Mani...Pedi....Facials

When Ella chose a spa party, she wanted the full treatment for all of her guest. I knew I was going to need back up for this event. I called on my sister in law who loves to visit the nail salon on a regular basis to help me. I also allowed Laney to have a friend over as long as this friend knew she would be a helper for the night. Thankfully, they both agreed! After supper, we started with facials. This was so much fun to watch. Many of these girls including Ella had never had a facial. Many of them were hesitant at first but soon warmed up to the idea of putting food on their face.

This was a cucumber mask made of cucumbers and plain yogurt.

Cucumbers to relax the eyes.

The girls were given a head piece to help hold their hair back. Next, they used a cleansing cloth to clean their face. Once their face was free of dirt, they spread the cucumber mask all over their face and neck.

They placed cucumbers on their eyes and were told to lay back and relax. We had some music playing in the background to help them just enjoy the moment. I was really wanting to switch places with them!

After 10 minutes, we gave them a warm white washcloth to lay over their face. I had these clothes in a small crockpot to keep them warm.

This was their favorite part of the facial. I heard many oooos and aaahs up under those cloths.

After they used their cloth to clean their face, several of them commented on how great their face felt.

Next up are the pedicures. Come back later to find out how relaxed the girls felt and how tired we were!

Spa Birthday Party

Due to our instability the past 2 years, it has been a while since Ella has had a birthday party with friends. She has been begging for a party! After a little discussion, she decided on a spa sleepover party. If you have been following me for a while, you may remember her sister had a similar party a few years back except she wanted a Paris themed spa party. You can read about it here. 

I have so many pictures to share that I think I am going to break this post up. I thought I would start with the food. Party food can be so much fun to prepare especially if there is a theme involved. Ella wanted finger foods which was perfect since we would have some kids arriving early and some late. The food was arranged on the table which made it readily available for the girls to grab what they wanted.

The menu:

Chicken salad crescent sandwiches

Ham and cheese tea sandwiches

bagel bites

fruit

muffins

veggie sticks with ranch

lemon cakes

 I wanted the girls to be able to refill their drink all during the evening so I used clean frappuccino bottles. I added their names so they would know which bottle was theirs.

For dessert, they had a few choices. Since we had a few girls come home with us from Co-op classes, I put them to work. They made these fingernail polish bottles using marshmallows, tootsie rolls and sprinkles.

Laney made pretzels dipped in white chocolate and I made a big bottle of nail polish cake. I really should have added a couple of more layers to get the right height of a nail polish bottle even though it would have been way to much cake to eat.

I will stop there for right now. I can't wait to share the fun we had with mani, pedi and facials.

Hamburger or Pumpkin????

We had a pumpkin carving social at church a couple of weeks ago. In the past, we have been lucky to get our pumpkin finished on time for the judging. This year I thought I would try something a little different and easier. 

We made a hamburger pumpkin.

We started by cutting the pumpkin in half and cleaning out the guts. We made sure to save a few of the seeds to use for the top. 

In the middle, we made the patty from Cocoa Rice Krispies. The cheese was a piece of felt. The lettuce was lettuce( I had some left from sandwiches I made earlier…..cheaper that way!). The ketchup was red acrylic paint. We hot glued the pumpkin seeds to the top to look like sesame seeds. We placed the top on and….boom….we were the first ones done!

Ella was so excited to take home first place!

Laney thought we should have entered it in the adult division. They won a Starbucks card. 

G-man's Birthday with a little War Eagle!

I figured since I last left off with saying Happy Birthday to Griffin, I would pick back with telling you what we did a month ago. For my kids birthday, they get to pick where they want to eat on their special night. Long gone are the days where they eat somewhere cheap. Griffin chose Buffalo Wild Wings.  Hot wings are one of his favorite food. The hotter the better…..he would say. Since my sister was in town, we all headed to BWW to celebrate.

We couldn't pass up the opportunity for everyone in BWW to sing happy birthday.

After supper, we headed back to the house for a store bought cake. Things have been so crazy lately that I forgot to get candles. I had to improvise with a number 2 candle and a baseball ring. I personally thought it was crafty.

He opened up his gifts next.

Notice the Mountain Dew? I thought I would share a picture from earlier that day while we were shopping for the Dew.

Apparently, my niece thought she was helping us get his present. 

The next day we traveled to Auburn to tailgate with the family. 

While several members of my family went to the ballgame, I got to spend some quality time with my niece and nephew.