woodland fairy & gnome party

so sorry for the delay in posting this! i was mid-project all weekend long...and it was so worth it! i can't wait to show you!

but now, onto the party...

i seriously had soo much fun planning this party. sydney wanted a fairy party, of course with tinker bell, rosetta, and silvermist. but really? i'm over disney characters.

it's no fun planning a party around them...maybe it's just me, but it seems to stifle creativity & imagination...

so we did a woodland fairy party.

the only 'problem' was, there would be several boys there,

and for crying out loud they couldn't be fairies!

so, i e-mailed my friend michelle who is super creative & party savvy,

and the next thing i knew, she sent me allll these links to different ideas.

i fell in love with the gnome idea.

michelle, you rock.

my mom & tyler graciously offered to let us host our bash at their new house,

and my mom was so excited about the party that she dove right in with helping me plan...

and then she made all the food. 

that, friends, was a life saver...

and dang, she did a good job.

yum.

this was the entryway, or vestibule, if you want the fancy word.

i looove this room of her house, and i was excited to decorate it:

i bought the wreath and hot glued flowers onto it.

the 6 is mod podged chipboard.

 curling ribbon & flowers strung through with fishing line 

to give the illusion of floating/falling flowers

 were tied to dowel rods on each side of the door.

fairies & gnomes on toadstool vanilla bean cupcakes

i used my silhouette to make the cupcake toppers

the actual party was held outside on the back deck.

we left 1 table set up, and then arranged chairs everywhere else.

i went to the YWCA's thrift store and bought several random vases and bowls

to add to the whimsical feel.

i wanted to make the posts look like trees, so they were wrapped in brown streamer,

but i wasn't sure what to do for branches.

well, jason said he could use actual branches.

ok!!

i told him my vision for the rest of the deck, 

and he made it happen:

most of the little girls already had tutus,

so i only ordered some for the little ones that didn't.

 every girl got a halo, wings and a wand when they arrived.

i made head bands for the baby girls who were too little for the halos:

the costumes were tied with silhouette cut name tags to the trees

so that as our guests arrived, they could go find them:

 

i almost died of cuteness overload when i tried this on him at home.

the hats were made of felt, and the beards from fake fur.

i *think* it was from family fun,

but apparently my computer doesn't have the link on it anymore.

to say the fake fur was messy would be the understatement of the year!

the fabric lady at hobby lobby was covered, and so was the cashier.

oops.

i made the beards outside. ;)

harper & elee both had "baby wings".

they were only 9x7"

i loved that bitty size for the littlest girls!

sydney is six!

my first boy turned 2, 

and then 9 days later my first girl (and first born) turned 6.

can someone please hit pause?

personalized toaster strudels started off her day,

and then she *patiently*

waited for daddy to get home.
she did really well!

minutes before daddy was pulling in, 

i had a massive eye migraine begin.
blind spots and colorful zig zag lines come before the pain,
so i heed it as a warning and take something as soon as possible.

thankfully, i have wonderful inlaws who were already waiting to meet jason at starbucks.

they ordered an extra shot in mine. ;)

after coffee was bought, they all headed to our house,

which was a great surprise for sydney!

another surprise?

daddy brought her a dozen roses,

and we sang happy birthday...

since we were having cupcakes the next day, 

i didn't make any...

but daddy picked up a special brownie from the store & had the bakery ladies write on it.

grandma helped sissy read her card,

and she had lots of help opening presents!

mommy, daddy, grandma, jax and ali all crowded around to play

don't spill the beans...

and after we were finished, we played paper dolls.

nice blast from the past, there...

but hers are much sturdier than mine were!

we had a great afternoon with grandma and grandpa,

and i was thankful that my migraine was manageable until they left.

i had to sleep on the couch for awhile that afternoon,

but we had a great day!
we ended the evening with a barbie movie and a visit from friends!

sydney,

i can't believe that my very first baby is 6.

time is never slow enough.

your vibrant energy and zest for life are contagious.

your smile and the way you laugh are beautiful.

you're a caring, sweet, helpful, motherly child...

and the toughest girl i know.

you're truly a blessing.

i love you!

stay tuned for part 2, the party!

christmas program

this year was the first year that the girls were able to be a part of the christmas program other than the small part the nursery kids do every year. the girls worked hard at memorizing their lines, and were excited to recite them--until we practiced at church.
when it was ali's turn, she froze. i could tell by the look on her face that she was going to lose it. she had a melt down and couldn't even recite them with angie's help. sydney was right after ali, and she did fine. once we got back to the van, ali cried all over again. she didn't want to do her lines, and we weren't going to force the issue.
the day of the program, she surprised us all.

the nursery kids went up to the front to sing away in a manger,

and then they sang happy birthday to jesus.

it must have made ali comfortable enough, 

because when it was her turn to say her line,

she did!

"I is for simply little old me. i'm the one he loves for all eternity."

we were so proud of her. i know several of us were teary eyed. ;)

syd was next:

"R is for rejoicing, that's what the angels did. it sounded heavenly and quite splendid."

we were so proud of the girls that we got them a little surprise later.

and in case you're wondering, they were spelling merry christmas backwards

as a kind of puzzle. =)

* i swiped the pictures from the ones the church posted on fb, i think. so, thank you! i was lame and forgot my camera!

boxcar children

last week, we had a fire in the garage.

thankfully jason was outside doing yard work when it happened

and was able to put it out...

but he was pretty sick from the smoke and (who knows what that he inhaled from the burning stuff)

the rest of the day.

thankfully, we didn't lose much and he was able to keep it from causing structural damage...

but i have no idea how, because it started right in front of the far wall.

anyway, my dad brought over some new boxes to replace

the ones we lost, and to the kids (and cats), 

it was better than christmas.

in fact, they wanted to sleep in their boxes that night,

and since our stuff was still airing out,  

we agreed.

they both actually ended up back in their beds because they got too uncomfortable,

but it made for fun play time!

treasure boxes

i'm waaaay behind. 

i have a lot to post about, i've just lacked any motivation to edit pictures. =P

so, these are minimally edited because i had to...

but a lot of the more recent ones i will be posting will be laaaazy. and ugly--

because i made a deal with myself that i could take pics on auto...

and that's the only reason i even took any at all on the 4th...

small price to pay for an updated blog, no?

anyway.

here is one of our craft projects.

it's really pic heavy because i love the bright colors

*~enjoy~*

we used tempera paint and $1.99 wooden boxes from Hobby Lobby (that were 40% off)

to make these treasure boxes...

when jax woke up, daddy brought him out to say hello

 

i *love* her face when she's concentrating on art

it's so cute <3

the girls adored this project and wanted to paint another one after every surface of their boxes were covered.

the boxes now proudly hold their most precious possessions, and may have even taken the place of the

under-the-pillow hiding spot. 

that's huge. ;)