Holidays

hippity hoppity easter’s gone away

April 2, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

April is here already – ready of not. Spring has (sort of) sprung. Winter holidays have passed. New things are blooming. We are about to make the next big move in our marriage/life.

We had a great weekend. Allbeit, busy, but good. This was our last holiday in this house, and we are very much in the midst of packing, so things were quite a bit different and a lot more low-key here. Firstly, this was all of the decorating I did. I never finished these shelves, and frankly, I loved them just the same. Secondly, the weather here has just been yucky. It was cold and rainy all day Easter, so we didn’t have any special easter egg hunts (contrary to the 3 or 4 we did last year). We had a nice dinner here, just the 3 of us. It was perfect! While dinner was in the oven, we colored eggs, because we hadn’t had time to do it before. And, after a great meal, Elizabeth napped and so did we! Andrew & I piled up on the couch with the dog and took a nap ourselves. It was super nice after all the running around and things we’ve had going on! A great day to focus on the true meaning of Easter, to praise God for the resurrection – the single most important event in history, and to relax!

I also want you all to know that I may be slightly missing in action the next 2 weeks or so, but you can definitely follow along with me on instagram throughout the day. I am not one of those bloggers who have three months worth of blog posts in the queue scheduled. I try to keep things real and relevant as they are happening. But trust me, I do have some amazing things in the works for you! And am super excited to share our next adventure with you!

Filed Under: easter, Holidays, This is Us

Christmas at our house

January 2, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

Christmas may be over, but the memories remain. This was definitely one of the best ones we’ve had in a while. I would normally apologize for being MIA over the past week or more, but truth is, I’m not sorry. Andrew took some time off work for the first time since before Elizabeth was born, and so I decided to do the same. We soaked up every lazy minute the past couple weeks, and today things sort of go back to regular schedules. Most days we stayed in our pajamas, played lots of games, worked puzzles (over and over), watched Christmas movies with hot cocoa, did lots of baking, and thoroughly enjoyed all of our family!

Here’s what our December and Christmas looked like…

I went to check the mail one night, and couldn’t resist snagging this picture as I started to walk back in the house… It was too perfect. This was on our Christmas card this year!

Our tree is filled to the brim with special ornaments and memories from generations past, and the lights twinkle just right! It’s hard to see in this picture, but there’s some below of the train around the tree. Christmas ‘10, Elizabeth was only 5 months old and crawled for the first time towards it. This year, every single night she and her Daddy would start it up and watch it for what must have been hours. She would load all of her little animals on it and shout, “all aboard…1, 2, 3, goooo”! And every night after bath time, she got to unwrap a Christmas book beneath the tree and we would read it right there in that bottom right corner of the picture.

These are moments I will never ever forget – and that’s what Christmas is really about.

In the middle of the month, we had a totally impromptu gingerbread party! I texted the mommy’s of her closest friends and cousins, and ended up with nine 2-3 year olds around our kitchen table one Saturday morning. Andrew & I built the houses Friday night out of graham crackers and gathered different candies and white frosting for them to decorate with. Elizabeth helped me make a batch of gingerbread cookies for the party. Everyone brought a snack to share and we served hot cocoa and apple juice – so easy. Definitely a new tradition we will be keeping for years to come!

We did a lot of baking and crafts. We did at least one of each every day, and surprisingly, it wasn’t too overwhelming. After Sandy Hook, I looked at the messes very differently, and praised God for the ability to make them!

A little bit of magic in every room. Not too much, just a touch here and there. I scaled way back last year and got rid of a very good portion of my Christmas stuff – it makes it much more tolerable, but just as special! I only want things that truly make me happy and/or have meaning in my home!

I made Elizabeth a felt tree with buttons and her own ornaments, thinking that it would keep her off the big tree. She loved it, and played with it a lot, but it didn’t work to keep her off. I decided to pick my battles though.

Christmas Eve, our church has an incredible service. Afterwards, we went to Andrew’s moms for eggnog, snacks, and presents. Then we always light Mom and CJ’s trees at the graveyard. Mom use to do it for her Mom and Dad who are buried right beside them. Now, I do it for all 4 of them, and plan to continue doing it as long as we live here. Elizabeth always kisses them goodbye without being told. Blows me away and brings me to tears every time. The simple fact that she knows who they are, though she never met them, is so incredible to me.

