A PJ Masks Affair...

How is it that I am writing about my daughter's 4th birthday party when I still so vividly remember her actual birth day?

So JOE requested a PJ Masks themed party. She was pretty adamant that that's what she wanted. She also requested to be Catboy because as she puts it, "he is the leader" and that's who she wants to be. 

Me being the DIY mom that I am, I proceeded to make her a skirt with attached underwear covers since her party was going to be at an indoor trampoline facility. 

I then ordered her shirt online through JC Penney while they were on sale.

For the cake, I went looking through Pinterest for options. And found a few options. I showed them all to JOE. She picked out the one below.

To keep with the theme, I found this AWESOME lady - Jackie Chews who custom made these cookies at a very reasonable price. You can order them online and they are delivered the week of your celebration. PLEASE go check out her page to order cookies for your next event. You won't be disappointed. It is hard to impress a DIY mom like me but she totally did with these cookies! AND they taste great! Like short bread cookies. YUM!!! Here is her Instagram page if you need ideas of some of the cookies she's made. 
No, she's not paying me and I don't even know her in real life but I am HIGHLY impressed with her work!

I wanted the gift bags to also include the party themes so I ordered these masks from ChasinStitches on Etsy. She has other characters so if you're looking for something for your little one's party, go check her out as well!

I purchased red, blue and green paper bags and put a few items including the yummy cookies in each bag. Then stapled the masks to the bags. 
I love the way it turned out! The best part? Each kid gets an awesome mask to wear later!

I purchased a Cricut for AyoBE Boutique a while back. Since I was feeling somewhat creative, I decided to make the characters to go on the table weights. Keep scrolling to see how I used them. 
I didn't have any specialty paper at home so I cut up one side of the gift bags and basically used the cricut to cut out all the characters on each paper them taped them together on a white piece of paper. 

Final results.

Family selfie on our way to the party. Looking forward to when JAE is forward facing so we can include her in pictures.
Oh and I spy with my little eye, the Skye African Print Chiclet earrings from AyoBE Boutique! Since it didn't make sense for me to dress up as Catboy for the party, I wore something that complemented it very well :-).

JOE thoroughly enjoying her party. This was the perfect location for her celebration!

The cake. Along with the weights. 

Owlette! Check out my table weight display!

 The party girl herself!

Strike a pose!

Saving the day!

Hey there T-bird! My fellow blogger turned real life friend was there with her family! Talk about when friends become family! Peg is just so awesome! She's met just about every member of my family in real life. She and her family are #AWESOME! 
She comes to our celebrations and makes it much more lively! We love hanging out with her and her family.

Hey there Owlette!

Time to cut the cake!

My beautiful 4-year old daughter. 

She had a blast at her party. She is the most thoughtful, smart and loving 4-year old I know. She reminds us daily of God's goodness. J and I truly feel blessed to be her parents. 

We wish her MANY MANY MANY years of God's blessings and wish above all things that she will fulfill God's will concerning her life. 

Happy 4th Birthday to the girl who made me a mother and taught me what it means to fall in love at first cry!

Big steps

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. My younger sister A is known for reaching for the skies! And it really has paid off well for her. 

I remember when we were young living in Boston. She wanted to attend a private high school in the heart of the city. It was really not something that my folks could take on at that time financially with 2 kids in college. However, she applied anyways and got accepted. She was able to get scholarships while she was there that paid for her education. That then led into a huge scholarship at one of Boston's leading colleges and then on to MIT for graduate school. Yes she is a bit of a brainiac. However, she has taught me some really important lessons. 

While I am not a glass half empty person, I sometimes look at things and hesitate to make strides if I am afraid of failure. As a project manager, my goal is always to succeed at whatever I do so IF I see that something might not be as successful, I immediately start to look for a mitigation plan OR alternative. It is my nature.
However, I have come to realize that sometimes, you just have to make the jump without over thinking things. 

