Brownie has a Party

Despite the fact that my little Brownie has been 5 for over a month now, we are just getting around to celebrating the big occasion with her friends.

Sweet girl wanted a ballerina dance party (and even wanted to invite all the boys in her class, but I didn't know how to make that work), but we were so busy with soccer games, Nutcracker rehearsals, other family birthdays, etc. that we had to wait about a month to get the party in. We're still trying to figure out how to handle the three big girls' birthdays that are so close together--this year we had a family dinner on their real birthday. Additionally, we allowed the older two a "friends" party.Since Bug was only four this year, we had a big extended family party for her on her actual birthday. Next year is still up in the air. I still like the idea of one huge bash where in invite all our friends and family. It'd be one hectic day, but it'd be worth it. Don't get me wrong, I love throwing my girls a party and celebrating another year with them... but it can get costly and very busy during what is already a very busy season!

But back to this party for my Brownie Boo. I don't think you can tell in this picture, but there is a little ballerina doll sitting in the center of the table. Homemade strawberry (egg free) cupcakes and homemade butter cream frosting topped with ballerinas were the birthday girl's request. The fresh strawberries were mama's!

Thank you to my friend Nichole who let me borrow several tutus! These looked cute over the light fixture in our kitchen (above the kitchen table).

And my friend Caroline let me borrow this awesome tablecloth. It matched all the pink going on!

Brownie picked out her own cupcake liners and cupcake toppers. Notice her cupcake has a BIG ballerina on it. She needed it to be distinguishable-- HA!

Honestly, we tried to keep it pretty simple. In addition to the jelly beans, the treat bags (the pink bags in the basket) contained a little ring with ballet slippers on it (actually they're cupcake toppers) and a bottle cap bracelet with a ballerina on it (ordered from Etsy). I took a picture of each party guest posed with Brownie--and I plan to print off a wallet size and stick it in the thank you note.

It's easy to decorate for a party when you already have so many items in your house related to that theme. 

And the dollar bins at Target had some little tutus and sashes--perfect for decorating--not really for wearing!

I set out a bag of wands and a bag of tiaras for the dress up portion of the party. This little mirror from Brownie and Peach's room fit perfectly on my recipe book holder--what girl doesn't want to look at her self all dressed up (we also had two full-length mirrors as well)?

And we had two hat/coat racks (made by my hubby) to display all of the tutus up for grabs!

At the last minute I heard one of my girls suggest Grandma stay to paint nails. And actually I had just decided I needed one more activity--so it worked out. She had just bought a ton of glittery nail polish, and she was kind enough to share it will all of us! Thanks, Grammy!

Once everybody had an outfit picked out and their nails painted, we headed to the "dance floor" to show off our best dance moves. Each girl took a turn showing the other girls a dance move, then we'd all copy.

Well, some of us copied, and some of us drank cherry cider and pink lemonade!

Like I said, we tried to keep it pretty simple. Once our dance-move show-off was complete, my neighbor and her friend came to the party as the "teachers." I asked Ashley if she'd be interested in teaching the girls a little dance routine. Well, she and her friend really did a great job. They went above and beyond what I was expecting--so awesome! They even asked what kind of music and princesses Brownie liked so that they could incorporate them into the routine.

So sure enough, we danced to Taylor Swift music. I loved watching the girls follow along and learn the steps to the routine. And I can tell the girls, and especially Brownie, loved dancing. It was precious! I love a homegrown party--thanks to my family/friends/neighbors for helping to make this day possible! You're all awesome!

After the dance was learned, the birthday girl blew out her candles and we ate our cupcakes and strawberries. And then Brownie opened her gifts--my what a blessed little girl to have such sweet friends to help her celebrate! 

And since I'm trying to make it a point to be in the photo more than behind the camera, I wanted a picture with daddy and the birthday girl! These are special memories that I feel so happy to be a part of. I think the day went very well and we all had so much fun! Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

PS: I hope you enjoy the Jayhawk shirts (notice Brownie makes us true fans by wearing her complimentary red) as much as we love wearing them!

Weekend in Review

I'm going to start with Thursday even though that's not technically the weekend.

My mom, the younger three girls and I went to Peach's and Brownie's performance at a local theater (Matt was at a conference or you know he would've been there). They've been working for eight weeks on performing in a play about pumpkins, bats, witches, vampires, etc...

