Today my little baby became a toddler. We started out the day by taking a picture of Rowan in the birthday shirt that I made for her with her little chipmunk that we’ve used as a growth marker over the year:
Rowan – with more than a little help from her big sister – opened a few presents, and then it was time for her birthday play date. The kids (our good friends that we see every week, usually multiple times) all played for a while, then the ‘big kids’ did crafts and then it was finally time for the part everyone had been waiting for – the cake!
”Happy birthday” was sung and we all dug in. There will be a post later with details on how I made the adorable owl cake (and a recipe for the carrot cake that I’ve made for both girls’ birthdays) but as you can see, it was a hit!
The birthday girl went directly into the tub and our friends went home. We spent the rest of the day doing the usual stuff: nap time, snacks, a walk. We’re going to see Elizabeth Fulton Photography for Rowan’s official ‘first birthday’ photo shoot next week and I can’t wait!
I’m a longtime fan of Janet and Greta Podleski. Some of my most frequently requested recipes come from their cookbook “Eat, Shrink and Be Merry” (try the Girl-Guy cookies and add about 1/4 cup of whole flax seeds for crunch - you can thank me later). I was excited to see that their latest creation, “The Looneyspoons Collection” features many of the recipes that I have made and enjoyed in the past, but they have been updated and ‘healthified’. Lots of nutritional information has changed since “Looneyspoons” was first published the 90′s – more fibre, whole grains, good fats, less sodium etc. – and if you want to eat healthy, you need to keep on top of the current recommendations!
I asked Greta (excuse me while I pick up that name I just dropped) what recipes she recommends for moms and she suggested trying ‘You’re Pudding Me On’, which is a warm banana bread pudding. Coincidentally enough, on the day my copy of TLC arrived I had taken a ’No Weigh, José! Mexican Lasagna’ from the freezer for our dinner so I figured since I wasn’t cooking I’d give the dessert a try!
Made with 12 grain bread, vanilla yogurt, bananas, chocolate chips and a few other ingredients, it was a snap to put together and it baked while we ate dinner and cleaned up. My house smelled amazing and we couldn’t wait to dig in – waiting the 10 minutes for it to set when you take it out was torture.
Ashlyn dug right in and loved it; so did the moms and kids we shared it with the next day at a play date.
I’ve made a note to try ’Sticky Chicky’ (baked chicken thighs in a sticky-sweet BBQ sauce) which I have been told is very popular with kids and parents alike. ”The Looneyspoons Collection” is popular across the board these days - it’s the #1 non-fiction book in Canada!
One lucky reader will win their own copy of “The Looneyspoons Collection” from Janet and Greta Podleski!
To enter, tell me what healthy recipe you cook the most often (required).
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I started with a plain, $4 t shirt from Walmart that has a tulle bow at the neck.
Next I raided my scrapbooking supplies for a fancy button and some ribbon. I cut a 1.75 inch length of thin ribbon and attached it to the shirt when I sewed the button on to make the candle.
Then I cut 5 pieces of ribbon to 1.5 inches to make the ‘wrapper’. I used a bit of scrapbook adhesive to keep the bottom together than pinned it at the bottom and used another pin to keep it in place on the shirt.
Then I sewed along the sides and bottom to attach it to the shirt. I also did a stitch at the top where the candle meets the wrapper to keep it in place.
I didn’t bother doing the top because I figured adding the ribbon ‘icing’ would take care of that and I don’t sew any more than I absolutely have to! I couldn’t take pictures as I did the icing because I didn’t have enough hands. I was trying to do a bunch of cute loops but I failed pretty badly; I just couldn’t figure out how to sew them properly. In the end, I used about 12 inches of ribbon and did an accordion fold, sewing through each fold as I went. Then I sewed it into place. Voila!
It didn’t take very long to make - maybe 2.5 hours total - and would have taken far less time had I not been parenting while crafting, and if I sewed more than twice a year. I can’t wait ti put it on the birthday girl next week!
We had a chance to visit the stables of the RCMP Musical Ride this past weekend when they had an open house. The girls loved seeing all of the horses and there were lots of fun activities – like an obstacle course and some police vehicles to check out!
The stables are open to the public year round (check here for the hours) and I highly recommend going if you’re in Ottawa.
With less than 2 weeks until Rowan’s first birthday, I thought I’d better get crafting! I started with a reusable birthday banner. I considered taking a ‘before’ picture of all of the elements that I was going to use but decided that it would be pointless; what I think I’m going to do and what I end up doing when I get scrapbooking are two totally different things.
This banner cost me nothing to make since I had all of the supplies in my scrapbooking stash, but you could make it fairly inexpensively. I used 4 sheets of 12×12 paper (could have used 3), 28 eyelets, some ribbon, a cereal box, some stick-on jewels and a lot of glue.
