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The Best Birthday Gifts for Your Wife

Your wife’s birthday is coming up, and this is the year you’ll make her smile with the best birthday present ever. If your heart is in the right place, but your gift ideas are lacking, we’ve got you covered. No matter what your wife likes to do, we’ve got the perfect presents that will score you major points and make her day as special as she deserves.

Whether you’re sending birthday wishes to a friend, family member, or coworker, you can choose from a variety of images ranging from humorous to heartfelt.

Happy Birthday to my Wife

For the Sommelier Spirit

If your wife loves a good bottle of red wine and can’t attend a picnic without the perfect Pinot Grigio, you’re in luck. Show her how much you care with a personalized bottle of birthday wine. You can inscribe her name and a special message on the bottle’s label, and make for a gift she’ll never see coming! With a variety of beverage options, you can select from merlots, sparkling wines, cabernets, beer, and even liquor to ensure she receives her favorite libation.

Flowers with a twist

What about flowers? If you’re thinking that this might be a bit too cliche or unoriginal, we have the perfect solution. Instead of the standard bunch of her favorite red roses why not bacon and Mid-Day Squares’ gluten free chocolate? Yes, that’s right you can get a whole bouquet of beef jerky expertly crafted by awesome gifts. Please visit awesomegifts.com to know more about it.

For the Health Connoisseur

For the wife who is a gym regular, loves to cook healthy meals, and is constantly trying to find ways to make your family healthier and happier, we’ve got a variety of gift ideas that will make her day and show her you appreciate her interests and efforts. Wrap up a make-your-own kombucha kit so she can whip up the fermented probiotic elixir in the comfort of her own kitchen. If she loves to craft delicious meals using only the freshest of ingredients, purchase a subscription to HelloFresh and get ready-made, nutritious ingredients for a meal delivered to your door every week. This will save you both a trip to the grocery store and keep healthy foods on the table, plus it’s a weekly gift that keeps on giving.

For the Fashionista

If your wife has a shoe collection that takes up the majority of the closet, and you find it strange when she doesn’t have any shopping bags in hand when she comes home, chances are she’s a fashionista. There are plenty of gifts that will make her day, and you don’t have to stick with clothing. Gorgeous accessories that provide a little bit of glam are a good choice, or a coffee table book filled with works from designers she loves can do the trick. If you can’t decide, buy your wife a subscription to a fashion rental service where she can trade and try new accessories.

The Best Birthday Gifts for Your Wife

For the Adventurer

If your wife is a daredevil, plan an experience she won’t soon forget. Experience presents are becoming more and more popular, and for good reason—they give you the chance to do something you never thought possible. Whether you book her a skydiving adventure, arrange a session for her to meet a lion, or put her in the driver’s seat of a racecar, your wife will be impressed. She’ll love that you took the time to find something out of the ordinary, and you’ll be able to create a memory together she won’t soon forget.

For the Sentimental Sweetheart

If your wife loves nothing more than tangible expressions of love, and is a sucker for all things sentimental, the sky is the limit for homemade presents. Fill a jar with colorful scraps of paper or print off a few Happy Birthday Images. On each, write down a sweet memory you have together. Drop into the jar, and sit with her while she reads each. It will summon up memories of wonderful times and make for a new memory she won’t forget. If you’re a great writer, sit down and pen a good old-fashioned love letter. Collect pictures from the past and make a simple scrapbook that will bring a tear to her eye. The more time and thought you put in, the more impressed she will be. This also serves as a wonderful idea for households working on tight budgets.

The Best Birthday Gifts for Your Wife

Can you use visa gift cards anywhere

Your wife is a luxury lover, so a pampering weekend serves as the perfect gift. Groupon often offers massage deals at a variety of price points, and she’ll love the chance to unwind. If you’ve never had the amazing experience, you’ll want to change that, stat. Make it a couple’s massage so you can spend time destressing together. If you’d like to go all out, plan a weekend at a resort and partake in various treatments, or send her on a weekend alone to spend some time regrouping and feeling her best.

If you’d like to make your wife feel special this year, make her birthday one to remember with the perfect present.




Celebrating a 7th Birthday At Six Flags Great Adventure

We are lucky to have 2 different Six Flags Amusement Parks within driving distance to our home. Last year for Shae’s 6th birthday we visited Six Flags America in the DC area. This year we hit up Six Flags Great Adventure for a day of rides, Safari and Hurricane Harbor water fun and birthday smiles.

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

I never like to go to amusement parks on Saturday but with our schedule it’s the only day that works so us along with 80million other people waiting in the hot sun for the gates to open and get inside to start our day.  It may have been Shae’s birthday but we headed right for the Superman Ride and Green Lantern.  I’m not a ride person. I’m happy with taking my kids and watching them have a blast but I do not get on any rides. Cut me a little slack, I do suffer from vertigo occasionally so I’d rather avoid  the headaches and dizziness completely.Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Since we got to the park as soon as it opened the lines for the first 2 roller coasters were relatively short. I tried to talk them into Kingda Ka and Zumanjaro but no one was remotely interested. Just looking up at the angles and drops instantly made me uncomfortable. I think if I pushed a little harder the kids would’ve gotten on.

