So excited...

I am so excited because I was finally able to make a Diaper Cake. My friend Rachel and her husband Rich are expecting a little girl soon and Rachel's Baby Shower was last week. The baby's room is a jungle/monkey theme so her shower was the same and it was adorable. Who knew monkey's could be so colorful?

I wanted to do something special for them because Rachel threw me my wonderful Bridal Shower so I decided to make her a Diaper Cake!

Here is what I used:
1 box of Size 2 diapers (100/box)
A Beanie Baby Monkey
1 roll of ribbon (1 1/2 inches thick)
Rubber Bands (to wrap the diapers)
Wooden Animals (Pat Catans, already painted)
Toys such as rattles, teething rings, booties, musical
A cake plate

I simply started by wrapping the diapers and holding them with a rubber band. Once that was finished, I started to place them around a pop bottle. I used a pop bottle as a filler so I wouldn't have to get another box of diapers. Once I had my desired size I tied them together with yarn. Then I hot glued the ribbon on each of the three tiers. I then glued the animals on, set the tiers on top of each other, and decorated with toys. Lastly, I placed the monkey on top. I am so grateful because her mom actually let me place it with the actual cakes on the cake table. :)


I also found a great idea from Janet at Today's Fabulous Finds. I made Rich a 'Daddy Duty Kit' for when it's his turn to change the baby's diaper. Janet used a tool belt for her project, which I couldn't find, so I decided to put it in a construction bucket. I included the poem found on Janet's website and the following items: Goggles, gloves, clothespin, tongs, diapers, and wipes. I also had a construction cone left over from my dad's 50th birthday party so I threw that in there too.

{Funny Story: My keys were sitting on the top of my car as I was carrying the Diaper Cake inside. When I came out I grabbed the bucket and my keys. They were so hot from the sun I dropped them in the bucket and... forgot about them. When Rich pulled everything out he screamed "She got us a car!" and pulled out my keys! Guess this girls an Indian Giver because I definitely took my car home!}

I had such a great time at her shower and cannot wait for this little blessing to come into the world so I can spoil her!

A Blessed Summer

Red School

Tonight is the first night that I finally feel like I am able to sit down and take a few minutes for myself. To say that Mark and I had a busy summer is an understatement. Our summer began at Cedarville University for Super Summer Ohio. Mark was a Dean for Red School while I was the FLC (Family Leader Coordinator). We were blessed with a terrific group of kids. We were also able to watch 'our kids' grow in their walk with God. Today at church we heard some testimonies and they were so uplifting.


After Super Summer we had two days to wash clothes and pack our suitcases because we were headed to Hawaii. We had such an amazing time while we were there and really enjoyed the beauty of the island. During our trip we visited Pearl Harbor, went to a Luau, went snorkeling, relaxed on the beach, and walked up and down the boardwalk stopping in all the little stores.

On the Arizona Memorial

At night

At the Luau

On the beach, at the Luau

Diamond Head

Plumeria, my new favorite flower

Snorkeling

Walking the boardwalk at night

Dressed for a night on the town

Pearl Harbor

Not even twenty-four hours after we landed we were at the title company to sign the papers for our new home. Our home is a work in progress and we are enjoying making it our own. Did that sound convincing? Because in all reality... I would love nothing more then to be completely done with renovations, painting, hanging, and cleaning. It is exciting however, to have a place to call ours. We are so thankful that the Lord blessed us with this house.

The signing of the papers was followed by three weeks of youth camp. Mark was asked to do Recreation and I came along to help. We were working with another couple and really enjoyed ourselves. We had the privileged of hearing from many great pastors and encouraging messages.

Mark and I at camp (This is also the exact spot we married)

Our summer ended with the great news that I have a new job! This is something we have been in prayer for for quite awhile. I will now be teaching from home via the internet. I am so excited to start this new career path. With it comes so many new opportunities.

I hope you all had a great summer as well. Let's see what the fall has in store!

19 days of summer...

