A Simple Sprinkle

Happy Monday!  Are y'all ready for Thanksgiving?! Or are you making last minute preparations and trips to the grocery store like me?!  I'm not hosting Thanksgiving at my house, but I can tell you I'll wait 'til the 9th hour to head to the grocery store and grab everything I need for my dinner contributions and then I'll be saying all sorts of unkind words about the insanity that is the market the day before a holiday.  Whew.  

In other news, this is my current view...

The boys have the week off, my baby niece arrives in the morning, and I'm going to stuff my face FULL on Thursday.  You could say I'm JOLLY as all get out :)

The house is officially decorated and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Since we spend quite a bit of time out of town over the holidays I love to decorate early so we have lots of time to enjoy it all.  Last year at this time I was hosting Christmas Week here on the blog.  I posted some of my favorite Christmas traditions, some Elf on the Shelf Ideas, Christmas decor, and a little Gift Guide.  Since my mind is focused on my new niece (arriving tomorrow morning!!!!) and Thanksgiving festivities, I'm going to hold off on Christmas Week and wait until Monday, 11/30, to start.  Here's how we'll kick off the holiday season...

If y'all are planning on doing some shopping this week, I'll be back with a few gift guides on Wednesday.  I think this is the first year I have lots of gifts already purchased.  The women in my families are all taken care of and Mr. Spouse will tackle all the men.  We haven't started shopping for the boys yet, but that won't take long.  We like to go by this gift rule:  something you want...something you need...something to play with...something to read.  Plus a few stocking stuffers and a traditional Christmas Eve gift from mom and dad.  Our families always do so much for the kids so Santa only delivers a few things.  Nothing crazy!  

In honor of my sister who is currently in her last few hours of pregnancy, I wanted to share with you the shower I helped host for her at the beginning of the month.  The theme was "Sprinkled with Love" because we were really just giving her a "sprinkle" and not a full blown invite everyone kind of baby shower.  She already has one little man so she didn't need anything huge, but since she's having a girl this go-round we did want to sprinkle her with a few girly things she doesn't have already :)

As you can see, the decor was super simple.  Her sprinkle was a week after Halloween and I didn't have time to decorate for Christmas, so I took down all the Halloween, kept all the white pumpkins out, and then strung together the pennants for baby Olivia's banner and hung it from the mantle. 

You can't really tell from the picture, but in the middle of the mantle is a set of 4 candle holders (from the Dollar Tree) filled with sprinkles and a tea light.  Couldn't have been easier!!!

Hobby Lobby carries the wooden pennants by letter.  I think they come in black and white, too.  They're $2 per pennant, but only a dollar if you wait 'til they're marked half off.  #winning

This is the table you see when you walk in the front door and we kept that as simple as possible.  I did a little chalk art and then set out a couple more sprinkle filled candle holders with tea lights.

Speaking of "sprinkle", here's what we did for the statement decor.  I made those very sad looking tissue paper clouds and the raindrops (using a pack of assorted pink cardstock).  I hung the clouds using fishing wire and did the same for the raindrops, too.  I wish I would've gotten a picture of the table completely decked out with food and whatnot, but this is as good as it gets.

I tried to mimic the same feel in the kitchen next to the drink station using balloons (for clouds) and those same raindrops.  I just taped the balloons and strands of raindrops to the curtain rod.  I'm not ashamed to tell you that there's still a rogue strand hanging from the curtain rod 3 weeks later.  #lazy

You might be able to see a chalkboard display in the picture above.  Here's how that looked up close

I just strung a few pieces of jute around the chalkboard and then attached mini clothespins to it.  I found those little kraft envelopes at Hobby Lobby and then cut the white pieces of cardstock to fit.  I set out a little pitcher of pens and labeled all of the envelopes with baby Olivia's name.  The idea behind this display was to have each of the guests write a little love note to Olivia...maybe a favorite scripture, a piece of advice, or whatever they wanted.  Then they put their notes in the kraft envelopes and hung them on the chalkboard using the clothespins.  After everyone had a chance to write a note to Olivia, my sister chose one note off the board, read it aloud, and then that guest got to take home a door prize (a chalkboard with the verse, "every good and perfect gift is from above" and a $5 Starbuck's gift card).  I wanted all the envelopes to have matching handwriting so that it would be fair :)

Speaking of gifts, here's what we gave to our guests....

