The Perfect Day

This post contradicts everything I intend for this blog to be. But it also shows that sometimes, even the best days can't be planned. Today Shane woke up and said, "Let's go to the beach." It was still early enough to make it before it got too crowded. It is Labor Day weekend afterall. So, we were ready and out the door in 30 minutes. NK had so much fun. She absolutely loves the water. We literally spend our entire time down in the waves. Later Shane shared how amazing it was to see the pure joy and excitement in her eyes and know that we did something to create it (i.e. getting off our duffs and doing something). What better way to end the perfect day at the beach? Well, driving through In-n-Out on the way home. If you are not from SoCal then you have no idea what you're missing. A chocolate shake and a cheeseburger are the perfect treat. I absolutely love days like this.

What could possibly make this day any better? A trip to Target when NK wakes up from her nap? Wait! Am I in heaven? Here's hoping for many more days like this to come!!

Party Favors

Party favors come in many different varieties. Some can be a simple memento of a festive occasion. Others can be as lavish as the gifts brought to the party. For NK's first birthday I decided to keep it simple. For one, she is a year old. She won't remember this party, it was more for us. Second, we are the first among our family and friends to have a child, therefore this party had a kid count of about 3 (NK included). My favor? A simple frog sugar cookie decorated with green royal icing and green sugar crystals. I wrapped them in cellophane bags and tied them off with a coordinating ribbon. I thought they were adorable and a nice yet simple way to commemorate the occasion.

While these little sweets were a hit at the party, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a cute "kid" favor. Instead of making sweets for NK to take to daycare, I sent bubbles. One for each of the kids. Attached to each bubble was a tag that read "This little bundle of joy is now our bubbly little girl." I photo shopped a picture onto the tag and tied it off with a cute ribbon. These were so cute and a great alternative to sugary sweets. They were such a hit I don't have any left to show. Sorry:(

First Birthday

For my very first post I thought I would share with you the highlight of my summer, my daughter NK’s (as she will be named here) first birthday party. This party has been my biggest success thus far. I literally planned this party for months. I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted to save a few pretty pennies along the way also. So, on with the party we go. NK’s birthday was June 22nd in the middle of our worst heat wave this summer. The party was outside, IT WAS HOT, but I think we managed. When I started planning I wanted to go with the color theme green, pink, and hot pink (picture a slice of watermelon). From there the party took on a “frog” theme accented with pink and hot pink. It all started with this:



A frog pool! I mean,come on! How could I pass up a frog pool. I thought it was a perfect gift for NK and it was a welcome addition to the party on such a hot day. From here the frog theme was born. We had frog invitations, a frog cake, frog shaped sugar cookies as favors, frog toys, frog everything.
For the food I had to keep it simple. We were feeding 45 people. Yikes! With the help of my mom and grandma we made pulled pork sandwiches, Italian sausages, coleslaw, baked beans, and watermelon. Amazingly, I was able to feed all these people for fewer than 200 dollars. We served iced tea, lemonade, and water. All were very refreshing on such a hot day. Dolores, an awesome woman my husband works with made NK a frog cake. For the guests I made cupcakes, 3 kinds of cupcakes, oh what was I thinking! Hubby and I baked cupcakes all day long the day before and then I frosted them the following morning. I was ready to say “Next year let’s order a cake!” but they were a HUGE hit.
So, to say my little NK made out is an understatement. There is definitely something to being the first daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin, etc., etc. It was a beautiful day and we are extremely blessed.
There is just so much to highlight. Stay tuned for more exciting posts from froggyland:)