Still looking forward to getting a tow behind trailer to put the kids in and get Andrea a bike for herself.

Actually I think it’s all three combined.

Reba Norris Maciula from Chris Peters on Vimeo.

In memory of Granny Maciula.

Born April 24th, 1916 – Died July 11th, 2010

Music performed by Carol Maciula and Andrea Maciula Peters

Produced by Chris Peters

You can download and listen to Carol and Andrea sing the songs in the video above with the links below.

Amazing Grace | I’ll Fly Away | Just as I am | How Great Thou Art

I am all about making sure the parties I throw follow the basic Andrea party rules, this first birthday would be no exception:1. Party should have a theme 2. Invitees must have a great time (have activities) 3. Must serve great food. 4. Make sure party stays on schedule so people can leave if needed! Overall, I think I acheived my own expectations and surpassed many peoples expectations of a baby’s first birthday!

The theme came to me when I saw a friend’s little girl was having an Alice in Wonderland tea party. I thought that is brilliant but I have to make it my own, thus Ainsley in ONE-derland was born! I knew exactly what the picture should be, the classic Alice at the tea party. And the parTEA had to be ONEderful! I figured since Chris and I didn’t have a large wedding, why not have a GINORMOUS birthday celebration for Ainsley Jane!

We used Stillwater’s own Peacock Productions for the amazing invitations, and they were fabulous to work with. They had the white rabbit on the return envelope and a watercolor pic on a gorgeous light blue card that opened like a flower.

The CAKE: I made the cake from scratch and used the Wilton boxed icing sets for the icing & fondant. The chocolate cake was fabulous but the vanilla was too dense. The cakes were to be two mushrooms and a grassy area. I ran out of time but overall they were cute and creative! I used frosted rice krispy treats to cover the columns that the mushrooms rested on.

The FOOD: Part of the menu was with the help of Martha Stewart’s Living Magazine, the rest was my own & friend’s recipes. The open face toasts were: Ricotta with grated lemon peel, basil, & local honey on french baguette, Pesto, Buffalo Mozzerella, & basil on sourdough, Capers, Roasted Peppers, Kalamata Olives in a red wine vinegrette on french baguette, Roasted Garlic & Goat Cheese with an olive tapinade and red onion on french baguette. All the toasts were labeled with Alice in Wonderland characters announcing the ingredients for the inquisitive! The table was stuffed with other goodies like; Shortbread cookies that read “Eat Me”, a veggie tray with ranch(from Mazzio’s of course), peanut butter cookies, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, playing card covered chocolates, ginger peach cold tea, pomegranate & earl grey hot tea, coffee, & sherbet punch.

The DECOR: Themed decorations included: An Alice in Wonderland tablecloth, tea pots and tea sets of all shapes all around the house and main table, heart shaped fans, plastic flamingoes, a croquet set, large mushrooms, giant flowers, fun kiddy toys to play on, and a Cheshire Cat on our playroom chalkboard welcoming everyone in! Other decorations were the actual invitations, a ONEderful wall of pictures of Ainsley’s first year, and many brightly colored balloons!

The FAVORS: Favors were by age group: adults received hand stamped Alice tea cups or bowls with tea and cookies, big kids got a Mad Hatter TOP HAT filled with coloring books, candy, stickers, and a fan, little ones got felted wool balls, board books & a sun protection hat for summer time.

The BABY: Ainsley was dressed in her custom “Alice” dress and looked adorable. She smiled and was so excited while the whole room sang to her for her birthday! She LOVED the cake, well really loved the fondant and wanted to eat all of it. I had to keep peeling it off and throwing it out for fear she would have a complete sugar overload! She received amazing presents and had awesome party guests! Her grandma & Aunt Mandy drove from Indianapolis with cousins Elijah & Katie. Great Great Aunt Helen drove from Bartlesville & many other friends and family members spent their Mother’s Day helping us celebrate!

I was so blessed to get to throw a party of this magnitude and I thank everyone (especially my husband & his mom & sister & my friends Tori & Heather) that helped me clean up afterwards and set up before! It was a ONEderful Party and Ainsley will love these pictures when she is older!

-Freckles (aka: Andrea)

Sarah and I contacted each other via email and decided we would like some Valentines Day House decoration. Since the gift had to be handmade or homemade I decided to try to make something myself. I read Sarah’s blog and her love for etsy so I knew she could appreciate homemade items!

I decided to use the bird on her blog banner as inspiration. I got a pre-made grapevine wreath that I wrapped in red paper, I painted three birds to symbolize her family and actually sent her an extra bird in case of more children! I added some green spanish moss and two hearts one with the letter g for her last name.

I also sent some extra hearts glued to clothespins for hanging Valentines Notes around the house, and four chocolate covered cookies.

I received a beautiful Papyrus card and then an awesome “Be Mine” Valentines Day Banner! It is so cute, with wonderful details and it fits lovely on my mantle! It came wrapped in cute hearty paper too!

It will be treasured for years to come, especially since Valentines Day is like second Christmas at my house!

I can’t wait for the next exchange and I loved being paired with Sarah! Maybe someday we can have a playdate she only lives an hour away! And her little girl is a few months older then Ainsley!

