How to throw a Paw Patrol Party

Last Saturday was Kellen's birthday party and this puppy party was sure enough a dollar store delight!

I have said it before and I will say it again...I do not know how we managed to pull off epic parties before pinterest!

Oh the fire hydrant... I am proud of this hot mess!

Oatmeal canister, toilet paper tube, dollar store plastic bowl, empty ribbon wheel, gatorade lid, hot glue everything in place and the spray paint the heck out of it!

It was a little wonky, but everyone could tell what it was!

Snacks were crazy easy too! I found these puppy bowls at dollar tree in the pet section and they were just perfect!

Pop corn

Chips and puppy chow, recipe here!

Licorice and pretzel rods

Party favors were a cinch too! Hats (from the show) puppies to adopt and balls for playing fetch. All from, you guessed it, the dollar tree!

The party was so super fun and I think the kiddos had a great time, judging from the uninterrupted night of sleep we had that evening!

I just love our families and they way they love on our kiddos! We are so blessed that they live close and wouldn't miss these celebrations! So, thank you wonderful family for being there, it means SO much!!

The big boy bed!! He LOVED it!!

Paw Patrol was a hit and our sweet guy is one year older! Who knows what the theme will be next year, but I am certain that the dollar tree and pinterest will help me pull it off!

What I wore Wednesday

This week has been long, I am not gonna lie. Fall break is calling my name. I know it seems a little early this year, but I am ready for a well earned week of!

The weather has continued to be beautiful, thank you Colorado! So lots of still-summery clothes in the rotation, I will take it!

Ain't that the truth!

Saturday casual!

Top: ?? Thrifted

Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Target

Tee: Old Navy

Skirt: TJmaxx, maybe??

flip flops: Target clearance!

Necklace: made it!

Ikea date night! Last week we made the trip the my favorite place to get a bed for Kellen and then proceeded to eat our body weight in shrimp at Red Lobster, thanks shrimp fest and thanks $100 gift card from being a VBS director!

Top: Kohls

Jeans: Thrifted

flats: These are new! Amazon

Dress: Target

Vest: Target

Necklace: I just don't even remember any more

Sandals: Target

Conference night, round one! Round 2 is this week!

Top: Forever 21

Shirt: Target

Necklace: Very Jane

Heels: Target

That's all for this week! Happy Wednesday!

Kellen is 3!

What a year it has been! Kellen you are such a funny little thing. I had no idea what to do with a boy baby and now I can't imagine not being a boy mom too. You make life so much fun and I love how curious you are about everything. You are a watcher and a listener always seeing what people do and how things work. You might be the most observant kid I have ever met.

 You are constantly "Fixing" something...

You loooovvvveeee to "help".

You love tools and working with daddy, you love singing and you have been saying the most precious prayers in the last few weeks.

You say the funniest things and we have had the best conversations.. Some of my favorites have been, "My muscles are too tired to clean", "We love each other so much", "I have to sleep in your bed, cause there is pee in mine" and my personal favorite, "I love eating babies."

You have such imagination and love to play pretend, sometimes I wonder, if you can really see the things you talk about, like bears, deer and pirate ships.

You are all boy and love anything messy, dirty or sticky. I am pretty sure candy and pizza are your favorite foods, along with go-gurt and milk. I am pretty sure there are worse things to love.

The other day you smashed blue berries all up in the couch cushions to try to make a blueberry smoothie.

You love paint and play dough and mud.

You love books and trucks and all things boy.


You  love your sister fiercely!

We are still working on potty training and getting rid of the pacifier. You finally got your big boy bed and it's going pretty well.

You might be the most particular child I have ever met. You want a say in everything and are probably ten times more stubborn than I could have imagined. Everything has to be just so, the right color on your stars, the right song on your elephant player. The just right shirt everyday, the right pair of shoes. I don't know how we made it before you could talk! You are quite the opinionated child about all things concerning you!

For a three year old boy, you sure still love to snuggle and cuddle. I think I will soak it up while I still can! My mother in law said one time that every time she rocked her babies or grandbabies, she would think about how this could be the last time. Now that thought comes creeping in my head every night at bed time when you request to rock in your chair. So for right now I will oblige, even when it's late and we are all tired.

I love you so much, precious boy and I wish that you could stay a little peanut forever, and I know that someday you will be bigger than me, but you will always be my best guy!

Crockpot pasta

Say what?! Pasta in the crock pot, no way. Yes. Yes way and it was pretty tasty!
I have always wanted to try this but never did for some reason. We had some crock pot ziti last week for Sunday dinner and it was actually delish!