Christmas morning was so special this year. It was the first Christmas I have been excited for in years! Elizabeth got my old bike, which she loved! And Santa totally surprised me this year too! New luggage, a new vacuum I really needed, 4 sets of glass storageware (so happy to get rid of all that mismatched plastic crap), all new bath towels, hand towels, dish towels, and dish rags, a super surprising ticket to Blissdom this March in Dallas (that I didn’t even mention – or planned on going to), and other fun stuff!!! And the best part? This is our first completely debt free Christmas!!!

We had birthday cake for Jesus with a ham I always bake overnight for breakfast! And around noon, we pack up in our pajamas and head to my aunts for the day! Until my grandparents passed away in ‘02, we all went to their house. Then it was my mom’s until she and CJ died, and now this was our 3rd Christmas at my aunts!

Hope you had a very merry Christmas this year!

And I hope you’re ready for an incredible NEW YEAR!!! We certainly are!

Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays, Our Family, This is Us

rudolph pops

December 20, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 1 Comment

Elizabeth LOVED making these. If you have time left for some baking, I would recommend these! I must say that we kind of throw caution to the wind at Christmas time as far as diets go. We abide strictly by the 80/20 rule, here.

here is what you need: peanut butter, chocolate melt, nutter butters (which no, are not gluten free or healthy), pretzels, red candy for noses, white choco chips for the eyes, and craft sticks are optional!

You simply open up the cracker/cookie and apply more peanut butter. If you use a natural peanut butter, make sure it is stirred really well (or else it’s messy). Then apply stick and top of cracker. Then you dip the entire thing in your melted chocolate, apply the eyes, nose, antlers, and you’re done!

Super easy and fast!!!

I laid mine on a baking sheet lined with parchment and froze them. You should be able to freeze them for 2 weeks or so. But since Christmas is in 4 days, there should be no need for freezing that long!

May you and yours have fun baking these up!!!

Filed Under: Christmas, christmas baking, Holidays, recipe

monday, zoo, loretta lynn, parties, and more!

November 26, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

Is it just me or have the last few weeks just flew by?!
Ours have been jam-packed with fun things. A little bit of work and a whole lot of play.
Last Sunday, on Veteran’s Day, our zoo was having free admission for vets and their families. Considering we hadn’t been there this year (shockingly) we took advantage of the beautiful day. So thankful we did.
We’ve been doing a little Christmas shopping, but I generally make most of our gifts – you’ll see some of them in here (I have to be careful about posting them, because I don’t want to spoil any surprises).
Thanksgiving was AMAZING this year. One of the best ones I can recall. I didn’t take any pictures that day because I was too busy soaking up the day. It was a quiet day, with my immediate family. After dinner, the men played with their new toys and the girls watched old home movies and went through the sales papers! That night, the men took the babies home, and I went out with my aunt and cousin. It’s a crazy tradition, but we always have so much fun and create so many memories.
Friday was Andrew’s birthday! I don’t care how old you are, you’re never too old for a birthday party in my book. Our family values every one so much more now. And we are all there to celebrate! Of all the meals I could have prepared, Andrew wanted a frozen pizza party (gross, huh?). I guess since we rarely eat already prepared food, or junk food for that matter, he thought he’d make a party of it… haha. I’m thankful for Amy’s organic gluten free pizzas!
Saturday, I cleaned out all day and worked on a school project (did you know I not only run a business and blog, but I’m in the midst of finally getting a degree) while Andrew went out with a friend. We rendezvoused for sushi later.
Sunday, was an at-home, self-declared family day!! Just the 3 of us. We put on the traditional Loretta Lynn Christmas album I grew up listening to and decorated for Christmas and put up the tree. Sipped hot chocolate (it’s cold here), and had left over Thanksgiving for dinner.
I wish you could have seen Elizabeth’s face when we cut the tree lights on. This Christmas is already fun! We could just skip all of the presents, because the magic and wonder in her eyes has already been more than I ever expected. It’s going to be a great season. She keeps walking around smiling and saying, “looooook, Mama!”. Love it.

