Party Planning

My baby girl turned the big O-N-E not too long ago and we're planning a big party with family and friends to celebrate. I love having people over, letting the kids run and play together, visiting with everyone, and most of all COOKING! I think there isn't anything better than making tons of food to share with others.

So! The food list. I love baking. Really. LOVE. Baking. Flour and sugar are undoubtedly the reason for my waist size, but that's a post for another day.

I'm making amazing and delicious cupcakes I found here.  I DO not (and never will) suggest using a box mix. Cake is super easy to make from scratch and tastes a thousand times better. My white cake recipe tastes a lot like sugar cookies, and while it doesn't rise as nicely as box mixes, it makes up for it in flavor. So mine will be made from scratch.

I'm making fabulously fun rainbow cookies. Though I must say, I'm not using her recipe. I have THE best sugar cookie recipe and why mess with excellence?

I'm also seriously considering making red velvet cupcakes. I have a serious love affair with cream cheese frosting and tons of people coming to our house sounds like an excellent excuse to make some.

I'll make separate posts about my food with pictures and recipes as I make it.

For regular food we're having classic grilled brats and hotdogs, the best sloppy joes, (and possibly hot wings and bbq rib pieces, depends on final head count), delicious BLT pasta salad, italian pasta salad, potato salad (because you can't have a summer party without potato salad, right?), my "just as good as KFC" coleslaw, I'll share the recipe for that later as well.

I'll also have rainbow goldfish crackers and a rainbow fruit AND rainbow veggie tray. I'm even making these yummy and fun rainbow popsicles.

I mentioned to a friend of mine just yesterday I might be getting carried away with the rainbow theme......

I've spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking up rainbow ideas for decorations that won't cost an arm and a leg. (I'm a frugal mama because I have to be!)
I have found TONS of ideas but I have 3 favorites.
Paper streamers, hanging paper cubes, and
gelatin plastic sun catchers.
You'll all have to let me know if mine turn out as good (or better!) than my inspiration!

New Beginnings

I decided to start a blog today (obviously). I've found I get almost all my ideas and recipes from blogs, so why not make my own creativity available to the world?
A little about me-I'm a 28 year old stay at home mom. Sometimes it's the best job in the world and other days I feel like jumping off the roof! I have 2 children of my own, a mischievous 4 1/2 year old son and a beautiful one year old daughter. I also have a 7 (almost 8!) year old step daughter. We have one kitty who lives outside and spends most of his time lazing on the porch.
We live on a small dairy farm in the middle of NOWHERE. My SIL and her husband run the farm and live right next door. They have 5 kids, 4 dogs, a guinea pig, a hedgehog, and several outside kitties.
So really, when I freak out and say it's a zoo around here I'm not kidding!
I'm passionate about baking and love gardening. I enjoy experimenting with crafts and am going to start trying my hand at sewing as well.
You will find as you get to know me and family that we your pretty typical middle class family. I can, in no way, be classified as any particular "type" of mom. We use cloth diapers (love!) and I am avid breastfeeding advocate but my house is usually a mess, my kids run amok and get into all varieties of misadventure, we eat meat, use sugar, and even eat in front of the TV some days.
So that's us in a nutshell. Stay tuned for the trials and tribulations of "mommyhood", fun craft ideas, excellent recipes, and whatever else I decide to throw on here.