Kingda Ka is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the North America. The accelerated launch, 0 to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds, pushes you straight up and over the Zumanjaro  Drop of Doom and plunges you back to earth. The ride is so fast you might not even have time to scream.Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

We decided to check out the newly designed Safari. Many years ago I remember driving our own car through the safari while watching monkeys rip apart the moldings and wiper blades of the car in front of us. Today the Safari is a much more organized family and animal friendly experience that keeps the animals in an environment safely tucked away from vehicles while still visible to park goers.

The Safari Off-Road Adventure boasts 350 acres of animal preserve with over 1,200 animals from six continents including elephants, rhinos, tigers, giraffes and lions. Guests climb in a rugged all terrain vehicle and travel the through a variety of environments where the animals are able to securely roam in a comfortable habitat. Guests are able to get within close proximity of the creatures to truly appreciate their beauty and size.Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Hurricane Harbor has so many water slides, rides and even a wave pool that is great for the whole family. Admission for Hurricane Harbor is separate from Great Adventure but can be enjoyed on it’s own without stepping foot in the amusement park. We were only able to enjoy the wave pool and the lazy river due to a shortage of available tubes. For an additional cost you can rent tubes to be used during your entire visit. This lets you hop onto a ride without waiting for someone to let go of tubed for rides and slides.

Six Flags Great Adventure for a Birthday Celebration #familyvacation #roadtrip #AmusementPark

Admission to Great Adventure and Hurricane Harbor is not a drop in the bucket. After admission and parking you’ll also want to see if the Flash Pass is something your family wants to invest in. The Flash Pass is an additional cost perk that get’s you on your ride faster with no waiting in line. Again, this is not a small fee. Our family of 5 would’ve had to pay over $500 (on top of admission costs) to get 90% faster ride times than everyone else.

On our visit we were able to enjoy about 6 rides in Great Adventure, Safari (with 1 1/2 hour wait & 1 hour ride time) and 3 hours at Hurricane Harbor with no rides. The Flash Pass would’ve given us more opportunity to ride the attractions that brought us there in the first place.

If you live close enough to visit more than once or twice in a season I would suggest a season pass and visits during the week when lines are shorter and crowds are , well less crowded.




Making Her Own Birthday Cake #kidsinthekitchen

We celebrate this week. It was Shae’s 7th birthday. Early in the week she decided on her dinner and birthday cake; homemade meatloaf and vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.  Simple enough right. Well I’m good with the meatloaf, it something my kids really really love but I’m not a good cake baker. I can make an awesome chocolate chip cookie and my banana bread could win awards but cakes, eh.  So with a box mix we went. No shame in it plus we did it together. We bought a funfetti cake mix, white frosting (dyed lavend) and added even MORE sprinkles. Making Her Own Birthday Cake #KidsintheKitchen #happybirthday Making Her Own Birthday Cake #KidsintheKitchen #happybirthday Making Her Own Birthday Cake #KidsintheKitchen #happybirthday Making Her Own Birthday Cake #KidsintheKitchen #happybirthday Making Her Own Birthday Cake #KidsintheKitchen Shae said it looked like a donut. Happy  Birthday to our little princess. Come join me and my co-hosts, Sarah of Play to Learn with Sarah, Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara, Reesa of Momma Lew, Kate of  Busy Bee Kate & Jeannette of EcoIncognito each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

You’ll find these and many more ideas for healthful and unique food fun on the #KidsintheKitchen Pinterest Board.
Follow Melinda Babiak’s board #KidsintheKitchen on Pinterest.

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky
 




Shae’s Birthday at #Morey’sPier

Shae recently celebrated her 5th birthday. We spent the weekend doing things as a family, enjoying not only each other but soaking in the last days of summer vacation. I’m big on having parties and get togethers for the kids but this year we went a totally different direction.

Wildwood, NJ is home to some of the biggest and best beach fun on the east coast.  The boardwalk is HUGE and home to games, rides, food and more.  I grew up going to Wildwood and vividly remember rides like the Serpent and Olympic Fun Center for their arcades.  This year is the first time we’ve taken the kids to Wildwood.  We headed to Morey’s Piers.

Our day started early at the waterpark.  Shae made her way down ShotgunFalls and WipeOut with NO FEAR.  I on the other hand hate rides including the simpler things like the log flume.

shotgun falls moreys pier wildwood

wipeout moreys pier wildwood

The kids had a blast and we spent about 5 hours there before heading over to the rides. Sabreena is the daredevil and got on the “it”.  It took Shaun an hour or so but he joined Sabreena on the scary rides.

it ride moreys pier wildwood

The day was fantastic, one of the best times we’ve had as a family. We’re already talking about going back next year.
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Shae Has a Birthday

I remember that day 5 years ago. It was 2:30 in the morning, contractions started and started very strong. We had to drag Sabreena and Shaun out of bed and to the hospital with us because my parents were an hour away. We forgot the camera and my cell phone charger so Rob had to go back home.

