Holidays

Be Mine {Valentine’s Décor}

February 13, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

I know there’s only a few hours before Valentine’s, but I wanted to share with you a few glimpses of our simple Valentine’s decorations!

My whole plan for these shelves was to simplify our seasonal decorations. I purged most of my décor, and only saved a little bit to make the shelves our focal point! Our home is pretty open, so you can almost always see these shelves (which still make me kind of giddy!)!

I also hang valentine’s hand/cup towels in the kitchen & bathrooms to add a little cheer. I do it for every holiday/season!

(I am obsessed with instagram… This is the sneak peak I shared on facebook)

The clippings came off of our red bud bush that is blooming

And nothing says romantic/valentines more candle lite!

I changed the quote out on our chalkboard, too!!! I LOVELOVELOVE having this in our kitchen?!? Did I ever show you how I made it?

I made this little hanger years ago, and still LOVE it! It always hangs on my door. It looked much better on our solid white nice door at our house in CT.

One last (crooked) shot of those shelves that I LOVE! I honestly, never got them completely decorated the way I wanted. I planned to make a pennant banner to go along the banner, but I just never took the time.

Do you decorate for Valentines? Do you go all out, or keep it simple?

Filed Under: Holidays, Home Making

More Easy Party Food Ideas

February 3, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 4 Comments

I just wanted to share with you a few more easy peasy things to throw together for a party before the Superbowl gets here!

Remember, I already shared the Superbowl Party Stadium here.

And the delicious Hummus Cups. (Have you tried them yet?!?)

And today I’m going to give you my favorite bruschetta recipe.

Quit buying that jarred stuff. Ick. Trust me, you’ll thank me!

This is so much fresher and healthier and yummier!!!

All you do is chop the following really fine, in the consistency and percentage that you want, and you have a delicious, HEALTHY treat!!!!

plum tomatoes (probably 2-3 for a decent batch), red onion (about 1/2), 2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on your preference), fresh basil, drizzle of evoo. sea salt and a tad of black pepper to taste.

I love mine served on crusty bread pieces, but it’s also good on tollhouse garlic topper crackers.

Add in a platter of cheese and you should be all set for your next party!

What is your “go-to” party food?!?

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Filed Under: Food, Holidays, recipe

Hummus Cups {Great Party Food}

February 1, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 4 Comments

After I posted the heart attack stadium, I figured I better share something a little healthier to have when we celebrate the Patriot’s Win (ahem… what can I say, I’m a NE girl!)

Y’all, these are the bomb-diggity! I made them for my first Shaklee Open House party, and o.m.g. they are delic! At least, I thought so. And as a plus, they are super easy!

It’s originally a Pampered Chef recipe (I am a long-time faithful PC Client)!

Ingredients:

7oz plain hummus

1Tbs moroccan rub (or cajun seasoning like zatarans is what I used)

1 plum tomato (seeded and chopped)

1” piece of seedless cucumber (chopped)

1/4 cup black olives (chopped)

fresh parsley

mini tortilla chip cups

1/3 cup plain yogurt

Directions:

combine hummus and rub

pipe into chip w/ frosting bag (or ziploc bag w/ the corner snipped)

Spoon a tiny bit of yogurt on top

Mix chopped tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and parsley together.

Spoon on top of yogurt!

ENJOY!!!

*Tip, do not make these until you’re ready to serve. They cannot be refrigerated unless you want mushy chips! And you probably don’t want really warm yogurt either.

PIN IT!!!

Filed Under: Food, Holidays, recipe

DIY Superbowl Stadium Party Food

January 25, 2012 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 16 Comments

Alternatively named, “heart attack stadium”, which is probably a more proper title.

I made this last year, but never blogged about it, so I thought I’d share it with you this year instead. Andrew’s office had it’s own suberbowl party so he needed a snack… Of course the overachiever in me couldn’t just send him a bag of chips or a pack of napkins…

See why it was named heart attack stadium? I don’t remember the exact amount, but this bad boy had something like 4-5 boxes of twinkies on it. Don’t worry I don’t think they were actually eaten (just for decoration). This year I’ll be making it with mini sub sandwiches in attempt to make it all edible and semi healthier.