And if you actually looked through all of those pictures, here’s my favorite Loretta Lynn Christmas song… Mama always said, “we’ll have a good ol’ country Christmas this year”, and we always have. This year is no exception!

Filed Under: Andrew, Christmas, Elizabeth, Holidays, Our Family, thanksgiving, This is Us

preparing for the holidays–are you dreading it?

October 25, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

Are you secretly dreading this time of year because you know you will be running around like a crazed woman trying to fit it all in? Do you wish you could just sit back and enjoy the holidays with your family instead of trying to coordinate 25 different events? Are you afraid that work is going to have to take a back seat until the holidays are over so that you can somehow make everyone happy?

Here is the deal, there just isn’t enough time in the day to get everything accomplished this time of year and ACTUALLY have time to enjoy the season without a bit of help.
Thankfully, I’ve called in reinforcements. My good friend Sarah Finks.
Sarah believes that when women get a handle on what their priorities are, it allows amazing things to happen in their lives, especially this time of year.
She says that time isn’t the enemy; it’s literally a creative tool. To create the kind of holiday experience that you and your family will remember forever. It’s not about extravagant gifts and pleasing everyone. It’s about focusing on what is important to you and then simply enjoying it.
Sarah teaches women how to get a handle on their time, so that they can use it like the powerful tool that it is.
And if this sounds like something you can use, she’s offering a live training call:
“Art of Juggling Holiday Edition- How to Find 90 Extra Minutes In Each Day So You Can Chill Out And Actually Enjoy The Holidays” on October 30th.
Register now for this no-cost training
Find out:
• Why we take on too much in order to please everyone and how to get clear on your own priorities and take action.
• A simple strategy that will help you determine when to accept an invitation and how to gracefully decline without the guilt.
• How to navigate challenging relationships with friends and family and begin to turn the tides on family struggles.
• How to get through the holidays at the same weight or even continue your weight loss. No, really it CAN be done. I’ve got you covered.
• How to enjoy the holiday season like you did when you were young and find the magic again.
Click here to register now for the Art of Juggling (it’s FREE!)
What I love about Sarah is that she’s clear and to the point. She’s a lovely person who shares all kinds of great content. But she’s really nuts and bolts about strategizing your life. Starting with your time & sanity.
So, I highly recommend that you check her out. Especially if you want to actually enjoy the holidays this year.
Sarah teaches simple tools that help busy women get a handle on their time, you can really begin to relish your family, and enjoy this time of year. Sign up now for the Art of Juggling (there’s no cost).

Filed Under: guest post, Holidays, organizing, sarah

fall favorites

October 11, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

I am working on finally putting my fall decorations up today! I wanted to stop in and share with you some of my other favorite fall posts though while I remember!

1. felt pumpkin shirt 2. pumpkin choco chip cookies 3. hand print spider 4. caramel pumpkin blondies 5. mum pot 6. monogram pumpkin 7. fall floating shelves & 3d framed pumpkin 8. banana pumpkin muffins

Elizabeth’s 2nd birthday {minnie mouse picnic}

July 10, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 18 Comments

The party is over, but it was a big hit! I can still not believe this little princess is TWO!

One night around 1am I found myself making her a Minnie Mouse shirt to go with the $5 tutu I found at Target! She loved it!

I try to get a family picture every birthday! It’s neat to see how much we change year to year!

Now, for a thousand pictures! And details at the end!

She woke up to 100 balloons in her room! She was so surprised! This is definitely a tradition we will keep up! She wanted them all in her crib, and then she wanted in there too! These kept her occupied most of the day so I could get things done for her party!

her birthday was Friday, but her party wasn’t until Saturday, so we still celebrated the day of! She got a gluten free waffle with greek yogurt and sprinkles for breakfast! And after dinner, she got the cupcake she had begged for all day!

