How much does a Valentine party cost?

Party favors and table decorations: $8.65

Princess food and cupcakes: $11.02

Craft supplies for fairy wands: $4.48

7 little girls, dressed like princesses: Priceless!

In the words of the Little Einsteins…..

…”Mission Completion!!” (Have I ever mentioned that Little Einsteins is one kid’s show that I really do not mind??)
So, the princess party went off without a hitch…..well, without too many hitches, and I will post pictures of the royal celebration tomorrow. But I wanted to share the recipe for the royal main dish that we ate today.
It is another famous family recipe. My kids pick this dish every time, when given a choice. My hubby’s Aunt Janis shared it with my MIL, who shared it with me. It is the perfect comfort food on a frosty Saturday afternoon. Enjoy!

Aunt Janis’ Mac & Cheese

2 Cups elbow macaroni
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. dry mustard (I use prepared mustard!)
1/2 t. pepper
1 3/4 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Cook and drain the macaroni.

3) In saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Remove from heat, blend in flour, salt, mustard, and pepper. Return to heat, gradually add milk; stir often until sauce thickens. (Usually about 3 or 4 minutes) Add cheese and stir until melted.

4) Combine sauce and macaroni and pour into lightly greased 2 qt. casserole. Top with more cheese if desired. Sprinkle bread crumbs over top.

5) Bake 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

A royal event in the making…..

The princesses here at Toddler World are planning a royal Valentine’s Day party for several of their princess friends. I like to host a party now, rather than for their birthdays. It takes the focus off of “them” and allows their friends to come without feeling obligated to buy a gift. (And then I only have to plan one party!!) It is ultimately just a selfish motive on my part……
We have been scouring magazines, books, and websites for ideas for our party. (I love this sort of thing!)

~~The centerpieces and party favors are from my latest Everyday with Rachael Ray….Big E’s favorite celebrity! They are candy bouquets and they are adorable! (Sorry, there is no picture of them on the website. I think it will be up next month.)

~~Our dessert comes from my latest issue of Country Living….adorable little cupcakes!

~~ The princessy craft will be from one of my books (of course!). The girls helped decide which one to do.

~~We will be watching a princess movie, one of my girls’ favorites……Princess Gigi.

~~ And the royal menu, chosen by the princesses themselves: chicken nuggets, homemade mac and cheese (a family recipe), and fruit salad, as well as pink lemonade and strawberry milk.

I will let you know how it goes, and post pictures of the sparkly PINKness of it all! It should be fun! Everyone is coming in their “royal best”, so it ought to be stunning.
In the meantime, if you want to host your own Valentine party or just want to make some fun cards for grandparents, here is a great site to look at…..XOXOXOXO!

Fairies and Tigers and Cats—oh my!

A friend (from the daycare where I used to work) hosted a costume party last Saturday. I allowed the girls to choose what they wanted to be. I wasn’t sure if that was a wise choice or not, but decided to see where it took us.

Big E, of course, chose something girly and feminine–a fairy. But it couldn’t be just any fairy–it had to be a fairy PRINCESS. Nothing is complete without a princessy touch, don’t you know…..

Middle E, being the independent and free-spirited child that she is, decided that she was going to be a black kitty. But she too had specific requirements for this costume—it had to be an alley cat, not just a regular cat. Since I do not know the real differences between alley cats and the common feline (other than their level of tameness, which I think is debatable due to the fact that I cannot stand cats), I just played along and convinced her to buy a sparkly pair of ears, tail and a bow tie that came in a set. *Note: I think the costume was actually a character from “Cats” or something, but it worked…..* We picked up a pair of black stretch pants (they had little silver hearts on them, which only completed the “show cat” appearance), paired them with a black hoodie and she was ready to go.

Little E was the easiest of course. At this age he does not have an opinion and was content to be shoved into the tiger costume I had bought on clearance for $3.99 before he was born.

It was a nice party and the kids came home with candy and stickers galore. There were other prizes also, but some of them “happened” to end up in the garbage. Mommy is on a cleaning/ purging kick…..

The blushing bride-to-be

My sister-in-law Jill got married yesterday. I will post pictures of that soon (my girls were flower girls, so I have to show them off!)
But first, we had a shower for Jill. Here are a few pictures, and you can read more about it here. It is hard to believe that she is married and off to Boston. At least now I will have an excuse to visit the East Coast!!