Anyway, First, I assembled the “field”. I separated the zones with cheese slices so they wouldn’t run together.
The goal posts are beef jerkey (gag) held together with toothpicks. This part was tricky, and I don’t remember how I got it to stay, though I think I mounted it to a block of cheese too.

then I piped on the lines with sourcream. And added the “players”. They are string cheese with olives for helmets. And let me go ahead and apologize for the picture quality. This was before my real blogging days, and it was latelate at night.

After the field was all assembled, I build the stadium! With LOTS of toothpicks.

Andrew didn’t open the chips ‘til he got to the office so that it would be easier to transport.

Here’s a text pic he sent from the office

And needless to say, I received lots and lots of positive creative feedback!

Do you have a superbowl party?!?

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Filed Under: Food, Holidays, recipe

Our Christmas Traditions

December 5, 2011 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 2 Comments

We survived our weekend with four parties, though we sadly missed the fourth and final party last night. It was a very full weekend overflowing with love and blessings. We are truly blessed with amazing friends and family.

Tonight I wanted to share with you a few new and old traditions we’ve started as a family, especially now that Elizabeth is beginning to comprehend things. Mom was the tie that bonded our holidays together and kept everything perfect and running smoothly. But since she’s no longer here, and since there’s been a few other family circumstances, we are focusing on making our own family traditions. I’ve stated several times that we are cutting back on Christmas this year and recalibrating our eyes to focus on the true meaning of Christmas – Christ. But kind of like that old Girl Scout song, we’re making new, but keeping some old.

These little guys have been climbing into my tree since my first Christmas! Here’s Daddy, Baby, & Mama Reindeer, and we have more just incase

One thing that my Mom’s family has done for three generations now, is have what is now Cousin’s Christmas. My Maw-Maw was one of nine girls and after they got married, each Christmas they’d have a slumber party, which I remember very clearly! Well then, my Mom started hosting Cousin’s Christmas for her generation, and now Tania & I (Maw-Maw’s two granddaughters) host it for our generation and for Mom’s generation, too! This was one of the parties we had this weekend! We all get together and bring a snack and have an ornament exchange! It’s so fun, and always hilarious!


Some of the gals that were there! Yes, I have a huge family and we are very close!!! It was very dark down there.

We have traditions at home, too.

The first one of the Christmas season is decorating the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Andrew always puts the angel on. Even if he doesn’t do anything else, he has to put the angel on! This year, Elizabeth helped him!

The second one, is our advent countdown. This is the one that Andrew had growing up, which makes it more special, I think.

Elizabeth loves doing this each morning after breakfast!

We started this last year with her, though she was too little to remember. Each night before bed we let her pick a Christmas book to read!

I’ve heard of other people who individually wrap 25 books and let their kids unwrap a book each night, but Elizabeth is still a little young to get that. Next year, we’ll incorporate that!

Each year I invite my nephew and nephew over to bake and decorate Christmas cookies! They love it so much!

Christmas Eve, after we leave my brother-in-law’s we light a Christmas Tree at the cemetery. Last year we had another two trees to light

And when we got home, we always get to unwrap one present! And it always has Christmas pajamas (this year it was Titan’s sweatshirts, actually) and an ornament in it!


2008, our last Christmas together! Yes, even Jade gets Christmas pajamas!

So what are YOUR Christmas Traditions?!? I’ll be sure to post more details about ours as they happen!

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

Thankful

November 24, 2011 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 14 Comments

Tonight I am overwhelmed with thankfulness & joy.

For the most amazing & supportive family a girl could have; for the friends that I love like family; for my new blog readers & friends; for the two homes we have that are full of love & laughter; for a very hard-working husband; for my beautiful & smart daughter; for the parents who raised me, but are no longer here; for my late brother who still makes me laugh; for all of the manymany resources God continues to bless us with; for our freedom & the ones who fight for it; for a long & hard year that has been both trying & rewarding; for my new business & those that support me; for my families health; for CJ’s friends that continue to love on Elizabeth & tell her about her uncle; for the end of the year & a fresh start to a new me!

For all this and more, I am THANKFUL!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all. If you’re going out for black Friday please be careful!