She got to open our present to her and the couple that came in the mail after dinner! {I found the easel for only $20 at a boutique going out of business! score!}

I had thought we were having a tea party all year. Up until about a month ago, I was set on having a tea party, but then she became obsessed with Minnie! And in hindsight I think a tea party will be better suited when she is a tiny bit older. Truth be told, I had just found the perfect tea party outfit… So all of this, was created and planned in the past month! I searched pinterest for Minnie ideas! You can see where I got a lot of these ideas from on my Minnie Board.

It started with the perfect invitations

and then of course the perfect accessories!

And then everything kind of came together pretty quickly.

have I mentioned how much I love my floating shelves? They truly are perfect for every season! I made a couple of tiles a few hours before the party because I still had nothing to put on them. I created the Happy Birthday sign real quick, added one of my Mom’s antique dishes and made a mat to frame one of her birthday pictures in! A friend of hers had given her the birthday Minnie a few weeks ago, so she was perfect!

These oreos were a pain to make, but they were adorable! I usually buy glutino’s gluten free sandwich cookies, but they don’t make thie mini ones.

A friend and I created the cupcake toppers out of fondant 2 weeks ago. I baked strawberry and vanilla and topped them with cream cheese frosting!

I got the frozen watermelon pop idea from Mama and Baby Love! They were a huge hit! Can you tell what our party colors were?

My aunt recently gave us this rocking chair (that I plan to repaint) and I found Minnie at Goodwill last week!

We had planned on having the picnic outside. I bought several vintage sheets to use as picnic blankets, but it was 108* and way too hot! So we set everything up inside instead. Compromise.

Had I not run out of time, I would have totally wrapped that canvas painting with wrapping paper like we do for Christmas.

I forgot to get a picture with the tomatoes up by the lettuce, but you get the idea! Andrew found me the perfect sandwich cutter on eBay! My mom did this for every party I ever had at school! She did bunnies for Easter, trees for Christmas, etc.

told you it was crazy! There were about 30 people in my tiny little house!

because it was so hot outside and so crowded inside, we decided against the games and just brought the sensory tables inside to play with. We used pasta instead of beans. You should have seen those kids swarm it!

then it was time for cake!

Elizabeth was so happy! She danced and sang right along while we were singing “happy birthday” to her! This was the best shot I got because she was dancing so much!

I must be the first to say that the cake was amazing! There were several failed attempts, but I finally got it just right, and it was delicious! I layered strawberry and vanilla with my secret buttercream frosting!

Elizabeth only ate 1-2 bites of her own cake, and instead went to mooch off of everyone else!

we were very happy Nanny was able to be there! She had just gotten out of the hospital the night before.

and then it was time to open presents!

except, I opened most of them, because she would stop every 2-3 and want to run around. This is another reason we went with the book idea. At one point she just crashed out and started looking at her books!

before all of the kids went home, we tried to get a pic of all of the kids. I think there are a few missing. Clearly, everyone picked up on the Minnie theme! 5 of the 7 girls were wearing Minnie Mouse!

after we cleaned up, I switched her door hanger. Replaced last year’s theme with this years.

Recap

Elizabeth loved it! I wish I had recorded it all, because I really didn’t take that many pictures. I really wanted to be “present” during the party. She was SOOO excited! I woke her up from her nap at 1:50, and as soon as people started arriving she started freaking out! She was so excited she didn’t know who to go to first! She is so loved, and loves every body! Everybody walked in with a Minnie bag, and half of them were wearing Minnie, and she was running around pointing to them all! It was so precious! She couldn’t contain her excitement! She is definitely not shy. Everything came out perfect. I do wish we could’ve played games and spread out outdoors, but everything was really good anyway!

