Year End Wrap-Up

So 2012 has come and gone and we're already 7 days into the new year.  I cannot wrap my mind around how quickly time really does fly by.  After I went back to work full-time in September, all my spare time to maintain this blog quickly dwindled away.  One of my New Year's Resolutions is to carve out time every week to publish at least one new post.  I started Royal Feather because I loved connecting with new parents and their kids and helping them find amazing and useful products for their children.  This blog helped me connect with my fans on a much bigger level, and I miss that.  Since it's been a few months since my last post, this will be a photo blog of sorts instead.  Just a little recap of how our year ended.

Must Try Recipes

1.  Cheesy Egg & Bacon Pull-Apart Biscuits  2.  Mandarin Orange Oatmeal To-Go  3.  Strawberry Shortcake Muffins  4.  Hash Browns Breakfast Bites  5.  Clean Eating Tilapia  6.  Chicken Piccata  7.  Easy Bean & Cheese Burritos

I'm very grateful for all the meals Nicholas' school provides, but there are times when I'm not too happy with their breakfast options.  So because of that, I'll make batches of Hash Browns Breakfast Bites along with some type of a muffin (ie. items #3) and send him off to school with a healthy breakfast to start his day.  Both of these recipes were taste-tested by our little guy and were pretty good.  The beauty of the Breakfast Bites is their ability to never be boring {you can always vary what you mix into the hash browns; chopped bacon, turkey crumbles, chives, sausage, etc.}  Not only were they tasty but the fact that they're bite sized is a big plus.  Anything that he can grab and eat with his little hands is great since he's Mr. Independent now :)  The new oatmeal flavor was also a big hit with Jacob.  As I've mentioned before, there are days when he has to be at work at 4 or 5am so his lunch break is really a breakfast break.  These flavorful and healthy oatmeal options are pretty popular in our house as well.  

Project Pergola: Complete

After countless hours, (4) boxes of deck screws, (8) 8x8 cedar posts, (8) 2x12 cedar boards, (19) 2x6 cedar planks, (45) 2x2 cedar strips, and 5 gallons of Behr wood stain -  the pergola is finished!!  

 Fall Family Fun

Pumpkin Patch, Corn Maze, Nick all dressed up with his pilgrim hat for Thanksgiving lunch, and Indian Corn teacher gifts for Nick's awesome teachers at his preschool

Nicholas Parties with 

Chuck E Cheese

Last year Nicholas' 1st birthday party was rained out so this year I wasn't taking any chances.  The theme to his 2nd birthday was tailored around his current obsession, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I was so bummed that I didn't get a picture of his awesome cake before we added the candles.  But as you fellow Mommies know, you have to be quick when snapping photos of a toddler! I want to send a huge THANK YOU to the amazingly talented Jessica from Wee Sweet Treats for creating such a magical cake.  Everyone loved it!  And since Nick's birthday was on a Tuesday, I baked some super cute reindeer cupcakes for his class and staff members of his preschool.  They came out great! Super fun and kid-friendly.

 Christmas Time is a Happy Time

Christmas was actually a little challenging for us this year.  The three of us were hit with a pretty bad viral infection that lasted almost 3 days.  As a result, we missed Christmas but did our best to get better ASAP and at least celebrate the weekend after.  Nicholas absolutely loved his train table from Santa - it was a HUGE hit!  Traditionally we spend Christmas day at my Mom's parents' house but since we couldn't make it (nor could some other family members), we had a little re-do on the Saturday after.  We ate tamales, played games, exchanged gifts, and took some pretty memorable pictures.  Nick even popped fireworks for the first time! I love seeing our little guy have so much fun. His little smile always makes my heart so happy.  Here, Nick happily posed with his Great Grandpa.

All in all, 2012 was a pretty great year.  I love looking back through photos and reliving all our wonderful experiences.  As a family we laughed, we cried, we grew stronger together and as individuals, and we learned to reprioritize.  I learned to let go of things and people who won't change and are simply negative influences in our lives.  If you can't be happy for us, then I'm done trying to convince you.  In 2013 I have no plans of making unrealistic resolutions.  All I resolve to do is to be happy, healthy, and wise.  I want to only surround my family with all things positive and sincere - no stress and no drama!  I will continue working on growing Royal Feather and making an even happier home with my best friend - my Jacob.  Cheers to another amazing year!!
Thanks for stopping by!  

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Well another Easter has come and gone, and I'm actually a little sad about it.  The warm weather, all the bright and cheery colors of the season, and seeing the smiles on our children's faces as they run around in search for all their eggs and then watch as confetti flies all over, is such a wonderful feeling.

We were pretty busy last week prepping for an Easter party, assembling mini Easter baskets, and painting egg shells.  Here's a look at our life last week in pictures - enjoy :)

Goldfish carrots for the mini Easter baskets

Bunny Bait treats I made for an Easter party
Nicholas was invited to - it was delicious!

This picture makes me laugh every timeI see it! It looks like he's
holding on fordear life!

Working on his little egg decorating project

Score! Nicholas came out with a Rice Krispie Treat!  He kept going back for those...
I think he was mesmerized by the shiny, blue wrapper.

As kids, we always colored Easter eggs with food coloring and vinegar, but I always remember hating the smell.  So now, on Pinterest of course, I learned you can color egg shells with Kool-Aid.  So here's Nick's first attempt at it.  Not too bad for a 15-month old :)

Here are the colors we used for his "Kool-Eggs"

I was pretty surprised to see that we didn't make a huge mess!
Nicholas would just color one egg at a time and then
 let me take it out so it could dry.  I was loving how into it he was!

Now we moved up to coloring 3 colors at one time!

And here is his masterpiece

Saturday afternoon, Nicholas went over to his cousin's house for another Easter party and he had a blast.  Another piñata and another egg hunt!! I was a little disappointed that I couldn't make it to the party (my husband and I had bought tickets months before for a concert out of town. At the time of the purchase, I hadn't realized it was on Easter weekend.  But I knew our son was in good hands with my Mom and sister).  

Nicholas waving "hey" with his cousins Kayla & Claire

Piñata time!!

LOL! He's very happy to have found another Easter basket

Confetti in his curls

On Easter Sunday, we were able to get a great picture of Nicholas with his Easter baskets.  I love his madras pants!

And last but not least, here are a few of my favorite shots of Nick all dressed up for his Easter pictures.  Thank you to All Good Productions for these great photos!

I hope everyone had a blessed and memorable Easter!