Category: crafting

Carnival Birthday Party: Details and Decorations

Katie5 Comments

It’s my last post about the birthday party; I promise.  Now for my favorite part of it: the details and decorations.  This part was SO MUCH FUN to complete.  Let me begin by revealing that I am really not the most creative person I know. I am simply good at stealing someone’s ideas and adding my own thing to it a little, and all of these little crafts are something anyone can do. So easy.

One simple thing was the sign near our mailbox that greeted guests as they arrived.  I actually made three signs but only managed to take a photo of one.  We live on a hill and our driveway is long and steep, so this one was at the bottom near the mailbox.
yard sign
As guests made their way up, there was one that said “Step Right Up” and further on, there was one that said “Almost There” because you sort of need a cheerleader to make it up our driveway.  We tied bright balloons to some of the signs and to the front porch, and I hope it set the tone for guests before they even entered the party.  Once they came inside, our guests saw this table in the foyer.

favors and guest book

I placed the favors here next to a book I ordered from Amazon that worked with the circus theme and could be signed by the guests as they left.  I know Jude will appreciate it one day as he reads the sweet messages left by all of our friends and family who celebrated with us.  For the favors, I used Oriental Trading Company for all of it.  Each bag contained some candy, a clown nose, some carnival-themed stickers, some circus-themed temporary tattoos, and a small box of crayons, so all of the kids at the party could leave with something fun.  I designed the little labels using my scrapbook program, and you can have a closer look at them by looking at this earlier post.

I also made a high chair banner using the free circus font I found online.  I simply cut circles and glued them to bright cardstock and then tied it all together.  Super simple but helped to bring the theme together.

high chair

Now for the bigger things.  I sewed A LOT of bright party pennants that we hung everywhere.  I sort of forgot to take photos of them, but you can see them here behind the table.
table details

I used cloth rather than paper so that I can easily reuse them in the years to come.  I figure boys are always having parties that use some combination of primary colors, so if we do trains or cars or superheroes or dinosaurs or whatever in the future, I can always use these flags and maybe just sew a couple of new ones to add to the mix and bring in something fresh.  If you don’t sew, you could use heat n’ bond or something and make the flags that way.

I also made a birthday onesie I’ve already written about in an earlier post. I used the leftover material I had from the flags, added a little freezer-paper stenciling, and sewed it to a onesie I found for $4 at Target. Birthday Boy looked so perfect in it.  He’ll continue to wear it this fall, I’m sure.

toy train
It's my birthday, and I love my new toy train!

Lastly, my favorite part of the party was the photo booth. It was incredibly simple and served as some great entertainment.  I simply used blue fabric as a background and strung some party pennants and lights over it.  I spent about $5 at the dollar store to buy  various funky Halloween type dress up things – a large tie, funny glasses, a feather boa, etc.  I also tossed a few clown noses in there and placed some balloons next to it so it looked bright and circus-like.  This photo booth idea could be great for all sorts of parties though.  I can totally imagine it with a fairy or princess theme for little girls with a pink background and wands and tiaras.  Or even an adult holiday party with a Christmas-y background.  So.  Much. Fun. In fact, my new problem will be avoiding the urge to have a photo booth at all my parties.

photo booth

As excited as I was, I honestly wasn’t sure how this would go over because sometimes the things you are most excited about are not so loved by other people, you know?  In the end, I think some of our guests did love it after all.  I hope to print out some photos and mail them with the thank you notes so guests can remember fun times.

So that’s it!  I think I’ve told you almost everything I can about our circus birthday party.  Feel free to recycle these ideas for yourself, and I hope you have as much fun party planning as I did.  If you want to read more about the details of this party, you can see my archives here and here.

Carnival Birthday Party: Food and Tablescape

KatieLeave a comment

So yesterday I wrote about what I learned throwing my first kids’ party, and today I’ll get specific on some of the details.  The most important detail, of course: FOOD.

