Irene's Coat

I've been enjoying winter in my grandmother's coat. In 2009, my grandfather died (at 96 years old!), leaving a house full of a lifetime's possessions. It wasn't much, it wasn't fancy, but his things were left to be divided among his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He lived in Texas, so we flew in and were the last to go through the house to see if there was anything of my grandparents that we would like to keep. There, hanging in their closet was this beautiful cashmere & fur lined coat. I had a few minor alterations made & it's beautiful!
My grandparents. The necklace from these pictures was also my grandmother.

Ethan's Star Wars Birthday Party

Ethan's 5th Birthday party was a huge success! I started thinking about his party before the baby arrived in October. After she arrived and the back-to-back holidays, my brain shut down until January.I ordered my invitations from PoshPaperGals, who let me edit her text a little bit. And began making jedi robes for each of the boys. This was the trickiest & most time consuming, trying to figure out sizes for our 14 guests. It was also the main expense. I used roughly 32 yards of fabric, but you can go to Joann's on a good day and find a great buy. Oh, yeah...the $40 matcha green tea powder - YIKES!Treat Bags? Um...no, that would be me making the custom Jedi Robe. But they did get a Green Tea Yoda Oreo, a light saber, and a Certificate of Jedi Completion.Fortunately, having a birthday right after Christmas was a great thing, because we had friends and family save wrapping paper rolls for light sabers (plus painters & electrical tape). If you had a summer birthday, you could make these out of pool noodles. We brought all our collapsable tunnels, huts, bikes & balls, to keep little boys occupied, along with some planned Star Wars themed activities. A tent and a big box were our "Imperial Empire Command Center" and "Rebel Alliance Command Center." The biggest hit of the party was Lance's pod racers, which he crafted out of a moving cart, a couple of boxes, dryer vents, flower pots & some spray paint. We had a short obstacle course (pod racing, bean bag toss with a cornhole set (asteroid toss), and taking a whack out of Darth Vader's pinata head. At that point, they were ready for to graduate and receive their light saber. Then, guess who arrived? DARTH VADER. They all took off running and pummeled him with their light sabers. So awesome. I decided to forgo some of the awesome food ideas on the internet, and opt for pizza & water (removing the label & replacing it with Star Wars wrapping paper - my new favorite trick). Oh yeah, that plus Carbonite Jello (Hans stuck in Carbonite). My sister-in-law, Libby makes amazing cakes (and also sells them!) and made the light saber cake. Never in a million years did I think I'd have such fun planning a Star Wars birthday party. But it was a blast. Happy 5th Birthday Ethan!!!

Check out my post here for how-to's on these & other great ideas from the fabulous internet.

Star Wars Party Inspiration

Getting Ready for our Star Wars birthday party this weekend! I have been up to my ears in "research" for the big event. Boy, there are some cool parties out there! I thought I would share some of my favorite ideas.CAKES: Here are some cute ones, as well as tons here on flickr. And if that's not enough, a simple google image search shows countless cake ideas. (Pictured cake found here.)

STAR WARS ON ETSY:
An etsy search, with the words "Star Wars Party" has lots of other inspirational ideas.
Like the cookies below (found here). Or these fondant cupcake toppers. And these cute downloadable party displays here. And what cute goodie bags!

INSPIRING PARTIES YOU'VE GOT TO CHECK OUT:
Just Jenn Recipes has super-duper cute food!
The Laws of My Life has a great idea for "Making your own R2D2".
Geek Mom features food & game ideas.
Country Cottage Needleworks has some really cute decorations, including a life sized R2D2. Her husband is so crafty!
Blissoff has some more cute decorations & food ideas.
My Creative Stirrings has cute R2D2 cups, light saber knives, and Ewok huts.
Aimee Austin has more good game ideas.
Make & Takes has more good game ideas, how to's and easy food ideas.

OTHER FUN DETAILS:
And I think a Death Star pinata would be awesome (here's an easy how to!), I figured the kids would rather have a whack at Darth Vader's head. Here are some more awesome Star Wars pinatas on etsy.
Here are some light saber "how tos." This and this one out of wrapping paper rolls. And this out of pool noodles.
Free Downloadable Star Wars Masks
a Jedi Robe pattern (I used around 2 yards of fabric per kid). If you used felt, it would save some time (you don't have to hem), but it would be more expensive.
Downloadable Coloring Pages
Invitations
Star Wars Sandwich Cutters and Cookie Cutterslight saber pretzels
I also had the idea of serving edamame (Yoda Ears) and some pineapple stars and grapes on skewers (inspired by Edible Arrangements), but I ran out of time and energy.

Here's how it all turned out!

3 Months

A look Back: 1 Month, 2 Months

Something's Got to Give

I'm running out of time in the day.

More babies means less time for certain things. So as I start out the year of 2011, I'm thinking of goals and priorities. One big goal: To run a Half Marathon. (Did I really just type that?) I'm exhausted thinking about attempting this. I ran a Half in 2007, and I know how much work it takes to train. And I only had one baby! Now I have 3 - one of whom is still nursing and just now sleeping through the night. So it seems like an insurmountable task. But Lance is supportive, and is willing to watch the kids & help me make it happen. We'll see how it goes. I will not feel bad about bailing on this one.

My next goal is not to be on the computer during my kids waking hours. I don't want my kids to be sucked into computers, tv and video games. And let's face it - they are taking in every bit of how I spend my time. So any computer work will be done during naptime & bedtime. This is also prime time for folding clothes, dinner prep, and countless other tasks which cannot be completed during the children's awake hours. So, that leads me to my next change of 2011: I will be blogging very little. I love blogging, and don't really think I spend much time on it. However, I'm trying to make every minute count. So you will be hearing less from me this year.

And finally, I will be taking less hot, long showers. If you know me well, you know that I'm not very good at leisure activities. Painting toenails, blowdrying hair, watching movies...I spend the whole time thinking of all the other things I could be doing with my time. Long hot showers are about the only time I can sit (or stand) still. But as I think about the way I spend my time, I realize that these need to go. Not to mention that the planet will thank me for conserving water. (But back massages. I cannot give those up.)

What about you? What are your goals for this year?

How To Make Soup

File this under brilliant. How to make soup. No list of ingredients, just a basic "how to" from things in your refrigerator. If only I listened to my mother better, I would be an expert in this. She can also just "throw together" soup from things in the fridge. She would even throw in aging salsa or the remainder of a ketchup bottle! Photo and recipe from Hey That Tastes Good!

Things from the fridge soup: This is not a recipe but a process. Use whatever you have left in your fridge! (I abbreviated her process below. Please see her website for the full instructions!)

1. Thaw stock, if frozen
2. Chop all your vegetables.
3. Cook meat, if using
4. Saute veggies.
5. Once vegetables are soft, add tomato if you are using tomatoes.
6. Add salt, pepper, spices.
7. Add the stock. Maybe water. Simmer.
8. Add whatever starch you are using (unless you're using pasta).
9. Add cooked meat back to the pot. If using pasta, add it now. If you're using tofu, add it now.
10. Dump in all your greens, if using. Cook just until wilted.
11. At this point, you are done!

Even More Christmas!