We got to see how they warm up and what games they play before they rehearse. There was even audience participation. And then the show began!

We enjoyed watching them work so hard to remember their lines and then perform in the play. The girls posed with their teachers after the play was over. Then we went out for frozen yogurt/sorrbet. Yum!

On Friday Auntie come to town. The older four girls went with my mom to pick her up while Matt and I bought some furniture for the girls' rooms. There is a store that reopened under new owners and they had too good of a deal on dressers (that were absolutely perfect for what we needed), a bunk set, mattresses and a new over-sized chair for our den. When we have 2 girls in each room (minus the nursery) we have to make as much room as possible. So bunks and skinny dressers it is! When Auntie got to town we all went to Chili's and the older two girls went to a Halloween party.

On Saturday we went to our cousin's 3rd birthday party. The girls were in the midst of having fun when Matt and I had to leave for my friend's wedding. She was getting married a couple hours away from our house, and it was very nice to have a quiet two hours to talk (or just enjoy the quiet)! It really was a beautiful ceremony and the bride looked just as gorgeous as always. I've known Erin almost 10 years--we met in college when we were in education classes studying to be English teachers. When we were grad students in our 5th year and student-teaching we actually got to be roomies. She and our other roomate at the time threw me my first baby shower the night before I moved out of that house and into Matt's. Wish you and Mitch all the best, Erin!!!

I meant to get a picture of the two of us all dressed up before the wedding, but I didn't get that done. There's practically no pictures of just the two of us, especially when we're dressed up. So even though we look tired and my hair and make up look worn, we had to get a picture. 

Sunday was rather calm around here.I got to have breakfast with my sister (it lasted about 4 hours)  and then it was time for the trunk or treat. But with all the excitement from the weekend we had some tired babies. So instead of all of us going to the trunk or treat, the older three girls and Matt went without the other three of us. The little girls slept instead and I got a couple projects accomplished. Matt also took them to their Nutcracker rehearsal and got home just in time to eat pizza and spend more time with Auntie.

And of course you've already seen how our Halloween went. Auntie left Tuesday and is back home now! We miss her bunches, and we are excited for Christmas when we'll get to see her again.

Halloween 2011

We had a (mostly) happy Halloween and I hope you all did too. We've had a few festivities throughout the week (at MOPS and trunk or treating) and we completed them with a party at Peach's school and trick or treating with the family Halloween night.

We had front row seats at Peach's school for the parade. Our family was joined by my sis visiting from out of town and my MIL. We all watched as our little mermaid made her way along the parade route.

And then it was time to go inside for a party. This was our first school party and I think it went smoothly. Well, except for the part where I was supposed to bring cake pops. A couple hours before the party I was still trying to get the chocolate coating to melt so I could dip the red velvet cake balls in it, but it just wouldn' work for me. Maybe it was because I was trying to work under pressure... who knows. But I had to go with plan B and make a candy corn/M&M/pretzel mix. It was well received, but I had Peach all excited for those cake pops (the girls loves red velvet cake). I still have 2 dozen cake balls sitting in my freezer, so we can try again later!

The girls (the older three) all enjoyed the games. There were plenty of games to play. These moms were pretty creative and I can tell they put in a lot of work trying to get it all done. I'm glad I just signed up to be a helper--at least until life isn't as crazy and I can devote more time to things like being a room mom!

The last game was making a spider web. Very creative and my kids loved it!

We made it home and started to get ready for our own family festivities, but Brownie was not feeling or acting right. I didn't think much of it at first, but I soon realized we had a sicky on our hands. Poor girl rode in the stroller as we went around neighborhood. She didn't even get out to go get candy. So I knew she was for real.

We had Aerial, Snow White, Rapunzel, (earless) Minnie Mouse and a baby Dino monster! Matt was a dad and I was a witchy mama (no really, we didn't dress up). 

At first she wasn't even going to go, but she came out for our family picture and decided she'd give it a shot. She ended up having to go home half way through, and she sat on the couch with Auntie. I came home and discovered a fever of 102 and a very tired little girl.