I wanted to keep things simple, and the party was held at four in the afternoon so I wasn’t exactly responsible for feeding people dinner or anything.  Keeping with the carnival theme, we served all finger foods. I didn’t even have flatware on the table!  Here was the menu we decided on for Jude’s Big Top Circus Birthday Extravaganza:

  • hot dogs (We chose kosher, all-beef since that’s kind of where we are on our “food journey.”)
  • corn dogs (So not healthy or kosher, but I bought them from our warehouse store here and they were fast and easy in the oven.)
  • sandwiches – chicken salad; sunbutter & jelly (for 2 peanut allergy kids who were there)
  • Martha Stewart’s Pumpkin Whoopie Pies(First time I tried them and they were delicious!)
  • fruit sticks (just bites of melon, grapes, and pineapple on a skewer)
  • chocolate-covered pretzels (I used store-bought chocolate candy coating.)
  • cupcakes! (more on those later)
  • various classic and colorful candies to go with the circus theme

So for the general tablescape and basic look of things, I wanted to go bright and celebratory. I was also careful to use varying heights on the table with the cupcakes, pretzels, and the lollipops.  The cupcake stand is this basic one by Wilton, and I love it!  I can reuse it again and again for any birthday parties or showers I host and just redecorate it each time.  To decorate it, I used scrapbook paper I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby and simple blue grossgrain ribbon.  I had a hard time getting the ribbon to stick at first, but when I decided to use Elmer’s traditional school glue, it worked easily and washed right off.

table details

Food labels are necessary for me, and I know that allergy mamas especially appreciate them.  I hate being at a function and not so sure about what you are putting in your mouth.  I found a circus font online and downloaded it for free, and I used it on the invitations and all of the signs and food labels at the party.  There are a ton of free simple graphics and fonts if you look for them online.

table details

For the added color and backdrop to my table scape, I used bright red wrapping paper from the dollar store  and topped it with a blue tablecloth from the dollar store as well.  We folded that tablecloth like a runner and topped all of that with $1 confetti and voila!  Three whole dollars and the table is done.

the spread

We also had a candy corner because what carnival doesn’t have sweets?  I bought all of the glass containers from (you guessed it…) the dollar store, and I racked up on candy there as well.  I chose candy that was either colorful or nostalgic or both – Mary Janes and Sugar Daddies for retro flair; gumballs, jolly ranchers, and ring pops for color.  The oversized lollipops I found at Oriental Trading Company for pretty cheap. I set out a few treat bags I had from a shower I hosted once and encouraged guests to take some home.  Luckily, almost all of it disappeared and I am only left with about 10 lollipops, but I’m thiking I can use them to adorn birthday packages this year.

table details

table details

Lastly, the cupcakes!  I went back and forth SO MANY times about what kind to make because I wanted something different and a variety.  Because we took a trip to the apple orchards a couple of weeks ago and because nothing says fall like apple cinnamon, I finally settled on apple cupcakes with cream cheese icing.  For variety, I also baked Ina Garten’s chocolate cupcakes (my old reliable favorite!) and topped them with homemade buttercream frosting.  I baked them all the night before and iced them in about 15  minutes shortly before the party.  It honestly took the same amount of time as calling to order a cake and going to pick it up.  So simple.

table details

I also found some awesome toppers on Etsy that added a special touch.  Some of them even had his name!

cupcakes

Did you know that even a simple grocery store cake is something like $40?  All together, I would estimate the cupcakes and toppers were something like $20, and they were cute, tasty, and personable.  At the end of the day, we fed a crowd of about 35 people on less than $100 including tableware!  An accomplishment in frugality for sure.

Tomorrow I’ll post on details and decorations – my favorite part of the party!

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For other posts about this carnival birthday party, see my archives here, here, or here.

