Little Man's SECOND 3rd Birthday Party

Little Man's second 3rd birthday party was almost a month ago and I'm just getting around to writing about it.  That's me...late as always!

Because Little Man, my sister's son, and my brother's daughter were all born within just a few weeks of each other, we've found that it's more convenient for relatives if we celebrate all three of the cousins' birthdays at the same time.  The theme this year was "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" from the Eric Carle book.  Being the awesome mom/aunt that I am, I made Brown Bear themed outfits for the birthday kids to wear for the party.    

Little Man, my niece, my nephew--this was the only good picture I got of my nephew.  Poor little guy was having a bad day and wanted nothing to do with most of the birthday celebrations.

Little Man, my niece, my nephew--the expression on his face exemplifies his attitude towards the whole party.

 

My niece's dad and my little brother.  I asked him to smile for the picture and this is what I got.  In all fairness, I did warn him that it would go on my blog.

My grandpa playing with Star

The way the light from the window hits her hair in this picture make me laugh!

LOVE this picture!  This is my grandma holding Star.  In the background is my mom holding my sister's newest baby and my other grandma.

Hahahahaha!!  Star's expression is hilarious!

Little Man enjoyed his birthday cake!

My niece was a little neater than Little Man and opted to use a fork instead of her hands.

Now that's how you eat cake!  This is my cousin's cute little guy.

My favorite musicians-Little Man with the mandolin and my dad with his beloved banjo

Here are some better picture of the birthday kiddos' outfits.  I'm currently working on a pattern for the dress which will be for sale in my Etsy pattern shop later this month.

The shirt with the blue dot background was my nephew's and the one with the yellow chevron background was Little Man's.

My niece's dress--I used the accent fabrics from the dress for the boys' shirts so they all coordinated. 

 
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Random Monday-May 6th, 2013

Don't forget about the giveaway for the free "Ring the Bell" dvd!  You can enter here.  Also, if you're interested in entering any other giveaways or have one of your own you're hosting, there is a link-up here for giveaway that are running in May.

Last week we went from shorts and sandals to full winter gear just 2 days later.  You know, last week as in the beginning of MAY.  We had a blizzard in May, people.  I wouldn't be honest if I didn't tell you that I didn't start checking out real estate in Florida by day 2 of the snowmegeddon.  I didn't get any pictures of the snow, but here are some from other people in the area.  On Thursday and Friday, school was cancelled and on Thursday, the post office did not deliver mail.  Remember what the USPS's motto is?

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"     

I beg to differ.

I love getting deals.  Really, who doesn't?  I found this brand new with tags Luli and Me smocked romper at the local consignment shop for only $5.  It retails for about $56.  I've been dying to get one of these for Star to wear this summer, but couldn't afford one.  I may or may not have screamed in the aisle when I pulled this off the rack and saw the price tag.

We celebrated Little Man's third birthday on Saturday.  Actually, the spoiled little kid gets two birthday parties this year so this was just the first one.  The second one is next Saturday and will be a joint birthday party for Little Man, my sister's son, and my brother's daughter, who are all turning three within less than 3 weeks of each other.  The one this last Saturday was for Hubby's side of the family so, of course, we went with a John Deere theme.

I made this shirt for Little Man to wear to the John Deere party.

I made this cake for Little Man's party.  He was very annoyed that I put his toys ON the cake.

In the morning, while I was cleaning the house and getting ready for the party, my sister and her husband decided to go garage saling and asked if I would be interested in renting their three oldest kids for the morning.  I declined to pay them money for the opportunity, but offered to babysit instead.  As you can see, the morning went very well:
  

Princess is standing.  Little Man and my oldest nephew are on the floor.

 Even though I had 6 kids in my small house all morning and some of the afternoon, I still managed to get the house cleaned (it was like brushing my teeth while eating oreos, but I did it!) and get ready for the party.  Little Man basked in the attention, sang along when we sang him "Happy Birthday", thanked everyone for coming (including me) and was overall, the perfect birthday boy.

After he got over his chagrin about the toys on his cake, he loved it.  As you can see from his face, we had pizza for his birthday supper.

