Unforgettable Childhood

Nadia decided yesterday that we needed to celebrate her birthday. We didn’t ever celebrate her birthday at home. Taylor was in the hospital so we just celebrated with her there. And then with the craziness of Christmas that followed, she didn’t have a friend birthday either.

So we made a little cake and let her have her moment last night. Yes, she is in her pjs at the supper table. Her middle sister was sick and in her pjs all day so she decided that she needed to stay in pjs, too.

Blowing out her candle.

She thought it was funny to have Daddy wear her Birthday Girl Hat.

I am joining Seven Clown Circus for Wordful Wednesday.

One of my girlfriends recently had her first baby. I was involved in planning her shower. She really didn’t want cake at her shower, so I decided I needed to figure out how to make a diaper cake.

I found great instructions on how to make the cake, here. These instructions use a bottle of wine (I used Champagne) as the center element.. You also cover all of the diapers with tissue paper and ribbon instead of leaving them plain. I really like this look, it really finishes off the cake.

Diapers are not cheap so this makes a great decoration and gift, too.

I am glad that I had really read the instructions closely because the day I needed to make the cake I couldn’t get the site to open on my computer. I wish I would have taken pictures as I made it, but I forgot. I will make sure that I do the next time I make one. It took me quite awhile to make the first one, but I think the next one will go a little faster.

I used the extra diapers to make a couple of one tier cakes.

To finish off the decorations I made a blue and brown banner. I try to make the banners really cute because I have found that the moms like to hang them in the nursery after the shower.

I am joining in the fun over at The Girl Creative today for Just Something I Whipped Up. I can’t wait to see what everyone has for Show and Tell today!

I am joining the fun over at The Girl Creative today. The party is 2009 Top 10 Posts. I have a variety of favorites below. A lot are parties and celebrations that we had and activities I did with the girls. Here is just a few of my favorite posts. I hope to add a lot more crafting in 2010. I need a supply trip to Hobby Lobby and Michaels. My to-do list is growing for upcoming posts. Lucky for me there are awesome ladies over at The Girl Creative that are crafting geniuses. Enjoy!

1. Kickoff to Summer Party

2. Messy Art Party

3. Excovering

4. Afternoon Art Adventure

5. Disco ’til Dawn

6. Models of the Runway

7. The Blessing Tree

8. Gingerbread Houses

9. Backyard Campout

10. Amy vs. Daisy

Sunday was a beautiful day for sledding. We went with friends out to a big hill and the kids (and the dads) had a blast. Everybody got their workout, too. The hill was big and once you got down to the bottom, you had to get back to the top. . .

Taylor took a few tumbles, but she still has a smile on her face.

Nadia didn’t think that getting snow in her face as she zipped down the hill was worth it so she stood at the topped and pushed people down the hill.

Madi and her buddy went down and up the hill a thousand times. She even ended up with a bloody nose in one spill, but she wiped it off and went again.

They went down the hill until the sun went down. What a great winter day in South Dakota!

I am joining Seven Clown Circus for Wordful Wednesday. Check out other great photos, here.

If I were to stop and label my husband and I, that would be easy. He is a saver and I am a spender. We have had countless conversations about money (he is a banker by trade). Being the mother of the house, I do most of the spending. I buy all of the groceries and everything we need for the house. I clothe our children and take care of any school expenses they have. Without my spending there would be no food in my house and my kids would be naked. . .

When I entered into this massive Blogging Universe last year I started to read all of these amazing frugal blogs. I started to dream about living frugal. I started to dream about having money left in my checking account at the end of each week.

I have a lot of excuses as to why I have not started taking the advice of all the wonderful frugal bloggers that I read. . . First of all, I live in a very small town and the closest Wal-mart, Target, etc. is an hour and a half drive. It is not easy to save money on groceries when they are more expensive. The list could go on and on.

I am a coupon clipper, but I am not really a coupon user. I have good intentions, but I still haven’t figured out a system to get them used.

I am not a big spender, but I am not an organized spender. I probably go to the grocery store five times per week for things that I have forgotten.

I am kind of a frugal bloggers biggest nightmare. I need a frugal living makeover. Will you help me?

I am writing this post as part of the Inexpensively blog’s Blissfully Frugal contest to win a ticket to the Blissdom Conference. I would love the opportunity to meet some of you wonderful Frugal Bloggers in person. First you could scold me for not living frugal and then hopefully you could take me under your wing and guide me to living “Blissfully Frugal”.

We are going to add in a couple more healthy meal this week. We are trying lighter versions of some of our favorite meals. I got my new issue of Cooking Light so a couple of the recipes come from the new issue. Click on each menu item below to go to the recipe. I will be adding in side dishes with each of these items but I am not sure what I have in my pantry that will go with each meal. I am joining OrgJunkie today for Menu Plan Monday. If you need some dinner ideas, check out all of the great posts.

Monday: Fettuccine Alfredo with Bacon

Tuesday: Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Pepper

Wednesday: Taco Salad

Thursday: Mini Meatloaves

Friday: Date Night

Saturday: Cheeseburgers

My girls were supposed to head back to school on Monday. . .

This morning it is Thursday and they still have not gone back to school. We were blasted with another blizzard and they will be home again.

I love having them home (most of the time) but we are all starting to get a little crazy. It was a little better when we had the snow, but it was warm enough to play outside. Now it is bitterly cold so getting fresh air outside is not an option.

We are going to have an activity day today. I will post pictures of our projects when we are done. Here is what we have in store:

• Monster Cookies – The girls love an excuse to put on their aprons.
• Countdown to Disney World wall hanging
• Room Reorganization – We need to do a little sorting and purging to make room for their new clothes and toys
• Family Games – We love board games and card games in this house. We got some great ones for Christmas.

What do you do when you are stuck inside for a snow day?

South Dakota Snow Days, you gotta love them. Speaking of South Dakota. . .I am guest posting over at Skimbaco Lifestyle today. I am trying to win a ticket to Blissdom 2010 in Nashville, TN. She is having a contest on Living Life to the Fullest. You can see my entry here. If you leave a comment you will help me to win. Then I just have to figure out how to convince my hubby to purchase my plane ticket.