Party planning

Well, my handsome little man is turning the big ONE soon! In 20 days, I'll officially have a one year old! I can't believe it. To think I was huge and pregnant this time last year, and now, he's almost walking/talking. Anyway, I decided to have his birthday party at the park. I hope the weather treats us well! Plus, I'm getting a lot RSVPs already, people saying that they can go. Which is great! I wanted this to be a day to remember, but of course, Alex won't remember any of it. But it's still my responsibility because he's my baby boy.

Since we're doing a cookout, I just figured we'll do hot dogs and hamburgers. I'm finding out that there is a lot more involved and I'm starting to plan really far in advance. 20 days in advance is pretty good I think. Especially since I'm such a procrastinator! Anyway, I've got to say that I'm really glad he was born in February because a lot of cook out stuff is on sale due to the Super Bowl. I'm going through the store ads and finding some stuff that I can buy right now, and freeze it so we'll save some money in the long run. I have to make a run to Randalls today because it is the last day of a big sale and I don't want to miss out on some of the condiments.

Here is my list of things to get at Randall's:

30 hot dogs
30 hot dog buns
30 hamburger buns
5 soda 12 packs
1 bottle of mayo
5 bags of chip
2 bottles of mustard
2 bottles of ketchup

I estimated that this should all cost me around $65. I'm not trying to spend too much, especially since we don't have our tax return yet. So hopefully it will pay off to be a little frugal. All of this stuff will keep for 20 days, so I'm not worried about things getting spoiled. The buns and hot dogs will just go in my freezer. Plus I don't know what we're going to do with that much soda!

Some of things that won't keep till a few days before:
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Veggie platter
Fruit platter

That's pretty much it! The platters run a little expensive, so I'm going to obviously hold off till I can get a bargain or I may just make my own platters. Another thing I have to shop around for soon is the CAKE! Wish me luck!

11 Months Old!

Well the little man is 11 months old and I'm starting to think about his first birthday. I know, I'm terrible. I really should've thought about this beforehand. But now that it's a month away, I have some planning to do. I figure we can have a party at the park. We can do a cookout and invite whoever wants to come. We have family and friends here in Houston, so it should be a good turn out. If not, it'll be personal and fun either way. And I hope Alex will be walking full time by then so he can really enjoy the park!

Should be doing homework

I'm distracting myself and decided to post my latest finished project. It's the West Point School Crest. Let me know what you think! My mom is currently working on a cross stitch pattern as well and she's going to frame them together. I already sent her my completed work. I'm working on finishing Alex's birth record (only a year behind, that's not so bad right?) And I'm almost done with a few pillows for my living room. Just a couple things to make the place a little more homey and to get good use out of my new sewing machine!

Home Remedies

So James is home today from work, sick with the flu. As always during this season, we all have to be careful with the flu. We fall into the same routine whenever either of us get sick. Here are some things that work for us, and maybe they'll work for you too.

EmergenC

This powder is packed full of vitamins and unique flavor. It helps strengthen your immune system.

Echinacea

Completely holistic, but can be found in a tea or pill form. We usually drink it in a tea form. Much like Vitamin C, this plant helps strengthen your immune system. James and I get the tea with the peppermint in the bags because peppermint also helps those nasty sore throats.

Soy Milk

As mentioned earlier, we drink Echinacea tea. Something that is so soothing is drinking it with steamed soy milk. Especially when you're sick, it's best to avoid dairy, so we substitute with soy milk. It's full of protein and is amazing with the light vanilla taste.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Of course, you can't go through any illness without going back to chicken noodle soup. This stuff DOES work. However, the way we eat it isn't like most.

Kimchi

We add Kimchi to our chicken noodle soup. Kimchi is a Korean food staple and it has plenty of good nutrients for anyone. By far, the best thing for someone who is sick and does not want to eat anything. When I got sick with the flu a couple years ago, I could not keep anything down. As soon as James made chicken noodle soup with kimchi, it was the only thing I could eat. The joining of these two is from my mother. She started making this for me when I was sick. It is SO incredibly good.

Chicken Broth

Whenever I got nasty sore throats, I would just drink a cup of chicken broth every couple of hours. It cleared my sinuses and I was eating something!

All of these are our personal remedies. They work really well for us and it cuts our sick time down by half. We rarely have Nyquil or Sudafed unless we can't sleep at night. The main goal is to help the immune system as much as possible. I hope it gives you some ideas for this upcoming flu season.

Megan's Munchies Popcorn Giveaway!

Megan's Munchies is having a Gourmet Popcorn Giveaway! Check it out!

Lookie! Sunday Fun!

So when we were out in Albuquerque last week, I had a gift card to Macy's. So my mom and I went roaming around Macy's, just to see what they have to offer and Mom decided she wanted to buy Alex's Halloween costume. So here is his fitting. I know Halloween is a month away, but I couldn't resist posting this picture! And in case you can't tell, it's a dragon costume! I love it!

Yummy!!

I know LA is the city of skinny Hollywooders, but how can you be skinny when you live close to this???