Baptism party {the food}

Back to William's party!!

Typical of me to start with dessert first ;)
From the beginning I knew I wanted to do cupcakes rather than a cake. Granted I would have purchased the cake which would have been less work than making cupcakes (maybe), but I didn't want to have a bunch of leftover cake. I made cupcake toppers to make the cupcakes for festive. I designed the emblem with a cross and the words God Bless William in Powerpoint and printed two dozen. I did buy a scalloped punch, but when I used it, it worked in the reverse way that I needed if that makes sense. So, the individual trips to Michael's and Jo-Ann's and $30 spent didn't help. I resorted to cutting out each circle individually with scrapbook scissors. Same idea, more work. I used a drop of hot glue to adhere the toothpicks to the cutouts before adding a blueberry and topping each cupcake.

For the first time I finally decided to make a watermelon ice bucket! I saw this idea a long time ago (or so it seems) and I finally had a reason to do it. I used the watermelon on the fruit kabobs, which is why I had it. I hollowed it out with an ice cream scoop on Saturday and then kept it on the counter overnight covered in saran-wrap because I was worried about it smelling rotten. Well, it stayed fresh, so I filled it with plain ice cubes and special blueberry ice cubes I made. 

Sadly, this is the only food shot I have and it doesn't capture it at all. The party started and ended so quickly, and everyone was so hungry, that I didn't get the shot I wanted. We had beef brisket, pulled pork and hamburger sliders. Tossed salad, fruit kabobs, cheese and crackers, pasta salad, etc. I also made a few different drinks and put cute little tags on the pitchers to identify them. Stay tuned for the recipe for Fruity Mint Tea which was a hit!

How I Stay Organized

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner asked how we stay organized. Since this post doesn't involve photos, I can write about it now!

My level of organization has changed dramatically in the past three weeks since I became a mom.

In the Past:
Schedule: When it was just my husband and I, all of our dates/commitments, etc were kept in my daily agenda planner which came with me to and from work everyday. I kept track of both of our travel schedules for work, potential visitors were penciled in, etc.
Food: When it comes to groceries, I kept a running list in a notebook and revisited it every week before I went to the grocery store with my coupons.
Coupons: For about three years I have kept my coupons organized in a small accordian "folder" by category: grocery, cold, frozen, personal care and household. Every Saturday the coupons get cut, organized and expired ones get thrown away.
Laundry: We have two laundry baskets in our bathroom, one for whites and the other for colors. This helps me see if I only need to do one load of laundry or run both. It also prevents me from having to sort the laundry.
Crafts: I am very lucky and actually have a craft room! I know I should share a picture of this, but right now I have all of my spring/summer clothes out in the room since I am trying to transition my closet and also pack up the maternity clothes (woohoo!). I have a large armoire in the room and the right side has shelves and it is all scrapbook stuff. Scrapbooks I have made, photos, paper, stickers, scissors, etc. The left side of the armoire has a shelf and also a hanging bar. On the bar I hang already washed and pressed fabric on hangers so I can see what I have and then I have other fabric folded in an old open suitcase along with all of my sewing notions. My sewing machine is on the shelf beneath the fabric.

Presently:
Schedule: I still use my daily planner, but it now stays open to the current week on our dining room table. It doesn't have meetings listed, but doctor's appointments and commitments to visit with family and friends.
Food: I bought a small notebook that has a shopping cart on it (genius!) and I keep my grocery list in there. I have a "Standard List" which is items I buy each week and then I add things that I need. This was real helpful when people helped me with grocery shopping when baby arrived (thank you Mom and Meghan!).
Coupons: I still cut coupons, but it isn't always done on Saturdays when the newspaper gets delivered. It is okay if it takes a few days, but my system is even more helpful now.
Laundry: Our laundry is still separated, but our son's is all in one hamper since everything is so small. I do separate it warm and cold based on what the tag says, and then I just wash the bigger pile first. My goal with his laundry is to get it washed, dried and layed out flat so it doesn't wrinkle. I have been able to put it away quickly, but even if I don't, at least it all looks good sitting on top of the washing machine.
Crafts: Same since I haven't had time to do anything sine baby arrived :)
Baby Feeding: I keep a notebook on the ottoman in the nursery to keep track of the time of feedings, diapers, and amount of feeding so I don't have to think about it. Since we are supplementing with formula, I prep a few bottles in advance by making sure they are clean and assembled and filled with purified water. That way all I need to do is mix in the formula. Since the water is room temperature, I don't need to warm the bottle (according to my pediatrician) so although I have to mix the formula with each feeding, I don't have to heat it up with hot water in the middle of the night. It has worked for us so far.

That is a little glimpse for now....

Kitchen Update

What is the least expensive way to update a large space? Paint!! We moved into our home in November 2009, but haven't made painting a priority for a few reasons: (1) We have 1.5 acres of land that needs to be maintained, beautified, landscaped, etc (2) My husband prefers to do all the painting which is great since we don't have to pay anyone and he does a perfect job (honestly), but he also has a full-time job that had more than full-time hours (3) I hesitate when choosing colors.

The rooms we have painted are our master bedroom (January 2010), master bathroom (June 2010), nursery (November 2010) and now our kitchen/dining room (March 2011). I had three color blocks painted on the wall in our kitchen that I looked at for many weeks. I am very pleased that I went with the middle option and my husband surprised me by painting the kitchen while I was out one afternoon and finished it into the dining room until the gallon of paint ran out.

This is a before picture of our kitchen from Thanksgiving 2009 when my family was in town. All of the walls in our house came standard in this "bisque" color:

After:

Of course, once the kitchen was painted, we decided that we really do need a piece of furniture where the cat's bowls once were. We have a two-seater bar where we frequently eat and also our informal dining room so we haven't purchased a small kitchen table since I am picky about what I want. Well, our large kitchen seemed to get cluttered with mail, keys, etc. and we finally found a buffet-style unit that we liked for the kitchen so we bought it!

I purchased a small bamboo tray to collect our mail and also my husband's black leather valet for him to charge his cell phone, drop his wallet, etc. So far so good (and organized!).

Since our kitchen and dining room share one large wall, we carried the same color into the dining room.

Before:

After:

I love it and it feels so good to see color on the walls downstairs! And to think it all got done before our baby arrives and additional visitors. Next project for this area are curtains for the double windows in the dining room and panels for the sliding glass door.

P.S.: The color is more green than gray in person...sad it looks gray here!

Whatever Goes Wednesday

"Let there be light"

We see a light at the end of our home-building tunnel! This weekend we stayed home from Ocean City because the Keystone plant amanger offered to meet us in Pennsylvania on Sunday morning to walk through the pieces of our house. Since the facility has operating hours of 7-4 Mon-Fri, we haven't been able to see anything thus far since we work full-time.

I was thrilled to see the progress, especially on the two lower level sections. All has been completed except for installing carpet (done in Poolesville when they deliver), appliances and cabinet doors. It was fun to see what steps have been completed and what is left to do.

Brad laughed after I calmed down a bit after seeing our kitchen. The kitchen is where the most pieces come together. We chose the floor, cabinets and I had the countertop special ordered since I didn't like any of their standard options. The fact that there is no seam in the counter and that we have spaces for our appliances (including microwave which we haven't had in a year) is quite a thrill.

I found out that Keystone has the capcity to build five homes (warehouse to the left) at one time, but since business has slowed down and the size of their staff has decreased with less business, they are only working on our home right now. Nice to know the best of the best are making my house perfect for Brad and I!