We went to a pretty amazing art-themed birthday party on Saturday morning and my girls LOVED it. The birthday girl was precious in her paint pallette t-shirt and everyone loved making so many fun crafts to carry home. What a great idea! ...
ella
Round ‘Em Up
Ella's birthday party was a dream. It was an easy, relaxing party and she had the best time. Just like every year it was her "favorite birthday ever!" a chalkboard greeting Ella's invitation framed in a barnwood frame picnic table centerpiece with bandana & gingham fabrics crock full of corn chips & doritos Sophie's tiny cowboy boots for silverware watering hole labels for the water oil burning lamps for ambience hot dogs in the crockpot (thank you, Pinterest!) rotel cheese dip & tortillas a cupcake for the birthday girl bandana bouquet for the guests ella's first glimpse mom tying on her bandana I should mention that she told me ALL cowgirls showed their bellies! ella greeting her friends emma & lane kynnedi madeline ...
Six.
Six. How are you six years old? Happy Birthday to the girl who made me a mama. To the spunky rock star who knows the words to every song on the radio. To the fashionista who knows the difference between "matching" and "going together". To the girl who insists that cowgirls show their stomach and only wear button down shirts. She's conscientious and thoughtful, she loves her little sister and can roll her eyes with the best of them. The past six years have been the best of my life. I love you, Bellsy. BIG. ...
Bedtimes & Blanket Forts
On Monday night, we had both girls in the bed at 7:30. We've established a new evening/bedtime routine in an attempt to alleviate stress and have a much happier time at home together. Over the summer, I've been really lax about bedtimes, dinners and television. The girls ate what they wanted and we rarely found time to cook, they whined their way out of a regular bedtime and they both watched as much TV as their little minds could muster. At times I felt very guilty for my attitude towards structure these last few months, but more often that not I attributed it to summer and reminded myself that it would pass and we would resume a normal, scheduled life come August. When we got ready for bed on Sunday night, there were tears about clothes and tears about television and even more tears ...
The First Day of School!
Ella has been so excited to start school this year. We went shopping several weeks ago and she picked out plenty of "big girl" outfits for her first week. We are officially done with frilly and smocking and as sad as it makes me, she's actually got great taste! We made many a compromise, but we were both pretty happy with her back-to-school wardrobe. I'm hoping to share a Fashion Friday post with all of her first week outfits provided that SD takes good pictures this week. Hint, hint. We laid out our clothes on Sunday night, packed her backpack, talked about what she wanted for lunch and laid her "night-before jitters" confetti near her pillow. Both girls slept great and were up bright and early Monday morning for breakfast and cartoons. Sophie wasn't thrilled about posing for ...
Ella’s Kindergarten Interview
25 Questions as answered by Ella (5 years/11 months old) 1. What is your favorite color? pink 2. What is your favorite toy? Courtney (a baby doll that the girls share) 3. What is your favorite television show? Good Luck Charlie 4. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? bran flakes 5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Jack's hamburger with bacon & fries 6. What is your favorite fruit? watermelon 7. What is your favorite snack? Reese's cup or mint chocolate chip ice cream 8. What is your favorite cereal? bran flakes 9. What is your favorite drink? sweet tea 10. What is your favorite outfit? a Gap tshirt with "fashion" girls and a denim skirt 11. What is your favorite game to play? "I don't have a favorite game" 12. What is your favorite animal? "I have ...
Yay, for big girl beds!
We've been talking about moving the girls into the same bed, ever since we moved them into the same room. It is well established that my children sleep MUCH better when snuggled up next to someone. Hence the many nights each week that someone ends up between their mommy and daddy or begging for some snuggle time before bed. We were hoping that letting them sleep together would provide us with much better sleep and a later start to our weekend mornings. To say they were excited is a little of an understatement! They knew on Friday that it was their last night in separate beds (although we're leaving the crib up for a few weeks in case of an emergency). On Saturday morning, we loaded up and ran to the storage building to pick up the bed frame and mattress that we've had since buying our ...
Bunny Fun, Again
Yes, I know I promised to share more party pictures on MAY THE EIGHTH, but let's face it, it's a miracle I remembered at all. I'm just shy of a month later delivering the details, so I hope you remember the first post about Sophie's bunny birthday well enough and that you'll enjoy these precious pictures just as much as you did the first ones. Almost two months later, I'm still pretty sure this was one of my favorite parties I've planned. Ella's fancy party would be pretty hard to beat, but this one is running a very close second. We decided to have story time and an egg hunt as part of the festivities and the kids all had such a great time together outside. The weather was beautiful and there were plenty of fun activities to keep them busy. First up was story time. My mom spread ...