The first step was deciding on a shape for the background pieces. Once I finally settled on a cupcake, I picked 2 shapes (a hexagon and a flower) from my Accent Essentials cartridge for my Cricut to make the cupcakes and got cutting. I used one paper for the ‘cups’, and 3 different papers for the tops: 1 pattern for HAPPY, 1 for BIRTHDAY, and 1 for the space between the words.
The hexagons were 4 inches and the flowers were 4.5 inches. I cut all of the shapes in half using my paper trimmer and started assembling the cupcakes.
I loved how the paper looked with the shapes cut out and I kept it to use as a scrapbook page later!
I used a font from the Sophisticated Cricut cartridge to cut out HAPPY BIRTHDAY (3 inches) and a crown to go in between the words. I wanted a font that was pretty but still easy for kids to read, since Ashlyn is starting to notice letters and words. I sprayed the letters with a glitter spray to make them a bit fancier.
And then I used a gold glitter spray and some jewel stickers to finish the crown.
I was worried that the paper alone would be too easily ripped, so I opened a cereal box flat and glued all of the cupcakes to it. Next the letters were glued down. I also added one jewel sticker to each letter to hide where I ripped a couple of them taking them off the Cricut mat. That’s why I love scrapbooking – there are no mistakes, just changes in the plan!
Once all of the cupcakes were cut out of the cereal boxes, I added eyelets with my Crop-A-Dile tool.
I cut the ribbon into 4 inch lengths and tied the letter together. I also put 12 inch ribbon on each end so I can tie the birthday banner to something if I want to.
And here’s the finished product! It only took me a few hours off and on and I’m so pleased with how it has turned out.
I can hardly believe it, but Rowan will be turning one in just a couple of weeks! We’re not having a big party, just a play date with our friends that involves cake (and probably balloons) but that hasn’t stopped me from gathering ideas from Pinterest.
I love this birthday shirt and might just try to make one myself:
Then there are all the fun decorations. A good friend of mine used this tutorial to make a balloon banner for her little guy’s first birthday this past Sunday and it turned out great, so I might give it a shot myself:
My biggest indecision is what sort of cake to make. I have made Ashlyn’s first and second birthday cakes and had no problem deciding what theme to pick, but for some reason I’m really stumped for Rowan. Owl? Cat? Bunny? A simple 1? I just can’t figure out what to do and I’m running out of time!
I can’t explain it, but I think food is just better if you can dip it. Veggies, chips, even sandwiches are tastier if there’s something yummy to dunk them in. I’ve had a recipe for a beef dip that you make in the slow cooker in my recipe book forever and yet somehow I had never made it before. I recently rediscovered it and decided to give it a try; it involves beer (which we don’t drink, we’re wine people) but it has a very nice flavour and doesn’t taste like beer at all. It was a winner, all 4 of us loved it!
Easy Slow Cooker Beef Dip
Ingredients
4 lbs rump roast
1 can beef broth
1 can condensed onion soup
1 can/bottle beer
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
French rolls and butter
Sliced provolone
Directions
In the slow cooker, combine beef broth, onion soup, beer, Worcestershire and garlic powder. Add the beef and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook on low for about 7 hours.
Take beef out of slow cooker and shred. Reserve the liquid from the slow cooker for dipping – skim off any fat and ladle into small bowls.
To assemble: Slice French rolls and butter both cut sides. Top with provolone (we put it on both sides) and broil until the cheese is melted. Top with shredded beef.
The leftovers are amazing for lunch or dinner the next day!
We had pancakes for dinner last night and Ashlyn proudly told me that she and Daddy would be making them. I love that she loves to help in the kitchen so much!
Am I the only one who thinks winter is never going to end? Between the weather and our various illnesses, we’ve been spending much more time inside than any of us would like to. Watching “The Fairies – Fairy Dancing” is a great way for Ashlyn to pass the afternoon when Rowan is napping!
“From jazz to tap, tango to rock ‘n roll, bootskooting to ballet, the fairies discover so many different kinds of fan-fairy-tastic songs and dances. Featuring all of the Fairyland friends dancing, Fairy Dancing is full of beauty and friendship and a sprinkling of glitter and magic! It is priced at $6.99 suggested retail. Available at a retailer near you or NCircle Entertainment.”
We’ve spent many, many hours watching and dancing along with Harmony, Rhapsody, Elf and all the rest of the Fairyland friends. Of course, the first step is getting her fairy outfit on. Then she’s ready to enjoy her show!
Ashlyn says that her favourite song is Elf’s “Tapping in the Sun”, but I think the Fairy Tots doing their Fairy Jazz performance is a close second. I love that she’s learning all sorts of new dance moves – music class is highly entertaining these days – and that it’s a movie that we both enjoy watching. I think we’ll be looking into some dance classes this fall!
One lucky reader will win a copy of “The Fairies - Fairy Dancing” from NCircle!
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Contest closes MARCH 6 @ 10pm EST; open to US and CANADIAN RESIDENTS only.
Please make sure that your profile is public or leave me your email address in each entry so I have a way to contact you. I will use And The Winner Is… to chose the winner and email them. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!
