{First Birthday Party} Oh the Places She'll Go - Part 1

This weekend we celebrated Little Sis's 1st birthday. It was a great day! As I mentioned on Sunday, this girl just fills my heart with so much joy. She is so full of life!

Post Smash Cake!

The party didn't have a firm theme but I liked the idea of hot air balloons and a rainbow of colors so I incorporated those throughout. 

Invitation Designed by kristinZkreations  Die Cut Banners Created by Whimsey Dimples

You know I love to make birthday cakes extra special for the guest of honor and this one was no exception. The rainbow cake was inspired by this cake. The original cake was done with fondant which I love but I've worked with it before and it's time consuming. Having two kids at home I had to be honest about my time so I created this one with different shades of homemade buttercream instead. I'll be sharing more details about the cake and the dessert table next week.

As part of the party decor, I created a photo collage with pictures of my daughter from the past 12 months. It's a super easy party decoration that makes a big impact. Everyone loved seeing how much she has grown in such a short time. Below the collage, I placed blank cards and asked guests to right a note for Avery's time capsule. I kept this very simple but it can be more elaborate if you like. I bought an empty paint can from Home Depot and just added a picture from our newborn session on the front. I later added some confetti and a few of the other decorations inside. I haven't decide yet if I'm going to seal the can now or wait and bring this out every year to add items from each birthday. 

I have a tons of other family pics and some video to share. In an effort to not overload one post, those will be up later this week and the details on the desserts will be published next week.

How do you celebrate birthday in your family? Have you ever created a time capsule?

If you like this post you may want to Subscribe to Working on a Project. I would love to get to know you, so leave a comment. Let's chat! I'm on Facebook and Twitter. Oh and don't forget about Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram (nicolette_springer)! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I'm linking this post up to the following awesome blogs

Tatertots and Jello

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Not Just a Housewife

Six Sisters' Stuff

Thirty Handmade Days

A Note to My Daughter on Her Birthday

I wrote this last night but didn't get around to publishing it until today.

****

Dear Avery,

Today we celebrated your first birthday. Our family and friends gathered around to wish you well and squeeze your cheeks. We eat, we sang, you rubbed cake on your bald little head. It took Daddy four q-tips to get the cake out of your ears. But it was worth it because you loved every minute and so did I. Maybe it was all the sugar from the cake but you happily played and mingled with your guests despite not having an afternoon nap. You were the perfect hostess. It was great day!

Before I laid you down to sleep tonight I snuggled you close and shared my heart. I'm so grateful for you and your presence in our family. Daddy and I always wanted a second baby but I had no idea how much I needed you in my life. You have filled a void I didn't even know I had and I'm forever changed because of you. You have reminded me what is important. I have learned that before I can be the best Mom to you and your sister, I need to take care of myself first. As most Moms do, I often neglected my own needs for the stake of the family. After you were born, that was no longer an option. I needed to heal my body and my spirit. You gave me the perspective to focus on becoming a better version of myself. To confidently eliminate negative influences and embrace what makes me happy.

The past year has been a journey for me. One that is not complete but just beginning. You may not truly understand the meaning of this letter for many years. Maybe not even until you hold your own baby. Even so, I want you to know that your sister may have been the one to first make me a Mom but you were the one who set me on the path to being the best Mom I can be to both of you.

I love you with all my heart and soul.

xoxo,

Mommy

If you like this post you may want to Subscribe to Working on a Project. I would love to get to know you, so leave a comment. Let's chat! I'm on Facebook and Twitter. Oh and don't forget about Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram (nicolette_springer)! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

     

Mother's Day Recap and 10 on 10

You guys, my baby is going to be ONE this weekend! What!? How!?

I'm in full party planning mode and trying to get my house in some kind of order before the party so I'm a little behind here. First up, last Friday was 10 on 10. I love this meme because it's a glimpse into our daily life. I've posted about 10 on 10 before in Jan 2012 and April 2012. It's fun to look back. I need to do these more often.

