2 little monkeys

It's been a busy couple of months, but I'm back on track!

Let me start by saying, I can't believe my twins are two! Having twice the responsibilities in these past couple of years has made time fly! I remember how tiny my babies were when they were born.  They weighed just under 3 and 4 pounds. I realize now they were sent to us 6 weeks early so we can enjoy them being babies a little longer :)

We celebrated their second birthday this past October very low key, with just a few close friends.  We had the party at home and focused on entertainment for the kids. We had 2 kids tables and a dozen tiny chairs to make the kids comfortable. Puzzles, coloring and "make your own sock monkey" helped keep the kids happy. Of course, so did all the goodies we served.

Everyone was very pleased with the outcome, including my 2 little "sock monkeys!"  Their little faces were glowing the entire time, it's like they knew the spotlight was on them!

DIY - Birthday Hat

DIY time!

One of my favorite crafts to make is this birthday hat.  Although I have been told by many I should start selling them, I have yet to do so. I usually only make these for friends and family.

They are a little time consuming but easy to make once you have everything set up.

In this session I will show you how to make an "Elmo" hat.

What you will need:

- Store bought birthday hat
- Stiff felt (Red, Black, Orange and one more color of your choice)
- Wiggle eyes
- Pom poms
- Ribbon
- Hot glue gun

Open the store bought birthday hat and use it as a stencil to cut out your felt hat. 

 

Sample felt:

 

 

Use the hot glue gun to seal the felt hat shut.

Make an Elmo face.  You can search online for Elmo so you can have a guide to make your face.  You will need a set of wiggle eyes.  Use red felt to cut an uneven oval. Cut around the oval to make it look like fur. Cut a small orange felt circle to be used as his nose.  Cut a smile out of black felt. Once you have all the pieces set aside, glue the eyes to the red felt, then the nose, then the mouth. Glue the entire Elmo face to the hat, using a hot glue gun at all times.

Glue a large pom-pom on the top of the hat and small pom-poms on the bottom edge of the hat until the entire brim is covered.

 

 

Cut 2 pieces of ribbon in the same length and glue one to each side of your hat, on the inside.  These will be used to tie the hat to the child's head.

 

 

And you are done!

I hope you enjoyed this little lesson! Now go make one!

Happy crafting :)

addicted to sweets

Ok, so I'm addicted to sweets.  Anything sweet.  Seriously.  

So yesterday I was in a baking mood and decided to make a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  Can you say yum???

I can, but it's hard with my mouth full of cake.

OMG, did I really just eat that much cake?  Not really, so don't judge, I gave Sebastian and Natalia a few bites.

I think I may finish the entire cake faster than I thought.  I hope someone stops by to visit so I can get rid of half. 

Ahhh...guilty pleasures!

I wish I could say I made it from scratch and have lots of baking tips for you, but it's from a box.  Duncan Hines Super Moist Red Velvet Cake.  So is the frosting, cream cheese flavor.

Hope I make you want some!

 

making these next...

 

What are you waiting for? Go bake!

LA again...

But not complaining!

After our weekend in San Diego, we decided to drive up to LA, just because we love LA and we were already in Cali, so why not!  I know, everyone is probably thinking we love it because we have never been stuck in a huge traffic jam or because we have missed every earth quake.  But truth is, we would love it anyway.  It doesn't hurt to have our very good friend Josh there, who by the way is a great host and tour guide!

Since we tend to go to LA for longer than other destinations, we have learned our way around pretty good.  Well, we know where all the parks and playgrounds are, and really that's all that matters.

Sebastian and Natalia always have a good time and seem to adjust quickly to the time difference.  They love when we take them to the park or to get cupcakes at our favorite place; Crumbs! Seriously, if you haven't tried it, try it and you will see why we love it so much.

One night we all went out to dinner at Peppone, a fancy but low key italian restaurant in Brentwood. Thanks Josh for introducing us to that place, we loved it! Another night, Josh volunteered to babysit so Sal and I could have a "grown up dinner".  If you have kids, you know what I mean.  So we took the offer and ran! Straight to Katsuya.  Ahhhhh...finally, a dinner we didn't have to rush through.  Thanks again Josh, loved every minute!

The next day we had the most amazing strawberry/banana/nutella crepe ever! Then took off to Santa Monica for the day. Strolling around in Santa Monica makes us feel like we are home.  Weird to say since we have never lived there, but it just feels that way.  There is nothing better that eating while staring at that beautiful ocean!

California, we miss you already! Maybe we need to plan another trip soon?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

destination wedding

We recently traveled to San Diego for a friend's wedding.  We were so happy to be a part of their special day and super excited to share it with a group of friends we had not seen in a while.

I guess you can call this a destination wedding, since the couple lives in Las Vegas. 

Although we were only in San Diego a short time, we were pleased to see our old "crew" and it was awesome to catch up on our new lives and adventures as parents.  We had so much to talk about! 

A few years ago, we too lived in Las Vegas.  We had a great life, great friends and a great house.  Even though Las Vegas is not (only) the party/gambling city people think it is (there are normal neighborhoods, with normal houses, playgrounds, schools, shopping, etc.) we wanted to be a little closer to our families in NY and start our own family, so we decided to "take a leap of faith" and move to Charlotte, NC.  We weren't the only ones to move from Las Vegas, so this trip contributed in reuniting a great group of friends!

The wedding was fabulous! The bride and groom were glowing.  You could see how happy they were to be taking the big step.  It was complete with their two dogs walking down the isle all dressed up!  Following the ceremony, the reception was a garden wedding which was tastefully decorated with bright flowers and hand held sun umbrellas. The hotel was beautiful and right on the beach.  They picked the perfect spot to have their outdoor reception which had amazing views perfect for photographs.

But don't think this was a one day affair, oh no.  The couple organized night after night events.  On Friday night we had cocktails and appetizers at one of the hotel's restaurants which over looked the ocean.  This was the first time we really got to relax and have conversations with everyone.  The wedding was Saturday afternoon.  The same evening, she arranged for babysitters and a party bus! Just like that, Sal and I were all dressed up and Sebastian and Natalia were in pjs.  They were so tired from all the events, they fell fast asleep and all the sitter needed to do was keep an eye on them while they slept.  Off we went for a night out in San Diego.  We went to another restaurant and had an awesome time chatting it up with friends.  Sunday was time to say "see you later" to all our friends, which we did during a big breakfast. 

After checking out from the hotel, we took a drive to downtown San Diego and met up with another friend who we had not seen in a few months.  Enjoyed some excellent pizza and let the kids run around outside while chatting it up and starring at the ocean.

It was a great weekend and we are now planning our next group vacation!

Off to LA for a week!