Salt Dough Ornaments

The kids and I made salt dough ornaments today. FUN!
So here is the oh so fun and simple directions.

Salt Dough Ornament Recipe

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

Cookie cutters
Toothpick
Acrylic paint
Ribbon

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.

Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4 in thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.

Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

Use a toothpick to make a hole toward the top of the shape. Poke the toothpick into the shape, then holding toothpick straight up and down, make a circular motion as if you were stirring something. Keep circling until the hole is the size you want.

Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.

Bake for 2 hours.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Paint!

What's in a name?

I am opening my own event planning business.
Rachel had approached me a week ago about opening my own business to do the parties at Pinwheel Kids. So after lots of thinking, we are!
I will still do all the parties at Pinwheel Kids, they just won't have to worry about it anymore.
We will start at the first of the year, as long as I can think of a name. Suggestions? Seriously, suggestions??? I can't find anything I really like and it's driving me nuts. I like "Setting the Mood" (already taken), Creative Connections, the word Soiree (not thinking everyone will understand that one though). I want something fun, but serious, and that will open us up to doing many different kinds of events in the future. Plus nothing cheesy like Dream Events or anything like that. Could I make this more complicated?
We are also putting brainstorming different kinds of parties. Right now we offer Painting and Tea parties, and have done a super hero party. We've thought of a Mad Scientist and Slumber (they are not staying the night) party.

I'll have a Dr. Pepper please!

I earned a Dr. Pepper yesterday.
I HATE talking to people when there is a possiblity they will say no to me. For one of my classes I have to interview someone for each assignment. Well, I have been putting off interviewing, as in 6 months of putting it off. I have e-mailed someone for my first essay (a manager of a tv or radio station), but no response. So yesterday with lots of constructive encouragement from my husband, I did it! I called 3 different tv stations before I finally found someone who would talk to me. So, as I drink my DP right now I know I earned it and do not feel guilty about the sugar and calories in it.

Party like a rockstar!

Ok maybe like a Veggie Tales rockstar.
I am starting to believe that Pinwheel Kids is some sort of dream come true maker. Rachel's dream was to open a baby and children's store and TA DA! My dream is to be an event coordinator and TA DA!
Rachel has officially made me the go to girl for Pinwheel Kids' parties, Sandra Blanchard EC, event coordinator. Ahhh!!! It's the beginning to what I hope will be a wonderful career for me. I love hosting, decorating, and seeing the smile on the guest of honor's face. Rachel and I are both hoping to make Pinwheel Kids THE party place. I am starting to brainstorm party themes and am super excited about the potential of planning a hot pink and zebra party.
Super gitty!

Crazy!!!

We just had a CRAZY few days! Well it could have been crazier I'm sure.

Friday~
We started out with a busy painting time at Pinwheel Kids. Then spent the afternoon shoppping for last minute costume stuff, shoes, and other goodies. We picked up dinner, to rush eating at the house and getting ready for Riecher Homecoming. Then we headed to Waco for the game. Reicher won and it was a REALLY good game.

Saturday~
I can't even remember the details. But it was party day at Pinwheel Kids. Oh wait I do remember!!! We went to Hobby Lobby to grab some ribbon and stickers, when leaving we got back into by a truck. My right, rear down has a big dent in it. It will be getting fixed tomorrow. After Pinwheel we went grocery shopping and then watched movies.

Sunday~
Can you say "procrastinate?" I had to finish Christian and Matt's costumes. NOT FUN! Matt got our last minute tickets to the Zoo Boo. We headed to the Zoo Boo after kid baths and showers, which had perfect timing, because right after them we discovered the water turned off. Hmm??? When we drove down our street we found a very wet and working fire hydrant. We then headed to Zoo Boo and met up with Allison and her clan. We had a fun time and got lots of candy.

Monday~ Sick mommy!

I DO NOT LIKE CHEESE!

Please don't panic, I still like cheese. It's just that it doesn't like Christian.
We went to Christian's one year appointment on Monday. He is in the 50th for weight and height, but his head continues to be ENORMOUS (90th). We talked to the doc about some issues he has been having and she suggested taking dairy out of his diet, just a few hours into the no dairy lifestyle and you could see a change. He is now drinking almond milk and to make it easier we all are.
I need to look into other dairy alternatives, she suggests no soy because of the estrogen it contains. Some of my amazing friends have offered suggestions on what to do. Thanks!
Maybe one day my sweet son and I can share a love of cheese, but for now we will just have to wait.

