My Goals for 2016

I decided I wanted to set some goals for the new year. I'm not usually one for the new year new me, but this year has been a year of major growth for me and I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store for us! So first a reflection of 2015. This year has tested me in every sense yet here I am on the last day of the year feeling better,stronger and happier than ever. In February we decided to take a job opportunity my husband got for Florida. The boys and I are still in Maryland and hoping to get to Florida in the next couple months. I have had my moments where it got to be tiring not having him here but at the same time I proved to myself I can do this. I feel it's made me a better Mom and made me more aware of taking the time to spend with the boys together and individually. It's also helped me grow as an individual. I have always been SO worried about what everyone else thinks of me, my marriage, my family etc this past year I have learned that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks it only matters what I think. I can't control others feelings. I have to stop worrying about everyone elses needs and happiness and focus on my own. I'm sure others don't take my feelings and happiness into account when making decisions so why should I? Even though Zack has been 1000 miles away most of the year I feel we have all grown as a family, as parents and as husband and wife. I am a firm believer everything happens for a reason. There have been many who haven't agreed with our decision for him to move before we all do but I knew we were doing what is best for our family and it proves true even months later.


So here are my 3 goals for 2016:

Myself: Focus on my own happiness; take time for me and do what makes me happy without worrying what anyone else thinks.

Motherhood: Take time to unplug and spend time with the boys. Take them on individual dates once a month.

Marriage: Make date nights/ alone time a priority. I have realized I am way more relaxed and fun when it's just me and the hubby and it's so important to still have that side of us.

I would love to hear your goals for 2016!

Goody Bags and Cupcakes(Lego Birthday Party)

Back to our awesome lego party! I just had so much fun planning this party and my son thought it was totally awesome! So for the goody bags I found some knock off legos pictured below in the dollar section of Target. I gave each kid a half a bag.

For the bags I bought a 12 pack of plain yellow bags at Michaels and drew Lego faces on them :)

I also found Lego candies at our local cake/candy store called Stephanies Sweets so I packaged them in little bags and tied them with ribbon :)

I also added a Marshmallow pop from my previous post to each kids bag.

 I went simple with the cake/cupcakes this year and just topped them with those same candies and used blue and red liners. I still think they turned out adorable!

4th of July wreath!

I have been really wanting to play around with some wreaths. My first wreath was a balloon happy birthday themed one a post to come on that later. This is my second one and I'm pretty proud of it :)
I saw a few online and knew that I wanted something that resembled the american flag but also something a little different. Once I saw the chevron ribbon in Michaels I knew that was it! I purchased all my supplies from Michaels; one straw wreath, one roll of blue ribbon, 3 rolls of red and white chevron ribbon, a package of white flowers, some little star decoration and a letter A. It only cost me $15! I love Michaels and there coupons :)

I left the wreath wrapped in the plastic and then started wrapping the ribbon all the way around it to cover the front and back of it. I hot glued each end of the ribbon. One roll of the blue ribbon was the perfect amount to give it the flag feel. I also hot glued the flowers on. I picked these because they resembled stars but you could also use felt stars or buttons. The final finishing touches were the little star decorations and monogram letter. I will be using this wreath for years to come. Perfect addition to our door!

 

Lego Man marshmallow pops (part of Lego Birthday)

This year we ran through a lot of ideas of what to do for Lucas' birthday party. My first thought was to just do it at the bouncy place then I wouldn't have to clean up before or after the party or worry too much about decorations and food. But I love planning these parties so that part is fun for me. Then we played with the idea of renting a bounce house to put in the yard but then Lucas said Mommy why don't we just have a lego party at the house. Great idea kiddo! Instantly all the ideas I had seen on pinterest before started running through my head lol I am going to do separate posts for each project since some are very in depth :)

The first project I started was the lego man marshmallow pops. This called for lollipop sticks, large and small marshmallows and yellow candy melts :)

Before dipping them in chocolate I cut the little marshmallows in half dipped the bottom of them in the chocolate and stuck it to the top of the big marshmallow. I let that dry so it would slip and slide around and then proceeded with dipping the whole thing

 Here's a little video showing how I was dipping the marshmallows in the melted chocolate.

 And I used a strainer to stick them in while drying

Drew on them with edible pen then wrapped them up and we were all set. I set a portion out for guests but also placed one in each goody bag.