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!

Bath Painting

Little sisters always want to be like their big sisters......
...I hope Kennedy always enjoys showing her sister new tricks!

Here they are blowing bubbles together!

I made some "bath paint" with soap, water and food coloring.  Then I let them go to town painting the bathtub.  Kennedy definitely enjoyed it more than Quinn, but that was to be expected!

Thanks for stopping by today!!!!

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 #1

Christmas was pretty low key this year....I guess that is what the sickies will do.  Jeff, Quinn and I all passed around a flu bug.  So, the pictures are pretty ho-hum and I didn't take many.  Bummer.  Just felt too yucky.  


Christmas Eve was at our home with Jeff's sisters' family, Papa Lou, Aunt Barb, Cousin Michael and Great Papa Henry.  This was the night I felt the worst...I didn't even eat dinner.   
Here is Great Papa with Barbe and Zia...sleeping.

Jeff and Quinn watching others open gifts.

Lou got a photo of his mom and aunt...such a treasure.

Both Jeff and Lou got Cotton Bowl t-shirts. Go Cats!

*******************************

The next morning was just the four of us at home.   It was such a change from last year for Quinn.  She wasn't sitting up alone yet but this year she actually opened her own gifts!

This series of photos reminds me so much of Kennedy when she had her 2nd Christmas.  Papa Doug and Grandma Jodie got them ride on toys and both girls were thrilled!

Pretty cute, huh?

This is Kennedy opening her BIG gift from Santa.  A Nintendo DS!  Wonder if she liked it?

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!   The rest of our Christmas photos will be in the next post!

School Year Time Capsule

School is officially in session. (insert sad Mommy face here) for the past few weeks I have been trying to think of a creative way to celebrate the start of school. I am sure many wonderful parents have done something like this before, but when it popped into my head I thought the idea was pretty great anyway! Somehow I decided a Time Capsule would be great fun!!! So I created two questionnaire type sheets for Kennedy to fill out! I will also include things like her height, weight and a hand and foot print! We will then pack it away until the end of the school year. Before we open it, I will have Kennedy complete similar questions and we will take measurements again. Kennedy is so creative and loves writing about herself, so I truly think she will enjoy this project!

I decided to give her a week of school to kind of get with the flow of first grade. So I plan on this being our Friday night activity! I am tickled with how they turned out!
(remember you can click on the image to enlarge it!)



It has been 3 years since I played around with digital scrapbooking! I was rusty but had fun playing around! The kit I used to create them is a FREEBIE! Can you believe it! You need to run to this website and check out all the amazing goodies! I can't remember how I stumbled upon it but it is now bookmarked!

http://dynamisimmortal.wordpress.com/

Or you can download the files now!!!




Anyway, I hope to begin posting photos again soon. I lost the card reader for our memory card. Just haven't gotten a new one yet! There are soooo many summer photos left to share! Plus Kennedy's first day of school photos! UGH!

Let me know what you think of the Time Capsule idea!!!

Have a blessed day!

Our Handmade Bird Snacks!!!

We have been thoroughly enjoying all the birds in our backyard this summer! Thanks to Papa Keith, Kennedy is in LOVE with learning the types of birds and their calls! He got her THIS amazing book that we just love!!!! They have them for different regions of the US. It shows you photos of various birds, tells you about them, and then it will play their song(s). It is sooo cool!!!!

Anywhooooo, we checked out lots of bird books from the library. A few of them showed different ways to make snacks for your backyard birds. So I tweaked them a bit and this is what we came up with.

We got 2 sturdy paper cups. Then poked holes in the bottom and strung ribbon through them for hanging.


Here is Kennedy with our ingredients! Our birdfood and some Crisco and a bowl!!!

We melted the Crisco and added birdfood until it wasn't runny anymore.

Then we poured the mix into the cups and let it harden. In retrospect I would have used sturdier cups - the Crisco soaked through the bottom a bit but it still held.
Here is one hanging by our two birdfeeders!!!!
And this one is hanging right outside Kennedy's new playhouse window!!! We haven't actually seen any birds snacking on them yet! :( Maybe we will try again and add peanut butter next time!!!! Or maybe we are too impatient and need to wait another few days!!!

And last but not least I will leave you with a photo of Kennedy "playing" with her snail friends!!! She loves to let them crawl up her arms! Unfortunately, they often fall off and get cracks in their shells! Eek! But they still manage to crawl away!!

Enjoy your Father's Day weekend!!!!!
Blessings!