I spent the last few weeks questioning my career path and my career goals. Asking myself, where am I? Is it where I want to be? What do I want to achieve?

You see, I have never been someone who says "I want to be rich." Granted, every now and then, I say "I need to hit the lottery." I was brought up to believe in "having enough AND TO spare." I would like to have enough to help take care of my family and enough to share with others because being charitable is ingrain in me. 

I view my career as a way to achieve that goal.

While I am not where I want to be. I am where God wants me right now. I continue to work towards achieving my goals while also looking for ways to be a contributing member of society. 

Did you start out having career goals? If so, have you achieved them? If not, are you still working towards it or are you going in a different direction?

Photo Dump Wednesday: Now, that's a first!

The last 2 weeks have been rather busy. I have been focused on my family, my day job and AyoBE Boutique. It has been a busy but rewarding time as well and I am excited for the holiday season. 

We had a couple of firsts in the last 2-weeks. 

JAE had her 18-month wellness check and she did GREAT! She is very smart and even though she keeps us on our toes, her pediatrician says she is progressing well.

An awesome first is that she started trying to talk more as opposed to just pointing for stuff. In addition, she enjoys playing on her own or watching the iPAD and can select her own shows (Disney Jr. and Amazon prime shows). I know not all moms agree with letting their kids play with the iPAD at such a young age. However, I feel like she is learning a lot from it and I credit it with teaching JOE her vocabulary :-).

We are prepping for JOE's birthday in less than 2 weeks. I can't believe how quickly these 4 years have gone by. It is like I blinked and she is turning 4!
Anyways, here's a picture of her cake. She picked it out from the options I gave her. It won't include the towers on top. Just the single layer. 

So if you've been following my blog, you know that doing JOE's hair can be a chore for me. Well, a couple of weekends ago, J went to get his monthly hair cut and I figured I'd ask if they can do JOE's hair as well. 

Queue in JOE's first visit to a hair stylist. 

They were able to squeeze her in and JOE loved every minute of it! And did not complain, even once. I mean, I watched the lady very keenly and with the exception of the products used, she did the same thing I do. So why does JOE complain and fuss so much when I am doing her hair? I don't know but it was a welcomed relief to have someone else do her hair. 
J and I have decided to take JOE there once a month to give me a bit of a break. WOOHOO!!!

She also got her first trim. You should have seen her. She got so scared that we were going to cut her hair. So much so that she started crying. The hair stylist was sympathetic and made sure she showed JOE just how much she took off. She took off about an inch. It wasn't much but by JOE's reaction, you'd think she took off 6 inches.

She was happy again after the stylist put down her scissors.

Her hair was braided. 

And we're good to go. Start to finish was about 35-minutes. So why does it take 90 when I do it?

The next morning, we went out for breakfast. I love our mommy/daughter selfies.

That afternoon, I finished a tee for AyoBE Boutique. Well, JOE was all too happy to model it for me.

We began the process of painting our pumpkins 3-weeks ago. We had to paint it and got so busy we put off the actual decorating for a week. 

Well, the Monday before last, we finally were able to finish our pumpkins. 

J is "humpty", JOE is the pretty pink and purple, JAE is the green and pink (she likes pink and purple too but I wanted her to have her own unique pumpkin. And I am the golden pumpkin that says "Happy Fall".

We have another couple of busy weeks ahead. I often post AyoBE Boutique brand updates and quick person updates on my Instagram accounts daily so if you're not already doing so, be sure to follow me. 

Have a fabulous week and remember to be kind to strangers!

Photo Dump Wednesday: Learning from children

I love watching and learning from my kids even as an adult. Granted, they are not yet at an age where they understand danger. However, I love that when they see something they want, they go for it!
In the picture below, my oldest daughter JOE got the playdough from her "treasure chest" for being good a few weeks back. However, her younger sister JAE loves to also play with playdough. 
JOE doesn't always like to share. Typical of any kid. However, JAE doesn't let that get to her. When she sees JOE playing at their play table, she pulls up a chair and goes to work. She doesn't let the fear of her sister's rejection stop her. 
JAE sits down and gets comfortable. And often times, JOE ends up sharing and playing with her. 
JAE taught me that just cause others don't want to play nice doesn't mean you give up on your goals. 