These darling little test tubes full of "sprinkles" :)  We tried to find bath confetti, but dear Lord...it was an exercise in futility.  I couldn't find any anywhere.  Even Amazon failed me.  Instead we used the chiclets gum for the sprinkles and it was a perfect fit.  And let's be real...there probably wouldn't have been many party guests who would actually put the bath confetti to good use, so I think the gum was a great substitute!

Last but not least, we decorated my little buffet with a "Ready to POP!" bar.   I found the cutest little confetti sprinkled goody bags at Hobby Lobby and set those out so that our guests could fill their bags with whatever they wanted....popcorn with sprinkles, blow pops, ring pops, and bubble gum. 

This was a hit with the kids (are you surprised?! Ha!)

The shower/sprinkle was at 1 in the afternoon, so we served a light lunch and drinks.  Here's how the menu panned out...

DRINKS

Iced Tea

Pretty in Pink Party Punch

LUNCH

Aunt Gina's chicken salad served with crackers and croissants

Ham & Cheese Sliders

Sara's Favorite Pasta Salad

Fruit Salad

Chips and Spinach Dip

DESSERT

Cupcakes with Sprinkles

Donuts with Sprinkles

Sprinkle Cookies

Hard to believe that I'll be holding that sweet little sack of sugar by this time tomorrow!!!!  My heart is full!!!

Sippin' On A CopyCat

When I was a kid, I would get SO excited to see packets of Kool Aid in the cupboards.  That usually meant we were in for a treat.  Whether it was a pitcher of fruit punch or Kool-Aid flavored DIY popsicles, seeing those packets really excited me.  As we got older, we graduated from Kool Aid to Countrytime Lemonade.  YUM.  Still love it to this day.

My boys are HUGE fans of lemonade.  We have big plans to have a lemonade themed week and end it all with a lemonade stand and sale in July.  It will be the first (of many, I'm sure) for my boys.  I'm always looking for ways to make a delicious pre-packaged drink mix even better.  I like shortcuts. I don't always have time to make everything from scratch.  This drink most definitely fits the bill!

This little spin on the traditional glass of lemonade has quickly become a family favorite.  We've got the ingredients stocked and ready to pour so we'll have it on hand all summer long.  I hear this is a copycat recipe...a Red Robin special.  I've never been there so I can't tell you how closely it comes to the original, but ohmiword, it's SO good!!  (And it's delicious with the addition of fine spirits, too ;))

COPYCAT FRECKLED LEMONADE (RED ROBIN)

via Raining Hot Coupons

2 TBSP frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed

1 1/2 C. Minute Maid or CountryTime Lemonade

This recipe above is for a single serving.  Just fill your cup halfway with ice and pour the strawberries and lemonade on top.  Stir to combine and garnish with a lemon wedge for fun!  Delicious and refreshing...the perfect summer drink!!!

Gender Reveal Party

I am THRILLED to announce that my "baby" sister is pregnant again!!!  More like ecsteatic.  I was beside myself when she had her first.  I couldn't wait for another little nephew to join the family.  And I couldn't wait to watch the bond between our boys grow as they get older.   And let me just tell you....my boys are smitten by their baby cousin.  They love him to pieces.  

When I found out Sara was pregnant this time, I offered to host a gender reveal party for them.  I've never been to one and I always find myself in a puddle of tears when I watch the reveal videos.  I (selfishly) crossed my fingers in hopes she'd agree and she loved the idea!  Yay!!  

We hosted our first gender reveal party this past Saturday and went with a simple pink and blue theme. Team Blue or Team Pink....What Do You Think?!  We didn't get too fancy.  I just sent out a quick Evite with a little blurb asking our guests to choose a team and then wear their team colors to the party.  Score.

Chalkboard:  Michaels

I decorated the snack table, the mantle, and that's it.  Everything was pink and blue.  Let me just tell you that I had the best time buying #allthepink.  I love my boys like crazy....and I love all the boy "stuff"... but having a little bit of pink in the house sure was fun :)  

Here's the snack table.  Since the party was at 3, we decided not to serve lunch.  Instead, we had a table full of punch, candy dipped Oreos, cupcakes, candy/sprinkle coated marshmallows, and mommy's cravings...pickles and fruit salad.  We also served baby meatballs, tailgate chips, quarterback queso, and baby corn dogs :)  

Hanging decor, tablecloths, straws, paper goods, scoreboard chalkboard:  Hobby Lobby