Princess caught a cold that started on Sunday and is having problems with her asthma.  At home, I'm pretty confident in being able to handle the nebtreatments and watching her activity level so she doesn't stop breathing or something "fun" like that.  But today, she had preschool.  Leaving my wheezing child with people who aren't familiar with how she works when she's having asthma issues or who don't understand how serious an asthma attack can quickly become, was hard, to say the least.  Maybe I'm paranoid, but I think the paranoia is pretty justified.  I have asthma and have had multiple hospitalizations (including one which involved me being in a coma for 5 days) and have nearly died from asthma attacks many times.  Maybe Princess's asthma isn't as bad as mine, but I'm not taking any chances since I know first hand how quickly things can go downhill when a person's lungs are closing up.  Asthma related deaths are MUCH more common than people realize, but it's incredibly difficult to get people to realize just how dangerous the disease is.  This is one of the things that scared me most about Princess going to school.       



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Random Monday-April 29, 2013

I was telling my younger sister yesterday about how I've tried to make cool cakes for the kids' birthday parties and always failed miserably.

Case (or cake?) in point:

Princess's princess castle cake for her 2nd birthday. Her expression: "What is that thing?"

Princess's ballerina cake for her 3rd birthday. The barbie doll is clearly thinking, "Get me out of this monstrosity!"

Little Man's sock monkey cake for his first birthday. All he cared about was picking the fondant circles off and eating them.

Princess was listening intently to the conversation and piped up, "You mean, like the rainbow cake, right?"

The rainbow cake is the only one I've made that I thought turned out well.

Not too shabby, right?

Thanks for the ego boost, Princess!

I awoke this morning to a distinctively unpleasant smell in my bedroom.  A week ago, I thought I heard a mouse in the middle of the night so I put out d-con.  I have a love-hate relationship with d-con.  On one hand, mice like to eat it and, then they die.  On the other hand, mice like to hide in strange, secluded places to die which can make it hard to find them until the stench is stomach-turning.  So, long story short, I cleaned and organized my entire room this morning which is no easy feat since Hubby has four (yes, FOUR: work, farm, church, casual wear) different wardrobes which require a great deal of storage and clutters up our room, plus I store a lot of my boutique supplies in our room.  So yeah.  Lots of clutter, lots of boxes, lots of places for a mouse to hide.

I didn't find the mouse.

If you don't see me here again, it's probably because the smell got too strong and I passed out, hit my head on one of our many dressers, and am laying on the floor in a coma.


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Princess - 5 Years

This is a little late, but I was waiting until after Princess's 5 year well-child checkup to post so I could include her current weight and height.

Age: 5 years

Weight and height: 34 pounds, 6 ounces and 43.25 inches tall.  She's in the 60% percentile for height and the 11% for weight.  Tall and thin! She's grown 4" in the last year.


Wearing: Size 5 clothes.  One day, all of her 4T clothes fit her and the next day, they were all too small.  Naturally, I was unprepared for a growth spurt and have only a few pieces of 5T clothing for her. 

Likes: Playing horses and dolls, dressing up in dress-up clothes, wearing twirly dresses, coloring, dancing, singing, shopping, playing with her brother and sister.

Sisters

Dislikes: She still hates having her hair washed.  She isn't fond of most vegetables, but will make an effort to eat them when they're served.  She hates going out in the cold and snow.

Sleeping habits: She takes an afternoon nap 1-2 times a week.  Bedtime is 8 pm (although she usually doesn't fall asleep for a while) and she sleeps until around 8 am the next morning. 
 
Milestones/Accomplishments: Princess started taking violin lessons in September, 2012 and is enjoying them very much. 
She has gotten much better at coloring in the lines this past year. 
She started 4/5 preschool in September.  She's finally starting to understand the concept of letters and has been learning quite a few of them.  She's got all of her shapes down except for a square which she calls a box or a triangle.  She's very smart, but just a late bloomer in the academic department.

Last year for Princess's 4th birthday, I asked her a list of questions and taped her answers.  This is something I plan to do every year until she gets too old to think it's fun.  Here are her answers from this year!

Q: How old are you?
A: 5

Q: What is your favorite color?
A: Pink

Q: What is your favorite toy to play with?
A: Horses

Q: What's your favorite fruit?
A: Apples

Q: What's your favorite vegetable?
A: *Thinks long and hard*  Ummmm...spinach.
*Editor's Note: No, really, she LOVES spinach!  She usually eats several helpings.  