Lessons Learned: Throwing Kids’ Birthday Parties

Katie4 Comments

Party: The word conjures up a few specific images for me.  Kitchen conversations.  A frosty beer on the porch with good friends.  That glorious I-ate-just-enough-but-not-too-much full feeling you get when you talk with friends around the table after a successful dinner.  Whether it’s a big shindig for a special occasion or a small impromptu gathering we threw together the night before, I love hosting and preparing for parties. My usual ritual is to designate a specific playlist on my iPod and stand over the stove with a drink waiting on that first knock at the door.  Just before a party is one of the few times that my house is in order and is one of those moments when the anticipation factor is palpable.  I love it.  Cleaning for it.  Planning for it.  Cooking for it.  Love it all.

But I found out last weekend that hosting a kid’s party is a little different.


The internet was a wealth of information for me when planning Jude’s first birthday party, and I have so much I want to write down before I forget it all.  Rather than posting one huge, long, overly wordy and photo-heavy post that nobody wants to read in one sitting, I’m dividing it up, so I’ll be writing all week to capture every little detail.  I figured a great place to start would be with some basic lessons I learned or things that surprised me because this was not a cocktail conversation, dinner-makin’, feet up relaxin’, before-I-had-a-child kind of party.  Not at all. It was still a GREAT time though, and I finished remembering why birthday parties seemed like such magic when I was a kid.  They are for sure a special kind of magic – and a chaos all their own.  So things I learned?

  1. In terms of party prep, everything takes at least 10 times longer when you have a kid around. I did the vast majority of prep work in the days before.  By the time the morning of the party rolled around, all I had left to do was clean my house, assemble sandwiches, and ice cupcakes.  Easy right?  Not so much with a toddler around apparently.  The party started at 4:00 and we were slapping sandwiches together at 3:56.  No joke.
  2. Once guests arrive, if you have more than a handful of children present, it will erupt to absolute craziness at one time or another. Deal with it.  Embrace it perhaps.  But there is no point in fighting it.
  3. The dollar store can be your best friend. I made numerous trips to the dollar store to get most everything we needed for details and decor – ribbon, the makings of my tablescape, candy, glass containers, paper plates…. I’ll be posting specifics on all of this later, but it seriously saved us A TON of money.
  4. They are SO MUCH FUN to plan. I am not the most creative person on the planet, so I really just scanned the internet for ideas and copied most of them, adding some personal touches along the way.  It was such a fun party to prepare for! I’m already contemplating next year’s theme. I shouldn’t admit that.
  5. Present opening, even if you don’t want it to be, will be the focus of the party for at least a good portion of it. Short of not opening gifts at the party, I am not really sure if there is any way you can prevent this. And you guys know how I feel about gifts and excess. I honestly didn’t even want to open the presents at the party simply because he is so young and can’t even open them and honestly wasn’t all that interested at that present moment (although he loves them now).  My husband said though, and it’s true, that if people did bring gifts, they’d want to see him open them, and I didn’t want to be rude.  Luckily many of our guests abided by my rude request and either did not bring a gift or brought a simple book or two.  We did get a handful of toys but nothing crazy large that I don’t have room or need for.  I enlisted some kids at the party to “help” Jude open gifts which might or might not have been smart because they got REALLY in to it, but at least they had something to do instead of staring at a baby and watching me open the presents.
  6. Be sure you take lots of photos, but most importantly, be sure other guests do as well. We got a ton of photos on our cameras, but we also missed whole portions of the party (like Jude eating cake for instance) because we were in the moment or right there with him.  Luckily, my brother-in-law was snapping photos the whole time, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s got.  It might be a good idea to even designate a guest as the “picture person” so that he/she keeps snapping and can give you all the images after the party.

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I feel like future parties will be easier now that I know more about what to expect, so for what it’s worth, that’s what I learned on this first go-around.  Tomorrow I’ll post on food and tablescape!

We survived.

