add some extras.

 Parker's cake made by KK's sweetstuff, the cool stuff was inside!!

My flash was so bright in every picture but I made cute little labels for everything. I ordered them from Tom Kat Studio.

Outside set up with the snack foods!

On to the FUN stuff. We rented a giant blow up water slide that the kids LOVED. It barely fit in our backyard ;)

Of course we set up Parker's mini splash park as well for the smaller kids but the big kids liked it too!

Parker & cousin Laney

Pictures from the party

This is the best family photo we got, lol

 Super fun cake!! Tasted good too!

Spoiled ;)

Yummy Recipe

My friend Shelley made a few of us girls a cookbook. She always has easy, fun recipes that are delish! Last night I made my first one. It was so so so good, I even ate leftovers for lunch today & their is still a ton left. You can cut the recipe in half or do the full recipe like I did and invite people over or have lots of leftovers.

Broccoli & Cheese Bake

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

1/2 block of Velveeta Cheese

2 cups of rice (white or wheat, I used wheat and you couldn't tell)

1/2 stick of butter

8 oz sour cream

1 white onion

1 bundle fresh broccoli

1 can creme of chicken

1/2 cup of milk

First, you want to start cooking your rice. ( I learned my lesson last night..the rice takes the longest.)

Then you want to boil your chicken breasts. Once cooked, shred/cut into pieces and line the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Melt a 1/2 stick of butter in a pan and sautee your broccoli and onion. Once cooked spread on top of the chicken.

Melt your Velveeta cheese with the milk in a pot. Once melted add your sour cream and creme of chicken until well mixed. Once mixed together poor on top of broccoli/onion layer.

Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes on 350.

** Optional - when about 5 minutes is left, take out sprinkle grated cheese and stick back in. Mine was cheesy enough so I didn't do this part.

ENJOY!

Goodbye Facebook, for now...

I decided to deactivate my Facebook. I didn't completely delete it because let's be honest, I am sure one day I will "need" it back. I love having Facebook to keep up with friends and relatives far away. But I feel I was on it WAY too much and taking precious time away from my Parker, Tanner and God. I would lay in bed on my phone when I could be reading my bible. I would sit in Parker's room, on the floor, with my phone in hand while she is begging me to play. I would be on Facebook in the car when I could be getting in valuable talk time with my husband. I hate that! So I am going to try really hard not to get back on...unfortunately when you deactivate all you have to do to reactivate is log back in...ugh, so easy! I love being able to get on at work but I was abusing it. So please update your blogs so I can keep up with everyone!! :)

2 Yr Checkup

Parker had her 2 year checkup this morning. It was only about 30 minutes, I wish they were all this fast.

NO SHOTS this time so we were excited about that. Last year her shots made her miserable for about a week and even landed a couple days before her party.

Dr Reese said everything looks great and she is on the right track. She does have a big head though :)

Height: 33 in. (40%)

Weight: 28 lbs (60%)

Head: 19 in. - not sure %, she just said it's BIG!

We talked all morning about Dr Reese and that she is nice. We also talked about no crying while we were there. So the whole way to the appointment Parker would say, "Dr Reese, no cry". So what was the first thing she did when she saw Dr R? Started bawling..haha. What's new ;)

She said Parker is ready for potty training but we are still waiting on the daycare, I would hate to start and them not follow through at daycare. She starts at her new daycare on August 22nd so we are praying about that!

Parker's 2nd Birthday!

We started off Parker's birthday with a Happy Birthday song while she woke up...she wasn't impressed :) We did get it on video though! Next up...

DONUTS with mommy & daddy!!

"Parker, how old are you?"...this is what she holds up!

Happy 2nd Birthday P!!

At daycare they had a little party, that came with sprinkle cookies with her friends! Brenda, her teacher, sent these to me!

Later that evening we met up with Shelley & her kids, Angela and her kids and Nana for some Chuck E Cheese. Not my favorite place but Parker and the kids enjoyed it!

She loves Elmo & this is her first Elmo doll!

After dinner we went home & she got to see her gift from mommy & daddy

Daddy showing her how it's done

She loved it!

Next up...the big party!

Big day coming up...

I've been having so much fun planning Parker's 2nd birthday party!

We are doing a colorful Splash Party!!

We are having her party a little late, her actual birthday is this Thursday :)



Rome, Part 2

Friday was our "free" day to do whatever. First up..shopping!! They had a street named Via del Corso that was filled with stores & was pretty packed. We spent most of our day here walking the strip.

It was here that I found this little beauty. It was 4 stories of greatness! Tanner was such a trooper. He would sit outside and people watch while I got my fix.

After some shopping we went to see the Pantheon. We got to see Rafael's tomb. The architecture is amazing!!

On our way back to the hotel for a quick nap before another night on the town I took some pictures of some old architecture that is still standing. Pretty amazing!

 This told a story, it had different images chiseled all around it.

We did a TON of map reading!!

 And a lot of resting. I wish I wore a pedometer to see how far we walked the whole trip. I think I lost weight instead of gaining it!

These are all pretty brief but I have a million pictures and it would take forever to put all of them up.