Drink dispensers:  Wal Mart

Mini Chalkboard:  Michaels

I know I could've outsourced the cupcakes, but I really didn't want to.  I have a huge problem spending money on things I feel like I can do myself.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  I love a good bakery cupcake.  And theirs most ALWAYS looks and tastes way better than anything I bake.  However, I love making my own.  Less expensive and so much fun and homemade cupcakes are just so darn good.  I cheated...of course...and used a box cake mix as the base...but then I used THIS RECIPE to amp it up a few notches.  Ohmiword.  Y'all.  Some of the BEST cupcakes and frosting I've ever had!!!!  It's a MUST try!!!!  I dipped the golden Oreo's in the pink and blue colored Wilton candy melts then tossed a few sprinkles on them, too. 

The punch was insanely good and they both make the most delicious summer cocktails (with the addition of vodka or rum.  You could even go old school and toss in some Malibu :) ).  

PRETTY IN PINK PUNCH

2 jugs of Simply Lemonade (Raspberry)

1 liter of Sprite

(You can toss in a few raspberries and lemon slices for an extra touch of fun!)

LITTLE BOY BLUE BREW

1 jug of Berry Blue Typhoon Hawaiian Punch

1 liter of sprite

Countrytime Lemonade (I used two capfuls - 4 qts. - of the powder mix)

I found blue & pink cups and then adhered little chalkboard sticker labels to each of them and just wrote "team blue/team pink" on each.  I also found some fun pink and blue straws and set those out by the pitchers of punch.

I also loved the idea of having a little setup of mommy's cravings.  Right now my sister is craving pickles and fruit.  So I set out some Dell Dixies and then a bowl full of fruit salad.  The fruit salad included pineapple chunks...with a little bit of the juice undrained...chopped apples, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries.  Then I took a package of instant vanilla pudding and poured about 3/4ths of it on top of the fruit and mixed it up.  It was like a dessert!!!  YUM!!!

We also set up a scoreboard in the middle of the food so that our guests could add their tallies to their team pick :)  

I set out a little "Suggest a Name" station for the guests to fill out while they were waiting for the reveal.  Girl names were written on the pink paint strips or post its and the boys were written on the blue.  It was so much fun reading all of the suggestions.  Even funnier was reading the suggestions from my oldest.  Somehow I don't think "Princess Peach" or " Mario" will make the cut :)

Large chalkboard & mini pink and blue chalkboards:  Michaels

I went really simple on the mantle and just hung a few little decorative circles and a little chalkboard banner that read "Oh Baby".  Then I made a chalkboard of Old Wives Tales gender predictions.  I had it all written out and then waited to complete it as a little party activity with the parents and all of their guests.  It was so fun!

Hanging decor:  Hobby Lobby;  Chalkboard banner - Michaels;  Large Chalkboard:  Marshall's

After we filled out the old wives tales, we headed outside for the big reveal.

My sister wanted balloons, so I picked some up at our local party store and then (very poorly) wrapped them up in a big ol' box.  I decided to weigh the balloons down with a gift bag (full of clothes) so that they could take pics next to the box when they found out the gender.

And....

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!  Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!

They decided to wait to find out along with everyone else and they were overcome with emotion :)  I LOVE IT!!!

I couldn't be more excited for them!!!  And I'm SO excited I'll have a baby niece to dress up :)  This side of the family needed some estrogen.  

Before our guests left, they got to take a little snack for the road.  I made some pink & blue sugar cookie puppy chow for party favors.  IT was SO yum!!!!  

PINK & BLUE SUGAR COOKIE PUPPY CHOW

9 cups of Vanilla Chex Cereal

1 cup of powdered sugar

3 cups of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix (in a pouch)

3/4 cup Blue Wilton Candy Melts

3/4 cup Pink Wilton Candy Melts

Set aside two large bowls.  Add 4.5 cups of the chex cereal to both bowls.  In two separate, small bowls mix together 1/2 c. of powdered sugar and 1 1/2 cup of the sugar cookie mix. Melt the blue candy and pour it over one bowl of the vanilla Chex.  Mix until combined.  Now pour the powdered sugar/sugar cookie mix  over the blue vanilla chex.  Cover the bowl (I used Press N' Seal) and shake until all of the cereal is evenly coated.  Pour out onto baking sheet to dry.  Now melt the pink candy, pour it over the remaining bowl of vanilla Chex and mix until combined.  Repeat the process adding in the remaining powdered sugar/sugar cookie mix over the cereal, cover, and shake until combined.  Pour out onto wax paper covered baking sheet to dry.