Katie2 Comments

Jude’s party was a success, and we somehow survived.  Lesson learned: Kids parties are absolute chaos. One friend of mine was unable to come, and I told her on Twitter that “It was like the wildest frat party.  Except high-pitched and with no beer.”  That’s the best description I can muster at the moment.

Later this week, I’ll have some time to reflect and post on all the party details.  The circus theme was fun and pretty easy to execute!

 

Our little family with our ONE year old!

 

Making Progress

KatieLeave a comment

Big news around here.  You can see my dining room table again.  That thing that has been cluttered with craft projects for weeks? That’s a table?

I have no shame.

Yep.  Sad but true. I really didn’t want to post that photo for fear of looking like a slob, but in the effort of honesty and full disclosure, there you have it.  Jude’s Big Top Circus Carnival Birthday Extravaganza has turned into the DIY party of the decade for two reasons: 1. I love to craft and now that I am not grading papers, I have time.  Yay!  2. Now that I am not grading papers, we have quite the restricted income, and doing things yourself is almost always cheaper.

So Scott never says anything to me about the state of things round here.  With the exception of my craft room, I mean the formal dining room that is hardly ever used anyhow, I try to keep things livable.  But he left for Toronto earlier this week, and was like, Ummm.  Could you maybe, I mean if you are done, could you just maybe get around to cleaning that room.  It’s scary in there. I would have argued, but then I saw the mess, and he was right.  After that, I realized I needed to work hard to get some projects finished this week during naptimes.

So I have a little paper crafting left to do, but the sewing is all finished, and now my table looks like it should.  Ahhhhh.  Clean slate.

(This is a pretty fall leafy thing, but it totally looks like Christmas in this photo somehow.)

Anyway, my crafting conquests are close to finished and it feels good to see that the ridiculous month-long mess wasn’t for nothing.  I finished the 30 pennant flags in all sorts of colors (although I haven’t photographed them.)  I also finished the paper mustaches we are using for the photo booths if guests feel like being silly.

I designed and printed the favor labels on my scrapbooking program.

And last but not least, I made Jude’s birthday shirt.  (It’s a combination of freezer paper stenciling and applique.  Awesome tutorials here and here.  If you use the right kind of Heat n’ Bond, you can do this if you don’t even sew!)

The close up of the patch reveals that the paint got kinda smudgy because I put it on too thick.  It’s far from perfect, but I love that it looks all baby boy, rough-and-tumble with it’s patchy, bright, primary colors and casual sort of look.  I hope he forgives me one day for forcing him to match the decorations at his birthday party.

Last but not least, this great post inspired me to do a little fall decorating inside the house this year, rather than my usual protocol which is throwing a wreath on the door and digging out the pumpkin spice candle.  I usualy avoid indoor fall decor because our living room is blue and that doesn’t go too well with many earth tones, and I also hate that a-scarecrow-threw-up-on-my-doorstep style that you see so often.  When I saw this simple elegance and understated autumn look though, I decided to jump right in.  I’m happy with the cozy final result and it cost me about $25 at Hobby Lobby.  Win!  It’s simple, but it’s enough to make me crave spice cake, warm cider, and long sleeves.  I’m thinking I might do a little more next year.  Yay for online inspiration.

On that subject, it’s about 90 degrees every afternoon here in hot Atlanta, by the way, but we are pretending it’s fall.  Beer and football on the agenda here today – and maybe some reading and crafting for me.  Happy weekending!  Enjoy the time with your friends and family.

Wrapping up Summer and Onward to Fall

KatieLeave a comment

Summer is over, and I am feeling like a wilted flower. It was a good one, for sure.  But cooler temperatures would be nice.  I’m actually tired of blinding sun.  I’m over the pool.  I’m definitely ready to sit on my porch again without sweltering heat and humidity. Here in Georgia, we are starting to get a *little* break from it, but the real thing is a few weeks off.