Q: What's your favorite tv show?
A: Ummm, What I like is Strawberry Shortcake.
*Editor's note: Her favorite is actually The Fresh Beat Band.  Not sure why she said Strawberry Shortcake.

Q: What's your favorite thing to eat for lunch?
A: Hot dog

Q: What is your favorite thing to wear?
A: Dress.  The one with sparkles on it.

Q: What's your favorite game?
A: Umm, hot potato.

Q: What's your favorite snack?
A: *Laughs* Veggie straws

Q: What's your favorite animal?
A: A bear. 
Q: Why do you like bears?
A: 'Cause it's pink.  I like the one what's pink.
*Editor's Note: She has a pink beanie baby bear she likes to play with. 

Q: What's your favorite song to sing?
A: Jesus Loves Me

Q: What's your favorite book?
A: The Hungry Caterpillar

Q: Who's your best friend?
A: Mea
*Editor's Note: That would be her cousin who is just 6 month younger than her.

Q: What's your favorite thing to do when you play outside?
A: Ride my bicycle

Q: What's your favorite thing to drink?
A: Milk

Q: What do you like to sleep with at night?
A: Star's pig
Q: You know she's going to want that back eventually, right?
A: *Happily nods*

Q: What's your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
A: Cereal.  The one what talks.
*Editor's Note: That would be Rice Crispies.  She calls it Talking Cereal.  You know, snap, crackle, pop...except she says her cereal says, "Eat me, eat me!"

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: A horse rider. 

Q: What's your favorite food to eat for supper?
A: Mashed potatoes.  With some cheese and those 'tatos.
*Editor's Note: She meant cheesy hashbrowns.

Q: I'm all done.  Do you have anything else you want to say?
A: My other favorite toy is my purse.  And my best friend at school is Aubrey.

Taking a nap

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5 Years

5 years ago today, I became a mommy.  It's hard to believe that it's been that long already!   I've been so blessed to be able to watch Princess grow up from a wide-eyed baby to a little girl.

Last week, I was getting ready to head to "the big city" for my monthly stock-up shopping trip when I realized that Princess's birthday was coming up very quickly, and I hadn't even thought about getting her 5 year pictures taken yet.  I remembered my sister-in-law telling me that she had her daughter's pictures taken at a photo studio that had the pictures ready to take home within an hour.  Since having to go back up to "the big city" to pick up printed pictures a week after a photo shoot costs me at least an additional $20 in gas, I sprinted to the computer (5 minutes before we needed to be out the door) and googled portrait studios.  2 minutes later, I was on the phone booking a last-minute appointment for Princess's pictures later that afternoon at Portrait Innovations.   

When we got there, I was impressed with the open layout of the spacious studio.  The photographer got Princess to warm up within seconds of starting the shoot, as you can see by her beautiful smiles in the pictures.

After the session was over, the photographer helped me select the shot I liked best (most commercial studios I've been to are not helpful at all in that respect and spend most of their time convincing me to buy the most expensive package with add-ons) and filled me in on the $14.99 package deal. 

For $14.99, I got a package that included two 10 x 13 pictures, two 8 x 10's, four 5 x 7's, four 3 1/2 x 5's, thirty-two wallets, and five bonus cards with envelopes.  

After picking my favorite picture, I took Princess into the changing room to change back into her regular clothes.  When we came out of the changing room five minutes later, the pictures were ready and waiting for us.

Fast, painless, and, for the first time in 5 years, I spent less than $20 on all the pictures I needed to hand out to relatives.  After visiting their website again, I noticed that they have a 10% military discount.  We're not military, but I support our troops and their families so military discounts say a lot about a company to me.  You can find a location near you here.
When I got home, I had an email waiting for me with a link to the entire session.  I was thrilled to see that I could select my favorite pictures and automatically share them on Facebook with my friends and family. 

In case you're wondering, this picture was the finalist :)

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What I Want For My Birthday

My birthday isn't for a few months yet, but I know exactly what I want.  I want a Day.

That's right.  Just one Day to do whatever I want with.  ALL BY MYSELF.  Here's what I want to do with the Day that I probably won't be getting for my birthday.

• I want to empty the dishwasher without stopping every other dish to take care of someone else.

• I want to pay the bills without someone trying to steal my calculator to play "computer" on.