Filed Under: Holidays, thanksgiving, This is Us

happy halloween & a craft!

October 31, 2011 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 1 Comment

Happy Halloween!

We had a rocking weekend!

As I mentioned, we had a dinner party I hosted on Friday evening.

Then Saturday, after Andrew finished working we had 2 different family parties to go to.

(My Mom made the puppy costume twenty years ago for my little brother. It had red ribbons, but after restitching some of the seams, I changed it out for the pink ribbon and added the adorable little bow! Definitely more feminine)

After church yesterday we had another fun party with our community group.

(I’m pretty sure Andrew had the best costume of any party we went to. It is HILARIOUS in person!)

And they were all a blast!

I Love this time of year. Not necessarily for Halloween, but because of all the togetherness it creates! It kicks off the more important holidays that are fast approaching, and I love it.

If you’re home today with your little Spooks, here’s a very last minute craft idea that we created on Friday!

Hand Print Spiders:

Paint your palm and 4 fingers with black paint. Press down on paper (I used heavy white cardstock). When it’s dried, glue on googly eyes for a cute little spider. You could even add a little orange or pink bow for a girly spider!

Mini Painted Pumpkins:

Simply lay your pumpkin on a papertowel and put different paints on a paperplate and let the kids go to town!

Easy and fun!

The kids loved both projects!

What are you doing today for Halloween, if you celebrate?

Filed Under: fall, Holidays, This is Us

Truly Madly Deeply

October 14, 2011 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

That is our song…
Today is our 5th wedding anniversary!
Andrew & I started dating in January 2003, 4 days after my 18th birthday! We got engaged Christmas Day 2005. We got married October 14, 2006! Maybe soon I’ll tell you our story! It’s a good one! A “meant to be” one for sure!
Instead of posting 1,000 wedding pictures, I’ll post an array of pictures of us through the years! Boy have we changed, and not just physically

one of my favorites! Spring ‘04

Senior Prom and Graduation 2004 (yes, I was fat!)

Easter 2005 (when I realized I could easily spend the rest of my life with him) & 4th of July 2005

Right after we moved to Connecticut in August 2005

The day he proposed (12/25/05) and the day we bought our first house in Woodbury (5/31/06)

Random outings Summer 2006

Easter & Spring 2007

2007 The day we found out we were pregnant & the day we lost the baby (obviously I didn’t know I was yet in the pic)

October ‘07 (first family pic) and C’mas ‘07

2008 – my 22nd birthday & one of the many Yankee games!

June 2008 Jade’s 1st Birthday and Sept 2008 1st venture out on our boat!

first cruise December 2008

2009 ~ July 4 and another summer day on the boat

Fall 2009 – 1st pic was the day we found out we were pregnant again! 2nd one I think is our anniversary

January 2010 – 2nd cruise

July 6, 2010 the best day of our lives! 9cm dilated and no meds! haha!

Our story clearly doesn’t end there, but our camera is full of pictures of Elizabeth now instead of us… And now that I’ve realized that I promise to rectify it soon!

Here’s to a lifetime of more anniversaries!!!! I seriously have the very best husband for me!

I love you, Andrew. Bunches and Bunches!

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

C.J.’s 20th Birthday

September 5, 2011 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 3 Comments

Yesterday C.J. would have been 20! Crazy to think that he would already be that old. Even crazier to think that he’s been gone for 20 months.

It was a great day though. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had a few breakdowns on my own. Once on the way home from church as I was thinking of all the things I needed to do as I drove to pick up balloons. The second time, late last night after everyone had left. I was sweeping the floor and cleaning up after his party, and Andrew was playing the piano. The last song he played was, “Happy Birthday”… I lost it.

Some people probably think I’m a lunatic for having a birthday party for my dead brother. But I can’t help it. We did it last year, too. It was awkward to explain to the lady who blew up 20 yellow balloons for me that they were for my brother when she asked Elizabeth if we were going to have a happy birthday party for her uncle. I replied with, “yes” of course… but I also commented that it wasn’t necessarily a happy birthday since he’s been gone for the past two. I guess I shouldn’t have said anything at all, but I too often speak before I think.

