First Summer Weekend!

Our first weekend of the summer was great fun!!  We have a tradition every Memorial Day weekend.  We attend Celebration at the Station and I look forward to it all Spring!  The Kansas City Symphony puts on a free concert outside of Union Station.  The audience sits on the hill overlooking Union Station.  We bring lots of food, blankets, chairs and games.  This year we brought some friends to experience it for their first time!  The children searched out their parents' electronic devices...no surprise. ;) 

Once the sun set, this children played with glow sticks and flashlights!  It was great watching the lights projected on Union Station and enjoying the KC skyline.   Eventually we turned out chairs around and watched the wonderful fireworks display over the WWI Memorial.  Quinn did NOT enjoy the fireworks at all, poor girl.  Too noisy!!  But she had done an amazing job all night considering how late she was up!  It was an awesome evening!

We also took our first dip in one of the neighborhood pools!  There had been quite a thunderstorm just a day before and the water was still chilly!  But Kennedy was still her normal fishy self - loving every minute in the water!  As I suspected, Quinn is going to be quite the handful at the pool this summer!  She thinks she can just run anywhere and go in the big pool at any time!  She will absolutely be wearing a flotation device all summer!  

Hooray for summer!!!

We can now cross off a few things from of Summer Bucket List!!!

#58: Go to a Free Concert

#38: Visit Multiple Pools (this was pool #1)

Grade ONE - Done!

Yup - here is proof she is done with first grade.  And to think that at the beginning of the year I didn't know how I would survive with her at school ALL DAY.  Yet, I did.  And she loved school - so much that as we walked out of the building she sniffled and said "I don't want to leave school."  I pray she always feels that way!!!

Last fall I created some forms for her to fill out to document who she was at the beginning of the year.  I then kept them hidden all school year.  You can read about it in THIS PAST POST.  We even have her hand and footprints!  The end of the year needed to be recorded as well, so I created a similar version to see how she has changed since the beginning of the year!  She LOVED doing them and comparing!!!

After school let out, Kennedy's 1st grade scrapbook club came over for our year end get together.  :)  So I didn't have her Summer Fun Box out yet!  Then she spent the night with her BFF that night...so the box was waiting for her when she returned the next day!

Her Summer Fun Box was filled with all sorts of fun things we will need to have a great time this summer!!  I also set out the framed list of Summer Fun from THIS PAST POST.  I think the box was a hit!

I can't wait to start sharing all our summer fun!!!!

Birthday Decor

 So....I am finally getting around to sharing about Kennedy's party!  For the family that lives out of state - here is what you missed!

For the camping theme I went with the colors orange, red & turquoise.  I was able to print that adorable birthday sign from this great site here at eighteen25 blog.

For the main food table I covered it with burlap and put small logs/stumps around.  Thanks to Jeff for cutting them up for me!  On the one above is a photo of Kennedy just a few months old.

I made edible acorns for a little snack!

We had some outdoor snacks! Grizzly Bears (gummy bears), Snakes (twizzlers rope), Catch of the Day (swedish fish), Fire Logs (pirouettes).  The kids also had hot dogs & chips and we later roasted marshmallows for s'mores.

Quick little display for the table! I took an 8x10 frame, took out the glass and put in some scrapbook paper (that matched the theme colors perfectly!) and adhered a wooden letter "K" to it!

For the mantle I went simple.  I purchased scrapbook paper that matched our themes and colors.  I punched out scalloped circles and regular circles and layered them.  Then I was also able to find some super fun camping/outdoor stickers to place in the center.  I also got a large letter "K" and covered it with matching scrapbook paper.

Here is a close - up.  We were able to re-use these on her thank you cards!

This was just a quick banner behind the food table.  Again, scrapbook paper and then some awesome American Crafts letters!

Valentine's Decor

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought I would share what we have up around the house! I had fun creating most of it myself!

This heart wreath is probably my favorite.  There are multiple tutorials floating around Pinterest and I wanted to give it a try. It was supah easy!!!

This garland was also very easy! I used my new Martha Stewart heart punch with some yummy My Mind's Eye papers.  Then I strung them together with embroidery floss and hung it on the old window.

