Ally's Friend Party

This year Ally turns 8!  Wow!  How fast it has gone!!  Last year I made an executive decision that Andrew and Ally will take turns having friend birthday parties each year.  On the year they don't have a party, they get a night out with Mom and Dad, unless on a year they get a party they want to go out with us, we always trump parties.  Since Ally and I went out last year, she got a friend party this year.  When we sat down to write the invite list wasn't too bad.  I figured I could handle 5-6 eight year old girls for a couple hours.  Then she started adding people she forgot and the list got longer and longer.  Like 14 girls long!!!  What?  Really?  How am I going to keep those girls entertained enough that they aren't running around my house screaming and yelling?  To Pinterest I went.  There is this super cute 'fairies in a jar' project that Ally and I both loved and the instructions were pretty basic.  Perfect!!  Now I just had to come up with a few more ideas.  She wanted a mock sleepover so the girls were coming at 9 for breakfast.  After a conversation with my neighbor who we carpool to gymnastics with I quickly realized that Ally had her party all planned, why was I stressing?  She wanted the fairy jars, nails painted, and a coloring contest.

The girls all showed up and we had a breakfast of waffles and fruit.

Then it was time for the super cute fairies in a jar.

Aren't those so cute!?!  I couldn't wait for the girls to make them.  Once we started making them I realized these things were going to be an epic fail!  The girls enjoyed them but they sure didn't turn out like the picture.

Not quite like the picture are they?  I was extremely disappointed.  Luckily the girls didn't have high expectations like I had.

After the girls did a little screaming and running thru the house we opened presents.  Ally loves to have the girls spin a bottle to see who gets to give her a gift so they formed a circle and got started.

She was spoiled rotten and loved each and every one of her gifts.

All the cute girls! (Luckily only 10 of the girls showed up ;))

And one crazy pic!

After the present fun it was time for painting nails.  Thankfully my sister Kelly was there to help me so it take an hour to paint all of their nails.

The little fashionista got a pair of sunglasses from her school friend so they had to get a pic together!

We still had a little time left before parents were coming to get the kids so they all ran out front to play with bubbles and get some of their energy out.

It was such a great party (even with the darn fairy jars).  Ally loved each and every minute of it.  She is so blessed to have such fantastic friends who are so kind and loving and great examples for her!

She's a Princess

We've always known V was a princess in her own mind but today she took it to a whole new level.  She was in all her glory in her carriage with her servants taking care of her.

And yes she has the crown to go with it!

She's a Monkey

She's more a monkey than little girl.  All these fun things to climb and slide on and she chooses to climb the pole.

How Do I Get One for My House

I decided I need a giant cage like they have in the McDonald's playland. 

Vanessa loved it up there.  She was singing and dancing and having tons of fun up there.  It would also be very nice to have a place to contain her every now and then.

Apple Faces

Vanessa created a funny apple face the other day during our snacks.  Of course the second I pulled out my camera she very quickly hid her cute apple face.  Ally and Andrew were more than willing to create apple faces for the camera though.

What's Behind Your 3 Year Old's Dresser?

The other day I was doing some deep cleaning in V's room (thanks to the stupid mice that have decided to take up residence in our house).  I pulled out her dresser to vacuum behind it and found

That is one massive pile of clothes!  I have been looking for those zebra striped leggings of hers for months now.  So glad to have all these clothes back, it's like she has a brand new wardrobe.  Now if only I can find my missing shirts.

I Made a Pie

Yep, you read that right, I made a pie.  All right, I need to clarify, my father-in-law made the crust and I made the filling.  I got the easy part, yes but I did make it extra pretty.

Our young women had a dinner and auction for their fundraiser this year.  Jim volunteered us to provide something for the auction but just listed TBD.  I couldn't believe it.  I had no clue what to do thus the reason I didn't sign up.  He and I really need to get on the same page. 

After a little brainstorming we decided to make his dad's famous Black Bottom pie.  I was good with this idea as long as his dad made the crust.  I really want to conquer the art of pie making but did not want to practice on pies that would be going for auction.  At piano lessons his dad made the crusts and then sent them home with me to fill.  He made three large crusts and one small one.  I made a strawberry pie with the small crust and then made three black bottom pies.  We took two to the fundraiser and saved one for our family to enjoy. And enjoy we did.  The pies we took to the fundraiser went for $12 and $20. 

