Frozen Birthday Party

Yes, I totally gave in to the craze, drank the frozen kool-aid, and threw our 3 year old a themed birthday party. I even hired 2 princesses to come and sing with the kids. Sometimes, it's just easier to give in to the desires of the third child, than to pretend that she doesn't watch TV and craft a wholesome birthday party.

I sourced table decor from my house, so vases in blue and white, a silver branch candelabra, pinecones, an owl... anything that felt winter-frozen-blue-white-maybe-it-goes.

We pushed the 2 dining tables together, and had kids attempt to "build a snowman" out of pretzel rods and marshmallows. They also had waffles and fruit.

Of course, I made us take a family photo...

A shot of the food...

Watching the movie an hour before the party to refresh the older two. They aren't addicted like the 3 year old, so they needed a reminder about the song lyrics.

Snowman parts.

"Snow" was popcorn, carrots were Olaf's noses, and "Sven snacks" were Chex mix and pastel M&M's.

Princess Elsa singing Let it Go.

Our 3 year old in heaven!

Both princesses together.

My sister made 2 cakes, which was amazing and generous and kind and lovely and thematically appropriate!

Our happy girls watching Princess Anna:)

Jessica

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How to Recover from an "Off" Day

Tuesday was just an off day for me. I'm open to the idea that it was this because it started off with the horrific news from Israel, but usually I am able to compartmentalize sad/tragic news (lots of experience with this over the summer and the war) and it doesn't make me upset and fussy like a baby for an entire day. My brilliant friend Nicki wrote about the attacks and her response here.

So, faced with the reality that I was going to be basically useless on a day when I had tons of things to do, I decided to take action, and to do everything in my power to shake off the icky-ness.

• I snuggled with the two little kids.
• I ate breakfast, and fueled my body with yogurt, almond butter, and blueberries.
• I put on my workout clothes to set myself up for success.
• I did 30 Day Shred, level 3, a for-sure-to-sweat exercise video that got my heart pumping
• I allowed myself to surf the internet aimlessly, and put fantasy clothes (sequin ball gown) in my online shopping cart, without actually buying anything
• I turned up some happy music (Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams) and danced around my kitchen while making dinner *way* ahead of time, so that the evening wouldn't be rushed.
• I baked some oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies to put in kid lunches as treats
• I picked up my preschooler and we sang Frozen songs in the car on the way home
• I took a walk with a girlfriend (seeing friends and socializing is very healthy for you)
• I picked up my kindergartner, took him to speech class, and read a really funny book during the wait (Andy Cohen's new one)
• I held hands with above-mentioned kindergartner and we skipped, jumped and hopped our way to the car...

After all of that, I still had a kid dentist appointment for the 3 big ones, we ate dinner as a family, I put the baby to bed, snuggled and talked with the 2nd grader, then went to bed myself at 8:30.

Sometimes we just have those days. And this week, I felt good knowing that I was doing everything in my power to make the day better, and instead of curling up in a ball (maybe with unhealthy food), I stayed healthy, and strong, and set a good example for my kids about what to do when we don't feel our best.

Any other tips I might have missed? Since winter and sick-days are approaching, I'm sure that I'll have other days where I need new pick-me-up ideas.

Jessica

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