I can’t wait for long sleeves, and apple cider, homemade soup, and the hum of football on the television, and I’m counting down the days to my favorite season.  Way back on June first, I posted my goals for the summer. Even though it’s still summer-like outside, Labor Day is the unofficial end to the season around here, so my time has run out.  As I look back at the past few months, I see it truly was a great summer, and I actually accomplished quite a bit.

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Things that were on my list and were completed:

Things that were not on the list, but I like to write them down anyway because I did them and I like feeling accomplished:

Before I get too proud, I have to remind myself that there are a few things I said I would do this summer, but they never happened:

  • I wanted to sew 3 fleece diaper covers, and I never did.  In my defense though, I purchased one and it really just didn’t work well for us.  I need to make other sewing goals.
  • I intended to sell remnants from my diaper stash that did not work for us.  Hasn’t happened.
  • I still haven’t finished my jewelry organizer even though I have the materials to do so.
  • I said I would drink more water and drink kefir everyday.  Nope.
  • We really, really need to clean out our home office.  It is scary and intimidating.  I didn’t touch it all summer.
  • I never learned to can vegetables with my grandmother this summer.  This one actually makes me sad because I really want to learn.  She had out of town company, so canning was hurried this summer.  I am making this a priority for fall though.  Their fall garden is not as large as their summer one, but there’s still a need to can a little.
  • While I have come close, I have not technically kept the grocery bill at $75 every week.  I need to start carrying a calculator in the store.

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I’ve been thinking about fall goals and want to keep it simple while catching up on neglected summer tasks.  This “ta-da” list feels great though.  Doesn’t it feel nice to take a look at what you’ve really accomplished?  So that’s mine, what did you do this summer?

Daily Photos

Katie5 Comments

So the summer is winding down, and I will soon be writing about my progress and, ahem, lack of progress on my massive summer to do list. One of the things I said I wanted to work on was taking more photos and hopefully better photos.  I started a 365 project on Flickr where I take a self-portrait everyday – some of which are very boring and some are not, but the point is that my daily activities are recorded in all their glory.  (Sarcasm intended.)  I like storing them on Flickr because you can choose the level of privacy, and I have a very small number of Flickr contacts so I can be held accountable and stay on track with this project without sharing my photos with the whole world.

There are a million “Project 365” groups out there, and there are some fabulous photographers who really have beautiful pieces in their 365 collections.  Let me explain that I am an amateur photographer at best. I didn’t even know where the self-timer button on my camera was until fairly recently!  The purpose of this, for me, is to appreciate the small things and maybe, just maybe, make life slow down a tiny bit.  I’m only 102 days in, but so far I’ve captured so many moments – the last days of teaching and moving out of my classroom, hanging out with Jude at home, various tasks in the kitchen, crafting here and there, reading a book on the porch, getting together with girlfriends, seeing Seattle for the first time with my little family……

Yes, there are some nights when I realize I am going to bed and I have yet to take my daily photo.  That’s when I come up with beauties like this one.

And half of my photos are of food….because when in doubt, I take a picture of what we are eating for dinner.

But despite the occasional boredom, this project has been a really great reflective exercise for me. I am already astonished at how much Jude has changed, and I can only imagine how I’ll feel at the end of the year as I look back at my photographs.  Plus I know I sometimes get in a funk wondering what I DO with my time.  I love that this makes me see that spending a cozy night on the sofa or doing a small task here or there to improve my home or family is, in fact, something.  The small things make our days count.  A quick photo a day has helped me see that, if nothing else.

May 30, 2010 - early sleepy morning cuddles

So I encourage you to capture little parts of your life. Whether it’s a day, or a week, or a year, photograph the little things that you think are boring.  They’re more charming and sentimental than you think.