1. Little Sis calling "Ma Ma Ma" from her crib 

2. I've started having Miss. M make her bed everyday. She does a great job but still puts up a fuss every now again. I think it's worth the battle and most days she does it without being asked. 

3. One of the many perks of Jon being self-employed, he can join us for shopping trips in the middle of the day.

4. Big Sis tickling baby toes!

5. Miss. M is a painting and coloring machine lately. I need to restock my arts supplies.

6. Dinner prep. We had tacos and fresh guacamole. 

7. Nightly Dance Party

8. Flannel Muppets pajamas in 90 degree weather, Halloween necklace, Dora purse and a tutu. Yup, ready for bed.

9. Sleeping Baby Bum

10. Big Sis and her guard kitty ;)

***

Mother's Day Recap

I had a great Mother's Day. At the last minute my Dad decided to surprise my Mom with a night in a Disney Hotel. One of the many perks of being in Central Florida, you can have a mini getaway in Disney. We met them at hotel pool for dinner and some swimming. Both the girls love the water and I really need to sign them up for lessons very soon.

The next day, we had brunch at another Disney hotel. It was fun to see the girls reactions to the Disney characters. I thought Little Sis would be spooked but surprisingly she was very interested.

When we arrived home, Jon told me to take a nap while he took care of everything. Well, you don't have to tell me twice. I napped, like a champ. It was awesome! 

The best part of my day was my gift. Jon made a video of Miss. M while he asked her questions about me. It's the best present ever! I'll post it here soon. He says he plans to do it every year.

How was your weekend? Have you interviewed your kid(s) on video?

If you like this post you may want to Subscribe to Working on a Project. I would love to get to know you, so leave a comment. Let's chat! I'm on Facebook and Twitter. Oh and don't forget about Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram (nicolette_springer)! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Banana and Blueberry Muffins with Stonyfield Greek Yogurt

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen that I shared this picture of my banana blueberry muffins made with greek yogurt and topped with chocolate chips.

Those chocolate chip topped yummies are what I made for breakfast yesterday morning and Stonyfield Farms featured them on their  Facebook page as part of their Wake Up with Stonyfield campaign.  Stonyfield is celebrating 30 years of creating organic goodness by encouraging their fans to share photos and stories via social media with the #wakeupwithstonyfield. Yesterday's theme was Wake Up Deliciously. A new prompt is announced daily on their website and through social media. You can also sign up to receive email reminders here.

In conjunction with this fun campaign, Stonyfield will be choosing a Blogger Ambassador to represent them online. When I heard about this opportunity I was so excited because I truly love their products! Their yogurt was one of the first foods I fed both my daughters. After breastfeeding for a year, I was determined to only provide the best dairy for my girls, so we committed to only using organic milk products in our house. I even converted my Mom who now always has the fridge stocked with organic yogurt and milk when we visit.

I'll be participating in this "virtual interview" through June. I would love your support and it's super easy to help out. I'll be sharing lots of pics and recipes via social media about how we much we love Stonyfield products and how we use them in our house. I would really appreciate it if you would like, comment, share or retweet them. That's it! A few simply clicks to spread the word about this great company and their products. Thanks in advance, you guys are best!

Now, back to the muffins. Almost every comment on Facebook requested the recipe but I had none to share. My oldest daughter requested banana bread for breakfast but that takes over an hour to bake. I improvised and created these delicious banana muffins. I wanted to share them with all of you so I recreated them last night for this post. I measured and wrote everything down this time ;)

A few notes about the ingredients. I used agave syrup which is a natural alternative to white sugar. You can sub white sugar but you may need a little bit more. An extra 1/4 cup should do it. I also included 1 container of Stonyfield blueberry greek yogurt. You can used any flavor or even plain but it needs to be Greek not regular yogurt. I love baking with fresh fruit but blueberries can be tricky. They are very moist and often create craters and underbaked spaces in the muffin. To avoid this problem, I opted for small dried blueberries. I found them near the raisins in the grocery store. Finally, in the picture above I used paper liners but I recommend lightly spraying the pan instead. The muffins slightly stuck to the paper, I suspect it's because there is no oil or butter in this recipe. A little spray with no paper worked wonderfully the second time around.  