• I want to close the door to the bathroom and not have anyone barge in or bang on the door repeatedly while acting like my absence is literally destroying them.

• I want to sit down and read an entire chapter of a book without interruptions.

• I want to watch a whole movie (not just part of one!) without little voices yelling from the bedroom "Can I get up yet?" every 14 seconds.

• I want to vacuum the living room without children screaming from the back of the couch because they're positive that I'm trying to suck them up with the vacuum.

• I want to fold a basket of laundry without any little "helpers" to unfold things as fast as I fold them.

• I want to sit down at the sewing machine and sew a dress from start to finish without having to get up 27 times to break up a fight, change a diaper, get someone a drink, etc, etc.

• I want to sit down to eat my supper while reading some more of that book I started earlier without anyone asking me for a bite or touching my food.

• I want to clean up the living room in the morning and have it still be clean in the evening.

• I want to brush only my teeth, put on only my pajamas, and put only myself to bed.   

You don't think I'm asking for too much, do you?


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Happy Birthday to You! (And You!)

It's been a while since I've written anything here. We've been really busy with birthday parties. Last weekend was my niece, Rose's 1st birthday. Hubby had to work, but I packed up Princess's diaper bag and hit the road with my parents, younger sister, older sister, her husband and their son, Maximus for the 3 hour trip.

We accidentally decided to take the scenic route to the party, but we made it in plenty of time anyways. Rose was an adorable 1 year old and seemed not to mind the loads of attention lavished on her or the mountain of gifts that awaited her. As my brother, the birthday girl's daddy, tried to feed Rose a piece of her Sesame Street themed cake without making too much of a mess, my younger sister stood behind him to take advantage of a 1 year old's natural propensity for imitation. Before he knew what had hit him, Rose had smeared bright blue and red frosting all over her face, in her hair and, yes, even in her ears. Snickering relatives were close by to catch the moment on tape as her parents groaned at the mess and went to run a bath. Someone apparently forgot to warn them that it's tradition to get the birthday boy or girl as messy as possible on their 1st birthday. When Princess turned one, I prepared for the cake portion of her party by covering the floor under her high chair with a plastic tablecloth, handing out protective gowns to the unfortunates who happened to be in the vicinity of her high chair, and stripping her down to her diaper. And then, when her eyes had glazed over in a sugar coma, I gingerly extracted my now chocolate covered daughter out of her high chair and finished the party with the birthday girl in the tub.

A week later, we hit the road again. This time, our travel time was doubled to 6 hours. My nephew on my husband's side was turning 5 and like usual, we spent the weekend. We left on Friday exactly 2 hours and 15 minutes after our projected departure time. When I say we, I mean me and Hubby, Princess, Hubby's parents, younger sister, older brother with his wife and 2 children, the birthday boy and his younger brother. The two boys had spend the week with Grandma and Grandpa at The Farm and we were returning them to their parents in Wisconsin. Because there were so many of us, we took 2 vehicles. The three boys and Princess rode in the van with three of the adults. I rode in the tahoe with the remainder of the adults and my 9-month-old niece who kindly obliged us by sleeping for most of the trip or playing happily with her toys. The trip out was uneventful and we arrived just in time for supper with five hungry, fidgety children. We celebrated my nephew's birthday that evening and then crashed wherever we could find room. I ended up sharing a room with Hubby, Princess, and my sister-in-law.

The next day we went to a nearby park with a photographer to have family pictures taken. The last time Hubby's family had a family picture taken, I wasn't a member of the family yet and there were only 8 people. This time, there were 15 people for the hapless photographer to work with.

The rest of the day was spent fighting over a coveted spot on the couch as all 15 of us spent quality time together at home. The next day, we experienced a Sunday miracle as nine adults and six children got out of bed, showered or bathed, got dressed, ate breakfast, and were all out the door in time for church at 9 am. After a quick lunch of grilled hamburgers at home, we packed our bags and headed back to Minnesota. The six hour drive home went pretty well although Princess did get a tad cranky during the last three hours, but her incessant whining and tantrums didn't bother me at all for the primary reason that she was in the van again while I rode in the tahoe.

Unsolicited Advice:
When packing for a long trip, splurge and buy some disposable bibs so you don't have to bring a bagful of dirty sticky bibs home with you again.