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“Teach us… that we may feel the importance of every day, of every hour, as it passes.” – Jane Austen

Party Prep and Inspiration – Carnival Birthday

Katie4 Comments

Jude’s birthday is around the corner.  (How do I have a ten month old!?  …..but that’s another post.)  I am in full swing for party prep around here.   I first saw the idea for a circus party, this post actually, late one night while I was up with a tiny newborn, and I have been in love ever since.  Now it seems like circus/carnival themes are EVERYWHERE, or maybe I am just noticing them more since it’s on my mind.  I love that so many elements are DIY and can save you lots of money since parties can be quite expensive if you aren’t careful.  The internet is a goldmine for inspiration on this theme, and Google Images is my best friend lately.  Behold the beauty!  (Click on the image if you want a closer look.)

Sources for the above inspirations: Peppers and Pollywogs, The Sweetest Occasion, Martha Stewart , Miko Design , Joyful Weddings and Events, The Creative Party Place, Gordon Gossip, 45 Wall Design , Jolie Jolie Design

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With a mobile and curious little boy, I don’t have loads of time, so most of my crafting is done late at night after he’s asleep.  I have managed to sew a few pennant flags.

I love the idea of using fabric instead of paper so that I can reuse them in years to come.

….And make a banner for his high chair when he eats his birthday cupcake.

I can't wait to see him smash cupcake on his face!

There’s much more crafting to be done, and I know the date will sneak up on me, and I’ll be in a mad fury to finish half-done projects the week before, but as a party-planning fiend, I’m excited to see the final result.  I’m also designing my own invitations for the first time ever using my digital scrapbooking program.  In the end, after you pay for cardstock and ink, I’m not sure it’s that much cheaper, but I’m going to give it a try.

So that’s where I am on party planning around here.  What about you?  Do you have a favorite party blog that you use for inspiration?  What about a post of your own where you profile your own soiree?  If so, leave me the link in a comment. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got!

 

ETA:  See my completed birthday carnival extravaganza here or here.  🙂

Easy, Creative Scrapbooking

Katie9 Comments

I was quite the scrapbooker years ago.  I have one MASSIVE scrapbook that encompasses my four amazing years spent at a women’s college, and I have a great book that details my summer study abroad in 2001.  I still look at them from time to time and love reliving those moments as I turn the pages.  I can remember spending Saturdays or lazy afternoons hunched over a table with mounds of scraps and paper, and I think it was time well spent.  They are books that still make me feel happy when I peruse the ticket stubs and photos that I matted and glued to patterned paper, and I know I’ll keep these albums for a long, long time.

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The problem now, however, is that I obviously don’t have the time I used to when it comes to crafty projects.  Aside from that, scrapping in the traditional sense creates a HUGE mess.  I don’t have the space or the patience to have glue, scissors, cut outs, and piles of paper in my house right now.  I discovered digital scrapbooking a couple of months ago, and I decided to invest in some software and give it a try.  Y’all this is addictive and so incredibly easy!  There’s no mess because it’s all held on your computer, and if you mess up or decide you don’t like it, just start again.  I love it.  As I said before, completing part of this book is on my enormous summer to-do list. This weekend, I thought I’d get started with a page or two and I made 26 pages in one night!  In ways, it’s not as sentimental as traditional scrapbooking because you can’t store things like the first lock of hair or a hospital bracelet, but I intend to place those somewhere else less artful, and use this for presentation of my photos.  I’m approaching mine as a sort of letter to Jude to give him on his first birthday because that feels most natural for me, but you could do whatever works for you.

Here are a few pages I’ve finished, and I’m not exaggerating that they take minutes.   I use Memory Mixer software, and it’s really simple, but I know there are a number of programs out there that are easy and affordable.  When the whole book is complete, you can order a hardcover, bound version on Shutterfly or Snapfish, or whatever site you choose.

the title page of our first year scrapbook

Simple, quick, creative scrapbooking works for me!  For more Works for Me Wednesday, head to We are THAT Family.

Busy Summer

Katie6 Comments

It’s been a busy morning around here.  Actually, I lied.  It totally hasn’t.  The pace has been slow and leisurely, and we enjoyed some playtime on the porch this morning.  After last week’s soaking in all the gratitude for this new SAHM gig, I feel like I need to get busy and establish a routine for myself.  But, oh!  These are the days.  Sometimes I want to do nothing but play with this happy boy.

