costume carnival 2010

we just love st. paul's!!!! the costume carnival that they have every year for the little ones is just precious! even though the weather was VERY chilly on friday...the kiddos and the parents (and grandparents) had such a great time!

they divide the classes up into small groups and then the little groups go around to all the different stations! they have a hay ride to a "mini pumpkin patch" where each child chooses a pumpkin, decorate cookies, make picture frames and placemats, listen to a book inside a tent...while eating popcorn, bob for donuts (shocker...maddie did NOT want a donut...apparently, she doesn't eat junk anymore*!!!!), make pumpkin necklaces, have a pumpkin bean bag toss, and play on the playground!!!!! so very much fun!!!!

our little pumpkin fairy looked adorable...and made sure everyone knew she was not just a pumpkin...she is such a funny little person!!!! she loves, loves, loves her little friends...and had fun playing with mary "banilla" (aka mary linnea)!!!!

it was such a fun day at such a precious place!!!

**she has been proclaiming this..."that she doesn't eat junk anymore"...and then she asks for something sweet!!!! she is too funny!!!! i guess that's what i get for being a dietitian!!!**

have a sweet halloween...

we wanted to send a "sweet treat" to school for maddie's class...but i didn't really want to send any candy...seeing as i am already feeling compelled to sample what's already coming into our home!!!!!

i decided to make some of our homemade playdough...and shape it into candy corns! i thought they turned out cute and my kiddos have already had lots of fun playing with the dough!

hope everyone has a sweet "pumpkin day"!!!!

red, white, & boo

last thursday was a milestone in my life. it was the end of an obligation that i have been mulling over for OVER A YEAR! it was the first baptist church school's fall carnival!!!!! i was asked to be on the decorations committee...and i said...YES!!!!

it really wasn't that bad...until i stood on my feet for 13 hours...and crippled myself for the entire weekend!!! HA!

all joking aside...it was a fun time and i feel really blessed to have served on a committee with such great girls...which i now consider friends! my tuesday mornings are going to seem awfully lonely!!!!

the other lady on my committee is a creative genius (along with many members of her family) and was such a firecracker!!! she deserves lots of praise!

the carnival was a huge success and i think that our decorations were great! my kiddos thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon...

for now, i'm too scared to commit to next year...:) so i'll just enjoy the pics!!!

my little "cheetah"...

last friday, ella was invited to a birthday party where they were asked to dress as a critter...it was a "petting zoo" party!!!!! since we do more princess around here than critter...i had to get creative! ella had this outfit that seemed animal-like...so my three girlies and i headed to party city to see what "cheap ears" we could find! i spotted these precious little ones for $1.99 and they were sold!

a little pink nose, some whiskers, cute pink ears, and a leopard print top and there you have it...

a sweet, freckled, cat like, leopardy, cheetah...as ella liked to call herself!

just precious!!!

wordless wednesday...

***these pics courtesy of our favorite sitter...candace!!!!***

a special day with a special girl...

last week was insane. let me say it again. insane.

but i survived.

barely.

but that's not really the point of this post!!!!

i have been wanting to take ella on a "mommy & me" outing for a long time so i decided friday would be the day! she was out of school for conferences, "boo" had school until noon, and my dear sweet husband agreed to work from home so that ava could take her nap...and i could take my precious first born on a "date"!

it's so funny because i truly think i get more excited about these times than my children do. i just love being with them one on one...getting to glimpse into their precious heart just a little bit deeper than i normally would with everyone in tow...it just makes me happier than normal!

so i ran to ella's conference (where she got a great report...YEA!) and came home to "kidnap" her! surprises make her crazy! she loves them but she will pester you to death to give her hints! she has to get that from her daddy because i LOVE surprises!!!! anyway, i gave her n.o.t.h.i.n.g!!!! we pulled up to the strip mall and i purposefully parked in front of a pizza place and she immediately said "we're going to eat pizza?"...in that kinda "i know i should act excited about this because my mom is smiling from ear to ear...but really?!?! i don't really even like pizza!!!!" i, of course, was loving every second of this!

i didn't delay the reveal too long and i finally guided her into the oasis spa...where we were going to enjoy her first pedicure and manicure!!!! i wish i could have bottled up the look on her face to sell it...pure joy!!!!!

things became a bit iffy when she picked out the sparkly aqua polish for me and the little spa lady was like "ooooh yea...pretty"!!!!! i had to think quickly and try to explain that mommy didn't need to wear a color like that...something a bit more subtle might be better!!! ella chose a color called strawberry margarita that was BRIGHT PINK but perfect for her!!!!

the salon had the most adorable spa chairs for children and ella smiled the entire time! she loved the massage, loved the fact that the water changed colors, loved the lotion, the toe spreaders, and the fact that she got polka dots on all TEN of her nails (toes and fingers!)!!!!

she kept saying "i've never been to the spa before"!!!! the lady kept saying "your mommy really love you"...nothing could be more true.

it was such a fun day with my oldest baby. it was a day that i have dreamed about for a long time...as silly as that sounds. all of our days are precious because i just love being their mother...but times like these make those ordinary days extraordinary. knowing that they won't be little forever...

but for that moment...

we froze time for a bit...

and bottled it up as a memory...

just a mother and her daughter. spending precious time together. doing what girls do.

a special day with a special girl.

that's just what it was.

an "owl-dorable" day...

well, it happened! my precious ava turned ONE!

we celebrated her special day with a fun owl themed party and it was a hoot if i do say so myself! our dearest friends and family joined together on a most beautiful saturday morning to celebrate one tiny little girl...to watch her "eat" cake for the first time in that tiny little life! it was a perfect party...and i am so thankful to all of those that were here!

i'm pretty sure that ava's favorite part of her birthday party was having an entire bowl of baby goldfish at eye level...that she was able to feed herself...she was so "owl-dorable"! (i just can't help myself!!!!!)

i thought that she was going to enjoy her cake much more than she did...it wasn't that she didn't enjoy the bites that she got...she was just much more dainty with it than i anticipated...and in true madeline fashion - right in the middle of watching my baby smash her cake - i had to go perform "surgery"! maddie got a thorn stuck in her foot (a BIG thorn...that i am sure hurt very badly) and i had to go tend to her! all of a sudden, it occurred to me that i might want to get someone to remove the large cake from ava's high chair before she had a sugar overload!!!! never a dull moment!

getting a little frustrated that we're not letting her touch this "thing"!!!

a little overwhelmed with all the singing!

big sisters trying to show her how it's done...maddie, why was the professional so far away?!?

starting to get the hang of it...

using our hands...

then decided a fork might be better...

this is what was left of the masterpiece!!!!

we sent the "empty nesters" home with an "owl always love you" soap and the "little chicks" took home a personalized bulletin board for their "owl-dorable" artwork!

we still haven't opened her gifts because our sunday was so busy...but we plan on letting her big sisters help her with that today!

i am just filled with so much love! i enjoy planning these special days for by babies...knowing that one day we will look back at how much they have changed...

and remember how thankful we were to have such an amazing family!