You need:
1 lb box of ziti or rotini UNCOOKED
2 jars of marinara sauce
1 lb of hot italian sausage
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
30 oz of ricotta or cottage cheese (we tried ricotta, but not everyone loved the texture)
2 eggs
2 tbsp of parsley
2 cups Parmesan cheese
2 cups of mozarella cheese

First, brown up the Italian sausage and mix in the marinara and tomato sauce.
Next, grease up the crock pot with some cooking spray.
Then, mix up the ricotta, eggs and parsley.

Then you just assemble kind of like a lasagna!
First dish up 3 cups of the meat sauce in the bottom of the crock pot, next a layer of 1/3 of the box of pasta.

Now, you just dollop on 1/3 of the ricotta mixture and spread with a spatula, then sprinkle some parmesan on top.

Next you just repeat the layers 2 more times!. End with a sauce layers since that's what cooks the noodles!

Cook on high for 3-4 hours. We left ours cook for close to 4 and the noodles were a little on the al dente side for me, but I like really soft noodles. The last few minutes top with the mozarella cheese and give that about 10 minutes to melt.

Y'all, I was terrified of this turning out gross and having to order pizza, but it was so good! Here is it all dished up on super classy paper plates...

Super yummy! Don't be afraid of crock pot noodles...give it try, you will not be disappointed!

What I Wore Wednesday

This week has been so weird, y'all! Kellen go super sick with strep throat on Monday, Brien has been home all week because the baby sitter is out due to surgery, the power was out all day for "maintenance". Everything was just feeling out of sorts!

The weather is feeling a little fallish. I think we can say good bye to 90 degree days!

Here's how I am making that transition...

Tee: Gap outlet

Skirt: Target

Flats: JCrew

Necklace:??

Dress: Old Navy, thirfted

Sandals: Target

Necklace:??

Top: Thrifted

Jeans: Thrifted

Flip Flops: Old Navy

BRR! This was the first fall-y day and I was freezing!
I am not ready for this!

Dress: Old Navy, thrifted

Sweater: Limited, thrifted

Flats: JCrew

Necklace: Target

Top: Gift from my sister in law

Olive pants: Kohls

Flats: Target

That's it for this week, hopefully another short week and long weekend will make the weirdness from this week feel better!
Happy Fall!

Adventures with April

Last weekend my best friend of 20 years came to visit and it was just magical! I have missed that girl SO much. It had been almost 3 years since we had seen each other last and that was just far too long for my liking. But it's hard when have real jobs and husbands and kids!

I love that we can go weeks without talking and years without seeing each other and it's like nothing has changed since high school, we just pick up where we left off. That's real friendship people!

We had a great time hanging out with my family and the kiddos and just being together. Nothing huge or fancy just time with each other and it was just what we both needed.

Her flight got in on Friday and my mom was able to pick her up at the airport. I could hardly contain myself at school those last few hours just knowing that she was a mile away and I had to be at work!

Friday night we grilled up some steaks the kids attacked the trampoline and we got all caught up with each other.

Play time with aunt April, thank goodness she is boy mama and can down with some race car tracks!

On Saturday it was just lovely weather, almost fallish! We hit up the park, did some shopping and then went to our nephews super hero birthday party. The party was a blast and Brien's family especially my sister in law, as always, makes everyone feel like they are family too!

These two boys and their muscles...We were dying...

There were SO many kids! We are becoming out numbered by our offspring!

On Sunday we did church, lunch with friends and then headed home for my mom's birthday party. It was birthday weekend, that's for sure!

My house was SO crowded. I mean when you add three more people to any situation it gets busy and when 2 of those 3 people are under the age of 4. It was loud! Also it was a little inconvenient to travel anywhere because of all of the car seats,we had to take 2 cars everywhere. We made it work, but it made me think maybe I should have gotten a bigger car!

And random sidebar...My cakes came out perfectly this year, no burning or collapsing! Hurray!

On Sunday we braved the zoo with 4 children and it was amazing. The weather was perfect all the animals were out. I would say it was one of my favorite trips to the zoo ever!
Kellen loved all the animals, no one complained the entire time. It was pretty much a dream trip!
When it got too hot we packed it up and headed home for supper and one last night of fun...

The big cats wanted a snack for reals!

A zoo tradition every single time!

My pretty bestie!

April and her sweet Noah!

After the zoo trip we were exhausted and so were the kids, we spent the evening in eating left overs and making smores and having the funnest conversations. She went home with her 2 crazies on Tuesday morning and I was already missing her by the time I got home from school.

 I MISS my best friend! It is so hard to be away from her and I hate that our kids will not grow up right next to each other like we planned. But I love that they all get along so well and play like cousins. Until next time Sister, I love you!