I spoke to Erin and asked her what type of products would be good for a super sensitive, new mommy, redhead with freckles, 31 year old yet still gets zits, kind of skin. She said “Oh you need to try Miessence Soothing Skin Care”. I said well I will give it a shot! Anything is better then having dry yet greasy skin.

I ordered the travel size Soothing kit, the intensive body cream, the Jaffa lip balm, and the mint toothpaste. I went over my $50 gift card but that was okay for the sake of getting to try so many different products! I spent an extra $11 or so.

My order was processed and sent to me two days later, it was very fast! I loved how it also had biodegradable packing peanuts instead of styrofoam ones!

The Soothing kit was awesome. I actually love to wash my face night and day now. I used to never want to do it twice a day, but now I really do! I even crawl out of bed once I put my baby girl to sleep and go “refresh” my face!

First you wash with the cleanser, which sometimes if I have on makeup I do this step twice. The cleanser feels so great, it’s like soft silky gel. It actually smells like orange, witch hazel, and chamomile which needless to say are all ingredients found in it!

Then while your face is still damp after you have rinsed or wiped off the cleanser you put on the soothing skin conditioner. This is a little wetter in consistency and almost feels like it’s helping your skin to tighten. It smells more floral and a little bitter, but feels great!

Then after that step you put on the soothing skin moisturizer. I love this step because it makes me feel like I just had a facial everytime! It has a strong scent that fades quickly, you can smell the jojoba and flowers that are listed in the ingredients.

I have been using this system for over two weeks and I must say my skin feels healthier, looks brighter, and I haven’t broken out. I do have one zit but I think I might get the Miessence  Purifying Blemish Gel for this problem. I also want to try the Soothing Couperose Gel or redness helper,  it says that it helps with broken capillaries and redness.

The Jaffa lip balm is great too. It has a lovely orange-lemon scent/flavor with a “smooth like butter” feel on your lips. One morning after I had just put some on my husband commented on how soft my lips were! It was great to hear that someone else noticed!

The intensive body cream was definitely intense. It felt great on my skin but it was very strongly scented. The listing states that it has a lovely amber scent, well I thought it smelled more like Patchouli. If you love patchouli then this is the lotion for you. I however, do not and was glad I only bought the small travel packet. It was even a little tough to get off in the shower so this tells you how intense it is!

Last, was the travel size mint toothpaste. I wanted to try this out because soon we will be brushing our daughter’s teeth and will need a good fluoride free toothpaste. This one is also glycerin free, which I didn’t even know they were loading our toothpaste with this filler.  This one cleans great and freshens my breath enough to please my mother so that is a good thing! The taste is minty, sweet, salty, and then sweet again. I definitely will keep this in our cabinet!

Overall, these certified organic products are wonderful. They do cost more then most products my family normally uses, but they are food safe, free of genetically modified organisms, good for the soil and good for people. They recycle all their products and packaging, and more can be found here.

My favorite thing about these products is that they are not damaging. I am finding so many baby products and adult products out there have toxins and carcinogens in them and the companies aren’t regulated to tell us. Toxins and carcinogens definitely affect our bodies later on in life, so I want the best for myself and my family. These products are also certified through the USDA.

I highly recommend working with Erin Ely on finding which organic products will work for you or your family, tell her I sent ya!

-Andrea Peters

Follow me on Twitter!

twitter.com/littlesquiggler

twitter.com/heyfreckles

*This review was written on my own accord with Erin’s permission I posted links to her site and pics of the products! I paid for shipping and for the amount over my $50 gift certificate. I wasn’t paid to do this review. It’s all me!

Chris and I usually get each other chocolate, because we both love it, and then gifts we want. This year he wanted a helicopter from the mall. So he got it and it’s already on the roof!

I got chocolates, dinner, and spoiling all day. By spoiling I mean he helped me with Ainsley all day, did dishes, bought me presents and let me nap!

I love my true love and my daughter so much!

Here is a little smilebox I made for Chris below! Enjoy your lovey this Valentines Day and even if you can’t buy anything make them something!

Make a Smilebox greeting

I became a mother this year and that make this the best year of my entire life.

No matter the pain, weight, stress and other factors this year had I will always remember when I became a mother!

Thank you Lord, thank you hubby Chris, and thank you Ainsley Jane you’ve made my dreams come true! I look forward to all the years to come and hopefully all the brothers and sisters for Miss Ainsley Jane!

My Challenges: The biggest change is that I need to become healthier! And as mentioned above I would like to be blessed with another baby after Ainsley turns one!

My husband Chris is always up for supporting me through whatever I want to do, and when it involves more fun outdoor activities he loves it!

My Accountability: I of course have my husband Chris, daughter Ainsley, my mom and dad, and I have enlisted a new Canadian Twitter friend Julie to be my comrade. She is a new mom as well and we will be guest blogging on each other’s sites! She runs a great cloth diaper store out of her home in British Columbia (Little Monkey Store)! She has a son that is two weeks older then Ainsley and we definitely rely on each other for mommy tips and trends.

So that is that! Challenge and Accountablity.

Next step the plan. It’s real now!