Sweet Sunshines of Mine: Happy fake birthday, baby Teags!

Back from a fabulous week on the sandy shores of Myrtle Beach with sand in our luggage, tans on our faces, and hopefully lack of severe weight gain. Will recap on the southern adventures of the S family but before that, T’s birthday party!

The party started off with a hiccup. Running late as I tend to be, we ended up at the clubhouse to set up about ½ hour past schedule. Aaaaaand the doors to said clubhouse were locked. We knocked. We banged. We flagged down a man who sent emails and phoned the condo board members. No answer. My ever present get-things-done mode went into overdrive and I marched over to the door of a condo association member and knocked/pounded. No answer either! Argh! Thankfully my sister lives next to the clubhouse so we quickly turned her pad into party central. Turns out the person on clubhouse duty was at the OSU football game instead of doing their job…Fanfreakingtastic.

Everyone joined in to get the decorations up in time.

I feel like the last minute balloon purchase was a great success.

Two people are ready for the pic.

But all ran smoothly after that bump in the road. Gorgeous weather blessed the party, friends and family came to celebrate and stuff face, the smash cake was a success with one of my childrens (hint: not the birthday girl), and the best of presents were gifted. So here you have it—photo dump!

The cake! Ahhhh, the cake! Made with love and care by the fabulous Paula Jo. Talk about an stupendous aunt, spending an entire day putting this masterpiece together. Not only was it delish but it matched the strawberry theme. An itty bitty strawberry smash cake was also made for Teagan. One bite of sugary goodness was enough for the wee thing before she got mad at it. Parker on the other hand could.not.stop ;) Neither could I. Icing is my weakness.

DESPERATE for cake!

No hesitation on Parker's side.

The spread—make your own nacho bar. Lindz made the to die for cheese dip, my mom whipped up the super cute fruit skewers and pink party punch, the crockpot cooked the chicken, and all the fixins were out as toppings.

My strawberry plates!

Recipes are (with no legit pics. Use your imagination ;)

Cheese Dip
Ingredients:
1/2lb Velveeta
8oz cream cheese
10oz can Rotel tomatoes
4oz can green chilies

Directions:
Melt cheeses in microwave, stir in remaining ingredients, serve warm.

Velveeta and I had a very long relationship from the mid 90s all the way through the mid 2000s. Now our love affair only surfaces during my first trimester (along with Hamburger Helper and Ramen Noodles. What can I say, early pregnancy makes my taste buds revert to that of a drunk college student. Shocking that my girls came out unscathed), parties, and football season. Party = allowing myself to pour that goodness all over my chips.

Pink Party Punch
Ingredients:
1 2qt pitcher of pink lemonade
1 2qt container of raspberry sorbet
1 2 liter bottle of lemon-lime sorbet

Directions:
Add all ingredients to punch bowl and serve. For an adult version, splash in some vodka. My sister’s definition of splash is to pour an entire fifth of vodka in and then ask, “woops, is that too much?” So if you were feeling a little boozy after T’s bash, you can thank Lindsey.

Salsa Chicken
-now this is very tricky. Only the best of chefs can conquer what is salsa chicken.

Ingredients
-salsa
-chicken
-taco seasoning

Mind blown, right?

As usual, I winged it. If I had to guess, I’d say 3lbs chicken, two 16oz jar of your fave salsa, and two taco seasoning packs.

Directions:
Add salsa, chicken, and taco seasoning to crockpot. Heat that bad boy on low for 8ish hours or high for 4ish. Shred. Throw it on nachos. Make a little taco salad. Eat with a spoon in mass quantities (never happened).

Teagan and her helper opened loads of presents. Girlfriend got it all—from books, to leopard print tops (animal print squee!), to the Cozy Coupe, to her Barbie Powerwheel, to everything and anything in-between. But as it always is, one of the best hits was the gift bag.

I wonder if T likes her gifts.

Talk about the camera being in the right place at the right time to capture this gem.

Bag lovin babe!

Everyone chilled for a little while, we packed up, then started down to SC. Update soon! Thanks to all who took time out of their busy days to come and celebrate such a special moment for baby Teagan! It means so much to all of us  The times together may be few and far between but they sure are fun when it all comes together.