Last week while sewing for AyoBE Boutique, JOE wanted to try out the dress I made. She really liked it and immediately ran out to show her dad. However, J was already working out in the basement. 

A typical almost 4 year old would get disappointed. But not JOE, she immediately says to me "mom, I really want daddy to see me in this dress, please get out your phone and take a picture for me then send it to him so he doesn't miss seeing me in this dress." 

JOE taught me that you don't have to settle for the current situation. If it doesn't work, find your workaround and keep it moving!

I am in the process of prepping for JOE's 4th birthday party. She has requested a PJ Masks party. Which ordinarily isn't a problem. The wrench she threw in there for me though is that she wants to be "Catboy." Incase you don't know, catboy is the male character and also the leader of the pack. The female character on the show is Owelette. 
Since I was having trouble finding any catboy outfits for her party, I asked her if she would settle for being Owelette. Her response to me was priceless. She said "no mom! Catboy is the leader and that's what I want to be!"
She knew what she wanted and didn't let the gender of the character stop her. She also followed that up with a "mommy, I know you can make something just right for me!"
OK. I admit, I did give her the side eye when she made that comment because its not like I don't have enough on my plate. However, here is a mock up of her outfit for her birthday. 
JOE taught me that when there is a will, there is a way!

Catboy outfit loading...

Her party will be at a jumping place so I am adding an attached cover under her skirt so she can still have fun. 

After work one day last week, I decided to take the girls out to play for a bit since its been somewhat cold lately. Yup...Fall is here to stay.
While out, our neighbor came around with her dog. The girls had such an awesome time playing with him.

JOE used to be scared of dogs. Even as recently as May when we visited with my brother and his family. However, recently I have noticed a change in her. 
She has stopped being afraid and instead, she tries talking to the dog. They don't understand what she is saying but she has taught me a lesson. To face my fears and talk things through. 

Me and my little teachers. 

Like I said, it has gotten quite cold in our area. We just turned on our heat today. However, last weekend since we were home, we decided to turn on the fireplace just to get a little more heat in the house. 
JAE is afraid of the fireplace and never wants to go by it. But when she saw me and her sister JOE sitting there, she decided to join us. 
JAE has taught me that sometimes, even though something is scary, there is nothing wrong with surrounding myself with the familiar.

We (and by that I mean) like to stay coordinated when we go to Church as far as our outfits go. Well, last Sunday was purple and green. Not colors you see together all the time but I must say that I absolutely love the girls in their outfits!

JOE requested to wear the bracelet and necklace from AyoBE Boutique because it better matches her outfit. At first, I said no because she often changes her mind about jewelry. However, I decided to let her wear it this time. 

She really loves these pieces and was beaming the entire time at Church. So much so that someone asked me for my business card because she was interested in them.

JOE has taught me that just because I didn't like something in the past doesn't mean I should write it off in the future. Sometimes, it is good to give it another try. 

I have learned that when my kids smile, it really does melt my heart. 

I have learned to be thankful for my husband. Sometimes, I give him a hard time sometimes it is called for and other times, it is just me being me. I am VERY thankful to have a partner who gets me! Even when we have our moments, I look at him and am thankful to have him as my husband and the father of my babies. Being thankful is also a great way to heal an upset mind after an argument.

"Mom, you look beautiful!" The words of a child! JOE said this to me last week Sunday after we got home from church. I've been working on losing weight. I am 8-lbs down and far from my goal weight. However, hearing those words from her made me feel so beautiful! She took this picture and I think I will forever treasure it. 
I have learned to see myself through the eyes of my little ones.

What are some lessons you've learned from your little ones or the little ones around you? I'd love to hear from you.