My perspective is a lot different than most peoples, I guess. You see, I’d rather celebrate the 18 years and 3 months we had with him than mourn the whole day. I’d rather be surrounded by his closest friends that remind me so much of him and allow me to feel him even closer than to miss him for another second.

I say all of that to say that it was a great day. Several of his friends came and a lot of our family came. It was just your average summer cookout. Simple and plain, yet oh so special, just like C.J. And there were firecrackers. Lotsandlots of firecrackers. In true C.J. fashion, the boys spent the evening blowing stuff up (what is it with boys and fire?) and stuffing their faces. For a few minutes, among all the loud booms and seemingly loud boys, I actually quit missing him.

We ended the evening with icecream cake and hugs. There’s nothing that makes me feel him more than a tight hug from his friends. That may sound crazy (as I’m sure this whole post does), but something about his friends, that are close in size and age to him, hugging me makes me feel him.

Apparently, Elizabeth could feel him too. She hasn’t been around his friends very often, and regretfully never met C.J., but she was allover his friends last night. She doesn’t snuggle with me the way she snuggled with them. She climbed right into their laps several times.

It was a great day.

Happy 20th Birthday, Clifford James. I love you more than I ever told you. And I miss you more than you could ever know. I can hardly wait to see you again some sweet day.

Filed Under: Birthday, C.J., Faith, grief, Holidays, Our Family, This is Us

The Christmas Spirit

December 29, 2010 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

Ahh, Christmas is over.

I’ve always loved Christmas. The entire season that is now “christmas”. But this year was different.

Although, it was incredibly amazing celebrating El’s first Christmas. It was very stressful. I don’t know if it’s only because Mom has always done it all, and this was the real first Christmas
without her & CJ, or what, but it was hard.

I tried to keep all of the traditions alive. I baked cookies with Cayden (Faylynn is still a li’l too young), I went all out on the house, I made all of the usual treats, did most of the cooking (and even managed to catch my stove on fire in true Barbara Ann (mom) fashion), hosted Christmas dinner for Andrew’s family, attended Christmas Eve with Nanny & Dad’s family as is typical, went to Tania’s Christmas day to be with Mom’s family as usual, and read a Christmas book to Ms. E every night of December.

But it was hard.

I hope it’s just because I was just “not in the mood” for obvious reasons, but it was much different. The excitement and anticipation wasn’t here this year.

But it sure has my mind spinning as I took the last of the Christmas decorations down tonight. Perhaps I’m just exhausted from the work that it is to decorate and undecorate for the occasion. But, I think it’s something more. I think we have created a holiday that is so exaggerated few know the true meaning of Christmas. And that’s what I hate. We (as a general whole, not just me) focus 98% on “Santa” and the remaining measly 2% on the true reason. And again, I just hate it. Next year, I’m seriously considering going against Mom’s ways and only putting up one Christmas tree (she always had at least 4) and the nativity scene. I want Elizabeth to know whatit’s about. I want to spend as much time as we spend focusing on “Santa” and the commercialism that has become Christmas as I do on celebrating Christ and simply enjoy being together, celebrating His birth. And life. And death. So that in time, we can again reunite with Mom & CJ and spend the merriest of Christmases with him.

I had a hard time enjoying Christmas morning at Tania’s in the mountains of toys that all three kids received (and didn’t need) knowing that others woke up to none at all. And knowing that they could care less about the birth of Christ, for the sake of the new Baby Alive. Don’t get me wrong, it’s precious to watch their eyes in delight as they open presents, but I think there’s a point when kids don’t know what to play with first that is kind of kills it all. And, I know they’re still young (El is not quiet six months old even), but I don’t think it’s ever too soon to celebrate Christ’s birth instead of a fictional character.

So here I am thinking of how I can simplify the Christmases to come. How to arrange the focus to be on Christ’s birth and not so much on gifts from a fat guy in a red suit. I know I want to bake a birthday cake for Jesus. That’s something the kids can relate to and understand. But should I lie to El and try to make her believe in something that isn’t real such as Santa Claus?

How do you keep Christ is Christmas?

(Please don’t think I’m totally bah hum bug. I’m not, I’ve always lovedlovedloved Christmas. It’s always been my very favorite day of the year)

Now, for some of my favorite holiday pictures!