Samantha's 8th Birthday

For her class treat this year, Samantha asked me to make FROG cupcakes for her classroom.  No task is too challenging for me, so I set to work making them for her to take the day before her birthday.  She LOVED them!

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Samantha turned eight years old this year ... on a Saturday.  That's a perfect day to have a party and celebrate the special little girl that forever changed our lives.  We began the day with our traditional cinnamon rolls, complete with family singing and a candle.  It never fails that I end up re-lighting the candle more than once so that everyone has a chance to sing and watch the birthday kid blow it out (someone always seems to *miss it*).

She chose an extra long candle this year:

(And the look on Jack's face just melts me.  He really does look up to his big sisters.  Well, then there's Sophia's face ... That's real life right there and I wouldn't have it any other way).

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At 11:30 am, Samantha's friends arrived for her "friend party."  This year was the first year that I felt that we could be selective on who she invited, rather than feel obligated to invite all of the girls in her class.  I allowed her to give invitations to ten girls and all but one were able to attend.  With Samantha and Sophia, we had a total of 11 girls there for the Art Party!

Samantha and I decided on this theme months ago and worked together this year to plan out all of the details -- the food, the crafts, game and some of the decorations.  What a fun idea for a little girl that is beginning to show a genuine interest in art and creating masterpieces.

The day before, I put together the favor bags.  The markers and composition notebooks were a clearance find after the "back to school" sales.  Then, there were paint palette suckers, some brightly-colored sour gummy worms and scratch bookmarks.

The girls were able to choose their color of bag and put their name on them once they arrived.

Set up and ready for the pizza and breadsticks to arrive.  We served pink lemonade, apples and some cut-up veggies, as well.

The first project that we planned for the girls was a canvas painting with the initial of their first name.  I scored the canvases (a 2-pk) for a "buy one, get one half off" sale a few weeks before the party.  Most of the paint I already had and then I added some cheap paint palettes (less than a dollar at Walmart) and some paintbrushes in various sizes.  I cut the letters out of contact paper and stuck them on at each of the girls' places at the table. 

I also made some quick easels out of popsicle sticks (that I painted) and put their place cards on them.  These served a double purpose for the second craft.

The dessert table, complete with cupcakes that were baked but waiting to be frosted and decorated by the budding artists at the party.

And check out the backdrop -- the girls helped me make it with crayons that we melted.  It now hangs upstairs for Samantha to always remember this party by.

I hired two neighbor girls to come over and help me at the party because I sent Steve and the two boys to a friend's house for the afternoon.  It was a perfect plan!

Such focus and concentration:

I loved watching them design and choose their colors carefully:

Letting the canvases dry during the party:

After I carefully pulled the contact paper off ...

I loved how they turned out!

The next craft was sand art.  Again, I try to purchase my supplies cheaply.  I lucked out by getting the various glass bottles at Hobby Lobby for 50% off, costing me less than $1 apiece.  The sand was also a good find.

Filling their jars:

Afterwards, we used the place cards with their names on them to secure to the jars with ribbon so that we would which jar belonged to which guest when it was time to leave.

After we quickly cleaned up, the pizza arrived (right on time) and the girls ate like they were starving!

Then we retired to the living room for a group photo and to allow Sam time to open her gifts.

She loved everything and I was so proud of her for being so polite and thanking everyone with very little prompting from me.  Maybe that is a sign of good parenting ... or maybe it is just evidence that we have had a lot of parties over the years!

Getting ready to decorate her birthday cupcake with friends:

Cupcakes with lots of topping and ice cream cups.  Simple and perfect.

Finally, we ended the party with a fun game of Pictionary.  No one had ever played before so it was fun to teach them.  I had made up the game cards myself and edited the real rules to fit our age of kids and they begged to keep playing even after the parents had begun arriving.  I'd say that it was a success!

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That night, we gave Samantha our gifts.  The kids were especially excited because they helped wrap them and Jimmy discovered his love of tissue and wrapping paper!

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The next day was the "family party," where we celebrated with soup and salad (a great idea, if I don't say so myself!) and more decorated cupcakes and cakes. 

A paint palette cake:

Opening presents for the third time in a row ... she is one loved little girl.

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Thanksgiving Projects

I love decorating for the various holidays of the year.  Obviously, Christmas and Halloween are the biggest ones, but we always have more understated decorations up for the other celebrations of the year -- clings for the windows, kitchen towels and smaller knick-knacks spread throughout the house. 

Fall is my favorite time of the year ... it always has been and probably always will be.  I love the blend of colors -- orange, yellow and red and the crispness of the Fall air.  I love going out to the orchard and bringing home lots of apples and cider for the kids. 

With that being said, it is only natural that the house be decked out in the same way.  The decorations come out the first week in September and last through Thanksgiving.  After Halloween, I tuck some turkeys in and move things around a bit.  And I especially love putting up any projects that the kids have made.

The pumpkin and copper owl were both designed by Samantha in her after-school art class.  She also made the pilgrim turkey at school.

The Fall tree with cut up "leaves" was made by Sophia.  It's so simple, but so beautiful. 