We really enjoyed the fundraiser and auction and spent way too much money on things for our family.  It's so great to be able to support our young women in such a fun way!

It's Spring, FINALLY

The kids had a small break from school last week.  It was so great to not have to get up and rush to get everyone up and off to school but what was even better was that it was somewhat warm so they could get outside and play.  They had fun playing on their bikes, wiggle racers and playing basketball.  They even got to take Annie over to the park to play fetch, which they all loved!  It was a great weekend!

Lego Love

I thought with having only one boy we wouldn't have a zillion Legos in our house, a billion yes, but not a zillion.  Well, one thing I've learned is that when the boy is your oldest, his love for Legos gets passed down to his sisters.  I LOVE the new Lego Friends Legos.  They are super cute and fun for the girls.  We stopped on our way to Andrew's orthodontist appointment to get him some new Lego sets.  One great thing about his Lego love is that I can use them as bribes and threats ;).  I owed him a set for going six weeks without missing any work at school and he had some of his own money he saved for a set.  While there we got Ally a set for her birthday present and me being the mom I am, couldn't leave the store without a set for V too.  Yep, I'm a total pushover.  It's great for hours of entertainment and fun.

These made for a great day for all except poor Ally who didn't understand that we got her a set too, she just has to wait for her birthday.

Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings at our house are a little, hmmmm...how do I put this??? The kids would say boring, but Jim and I are really trying to keep the Spirit in our home and with us before we go to church at 11 so we have made the rule that there is to be no TV or computer before church.  The kids do not love this idea so there have been so many Sunday mornings with fighting, tantrums, screaming and crying, and that's just by me ;).  No, the kids don't love this rule but every so many Sundays we get a great morning.  Like this one, the girls played ponies peacefully

and Andrew found joy in reading The Friend

These don't happen often, but when they do, I fully enjoy them!!

Plus, there's always plenty of time for the 'electronic' stuff after church

I love how she created her own viewing spot. 

New Addition

Well, after many months, much thought and lots of back and forth we decided it is finally time to add to our little family. As many of you know this is an extremely difficult decision and one that we felt should not be taken lightly. Now the decision has been made and there is no going back. So, without further ado, here is a picture of our new addition...

   


Yep, one of those little cuties will be ours April 27. We're not quite sure which one yet but we do know it is a girl puppy we'll be getting. I'll make sure to update once we get a picture of our exact puppy.

She's Back to Normal

I finally got my pretty little V back!

I broke down and bought some Ponds face wash/makeup remover at WalMart.  After a little scrubbing the red is finally gone!  So glad to get to see that pretty and goofy face again!

We ran to Macey's and Wal-Mart that day (I had to go, no choice) and got some strange looks from people.  I just had to laugh because most people would take a quick double take because they couldn't believe what they saw.  I could tell they didn't want to look too long so it didn't look like they were staring in case it was a scar or birth mark or something like that.  The funny thing is that everyone I told that it was lipstick wanted to know what kind so they could get it for their lips since it works so well.  The sad thing is, it doesn't stay that long on lips.  I'm so glad to have it off and I have my fingers crossed she has learned her lesson and won't attempt something like this again.  I know, wishful thinking!

Favorite Book Character Day

In honor of literacy week the kids' school had a 'dress as your favorite book character' day at school.  I asked Ally who she wanted to dress up like and she very quickly replied, "Taylor Swift!"  Andrew was quick to tell her that Taylor Swift is not a character from a book.  Needless to say this did not bring happiness to Ally.  She grabbed her book about Taylor Swift to prove to him that since she has a book Taylor Swift is in, she is a character and Ally could dress up as her.

I then asked Andrew what he was going to dress up as and he said, "I don't know.  I'll probably just be a cowboy or something."  Really?  A cowboy?  Do we even have anything remotely cowboyish?  Nope!!  I suggested he wear his tennis shoes and be a character from his 'Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites' series.  He loved that idea!  Especially since he could just wear jeans and a tee shirt with his tennis shoes (the kids have to wear uniforms to school).

They both looked really cute and had a lot of fun at school that day!