Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thinking about things I am thankful for. . .first of all I am so thankful for my sweet little family.  My hubby is incredibly supportive of me, he is very wise, and he is a such a hard worker.  My little Maggie is so smiley and happy and is all around a good baby.  I am so blessed to have them in my life.

I am also thankful for a wonderful church family.  We are in the midst of our first VBS at The Church at Station Hill and it is so awesome to see everyone come together to give the children a great week and to ultimately help them come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

There are so many other things I am thankful for. . .two great extended families, awesome friends, a nice place to call home, a reliable car, and much more!  What are you thankful for today?

Maggie's 1st Birthday Party

I thought I'd share some pics of how Maggie's birthday turned out.  We chose a Zoe theme for Maggie's 1st birthday. As I searched the web for inspiration, I realized there isn't much out there for a Zoe party.  There are tons of ideas for Elmo, but that just wouldn't do for our Zoe-obsessed little girl. Maggie has loved Sesame Street since she was itty bitty. She also seems to be attracted to the color orange. We incorporated pink with the orange and the Zoe theme.

Isn't the birthday girl cute in this darling dress with matching bloomers that I found on Etsy?

 Here's the spread of party goodies.  You will see the pink and orange theme even in most of the food.  On the menu:  Chicken Salad Croissants, Pasta Salad, Goldfish Shaped PBJs for the kids (Zoe's best friend, Elmo has a pet fish), Carrots and Dip, Melon Skewers, Cheetos, and a Zoe cheese ball.

 My mom designed this adorable Zoe cheese ball.  It was almost too cute to eat!

 We had the party at my parents' house.  I decorated the mantel with pictures from Maggie's first year.  I got the frames at Dollar Tree and spray painted them hot pink.  Easy peasy!  I made the banner from a file I purchased on Etsy.  There is so much cute stuff on Etsy for any theme you want.

 The sweets were on the dining room table.  For the centerpiece I used roses, a hot pink sparkly "M" and Maggie's new Zoe doll.  Zoe looks so cute in her tutu.  I couldn't wait for Maggie to meet her new doll!

 We had yummy cupcakes for dessert made by Aunt Becca- chocolate cupcakes with pink icing and orange cake with orange icing.  They were delish.  The birthday girl had a special orange "smash cake" just for her.  I got the cupcake toppers on Etsy from the same dealer who made her invitation and banner.

 It was a beautiful day, even though it was December 3.  We used lots of pink and orange balloons and crepe paper to add to the festive feel as soon as you drove up.

So, that's the set-up for the party!  It was so fun to put together.  More pics of party day to come. . .

Bloggy Me

Hello, friends!  Welcome to my first blog post!  I love to read blogs and find new ideas.  Add that to Pinterest and I can get lost in a cyberworld of inspiration.  Here are some of my favorite topics to learn about through the blogging world these days:

Organization

 

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I am in a constant state of reorganization.  We live in a 1000 square foot house and there just never seems to be enough space for everything to "have a place."  I know the solution is to get rid of stuff, but my frugality combined with my Girl Scout-need to be prepared hinders that process!  So I'm contantly on the look-out for ideas to organize especially with our growing family.  My two favorites are iheartorganizing and Organizing Junkie.

Tot School

Carisa over at 1+1+1=1 has hooked me on the idea of Tot School.  Doodlebug is now big enough to do some learning fun with me.  The other day I got out the counting bears and I was amazed at how well she did sorting them into the correct colored cup.  As she continues to grow, I want to do more and more learning activities with her. 

Teaching

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I recently became a stay-at-home mom after 11 years of teaching elementary school.  I will always be a teacher at heart.  I enjoy teaching my little one and look forward to hopefully homeschooling her as she gets older.  I'm also tutoring a friend's sons so I'm constanly on the look-out for great ideas.  Seeing pictures of a colorful classroom still excites me!  (And I love it when the school supplies go on sale in July!)  There are too many great blogs to list here, but my new favorite is Sunny Days in Second Grade.

Craftiness

 

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I have more aspirations in this area than skills.  Cute ideas abound out on the web!  I love to scrapbook and preserve memories.  I also like crafts that are functional.  I've been reading up on sewing and would like to try my hand at that.  I'd love to make some cute pillowcase dresses for Doodlebug.  I'd also like to learn to knit.  

Couponing

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As I mentioned earlier, I'm a pretty frugal person.  So, I'm always on the look-out for a good deal.  I've recently learned to play the drug store game.  Basically, this involves purchasing things your family needs (and occasionally some things you have never tried before) when they are on sale, with a coupon, and with store rewards.  My favorite drug store is CVS because 1.  it's right down the street, 2.  the employees are super sweet  3.  it's easy to learn.  Jenny at Southern Savers has some great CVS tutorials here.

So, those are some of my favorite reading topics at this time.  What do you like to learn about on the web?  What are your favorite blogs?  Leave me a comment below.

Happy reading!