Shae arrived 7 hours later, bigger than the rest but just as cute. We celebrated her birthday this past weekend with a waterpark, boardwalk, rides, cake and floating lanterns Tangled style.

teacups ride mariners landing
shaes birthday bumper cars
pasquale from tangled
floating lanterns in the sky
pushing lantern into the sky
birthday floating lanterns




Wordless Wednesday-Happy Sweet Sixteen Sabreena

Happy Birthday Sabreena.
No matter how many birthdays come and go, you’ll always be our little girl.











The Day of Starbucks, Diamonds and a Skeleton Key

Today was not only Thanksgiving but it was also my birthday. And it has been a great birthday indeed! It all started last weekend for a Girlfriends Getaway Weekend with me and my best friend Stacy and finished today with my family gathering together for Turkey Day.

girls getaway weekend

sorry for the blurriness, taken from a cellphone

Rob is terrible at keeping a secret so he tends to shop RIGHT before my birthday. He came home with a familiar golden bag and beloved red coffee cup. I assumed the bag contained my 3 mother’s rings that have been at the jeweler getting serviced/cleaned/inspected/tightened. He surprised floored me with a gift of diamond earrings. I’ve been asking for them for 10 years and he just realized I actually do deserved them.

diamond earrings for my birthday

The kids gave me this lovely skeleton key necklace from Etsy (I even wrote about it here) and a collection of handmade clay figurines and trinkets.


I’m a lucky girl to be surrounded by people that love me! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!







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What do you want for your birthday

My birthday is coming up. You might think my wish list is super long but I’m quite a low maintenance kinda girl. The splurge of the century is an upcoming girls weekend at the beach with my best friend. We’ve been talking about it for years and finally made the move and booked it. Before I reveal more details about it, I would suggest you to check this site for some amazing birthday wishes in case you want to wish your grandpa a happy 70th birthday with some lovely messages.

As for other things I want my list is pretty small. I like jewelry. I’ve been eyeing antique skeleton key necklaces on Etsy like the one pictured here. Anything with a little thought put into it means so much.

courtesy briguys girls on etsy

I know it isn’t very special or sentimental but I love kitchen gadgets and supplies. Pretty mugs, shiny baking sheets and spice blends are a great way to get me to try new recipes and techniques. The other day I got an email that I treated as an early birthday present. The Fairy Hobmother offered me a $100 Amazon GC just for sharing this post with you. You can score a visit from the Fairy Hobmother too.

Comment below and make a wish for something you’d want for your next birthday. The sponsor will be choosing a comment(s) and granting wishes with $100 Amazon GCs. have fun with it!

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Happy 4th Birthday Shae

happy birthday shae

Last weekend we celebrated Shae’s 4th bday. It turned into a HUGE event with over the top decorations, goodie bags and even the cake. A special thanks to Birthday In A Box for supplying the décor and supplies to make this day extra special for Shae.

Shae chose a Tinkerbell theme and Sabreena and I went all out on decorating the house. Birthday in a Box provided the Happy Birthday banner, streamers, centerpiece, HUGE balloon that is still attached to her dining room chair and all the cutlery/plates/cups/tablecover. I purchased bright packages of tissue paper and made paper flowers and balls to complement the colors of her theme. The balloons were all over the house and there was a dyed coffee filter flower banner draped across the deck.

mango-salsa-tinkerbell-centerpiece

tinkerbell centerpiece

tinkerbell-cake-cannons-bakery

tinkerbell cake

happy birthday banner and balloons

tissue-paper-flowers

balloons and paper flowers

Birthday in a Box is a one-stop shop for everything party related. Get the basics like plates and forks or go the extra step with piñatas, masks, craft kits and personalized coloring books. Characters from the big screen and cartoons can be found as well as classics like princess, monkey and trains.

Make your child’s next birthday extra special with some help from Birthday in a Box.




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Project 52 – Week 14

Welcome to my 14th installment of Project 52, my attempt to capture our lives in a couple pictures once a week.

We celebrated Shaun’s 8th birthday this week. The weather was gloomy and cold so there weren’t many opportunites for pictures outside but that made for a very crafty week. Shae and I did lots of crafts so i’m sharing the finished products with you. Many of them are inspired by GummyLump’s 300 Crafts for Kids Project and some by random ideas found online.

dinner at Red Robin

looky looky shaun got a Kinect

why does my 15 year old look 21 years old

soap from the kid's shower, what are they doing with it?

blinged out sunflower, check out her signature on the bottom

old school comes alive, pompom bear

fancy cuff bracelet

Hope this gives you a glimpse onto our lives behind the blog. If you are doing Project 52 this week leave your link in the comment so I can come check out your life.

 

 

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