19 days of summer! No that is not an official change in the calendar, its how many days I am in town from the last day of school until August. Mark and I have a very busy summer coming up. We were in Columbus for our nephew's graduation party and to hang out with good friends this past weekend. This upcoming weekend/week we have Super Summer (Go Red School!). Super Summer is a leadership camp for youth with a strong committment to follow the Lord. I have spent the past two weeks preparing for our 'Lifeguard' themed room. Pictures will be coming! 2 days after Super Summer we leave for our 'official' Honeymoon in Hawaii... that's right... Hawaii! We are soooo excited and have spent the past few nights booking a laua, a snorkeling trip, a day at Pearl Harbor, and looking into all the sights we want to see. Lots of pictures posted when we are home. 4 days later and we leave for our first week of Youth Camp. Followed by the second week, then the third... Mark and I have a love for Youth Camp and Seneca Lake so we are also excited to be serving there as well. We also, how could I have forgotten to mention, bought a house (Yea us!) in the midst of all of this and will be getting the keys sometime in between this craziness! Luckily for us, the only remodeling the house needs is a fresh coat of paint (lime green, mint green, hot pink, and bright blue aren't really for us) and some minor kitchen work, so we should be move-in ready in no time. Well, my time blogging should really be put to a stop as I have two vacations to pack for and an entire apartment that needs to be put in a box!

Twilight Parties

With all the exciting new movies that are set to come out this summer I decided to post pictures and ideas from my Twilight and New Moon movie release parties. Yes... I am in my 20s and am still having parties to celebrate my addictions. Ironically enough though, these parties ranged from 12-year-olds to 40-year-olds. I was able to have a party the opening night of both Twilight and New Moon. When Eclipse was released I was away so no parties for that one :( Both nights were filled with themed decorations, food, and games. A great time was had by all. I hope these can give you Twi-fans an idea for the big Breaking Dawn release...

Werewolf cupcakes made by my mother (chocolate icing for the fur, light brown m&ms for the eyes, dark for the nose, a gummie candy cut in half for the mouth and white icing piped for the teeth

Dirt cake made to look like Jacob's garage. Oreos were crumbled on top to look like dirt, trees were bought at Pat Catans, "Bella's and Jacob's" motorcycles were borrowed from my little brother, and garage was printed off from a google image.

My favorite! This is the recipe for puppy chow (also called Monkey Munch). It looked like doggie food so we called it Werewolf Kibble and stuck it in a dog dish from the Dollar Tree.

Are you Team Edward?

Or Team Jacob?

For the New Moon party I wanted it to look rugged so I used burlap and river stones for my centerpieces. The tray is just a photo tray I got for my birthday that I put printed out pictures in.

A werewolf I traced from an overhead projector. If you look closely you can see the gift bags. I wanted them to look like paper sacks.

There's a vampire in the bathroom! Ahh!

The bathroom door sald Italy on it and inside were the Volturi. If you look closely I wrote one of my favorite quotes from the book on the mirror with a red dry erase marker.

Other ideas that I didn't get a picture of:

My invitations were made to look like ticket stubs to the movie.
I served 'I PUNCHed a werewolf in the face' punch as a drink.
The gift bags contained plastic vampire teeth, a Twilight bookmark I made, a yearly pocket calendar that my mom customized for each guest with their favorite character, a button that was interchangeable to say Team Jacob or Team Edward, a vampire chocolate (I got the mold clearanced from Halloween) and a werewolf chocolate sucker I made from a mold I got online.

Surprise!

Surprise! Today was my dad's 50th birthday. My mom asked him what he wanted and all he said was to have the family over and a fire so of course we took that as a huge surprise birthday party. 

I found some great construction themed decorations to use for the walls and doorways.

. I grabbed some caution cones in the dollar spot at Target and added a '50' I made with my Cricut.

When my dad arrived we gave him a construction vest and a blow up walker. 

Both had caution signs all over them...

My dad has always been the King of Jokes so we decided it was only fitting to have a roast for him. Many friends and family were invited to tell those oh-so-embarassing stories. My dad did have one particular gues that we weren't expecting though...

My dad is a HUGE Dallas Cowboys fan. He was recently in the hospital and when a few friends, including our pastor, came in to visit he was calling them 'cheerleaders'. So... our pastor decided to make the shoe fit and dressed up to roast my dad.

Happy 50th Birthday to the best dad a girl could ever have.