I free-hand drew the turkey in the upper, middle panel one afternoon while I was waiting for the girls to get off the bus.  (I typically leave notes/lists for Steve on the nights that I work and I often embellish them with pictures.  The girls loved it so much, that we cut it off and displayed it in one of the artwork sections of our house).

Finally, the lunch sack turkey was made by Jack in his preschool class.  He listed the things that he was thankful for and I can't help but smile every time I look at it.  The last one was my favorite:  He is thankful for Daddy's chainsaws and his chainsaws.  Yes, that is my boy.

More artwork and cards on our door leading out to the back deck.  Jack kept referring to the gobbler on his turkey as a "moustache."  Ha!

James is Nine Months Old

James is nine months old today ... on Steve and my 10-year wedding anniversary.  I don't think that ten years ago, as we walked down the aisle of the church, newly-married and ready to start a life together that we ever imagined that we would have such a beautiful family.  Two girls and two boys -- I often refer to them as my "perfect split."  Each of us finds ourselves smiling when we look at them, how different they are from one another and how rich and full our lives are now because of them.

 I could easily call this month the "month of toys."  James has discovered his toys now and enjoys holding them, shaking them and sometimes throwing them.  He will easily play by himself for at least 15 minutes, sometimes more, as long as all of his other basic needs have been met and he is content..

He especially loves playing with others though and it doesn't take much coaxing for the girls or Jack to get down on the floor to play with him.

Jimmy is quick to share his toys and quick to smile for me whenever I call his name for attention.  He responds equally to "James" or "Jimmy."  (And I'm pretty sure that he responds to "Cuteness," the name that Sam has fondly dubbed for him).

This plastic basket has become the best thing ever.  I switch out the toys on a regular basis and can easily carry it from one room to the next.  James reaches, he stretches, he takes the toys out, he puts them back in.  I love it.

His back muscles have been getting a full work-out lately.  And it is hilarious to hear him grunting while he works hard to reach a toy of interest.

Those blue eyes get me every single time.

With the colder weather moving in, we have pulled out a warm hat (size 2T as his head circumference, like Jack's, is off the charts.  Literally.) 

Hat, check.  Mittens, check.  Dad, check. 

I haven't decided who he prefers more right now.  Yes, he loves me because I still provide his milk for him, but he loves his dad too.  He reaches for Steve whenever he comes in the door and sits with him during football games on the TV.  He also easily takes a bottle from him on the nights that I teach and lets Steve settle him in for bed with absolutely no issues.

We ended the month with another first holiday -- his first Halloween.  He seemed to have a great time and stayed very warm in the tiger costume that Jack also wore for his first Halloween three years ago.  I certainly got my money's worth on that purchase ...

Halloween 2016

I knew that Halloween would be a busy day right from the start for me, so I spent the weekend preparing ... laying out costumes, putting together crafts, making snacks/treats for the school parties and checking item after item off my long list.  Thank goodness I am an organizing queen!

The day began with school drop-offs for the girls; I went into Sophia's school to get her ready for her early-morning parade and party while Steve took the boys with him to drop Samantha off at her school (her costume parade and party were not until the afternoon). 

Then, we met back up at Sophia's school to walk over to the middle school to watch the kindergarteners parade through.  Jack was SO excited to see his sister in the parade!

Steve took the boys back home for a short while so that I could help out in Sophia's classroom with the party -- food, games and crafts.

When the boys came back to pick me up, Jack was all smiles while he waited patiently for me to help with the clean-up:

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At 12:30 pm, I headed up to Samantha's school to help her get into her costume before the parade.

Steve drove separately with the boys (are you sensing a theme here?) so that they would be able to leave after the parade.  After all, it would be pushing naptime for them and we still had LOTS of festivities planned before the day was over.  If the truth be told, I could have used a little nap at this point!

We waited in costume for the parade to start:

Jack found a police car and insisted that I take his picture by it:

A quick picture after the parade of the cutest Cleopatra that I have ever seen:

Relay races in the gym:

Assembling the craft project that I brought for the kids -- mason jars with glow-in-the-dark paint inside, covered with Halloween stickers to take home and use in the bedrooms at night:

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After her party was over, Samantha quickly changed out of her clothes and we raced over to Sophia's school to pick her up and then head home.  We had less than one hour before our guests (my family, Steve's dad and friends of ours) would be arriving for dinner followed by trick-or-treating.

We dined on spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, bread rolls and lots of dessert before we all got in costume AGAIN:

Uncle Z, posing with him nieces and nephews:

Some of the kids, anxious and ready to GO:

Trick-or-treating started at 6 pm.  By about 7:15, the kids were beginning to get cold and tired, so we headed back home to check out their loot and begin getting ready for bed.  Jack was very interested in organizing his candies (hmmmmm ... he takes after his momma when it comes to organization, I guess) and it was a struggle to get him to part with it long enough to get into his new Halloween PJs from Grammy and Papa. 

By 8:15 pm. the goblins were all tucked into bed and soon fell fast asleep.  So much excitement and so many memories were made once again.