I used the same method as the heart to make these "puffs."  The candle holders were actually from a thrift store and really yucky looking.  I just painted them white!

This is our mantel right now....very simple and plain.  The print on the left can be found at one of my favorite blogs: eighteen25 . This old window is one I found while out junking with my friend Janet!  It had broken panes so I took out all the glass, sanded a lot and painted it white.  Then I backed it with some burlap!

Hope to be back soon with some other Valentine things we have been doing!!!

Polar Express Party

 As I said in one of my last posts, we have been doing MANY fun things found on Pinterest.  When the idea to host a Polar Express Party popped into my head, I had only given myself less than 2 weeks to pull it off.  So I went straight to Pinterest and searched for fun stuff!  If you want to see my Pinterest board about Polar Express, you can find it HERE.:

As with any shindig or holiday, Kennedy wanted to help "decorate." So we had 4 signs to make sure everyone knew they were at the correct place and that they could find the basement theater.  :) Love that girl.

Being that I am who I am, we just HAD to do a craft. Well, not just one craft....THREE crafts.  Yup.  TEN kids on my kitchen floor with paint, glue, buttons....FUN I tell ya! Thank goodness for my mom friends that get their hands dirty and helped out!

Poor Quinn....she wishes she could make a craft too...

It doesn't look too bad afterward, right?!  I just put a vinyl tablecloth down and taped it in place.  It is so nice to just roll up the mess and toss it when they are finished.

These were 2 of the crafts.  Each child was a given a bag as they entered the house.  It contained all the items they needed for the crafts, plus their Golden Ticket and a Silver Bell just like from Santa's sleigh and the movie.  For the first craft, each kid got a bulb ornament.  I had previously written their name and 2011 on the bottom.  I then put brown paint on a plate and walked around so each child could dip their thumb in it.  They stamped their thumb on the ornament once or twice (or ten+ times!) and we let it dry.  While they watched the movie I drew in eyes, antlers and painted red Rudolph noses on each.  The popsicle tree took the most time. Kennedy and I pre-painted the sticks and I cut them to the correct lengths. I basically showed them a model and said "Figure it out - make a tree and decorate it!"  It was funny to see them try to put the pieces together and then glue them.  Decorating is always a blast, too!

This was the last craft.  Each child got a rectangular piece of foam.  I drew what was supposed to be a Christmas light wire on each piece.  On a plate, I had poured various colors of paint.  I walked around and let the kids dip their thumbs in the paint of their choice and press their thumbs to make the lights.  

Aren't my sweeties cute in their matching jammies?!  You know you must wear jammies to a Polar Express Party!  They wear them in the movie!!!

Next up....SNACK TIME! 
I made some homemade hot cocoa in the crock pot...not so good.  But we still had a hot cocoa bar with yummies to put in the cocoa.  I made a cookie dough dip from Pinterest...yuck.  But the kids loved the marshmallow pops, the oranges, the snack mix and eating marshmallows plain.  After the snacks it was movie time!!!  I was so tired by then I forgot to take photos of them actually watching the movie!  Oh well!


And I can't forget! I had printed out a game for the kids to take home and play with their families but I had run out of time to laminate them. Yes. I own a laminating machine.  Go ahead. Call me a dork.  Anyway, my dear mommy friend Janet laminated them while I finished their Rudolph ornaments.  Phew!  That party was a lot of work!  But totally worth it all. And  Kennedy wants to do it all over again next December!  Will it be a new tradition?  Check back next December to find out!

Christmas Recap #2

You can find the first half of our Christmas celebrations at this post!   After our Christmas morning in our jammies, we headed to Mema's house for our traditional Cornish Hen Feast!!!!   YUM!! Aren't you jealous?!

The kids did a great job of eating and then playing before the present opening began!

And isn't my elf a cutie?!

And of course Miss Q and Miss Z were adorable in their holiday outfits!    But now it is on to the GIFTS!

I just LOVE these photos!  Mema gave each family a Wii for Christmas!  Check out the look on EVERYONE'S faces!!!

Yeah, HUGE HIT FOR SURE!  We have been playing Wii a ton over the break!  I think once school begins again we may need to put a time limit in place!