Kate's Tangled Party!

We celebrated Kate's 3rd Birthday this weekend and it was so much fun! I just recently started throwing "themed" birthday parties. It does get quite addictive trying to find things to match your theme. Tangled was a lot of fun. The "Mom" in me wants to share where I got everything!

I started at my favorite website: Etsy! I found this invitation at this cute shop.

I also knew that I wanted it to feel like a princess party but wanted it to have the Tangled feel to it. The movie was so cute. Most of all, I wanted the Kingdom flags and lanterns! I started searching and found this awesome set. I bought bits and pieces. The shop owner was great and let me purchase only the things I planned on using. I saved a bunch of money!

Here is the entrance to our "Kingdom".

and our lanterns. (I bought the lanterns two for $1.00 at the Dollar Tree.)
I decided that the living room would be the "Kingdom" and put the lanterns in there. The kitchen was Rapunzle's tower, and I decorated with taffeta and curling ribbon. The pictures didn't come out great; it looked really pretty!

Of course we need a little Flynn Rider. :)

I decorated with more Kingdom Flags in the kitchen and put this banner above the food table. I love the way it came out.

The food. The food was the hardest part. The party was at 2:00pm, so it wasn't lunch or dinner, but I knew the guests would need something. I googled and came up with some ideas, but due to time and life, really, I went with the easiest. We had "Hazlenut Soup", Rapunzle's favorite! (really Zuppa Tuscana from the Olive Garden), braided breadstick, jello boats, Maximus' apples and some other munchies.

I stopped doing goodie bags a long time ago. I was tried of spending money on little things that easily break and end up driving parents insane. I found a baker on Etsy, Lisa, who makes the most gorgeous cookies. She's been making cookies for our parties for over two years. This year she made us our Tangled cookies. This is the only shot I got, but we had Pascal cookies, Kingdom flags and a few numbers 3s!

For her cake, I made a simple white cake with homemade butter-cream frosting. Then I bought flowers and put them on the top. I am very proud of how it came out. My inspiration was the scene in the movie when Rapunzle has her hair braided and the girls put flowers in her braid.

Happy birthday, Kate!

What 24lbs means to me

It's no secret that I'm overweight. In my eyes, I feel that I've been overweight so long that it's a part of who I am. For years I've been unhappy with my weight, but didn't take weight loss seriously. I would try to "be good" for a week or two, but I would eventually lose my focus and go back to eating like I was 9 months pregnant, even if I wasn't. I wasn't shy about wanting to lose weight either. I talked to several doctors about it and they never really pushed the issue. They would beat around the bush and say thing like, "well, you could lose a few pounds, but overall, you're healthy!" How can a 5 ft 8inches tall girl who weight over 260 pounds be healthy?!? Nothing motivated me, nothing made me want to change...nothing until now.

My Dad.

My Dad died this past August from heart disease, diabetes and over all bad health. These are all things that are treatable with diet and exercise! In 2009 when this whole ordeal started, I started having panic attacks about my health and weight. Did you know that sometimes a panic attack can feel like a heart attack? I would lay in bed thinking I was having a heart attack at 29 years old. Still, it didn't motivate me to change. In my mind I knew I wasn't done having children, so what would be the point in losing weight if I would just gain it back?

Then, I watched my father fade away right in front of me.

First, he lost his toes due to bad circulation. He was confined to wheel chair. Then, two years later he had both of his legs amputated above the knee. A few weeks after that, he lost a leg up to his hip. Then he just slipped away, losing his life because of an infection his body couldn't fight.

I will not let this happen to my children. I will not let them watch me slip away after 60. I want to be there for their children and even there children's children.

That's why I joined Weight Watchers. That's why I've lost 24lbs. That's why I'll keep going until I reach my goal. Nothing can stop me.