With everything going on I didn't get anymore pictures, but Auntie and Grammy joined us for dinner. They hung out with us as we greeted neighborhood kids, played Halloween music out our window, and watched a little DWTS (not my show, but the girls love the dancing). It was a good night, except for my poor Brownie. She is still ill (a day later) with a 102 fever, so I'm hoping she's all better tomorrow.

Eight Months!

This is how our photo session started out!

I'm just a few days behind-- sweet baby girl turned 8 months last Friday (10/28). Eight months. I know, she's definetly growing too fast!

And because she's growing so fast, you know I want to jot some things down before she changes again and I forget them all.

-Recently, you started to get up off of your belly and on to your knees. Then you'll sit there and rock on your hands and knees. You started doing this about 2 weeks ago.
-You still only have one tooth, but there are several others poking through occasionally (before they go back under the gum).

-You are about to outgrow several 6-12 month and 6-9 month clothing. And what you haven't outgrown, you are perfectly snug in!

-I still can't believe how stinky your little feet are. But I love it!
-You are so easy to make smile--and you know I love that too!

-You are kind of sleeping through the night. About a week and a half ago, you started sleeping from 9ish to 6ish (HALLELUJAH!!!!!). But there are still some nights when you'll go down around 9 and get up around 3-3:30. Then you'll usually get up again around 5:30am.
-Last time I weighed measured you (about 2 weeks ago) you were 17 1/2 pounds and about 27 inches.

-Your smile is still quite infectious
-After eating peas the other day, you broke out in hives :(

-There are times where you'll nurse twice, drink an 8 oz bottle of formula and eat three containers of baby food within an hour-two. Seriously! WOW!
-You still love the baby in the mirror (your mirror toy always cheers us up)

-When you are fussing and we can't get you to stop, Daddy will start singing your first and middle name to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin." It ALWAYS works. But it has to be Daddy who sings it!
-And speaking of the Daddy-- you are the first of our five children who are nearly as interested in Daddy as you are mommy (this usually happens about a year from now). You will look at him as he walks by and fuss while you look right at him. Then he'll pick you up and you cease all fussiness! HA :)

-You have been a Zebra, a Bear and a Dino/Monster for your first Halloween activities.
-You still like to rub your face into my shoulder.

-You search for anything you can reach and put into your mouth. When you don't have anything near you, you will look for anything that is near you (paper, toys, toes, somebody's finger or shirt... seriously, anything) and get to it any way you can just so you can put it in your mouth. Even when you ride in the cart at the store, I'll turn around from filling a produce baggie to find you sucking on one of the metal bars that is at the front of the child's seat on the cart. EWWWWWWW, I don't like that! And I make you quit. Sorry, but trust me--I'm doing you a favor!
-You are working on waving "bye-bye."
-I still think you are the sweetest little thing and I can't get enough of you!

Hugs and kisses to my growing girl!

Bugsy's Party

Well, I think Miss Bug enjoyed her Minnie Mouse party. I stayed up to 4am trying to get everything done so that she'd feel special on her special day... so I'm telling myself she loved it---and I think she truly did!

The sales gal at Joanne's began cutting the Minnie fabric I picked out to use as a little table runner when she asked me what it was for. I told her that Bug was turning four and I planned to use this fabric as a little runner. She then asked if I planned to make a dress for the birthday girl. My thought's were "Lady, you have no idea how NOT talented I am... so No, I didn't plan on any such thing happening." I told her that I only had two days to throw everything together and I was already pretty behind. But she took the birthday girl and me over to the fabric and told me how easy it was going to be. After the promised coupon she'd find for me, I fell for it. I knew exactly what was happening, but I was okay with it... the dress was for my sweet girl!

So I stitched a seam, added four pieces of ribbon and told her to pose! And she did. And I think she liked it. I was so happy that she felt awesome about her new dress--warmed my heart!

On Friday night we took the kids to this new place in town. It has arcade games, a jungle gym of sorts with slides and neat places to crawl through, and a snack counter. Since she's still a little young for a "friend" party, we wanted to do something fun together as a family. And this was fun!

We also took the babes out to eat. We made the middle three (the ones with allergies) promise to eat the salmon and veggies, and they agreed. We didn't think they'd have a problem with that (SMILE)!

My lapeth runneth over!

My third lovely lady and me at dinner!