Games

we were going to do:

ring around the Minnie. I had hoola hoops to try to ring around the Minnie on a stick (like the one you see made out of the paper plates)
pin the bow on Minnie. All of the bows were actual hair bows with alligator clips.
we also had bubble tubs set up

Food

birthday cake
cupcakes
oreo Minnies
ninja crispies (recipe coming soon)
pink lemonade cookies
frozen watermelon pops
sandwiches
pasta salad
carrots and cucumbers
chips

Accessories and Supplies

Minnie ear rings and bracelet – MonkeysnMunchkins on Etsy
Minnie pillowcase dress – PomPoms and Pigtails on Etsy
berry baskets – Shop Sweet Lulu
polka dot balloons – ebay (cheapest I found)
yellow, pink, and turquoise wire baskets – dollar tree
goodie bags consisted of: sunglasses (dollar bin at Target), GoGo Sqeeze, Minnie bubbles (walmart), Minnie ball paddle (dollar tree)
pink and yellow plates and napkins – walmart

Filed Under: Birthday, Cupcakes, Holidays, Mommy Moment, Our Family, This is Us

Summer Shelves

May 7, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

Why do the weekends go by so fast? Andrew had Army this weekend, and I ran my first 5k! It feels pretty awesome to finally be able to say that! I started running again (for the first time since before I got pregnant) in February but only made it 3 weeks before I hurt my back. So last week I started back, and then ran my first 5k! I wasn’t able to run the entire thing yet, but I finished and I wasn’t last (or 2nd last) so I am happy! I took yesterday off and ran another 2 miles tonight! Progress for sure!

I finished my Summer Shelves, too! I’ll probably continue to tweak them, but for now this is what they look like.

Sorry these are always so fuzzy, it is REALLY hard to get a good clear picture because of the lighting and angle.

I kept the heart display of our favorite places up. Added a piece from one of my favorite set of dishes and the little bird (that I’m thinking about painting – it came from $1 store).

I made the Shine art, and added a little tiny creamer cup of my Mom’s that I LOVE (I love hob-nail and I love turquois and I love it double because it was hers).

Then I added split peas to the yellow flower pieces and kept the house rules and votive holder. They give off the perfect twinkle at night and I added a small votive to the creamer cup too.

I cannot tell you how much I love these shelves! They are in my open dining room/kitchen which is the first room you enter in my house. They are such a focal point. And I love that I was able to purge most of my seasonal decorations for the other rooms and just use what will fit here as my center piece!

And because I love you all so much, you can snag your own free Let it Shine printable here!!!

You can see the tutorial on how to make them here.

Check out the ones in my family room here.

Fall here. Valentines here.

Do you have a seasonal focal point in your home?

Filed Under: diy, Holidays, Home Making, summer, This is Us

Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Cakes {V’day Edition}

February 13, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 2 Comments

Let me start by giving a warning: these are the.bomb. period. they are not on any diet plan. period. but they may relieve stress. and they will definitely score you major brownie points.

Now, let me introduce you to my new favorite treat! At least to make. I’m trying really hard to lose this weight, so I have not indulged (I do not make these gluten free on purpose, or I would eat them, though you very easily could)!

I started out making them in one big bar pan (as displayed at the end) for my hubby’s coworkers. They got RAVE reviews! I had to start making them regularly because his coworkers are as spoiled as he is

Then today, I was rummaging through my baking cabinet trying to find something to make for tomorrow, and wala, it hit me:
Make them into mini cakes! And save on clean up by putting them in cupcake wrappers!

These are sososo easy! You can make everything from scratch if you have time for that, but I use 3 thing: 1 tub of toll house cookie dough, 1 package oreo cookies, 1 box of brownie mix (+oil, egg, water).

For these, I only had 1/2 tub of cookie dough left, but it was enough to make 21 cakes!

directions:

prepare brownie mix according to box

line tins w/ pretty papers

scoop in cookie dough

layer oreo on top

scoop brownie mix on top

sprinkle with sprinkles

bake at 400 for 16-20 minutes

cool & enjoy

goodness gracious. I’m pretty sure this is sinful.

And the worst part is deciding which party I like best… the cookie dough? no. the oreo? no. the brownie? no…. all of it?!? ugh! so hard!

the bars

now, if you don’t have any pretty valentine’s papers or sprinkles on hand, you can layer all of the ingredients into a 13×9 glass pan and bake! This is the way I was making them before today

just as sinfully delicious! Let cool completely though (unlike me) so the brownie can continue to set, or else they’ll run, like shown!

What’s your favorite glutinous treat?!? Please share!

Filed Under: Cupcakes, Food, Holidays, recipe