Ingredients 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup agave syrup (if using white sugar you may need to increase to 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup applesauce

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1 5.3 oz container of Stonyfield blueberry greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried blueberries

Chocolate chips for garnish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate larger bowl, combine agave, applesauce, egg, mashed bananas, greek yogurt, and vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir just until moist. Gently folded dried blueberries into the batter.

Spoon batter into a cupcake pan lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for few minutes in pan, then transfer to a wire rack. Carefully, place a few chocolate chips on top of each warm muffin.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy these muffins. Have you ever baked or cooked with greek yogurt before? Share your experiences in the comments.

If you like this post you may want to Subscribe to Working on a Project. I would love to get to know you, so leave a comment. Let's chat! I'm on Facebook and Twitter. Oh and don't forget about Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram (nicolette_springer)! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

{Wordy Wednesday} The Garage Saga

This is the current state of our school/playroom. To my annoyance, it has been this way for almost three weeks. For my husband's birthday (remember the drunken chocolate pie?) I asked several family members to chip in so we could get the garage floor epoxied (it's a special heat resistant paint) and walls painted, add some shelves. You know make it all man cave-ish. 

Well, I hired a guy and managed to keep my big mouth shut about for the two week prior to Jon's birthday.  Birthday arrives, "Surprise, your garage is going to be awesome, hooray! Now empty that bad boy out, the guy is coming in two days." The morning of I get a text from the guy (I had other names for him at this point) saying it wasn't going to work out for him. I rant and rave for a while and then start calling other people. 

It takes a week to get someone here for an estimate. I find a new guy, price is agreed upon, he says he needs to check his schedule and will confirm asap. Apparently, asap means something completely different to new guy because I never heard from him again, despite me following up several times. 

Unrelated, we had a garage door repairman (yes, that is a thing. I had no idea until our garage door broke) here because our door was off balance. I mentioned my garage floor woes and he said I have a friend who can do it. His friend, my new BFF, will be here today... hopefully. 

I would love to get to know you, so leave a comment. Let's chat! I'm also on Facebook and Twitter. Oh and don't forget about Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram (nicolette_springer)!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

10 Free Gifts Mom Will Love for Mother's Day

Before children my idea of a great gift was a fancy purse, a beautiful piece of jewelry or an elegant dinner out with my husband. I can still appreciate all of these presents and I wouldn't turn any of them down but as a Mom, I now have a new found appreciation for the simple things. Here's a list of 10 things that would make any Mom grateful.

1. Let her sleep in.

2. Plan and cook all the meals for the day.

3. Go grocery shopping and take the kids with you.

4. Do the laundry. Wash, dry, fold, iron, the whole shebang.

5. Allow her to take an uninterrupted shower.

6. Let her enjoy a warm meal or hot cup of coffee, as in she gets to eat a meal before it gets cold.

7. Give her the time to read something other than directions or a children's story.

8. Privacy in the bathroom.

9. Let her get dressed, do her makeup and hair without having a child attached to her leg.

10. The luxury of a making a phone call in peace and quiet.

Originally, I was going to list the 10 worst gifts for Mother's Day but I decided this was better. That being said, I do want to share my brother's recommendation for the worst Mother's Day gift: Nothing. I couldn't agree more. Whatever you decide to give your wife or Mom is better than forgetting. If you do forget, I highly recommend using my list here as a way to repent.

Did I forget anything on the list? What was the best and worst gift you have received?

I would love to get to know you, so leave a comment. Let's chat! I'm also on Facebook and Twitter. Oh and don't forget about Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram (nicolette_springer)!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

  

Speechless Sunday

You've heard of Wordless Wednesday, well I'm calling this Speechless Sunday :) 

This is my husband's way of entertaining our two kids and our niece and nephew on a very rainy weekend. The adults thought it was hilarious, my niece just wanted her helmet back. 

I would love to get to know you, so leave a comment. Let's chat! I'm also on Facebook and Twitter. Oh and don't forget about Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram (nicolette_springer)!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin