Party Pics

Emery's 1st birthday party with the family was a success. Her Gramma and Granddad came in from Texas, her Uncle Taylor came up for Charleston, and her Uncle Scott, Aunt Kristen, and cousins Owen and Eme came down from DC. Grammy and PopPop and Aunt Sarah, Uncle Dan, and cousin Woodburn didn't have to travel far. When I was thinking a family luncheon, I don't think I realized how big our family gets with everyone there, but I planned a simple lunch menu which made it pretty easy.

Here are some pics from the party:

Big storms kept us inside for the party.

Aunt Sarah was SUPER NICE and made Emery's smush cake and the cupcakes. So cute and so good- she should go into business!

My mom got the hat and bib off of Etsy - sunshinedaydream4u. Really cute!

Party favors - dark chocolate covered pretzels

Gift tags were from Etsy - Toadally Cute Products

I made these stuffed owls as party favors for the cousins. Owen and Eme didn't have Little Hoot, either, so I had to give them that. Great book!

Eating lunch - grilled sausages, orzo pasta, and fruit salad.

As always, she cleaned her plate.

And she demolished the cake. I'm still getting the after effects in her diaper.

Good thing birthdays only happen once a year.

Stuffed owls

My little Emery is turning one this Saturday and I was pretty excited to do an owl-themed party. We're doing a luncheon with the family and I thought I could make stuffed owls for all the kiddos as party favors. I went to Etsy and bought this pattern from dandy jane. It was REALLY easy and I got a lot of my fabric scraps put to use, so I didn't have to buy anything except the stuffing.

Here is a picture of my little guys:

The last ones I made (two in the middle) are my favorite - I think it takes me a while to get my creative juices flowing in terms of picking out fabrics (hardest part about sewing!). I had those in mind for my nephew and niece, Owen and Eme, but with them being 5 and 3, who knows which owls they'll end up with and which ones will be pawned off to Woodburn and Emery.

I'll post pictures of the party next week. I got some cute stuff off of Etsy which I'll link up, as well.

Happy Hooting!

Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni

So, first I have to say I've been the WORST blogger in the world this year and I'm gonna try and get back into it. Although, I think I said this about 6 months ago, so we'll see...

Anyways, tonight I'm giving it a shot again and decided to write about a favorite childhood meal. I've been craving all my childhood favorite dinners lately and tonight I made one of them for Emery. I've honestly thought about making this meal for my kids for YEARS so I was pretty excited that Emery got to eat it along with me tonight.

The favorite meal I'm talking about is Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni which was always served with peas and crescent rolls at my house. Elton DESPISES this dinner and refuses to be in the house when I make it. I knew he would be working late tonight so I decided to get this craving out of my system.

As a lot of you know, I've tried to stay away from processed foods as much as possible the past few years so I was pretty excited when I was at Earth Fare and found Organic Annie's Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper AND Immaculent Baking Company crescent rolls. I thought that if I picked up some organic peas, as well, this meal wouldn't be TOO bad for us.

This won't be so bad for us - it's ALL NATURAL! :)

Here are our dinners ready to eat.

My first serving. (Should have just stuck with that.)

Emery's serving

Emery gives it a try.

No surprise to me, she loved it and cleaned her plate! Guess we'll get to eat more of this in the future. Thanks Organic Annie's and Immaculate Baking Company for making healthier versions of my childhood favorites!

Happy Hamburger Helper!