Ah, life...

We are pretty boring and routine in the Blanchard house.
My sweet little boy is one, YAY! We had a party for him and were surronded by the most wonderful people.
Friday I had a GREAT time with Allison and Rachel. We saw Eat, Pray, Love and the headed to Salty Dog for a drink and then to On the Border for chips and dip. Mmmmm....
Speaking of food. Matt and I have seriously started the low-glycemic diet. I lost 5 lbs just this weekend. We won't discuss the disgusting amount Matt is quickly lossing. I HATE BOYS!
I am spending 3 days a week doing craft and story time at Pinwheel Kids. The kids are both adjusting great to it. Christian is finally taking naps.
Ummm.... I really can't think of too much more. Plus I really need to do some homework. Peace!

4th of July Weekend

We had an amazingly relaxes weekend. We just lounged around playing in the pool and playing some Wii. For fireworks we headed to downtown, we were all settled when I got a call from the Barringtons. They invited us to view the fireworks in a/c, we jumped at the chance. We got to view the fireworks from the 5th floor of Mark's detective office. We watched them pop over the courthouse, BEAUTIFUL!

June

Welcom Catherine
The Cain family welcomed a beautiful new baby girl to start off the month. Big congrats to them and their family of four.

Engling BBQ
Rachel hosted a wonderful BBQ out at her home in Stranger. The Cain's came with their little one and both Jackie and Stephanie drove in for the fun. It was so nice to have a bunch of us together again.

Joshua's Party
Stephanie had a wonderful pool party at her parent's house for Joshua. She has a cute train theme and lots of personalized goodies for the kiddos. Matt was able to come, so everyone had a wonderful time.

Brewer Visit
Julie and the boys came to Texas for a visit and of course we had to have a playdate. The boys have grown so much and the word fabulous doesn't even begin to describe Julie. We made it a pool party, so there was lots of craziness.

Kansas
We took a trip to Kansas to celebrate my mil 60th birthday. The kids were not much for driving, but we survived. We had lots of fun with Matt's family and Adelaide loved seeing her cousins. His sister got a babysitter and we took the boat to the lake for some adult time. On Saturday, we had a surprise party for Susan and her brother Rick and all his kids and grandkids came out for it. Sunday was Father's Day and Susan's birthday. We took the kids out on the boat for some fun. Adelaide warmed up to it after a little while and LOVED it. In the evening my sil's family came over for dinner. It was overall a really nice trip.

Greatness!
Matt's friend Matt (Greatness) brought his girlfriend Rose up from Houston for the weekend. Greatness is one of the best guys on this earth and we love being around him, so his visit was wonderful. Adelaide fell in love with both of them and cried when her Uncle Matt and Rosie left.

May

The month of May brought lots of fun for the Blanchard family.

Hillcrest Picnic and Party
We were finally able to attend Hillcrest annual picnic, because Matt is thankfully not working weekends. My wonderful husband is the manager for the renal, med/surg floor. He had to work for a little bit, so the kids and I had the whole zoo to ourselves for a few moments, it was wonderful.


The kids and I took a little break from the zoo and headed to Peter Piper Pizza for Audryaunna's 6th birthday. It was loads of fun and wonderful to see some of my favorite people, the Love family.


Rasmussen Visit
After too long of being gone, Kristie and Samantha came to Waco for a visit. A few of us from the mom's group met up at Whitehall Park to play and visit. Samantha has grown up so much, but is still super precious. This was the same park we first met them at 2.5 years ago when are girls were about 6 months old.

Painting in Cameron
We headed to Cameron to visit the Smith's and the Gutierrez family. Together we all went to the park to let the kiddos paint. Stephanie made the kids the CUTEST aprons, she has mad skills. Adelaide encountered her first train and has not stopped talking about how loud it was.

Fun in the Sun
We decided to set up the pool to help cool us down from a typical hot Texas summer. Christian is a natural in the water and adorable. At first he was a little timid, but since then he tries to swim by himself everytime. Adelaide is amazing in the pool, she would live in there if we would let her.

