So we “just” returned from the beach back in late July, ha. I would have written this post sooner, but we literally came back to turn around and move! We went to the Destin area, Blue Mountain Beach to be exact. Two years ago we stayed around this area, but this year we stayed at a new hotel, Redfish Village condos. We went with Brad’s immediately family, and some of his extended family also were there which made it a mini-family reunion.
So lately I have been trying to make cheap and easy lunches. So these are by far not the healthiest, ha. However they are probably better than some of the frozen meals you can buy. All three ingredients are often BOGOs at Publix which make it a really great deal.
Melody first started gymnastics last summer. She really didn’t enjoy it, and we opted to not sign her up or the fall and spring last year. I would basically have to force Melody to go from station to station, and it just wasn’t enjoyable at all. Brad wanted to give it another go this summer, so I had him pick a time that he could attend the class with her.
Melody started back at school last week. It was in the midst of a lot of chaos. We sold our first home and purchased our new home on a Thursday and sent her to school on Monday. While this may seem ideal, we spent Sunday night searching for last minute things we forgot to leave out for school. No fancy sign this year because I couldn’t find the chalk markers. I thought I knew where they were, and I gave up around midnight and used a piece of construction paper and sharpie instead. I found the most adorable dress from Smocked A Lot, and while she did cry when we dropped her off, I think she was super confused at all the moving and not being at her “normal” house and such. She is now perfectly fine!
So I have been missing lately, but I have a good excuse! We spent the last month or so moving into our new home! And believe me, there are many blog posts to come regarding our move. Plus everything else going on in our lives over the last few months (aka beach, school, staging our home to sale, moving, our new home, and on and on and on!). Stay tuned!
This is one of those recipes that looked great on Pinterest, but while making it, I was kind of grossed out. However, in the end, it both tasted and looked delicious! I also adjusted the recipe to our liking, so below is my version.
My best friend Emily did a Paw Patrol themed birthday party for Lydia’s 3rd birthday. She really wanted to make some sort of invitation like she did in years’ past, but a lot like me, we keep saying that we are going to take the “easy” way out and buy premade ones. Well while that may be easy, it isn’t always as cute or as cheap. So with Pinterest’s help, we came up with a design, I used the Silhouette Cameo to cut it, and she assembled it!
At Melody’s Snow White birthday party, I wanted something to hang on our back door during the party. None of my smaller door hangers really fit the theme, so I decided to make something myself.
For quite a long time, we have wanted to spend some time updating our bedroom and bathroom. But we have just spent time focusing on other parts of our house. So we decided to finally make the time and update it back in May after Brad being there 10 years and I being there 5.
Tuna salad can be so hit or miss with me. I went through phases of eating it a lot backed when I worked in an office, to now rarely eating it because I am so much pickier about how it is fixed. Back during my office days, I would eat it straight out of a packet on a bed of lettuce. Not now. Now I want to use the food processor and make it more of a dip. But most days I am too lazy for this, and I have never found a recipe I loved. Well I finally made one I really liked. I don’t love it, and I would likely use less mayo next time, but it was worthy of sharing.
For Melody’s Snow White Birthday Party, I wanted to add inexpensive but themed decor throughout. I had the idea for her to paint a Snow White canvas painting. I had some big canvases, but I opted to use one of the smaller ones because it would be easier to paint, and it would allow for an easier placement at the party.
For Mother’s Day this year, I decided to make both my mom and Brad’s mom homemade pictures frames. I bought a pack of wooden frames from Michael’s, and we used paint and brushes we already had at home!
So I guess I should finally share Melody’s pictures from dance this last year, ha! I mean we only have had them since March…Oh well! She was a stinker and refused to smile, but that’s the norm!
We really don't make fish often enough. I forget to buy it, and just don’t always think about it. And we do make it, I am always trying new recipes like this one! It was really good and gave it something extra by having the breading.
For Melody’s Snow White birthday party, I wanted to keep the food simple and light. Years past I always spent way too much on food, and I had way too much leftover. So this year I decided I would do a few smaller things and then do something that was the focus/centerpiece of the food. I kept the dessert on a separate table, so that is why I decided to do this approach.
As I mentioned in many posts it feels like, I wanted to make cut out sugar cookies for Melody’s Snow White birthday party. Well I worked on a recipe for a while and finally perfected a cookie recipe and a cookie icing recipe. I used this recipe to also make apple cookies for Melody’s end of year teacher gifts. Well Emily asked if I could make Paw Patrol cookies for Lydia’s third birthday.
So we visited the Gardens a few times this Spring, but definitely not as much as I would have liked. We did meet up with some preschool friends, made some new friends, and got Dada to come along with us too!
One evening a while back I invited my parents over for tacos. My mom had actually already started the process for this fajita casserole so she just brought it over, and I stole the recipe! It is super yummy and nice change to regular fajitas.
So I knew back in December when I was considering doing a Snow White Birthday party for Melody that if I did, she would wear her Snow White dress from Halloween. It would be perfect and adorable. We even took the dress to Disney World in February to take some pictures of her to use around the party for decor.
The week of Melody’s Snow White Birthday, I started reconsidering party favors. I already magical kisses favors, but as the party neared I realized we would have quite a few kids. So I decided I wanted to do something small for the kids specifically but wasn’t sure what.
