Decorating for parties is probably one of my favorite things when planning. For Melody’s Rainbow Ranger birthday party, finding all things rainbow was a lot of fun.
Pool Days
Summer flew by this year I feel like. I don’t know if it is because it was Melody’s last summer before starting kindergarten or because we tried to fit so much in. But we did try to take advantage of the pool as often as we could!
Brad is 38!
Brad turned 38 back in August, but we were just able to celebrate with him earlier this week. Melody had a Mickey themed picked out for him way back in May, and she has kept it a secret the entire time! She may have went a little overboard, but since he wasn’t home for his actual birthday, I felt like it was worth it!
Air Fryer Squash
We do not cook squash enough in our household, but this is a quick and easy way to cook it that we need to do more often, honestly.
Rainbow Rangers Birthday Invitation
I want to say the Rainbow Rangers Birthday Invitation was probably made up of the most parts of any I have done so far. I keep saying I am done making them myself, but it will never happen, ha. The rainbow was probably one of my favorite things so far though!
August Fun
August has been a HUGE month for our household. Melody started school, Brad traveled for work, and he celebrated a birthday.
WellieWisher Doll Beds
Many months ago, Melody and Brad came up with the idea to make beds for her WellieWisher dolls. This actually became a thought before Christmas last year as a potential gift idea. After much trial and error and brainstorming, we finally finished it a few weeks ago.
Twice Baked Potatoes
These are very classic, but also often forgotten about. We love them, and it help keep us from eating an entire potato! I really did just wing it when it came to the ingredients, so adjust according to your preferences. But I am listing about what I used.
Making Candlesticks Standup
My mother in law gave me a candlestick holder for our dining room a few months ago. We have been looking for a piece for our dining room table, so this was perfect. However, I could not get the candlesticks to stand up straight to save my life. After a lot of googling, I came up with a solution that worked!
Wahlburgers
So about a month or so ago, we happened to be near Wahlburgers and decided to give it a try. We have had it for a while locally, but we honestly are never near it to think about it. And to add some humor to this post, Brad was throughly confused by all of the Mark Wahlberg memorabilia until I explained his connection.
Cook Museum of Natural Science
This summer we made a bucket list. I recently shared how much we accomplished on that bucket list. One of those things was visiting the Cook Museum in Decatur. So the week before school started, we made our way over there to see what it was about.
Air Fryer Seasoned Okra
I love our air fryer, but we go through moments of not using it. We love cooking okra, but it can stink up the house if we fry it. So I decided to try it in the air fryer. I have made it two ways. You can find one way here. The other way is below and is much easier.
Back to School Pictures
As part of a school fundraiser, a local photographer took back to school pictures at the lake at Melody’s elementary school. I loved how these pictures turned out. The photographer was so sweet and did such a great job. And I love having this little piece of her childhood documented.
Summer Bucket List Update
At the beginning of the summer, we made a bucket list of items we wanted to try and accomplish during Melody’s last summer before kindergarten. I wanted to share an update to how much we really accomplished before she started school earlier this month!
Yoat Bowls
I discovered these “yoat” bowls on Instagram a few months ago. It took me a bit to perfect mine, but I thought I would share!
Paper Plate Grill
For Father’s Day this year, I had Melody make paper plate grills for Brad and our dads. They were really easy to make and not too messy either. Check them out below.
Rainbow Ranger Communicators
Another favor that we had at Melody’s Rainbow Ranger birthday party was a communicator. Now if you are not familiar, it is a bracelet the Rangers wear that they can use to communicate with their leader and with each other. Melody really wanted this at her party, so Brad was on a mission to deliver!
Melody starts Kindergarten
As hard as is it for me to believe, Melody started kindergarten last week. It was so bittersweet. I am so excited to see her blossom and grown, and she absolutely loves school. But I can’t help to think about all the things we will now be missing out on with her in elementary school. Then to add fuel to the fire of my sadness, we basically lost a year of getting to go places and do things while we could. I am also going to miss spending more time with that baby of mine. Someone else gets to now experience so many of her new firsts for those 7 hours each day. So much sadness and happiness all rolled into one!
Air Fried Salmon
We have been having salmon a lot lately, and I found this recipe on Instagram that uses the air fryer to make it. It really crisps it and the flavor is great.
Simplified Planner 2021
This year I opted to still use a Simplified Planner, but I went with a DapperDesk instead of the daily planner. I really loved the idea of having full pages for the weekends, and it also was really, really pretty. I am only about two weeks in, but I do like it a lot. There are a few kinks I am still working out, but having the weekends has been totally worth it!