Cain Babyshower
Some of us girls met up at Cheddar's for a wonderful time celebrating Baby Cain. Our wonderful friend Courtney was expecting her 4th baby, a sweet baby girl. They would be moving soon so it was nice to get together one last time at our place.

Happy Birthday Adelaide
My sweet little girl turned 3 on May 25th. We had some yummy Jason's Deli for lunch, her favorite. She got a tiara, a ukelele, a doll named Sandie, and more. For dinner we grilled burgers and hotdogs with the Barringtons and Hancocks. It was loads of fun.

That Saturday we had lots of her friends over for a Dora party. The kids all got a purple backpack with a map and a few toys. At Isa's Garden they made bracelets, ate at Benny's Barn, and hit the pinata at Tico's Tree. Unfortunatly 5 minutes into the party one of her little friends got a wasp sting, Joshua got attacked by ants, and the flies took over the food. Other than that it was a good time!

Slacker!

It has been brought to my attention that I am slacking on my blogging. I don't deny it. So allow me to write a bunch of small blogs to catch up on the last 3 months...

Learning to Count

It's not just Adelaide who is learning to count, I am too. Of course I know my 123's, I am learning to count my calories. I found a calorie counting application on my phone and that is what started this whole mess of fun. I have discovered that on most days, I definitely do not eat enough. So I have been forcing myself to eat breakfast and snacks. The only days I have done bad are the days we ate some very yummy Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Mmmmm!!! I have been doing it for almost 2 weeks and have lost a little. YAY!

Our First Easter

Not only was this Christian's first Easter but it was also our first Easter as a family. The last couple of years Matt has had to work so our Easter's consisted of 5 minutes together before work and an 30 minutes after.
We woke up in the morning to baskets filled with goodies. Adelaide got a Sleeping Beauty princess doll and Christian got a new music chew toy.
After we ate a wonderful breakfast Adelaide attacked Christian with lots of hugs.

Then Matt got in on the fun, Adelaide won.

After church we had my grandparents over for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. Unfortunately there was a little rain and we had to have an egg hunt in the house. Somehow there are 2 eggs still missing. Oh well just means we will find some yummy candy one of these days.
It was a wonderful day!

A Visit with Uncle Jonny

On Monday we made our way to Dallas to pick up my younger brother Jonny from the airport. I haven't seen him in 2 years so it was a much needed visit. It was a very mellow visit. We all just hung around the house talking and playing with the kiddos. Adelaide and Christian both feel in love instantly.


Jonny entertained Adelaide with a magic trick of making her toys disappear, it was precious. He also played Matt's guitar a few times, oh how I love to hear an acoustic.
Thursday evening we headed to Moody for some BBQ at our grandparents. We all could not stop laughing at little Christian, he was being bounced on my Aunt Terri's knee and every time she stopped he would flip out.

Early Friday morning we took him back to Dallas. It was sad to see him go, but Adelaide took it real hard. She sadly was so hysterical that she threw up. Now that's love.

Busy Blanchards

We have had a pretty busy week here in the Blanchard house.
Saturday~ Tried to watch my friend Lori get married in Vegas. The kids and I headed to Noah's pirate party. After Adelaide starting acting a fool we headed to McDonald's for ice cream. We ran into Stephanie there, who had just left the party too.Our kiddos got to play together a little bit more and we got to talk.

Sunday~ Finally watched Lori's Vegas wedding. We headed to the zoo with Daddy :) I was reminded of how spoiled I am as a SAHM. The zoo was crowded! Growing up and going to the zoo that was expected, it was Chicago. As a SAHM, I go during the week and no one is ever there but my friends and I. Luckily we have a pass so we zoomed to the front of the crowd and right in.
Monday~ We had a fun time at the park. Christian and Olivia played next to one another so I was able to chit chat with Ashley, which I never get to do. It was so nice.

Tuesday~ Adelaide was finally able to go to the Jumping Party, she LOVES this place. I don't think teaching her stranger danger is going to be very easy. She ran up to two ladies "My name is Adelaide. Where is Joshua?" Then ran up to a couple and told them her name. Christian got to play with Olivia and Caden. Caden is about 2 weeks older then Christian, so it is really cute to watch them together.