Memorial Day is sort of the unofficial beginning to summer around here, and Labor Day is the unofficial end to sweaty pool days and beginning to autumn.  As a teacher, I would begin each summer with absolute laziness and then panic some time around the Fourth of July when I realized that I had a to-do list a mile long and I had accomplished none of it.  While I don’t have the start of the academic year looming ahead this time, I do feel the need to get some A LOT of things done in the next 3 months.  Inspired by my friend Amanda’s list, I decided to write down my goals here so that I have to achieve them or else be shamed by my laziness.  So here they are.  Some big, some small.  I’ve tried to categorize them, but in that process I’ve realized that some of them are quite random.

    In the Kitchen – Cook better food when Scott is out of town.  (I got this awesome book to help me.) – Overcome prior disappointment with dough that refuses to rise and successfully bake my own bread. – Master ten new dishes. – Make decent-tasting tofu dish. 

  • Craftiness – Get my Grandmother to reteach me how to sew. (I have a sewing machine and sewed often before graduate school and teaching, but I haven’t done anything on it at all since the fall of 2004 when I enrolled in Agnes Scott.) – Sew 3 fleece diaper covers for Jude’s cloth diapers. – Complete 25 pages in Jude’s digital scrapbook. I used to love paper crafts (scrapping included), but this AMAZING book made me want to do digital.  I’ve paid $30 for software and now need to get started. – Take more pictures.  Take better pictures. (I began a 365 project on Flickr that has me taking photos everyday and learning slowly but surely to use our camera to soak up those pretty little moments.) – Finish the jewelry organizer I started last weekend.  The window screening I’m using is being difficult, so I think I need to take another route and amend my original plans on that one.
  • Personal / Health – Drink more water. – Drink Kefir everyday. (This stuff does wonders for me; I just need to remember to drink it.) – Make time for reading again. – Start yoga again after not practicing for 7 months. – Partake in some form of physical activity for at least 20 minutes everyday, Monday-Friday.  (This makes me sound like an absolute lazy lard lump, but of course I am up and moving all the time – laundry, playing in the floor with Jude, wearing and carrying him all over town. etc.  What I haven’t done in about 7 months is deliberate physical exercise for the purpose of burning calories or toning myself.  This has to change.  My ass says so.)
  • Home / Organizational – Establish a housecleaning routine that gets the job done and works for me. – Organize our home office. (Y’all this is THE project around here.  The one that hangs over me and slaps me in the face every time I walk in there.  Scary, scary place right now.) – Clean out Jude’s drawers and closet, pack away outgrown clothes, get out new sizes. – Come up with at least 5 bags of junk to leave this house and take to Goodwill. – Pack up infant gear we have outgrown the need for. – Sell cloth diapers that didn’t work for us.  (Yes, people do this.  I have high-quality hemp BabyKicks brand prefolds and cute gDiapers that don’t work for me.  I need to make the money from them and get this out of this cluttered house.)
  • Miscellaneous – Learn to can vegetables.  (My Grandmother is dying to teach me, and it’s a trade I’d like to know if I can get over my fear of the pressure cooker.) – Update this blog twice a week. – Visit the Alpharetta Farmer’s Market at least twice this summer. – Go on at least 5 real dates with my husband. (Real means make-up, sitter, dinner out, maybe even earrings.) – Pay off the Nissan so that we don’t have a car payment and can breathe a little easier with only one income. – Find 2 tutoring clients so that I have some spending money. – Keep my grocery bill at $75 a week and stay on our no-processed rule.  (This is HARD, y’all.  Why is unhealthy food so much cheaper?)

Whew.  It looks like so much when I write it all down.  Public acocuntability works for me though.  What’s on your list this summer?