Here's one of the reasons I was up 'til 4. I put this baby together. It honestly didn't take long, but by this point I was feeling quite balanced since I had just sewn a dress and pitched a tent (even though I didn't do the complicated version of either of these)! This was her "big" present from mama and dada.

Here's our kitchen table all ready for the birthday girl. I had her little goodie bag all packed so she could open it at breakfast, a birthday hat set out, balloons hung everywhere, and one of two banners I made for the occasion stung across our windows--she loved it all!

I almost forgot abut her ears. We have mouse ears somewhere in this house, but I couldn't find them. So I experimented with looping black (with white polka-dots) ribbon around itself and gluing them to the clips--it worked!

Birthday girl beat me to the tent. I was bummed because I, of course, was wanting a picture of her surprised face upon seeing the tent---but I was sleeping. I was only on my 3rd hour, so I kinda didn't hear anything going on. But it wasn't soon after that I got downstairs and snapped this sweet picture (clutching her new Dora phone)!

Mmmmmm.... sausage for breakfast. She can't eat pork, but we don't even care. Applegate has the BEST sausage ever--I bought one chicken sausage with apple and one chicken and maple. So delicious. I don't even like sausage, but I LOVE these (so not endorsed for this, just love them)!

Interesting story about the cupcake frosting. I was told we had red dye for the buttercream frosting---turns out, yeah not so much. So I soaked the red off of some red colored sugar crystals and ended up with this peachy color. It looked more pink in real life, but it did the job. She like them and that's all that matters!

I always have them pose with their cake/cupcakes! You don't mess with tradition!

We had a family gathering at our house for this party, and they showered our girl with some sweet gifts. She was quite pleased!

We had Granny and Grandpa, Gram and Papa, Aunt Amy and Uncle Mike, Aunt Dee, Angela, our family and my mom in spirit--she was ill. We even had an appearance by Auntie...

She called to wish Bug a very happy birthday. Thanks, Auntie!

I sure hope you had a wonderful birthday sweet Bug. Happy four years!

Cards I Will Write (this is all copyrighted so no stealing my ideas folks)!

These are all ideas for occasions I plan to write cards for someday. My hope is that when these things happen to somebody else, they'll feel completely normal because that card will be proof that somebody else does know what they're going through. HAHAHAHAHA!

Most of these would be for moms or new moms--possibly dads too. What can I say, I write what I know or have seen my friends know!

Under the Congrats file:
-You weaned your baby (nursing or a paci) and you are both still alive!
-You made it another week--fighting the urge to run away and never turn back!
-You made your first allergy-friendly meal for your kid(s)
-You got out of the house on time with all of your well-groomed kids who've eaten a nutritious breakfast and you actually look good too!
-All of your closets are organized!
-You finally stayed on your healthy eating regime one whole week!
-You perfectly coordinated everybody's outfits for that awesome family picture!
-You made it to that 5am cardi-yoga-laties class!
-On your first all-nighter as a new mommy!


Under the Sorry file:
-You missed a shower again :(
-The babysitter canceled at the last minute :(
-You haven't slept in 6 years :(
-You are stuck picking up the cheerios again :(
-That red shirt was thrown in with the whites :(
-Your bra size increased in number and stayed the same in letters :(
-Your latte was knocked over by the dog's tail/kid's hand.
-Your bills pile is taller than your coupon pile :(
-Your 3 yr old had that totally embarrassing tantrum at Target.
-You smell like spit-up/vomit.
-You put in all that time and effort into a fantastic meal and your kids stared at it, complained about it, and then wasted it.
-You had to totally deck that lady who insulted your kids OR let her kids insult your kids. (to be followed with a...
"Good luck in jail" card).

And some other Good luck cards:
-On figuring out why the baby won't stop crying!
-On not raising your voice at least once at your kids.
-On ever understanding why you've been as blessed as you are!
-On remembering everything, for everybody, all the time!
-On never feeling guilty about something you said, didn't do, ate, forgot, or felt about you, your kids, your husband, your mother, your in-laws, your 3rd cousin thrice removed, your grandpa, your kids' teacher or the check out lady at the store. 
          or the one that I think can sum up all the "good luck" cards---
-Good luck on being that parent you thought you'd, be before you had kids!