Such a FUN day and such a precious memory.  I'll never forget the way my sister reacted when she found out they were having a girl.  I can't wait to spoil this little girl rotten...and then send her back home to her momma ;)  

But First, Coffee.

Confession time.  I have OCD. 

 Obsessive Coffee Disorder.  

I can't start my day without a steaming hot cup....or two.  

MUST.HAVE.COFFEE.

Okay, so I must have Jesus first and then all the coffee.  And just in case my love for coffee wasn't apparent enough, I had to make sure all my guests were aware of that fact, too...

            

Besides white pitchers, coffee mugs are my favorite thing to collect.  

Albeit busy and cluttered, I love our little coffee bar.

When I first started teaching 13 years ago, I made it my personal mission to love coffee.  Before my first day teaching, I had never had a cup.  I'd also never woken up before 11, but that's a whole different story.  Waking up before the sun rose was a struggle.  I remember my 35 minute commute like it was yesterday.  From my tiny little apartment in the heart of Dallas to a little school in the suburbs just north of the city.  I would stop at Whataburger...because it was right down the street...and grab a small coffee...along with 9 creamers and about 6 packets of sugar. #thestrugglewasreal

A year or so later, I was introduced to Starbuck's.  It didn't take long for me to find my favorite flavor.  I started out with a grande caramel machhiato.  Then I fell in love with white chocolate mocha.  Now, this was all before kids, so the fat conent in the white chocolate mocha didn't reside on my thighs and hips like it does now.  After kids, I switched over to the skinny vanilla latte because it made me feel **thismuch** better.  And in all honesty, I preferred the taste.  That's not to say I didn't love my occasional caramel frapuccino (extra caramel, please!!!) or my iced white mocha, but the taste of the skinny vanilla latte was my morning cup of happy.  

Adam eventually bought a Keurig so that we could brew our own little cups of happiness from the comfort of our own home, but I didn't get on board right away.  I went to the gym before going to school, so taking a cup of coffee with me wasn't an option.  Plus, there was a Starbuck's in the gym parking lot, so I'd stop there every morning after working out and grab a tall skinny vanilla latte and a cup of oatmeal.  YUM.

Upon moving to our little town just east of Houston, I was BUMMED to find out that the nearest Starbuck's was a 20 minute drive away.  Okay, so depressed would more accurately describe my feelings.  Where would I get my morning cup of overpriced coffee now?!?!?!   There was no way I was willing to drive 20 miles in the opposite direction before school every morning.  It was hard enough for me to get myself ready, but adding 2 kids to the mix would make the feat nearly impossible.

So I gave into the Keurig craze.  Donut Shop Coffee K-Cups were always in full supply and with a little...ahem, A LOT....of my favorite hazelnut creamer, I was sure I found a winner.  I've become a lot more health conscious these last few years and about a year ago I ditched the creamer and went straight to milk and Stevia as my preferred sweeteners.  It was a gradual process, of course.  I missed my frou-frou coffee.  A lot.  My husband kept telling me how much I'd love plain, black coffee if I'd just give it a try.  Well...I did.  And I spit it back out.  

I wanted to like black coffee SO badly!!!  So I gradually weaned myself off the milk and sweetener.  And now I can excitedly say that I LOVE black coffee and don't want it ANY other way!!!!  That's not to say I don't enjoy the occasional frou-frou serving of sweetness, but black is definitely the way to go. 

My favorite plain, black coffee is from none other than Sonic.  Their Red Button Roast is hands-down the best coffee EVER.  I keep hoping to see it on the shelves at my local grocery store, but I'm sure that's just all wishful thinking.  For $1.50 a cup, I'll gladly stop by our small town Sonic for a cup every morning.  I just can't get enough!!!  

Of course, my husband would prefer I just brew it here at the house, but now that I've been drinking it black, I have yet to find a flavor I really enjoy. I ditched the Donut Shop K-cups because I felt like it had a sour flavor.  Some of the others I've tried are a little too bitter.  Adam ordered a bevvy of k-cups for me to try because he's determined to find me the perfect flavor.  Bless him.

So now the question begs to be asked.

What's your favorite?!  Is there something I'm missing??  I've tried the Folger's medium and dark roast...not my favorite.  I've also tried the French Roast (which is just a touch too strong).  If you have a favorite K-cup, I need to know what it is so I can try it, too!!!