August 2011
  

Fun Lunch

Can you tell who had been watching MasterChef? I couldn't help myself- those chefs have mad plating skills! This was my version ;)



It's amazing how arranging food in fun ways makes my kids more likely to eat everything I put in front of them! And variety is another big key!

Welcome to Summer!

I'm late posting this but as I went through some pictures from the beginning of the summer, I wanted to share it.

Ken, Katrina & I met Talia at her bus stop on the last day of school with helium balloons. When we got home, she found this "Welcome to Summer!" sign that Katrina & I had made for her during the day:

(They look sooo happy!)

Then we went outside and there was face painting, side walk chalk, water balloons, bubbles to blow and games to play. They had so much fun with us back there! Talia kept telling us over & over that this was "the best day EVER!" :) Now that's great feedback! :)


After all of the outside fun, we came inside and had watermelon ice cream cake for a special treat! :)

A Special Day



Talia & I stole away for a special day. We went to the local "Play McDonalds" and after lunch, thorough enjoyment of the play place and some ice cream, we headed for the mall where we tried on every pair of clip-on and magnet earrings we could find- settling on a set of several pairs of magnet ones (they really look real! :)

It was a lovely day. :)

Bubbles :)

This is the photo that the new blog header came from:


It was a magical little moment :)

Congratulations to Tiff, you won the Xander Nash Giveaway!

Chocolate Apple Gifts for Teacher

This year, I made a teacher thank-you gift for Talia's teacher out of a Chocolate Orange. I'll be posting a tutorial for it soon, but for today, I have a similar project to share!



When I was planning my sister's school themed bridal shower, I was searching Pinterest for ideas, & I came across someone who had done something very similar to my "Orange Apple", but smaller, out of a ferrero rocher chocolate!

So, that's what I made for a little Thank You for the shower guests:



Cute, eh? :)


You could totally do either of these projects for your kids' teachers as gifts, or thank yous, or for your kids- and your kids can help! :) (Katrina was very helpful when I was putting together the shower thank yous).

You can find a step by step tutorial with pictures, on how to make the ferrero rocher version, here.

For more ideas from the School-Themed shower, click here. :)


Simple Berry Parfaits

For one of the treats at my sister's bridal shower, we made simple berry parfaits.
(We did a semi-school themed party because my sister & her fiance are highschool sweethearts, so that's why the food was labelled with little chalk boards.)

Best Summery Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits by www.RaisingMemories.com


Here's What We Used:

- french vanilla yogurt
- granola
- raspberries
- blueberries
- plastic dishes from the dollar store

We layered them yogurt-berries-yogurt-granola-yogurt-3 berries on top.

It was easy to make them, we had a little assembly line going & before we knew it we were done! For these, I think we used 4 containers of yogurt to make 24 little parfaits.

For more ideas from the School-Themed shower, click here. :)



abc button Cast Party Wednesday Tip Junkie handmade projects

Brittany & Brandon (Engagement Photos)

The last engagement session I posted was for my sister. Not long after she got engaged, my brother proposed to his girlfriend!


Their weddings will be 5 weeks apart, so things are getting a little crazy around here- especially since the first one is 5 weeks from now!

On to the photos- here are some of my favourites from Brandon & Brittany's engagement session- we went back to the waterfall where my brother proposed.





We spent some time walking in the water, back to the spot where he got down on one knee (in the water) and proposed. I had to get a shot of them in their water shoes to remember it by ;)




Brittany spotted these heart shaped leaves. I couldn't resist getting a ring shot with them!










It was a fun evening you two- I look forward to having you for a sister in law, Brittany, and the girls are psyched to be getting an aunt!

Review & Giveaway - Xander Nash Book Series

Toay I want to share with you a series of books that I've been reading with my girls. It's the Xander Nash series by "Creation by Design". We were sent the first 3 books in the series & have read through them like crazy! Talia is loving reading a chapter a night or at bed time (and she always begs for one more chapter- now that we've finished the books, we're on to Charlotte's Web!)


Each book in the Xander Nash series is about a boy named Xander who goes back in time with his dog, Mitts, and witnesses (and participates in) a bible story. The first book is about creation, the 2nd is about Joseph (and there's always a bit of a lesson- the 2nd book addresses sibling rivalry), the 3rd is about Moses & Pharaoh, etc.

I thought these were great for Talia's age (5) and would be great for older kids who can read the book on their own, too. I think hearing the stories from this perspective helps them to learn & remember different parts of the story and helps them see it from a different perspective than they're used to.

You can find these Bible Adventure books (and other products) on the Creation by Design website.

And today you have the chance to win the first book in the series!



Here's what you can do to enter for a chance to win "Xander Nash: The Beginning of it All":

Mandatory Entry:
Leave a comment, letting me know you want to enter!
(Include your email if it's not in your profile)

Bonus Entries:
Leave a comment for each of the following that you have done:

Become a fan of Raising Memories on Facebook
Follow Raising Memories on Twitter
Follow Raising Memories Blog on Google Friend Connect (scroll to the bottom of the blog to find the widget & click on "Join this Site")
Post about the giveaway on twitter, your blog, or facebook, with a link back to the blog. (You can get 2 entries for each of these, so post two comments to let me know you did it!)
Follow me on Pinterest (I'll follow you back :)



This Giveaway will end on Aug. 17th. Winners will be announced on Aug. 19th. Winner will be chosen randomly & contacted by email. If winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. I received 3 books for review purposes.

He Said/She Said Bridal Shower Game

I threw my sister a bridal shower last week, so I'll be sharing a few of the things we did with you. First up is the He Said/She Said bridal shower game.

I sent my sister & her fiance a list of questions to answer and then chose one of their answers. I read the questions & the answers to the guests at the shower & they had to guess whether it was Russ or Amber who gave that answer. Instead of having them write it down, I made these with my mother in law's cricut:



DIY Bridal Shower Game with Cricut

So, I'd read the question with an answer, and then each guest held up either the cowboy hat or the tiara (or both) and then I told them the correct answer. I wish I had a picture of the game in action, but I was busy reading questions at the time, and I'm pretty sure everyone else had 2 popsicle sticks in their hands ;)



He Said She Said Bridal Shower Game Crown and Cowboy Hat
He Said/She Said Bridal Shower Game

I got the idea here, from Linda, who did mustaches & tiaras. But for Russ, cowboy hats just seemed right ;)


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More Great Shower Games & Ideas:

School Themed Bridal Shower

Mustache Themed Baby Shower

Bridal Shower Time!

I had a sparse blogging week last week because I was out of town at my mom's house. During that time, we threw a shower for my sister.


Me & Amber before her shower


More to come on that!
Hope you all had a good week!

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