Wednesday~ It was St. Patrick's Day and we hosted a play date. Of course the kiddos had fun, but I think a few of us moms had even more fun. Stephanie used to sell Mary Kay and had a bunch left over after she stopped so we all got to fill bags up with the stuff we wanted, YAY!!! That afternoon I watched Zach. I will gladfully watch him any day of the week. He is such a good boy and Adelaide had so much fun. He did get sad when Adelaide wouldn't kiss him (too cute).

Thursday~ Christian had a follow up appointment with the ENT. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long and his ears look great. We go back in 4 months.
Today~ NOTHING!!! Nothing planned but cleaning and playing with my kids. Ahhh!

My Little Mr

Christian is now 7 months old and adorable as ever.
Knocking on wood here. He has slept through the past 3 nights, it's only to 4 or 5 but it is WONDERFUL!
He manages to get from place to place on his belly, doing spins and backing up.
He is working on tooth #3 and #4 right now. He is the grumpiest little boy, worse then before he had tubes.

Adelaide and I made crowns for her and her princess dolls. She decided Christian needed to wear it.

Adelaide's Night Adventures

I was giving Adelaide a bath the other day and she asked for her Flounder fish. She sleeps with it at night along with her Ariel princess doll. Matt went off to her room to look for it and comes into the bathroom.
"I think Adelaide was hungry last night."
"Why?"
He then opens his hand up to show me a half eaten apple. Adelaide admitted to sneaking out of bed and bringing the apple to bed with her to eat.
She then puts her hand on her chin and says "Hmm... What will Adelaide eat tonight?"

Last night we put Christian to sleep. An hour later (after Christian is fully asleep)we put Adelaide to sleep in her own bed and went into our room. Shortly after this we begin to hear Adelaide on the monitor that's in Christian's room. Here is what we found:

Adelaide then tells us that she wants to sleep with Christian.

I love my daughter and how she makes me laugh.

My New Addiction

I started making my own baby food and I am addicted!!!
It is so much fun and cheaper than buying Gerber. I didn't do it with Adelaide because I thought it was going to be difficult and time consuming. WRONG! It is actually something fun for Adelaide and I to do together.
I find myself at the grocery store trying to figure what else I can puree up for Christian to eat. It will be a very sad day when I have to stop :( Until then I will puree away (I think I just like the word puree).

What's Peanut Butter without Jelly?

Last night we had a great MNO to say farewell to our beloved Julie. Or as someone used to call her jelly. She told me that and I just couldn't and still can't get it out of my head. I LOVE JELLY (actually I like peanut butter more, shhh)!
Anyways, in MNO tradition we met at Cheddars for food and drinks. Of course it was all VERY yummy. There were some controversial hats also involved in our meal.

After that we headed to Whiskey River, but they were closed. So we headed to our next usual spot, The Crying Shame where we met Chase (?). Gotta love drunks! He hit on Ashley S, to which he had no skills. When we finally got him to leave her alone he moved onto Ashley D. He was nice enough to inform us that she has large breasts. WHAT??? This was news to us all. We also had some crazy "Thriller" dancing and a whole lot of chit chatting.

We then made our way to PJ's because Julie wanted some good old Waco karaoke before she left. Allison was serenaded and Julie and I took the stage to sing "Any Man Of Mine."
The night was not over yet, but at this time it was over for me. All I know is they went back to the Shame and had more craziness and something about tequila.
WE LOVE YOU, JULIE!!!

Playing Catch Up

It has been over 2 months since I last posted something, nearly a lifetime you could say.
Since the last time we had a wonderful Christmas.

We found out we were pregnant with #3. Unfortunately we lost the baby. But for those few months Christian was a big brother and we were a family of five.

Matt and I brought in the new year watching a Terminator marathon.
Matt had lasik surgery and can see clearly now.

We had a wonderful Valentine's day with wonderful friends to celebrate it.

The weather has been CrAzY!
Adelaide was able to enjoy some snow.

And they both enjoyed some sunshine today.

Christian is now 6 months and in around the 75th% for everything. He has had an ear infection since Thanksgiving and is about to get tubes in his ears on March 3rd.
Our friend Libby moved. Julie is about to move and so is our best buddy Stephanie (no worries, I have Kleenex).
It has already been a crazy few months and it will only continue. Hopefully it won't take me so long to blog again.