Ladybug Birthday Party!

Hi! Long time hey? I have to admit that the 14 days in a row really played me out! So I had a little hiatus  to plan for my little bug, Giselle's first birthday party!

It all started with an Oreo truffle from I Wish I Was Martha! Dang you Stacey and your cream cheese deliciousness!!! 

 

All lady-bugged-up!

I just love these colors together.

Hattrick Designs Etsy shop supplied all my lady bug printables, including the favor tags, water bottle labels and the adorable banner!

The kids treat bags.

My attempt at a mini-ladybug cake with marshmallow fondant.

Hattrick Designs water bottle labels. Check out the nutritional value!

The treat table!

The birthday girl!! Black & red tutu also from Hattrick Designs Etsy shop! Love it!

Giselle with GG!

My little dolly niece, Olivia.

Venice and her BFF Lexie. 

Frozen banana pops, dipped in chocolate and nutella.

Instead of cupcakes, I thought I'd try my hand at cake pops. Turns out they are not as easy as they look, and were extremely frustrating to decorate. Maybe it was the sprinkles or maybe it was the gel icing that never set up, but either way, I'm sticking to cupcakes.

She was VERY excited about the candle!

First bite!

YUM!

Into the sink to clean up and on to the presents!

We had such a good afternoon playing with all our friends and having yummy treats! I can't believe how fast that year went by, but I'm excited for the year to come. Giselle was showing us how old she was by taking a few steps today.

I just wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us!

Day 2! Pink Cuddle Scarf

I have made these knotted scarves before for my sister-in-laws Christmas presents a few years back. They are cozy, cute and best of all no knitting required! I tried knitting for like, five minutes, literally, and stopped when a nice 10 row scarf became a 16 row trapezoid... Apparently, knitting and crochet-related crafts are not in my genes, like I had once hoped :( Oh well, if they were I wouldn't be able to post this super cute and cozy, cuddle scarf. This seriously could be made by anyone with a set of thumbs.

 I did a little one for my first Valentine, Venice, who is feeling a little under the weather and needs a little extra cuddle.

These are so simple to make! It took only 10 minutes to whip up. It consists of 4 groups of 4 strands of equal length yarn (depending on who its for, longer for adults, shorter for kids) in your choice of color. We chose 2 shades of light pink.

The rest of the instructions can be found at the link below. Just a lot of knotting, really.

http://www.theartfulcrafter.com/scarf.html

 I had mine taped up on the vent of the fireplace so Giselle couldn't grab at the yarn while I was tying the knots!

My little bug all wrapped up in love!

I used the fluffy yarn (which I'm pretty sure is the technical term..) just for fullness, as well I used extra yarn. The instructions at the link says to use 4 groups of 3 strands, but the extra one really makes a difference.

Banff Springs Family Weekend

With part of stucco season over, Ben and I decided to take the girls away for the weekend. 

Destination: Banff!

We got to the Banff Springs hotel on Friday evening and got checked in. Venice was promptly presented with a tiara and was crowned Castle Princess! The look on her face was SO stinking cute!

We took the girls out the next morning, first stop? Candy store!!

I captured the stunned silence on Venice's face when Ben turned her around to see the window full of candy.

We spent a TON of time in the hot tub and pools. Yep, I said pools. They had a huge inside pool, a children's pool and a huge outdoor pool. Even though it wasn't super warm outside, we spent most of our time in the outdoor pool which was so warm! It was a little awkward though, with the tourists above us on the balcony taking pictures....

 There was an aquarium at the sushi restaurant in the hotel, and 

Venice had to see Nemo every time we walked by, which was about 4 times a day, as it was on the way to the pool.

I'm loving my new camera and can't believe the quality of the pictures it take!

The view from our room.

My favorite little (ha! little, right) nook, I don't know if it's the color, the view or a combination, but I could sit in this corner with a coffee and read a good book all day!

I think this is my favorite picture from the weekend. Venice wanted to twirl the moment we got to the hotel, we had taken her to the banquet room the first night, but I had told her that this castle had a real ballroom. Well, we found it and she twirled to her hearts content! Then she told Ben that she's going to be married here. Uh Oh!

Here's my little bug! All bundled up and ready to go.  I must say that Banff is not exactly stroller friendly, we had to carry the stroller up various flights of stairs in town and in the hotel. But over all it was worth having it along.

Carriage ride for the Princess Venice! It was so cold, but we had blankets and each other to keep warm. 

We took the girls bowling for the first time (can you imagine, our hotel had it's own bowling alley?!)

I love this picture!  

She was so funny! She had to do it all by herself, and the ball rolled SO slowly. When the ball hit the gutter she'd slap her leg and say "Oh Man!"

What a character!

The mountain pictures are from the first morning we were there and the morning we were leaving.

We just made it out of the park before it got bad, except that when we came home, there was more snow at home than in Banff!

We had such a great time, and it was so nice to have a whole weekend together as a family. I can't wait for when stucco season is really over!

Friendship Factor Brunch and Some Other Goodies

So the night before the Brunch I started baking and cooking. I'm loving the SUPER easy overnight french toast. I did ad-lib a bit in the recipe, simply because I had a vanilla bean and didn't want it to go bad, and the taste of fresh vanilla over extract is unbelievable! 

Is there anything yummier than the smell of simmering milk with a fresh vanilla bean in it?!

I have a good friend that would call this dish complete. hahahahaha!

I just had to post this picture of the maple syrup I found. It's just so stinkin' CUTE! 

Here's the end result. It turned out pretty good for how simple it was. I don't really like bringing hot food to potluck simply because they don't stay warm! But still yummy even at room temp.

These were brought by a lady, I thought they were fancy funnel cakes...nope. Rosettes?? I googled them because I couldn't find the lady that brought them. Turns out they are freaking AMAZING!! They tasted like deep fried wontons, but cinnamon sugared and so beautiful! They were crispy enough that you could easily make them into a dessert with whipped cream and different toppings and syrups.

I've decided that I need to acquire the tools to make these pretty confections. Next stop, Sally-Ann!

(don't call A&E and I'll make you some;)

More deliciousness!

Here's the wonderful Ifie, one of the commitee members. She always has the funniest stories!

I had a great morning with all the women and sharing wonderful dishes that everyone prepared.

Last week Giselle, decided to get up on her knees and start hitching! Soon she'll be on the move!

It has been such a gorgeous fall and the evenings so warm that 

we just had to go over to the big park in Mountview by the school and had such a great time as a family. Venice just ran and ran! I got stuck in a tire swing and nearly lost my pants, Giselle slept and Ben went climbing. It was a great time had by all!

Tonight, off to the corn maze!