5th birthday. a tangled party.

our little "princess" turned 5 in july and had been begging for over a year to have a tangled party!  every day for months she asked me how many more days until her birthday!  she was a trooper and waited a week after her birthday for her friend and family party.  it was a hit!

guests were greeted by this sign and balloons upon entering the party

                             

                            

in the beginning while we were waiting for all of the princesses to arrive we colored tangled pictures.  my niece lexi was horrified when i suggested that she pick a princess dress to wear for the party.  she was our protective tiger instead! 

                           

  

chloe on the other hand, couldn't wait to put on her princess sophia dress! 

once everyone arrived game and craft time began!  we made "pascalions" as olivia calls "pascal" the chameleon.  they are the cutest party blowers.



then we played tug-of-war with rapunzel's braid!







then we tangled olivia up in yellow crepe paper



                     


"princess sophia" chloe,  sir brady, "rapunzel" olivia, and "tiger cat" lexi


next up was the flynn ryder pinata filled with the little gift bags i made.  each gift bag had a little rapunzel braid hair clip, a rubber ducky "from the snuggly duckling," a rapunzel paint set, and a bracelet.
 

                               





the pinata was a "hit" with everyone, and it held up pretty well so everyone had a turn.

i didn't take a picture but we had paper lanterns hanging from the pergola and another purple sun banner along the outside.

my very talented friend, jandy made these adorable cupcake cones

                          

we surprised liv with her very own first two-wheeler bike, all pretty in pink, purple and princesses.

happy birthday, livy!!!

we love you so much

you bring spunk and spirit to each day

fill our lives with silliness

you are the prettiest princess

but can keep up with the boy playing pirates and catching frogs

you are smart and insightful

never let us forget a thing (that's why we never make promises!)

love to sing, dance and be read to

you are our sunshine!

xoxo chicklet

love,

 mommy and daddy

chinese and the polar express.

after the bridal shower the party wasn't over!

some went shopping, some went sleeping, and some went playing.  i enjoyed a few moments with my niece evy, her monkey "tags" and my camera.

                        


once we all got rounded up again, we headed out for chinese dinner...

topping it off with some del-i-cious ice cream cones, ahuh

time for bed, right?  oh no, we still have a surprise in store for you kiddos! 

head back home, get kids in pj's, set up choo-choo train seats, stoke the fire...and presenting...

the 1st annual cousins' polar express

first grandpa, uh i mean "the conductor" handed out everyone's tickets and made sure they got punched to ride the express!

now we're all aboard!  time to start the ride!

during the movie where the waiters come aboard and perform a dance while pouring hot cocoa, all of the adults ran downstairs with hot chocolate for each of the kids and fresh hot popcorn made by uncle tim!  the kids got a kick out of us singing and dancing away!



this was good, cozy snuggle time!

(and since i'm behind on the blog and he hasn't been introduced here yet- this is uncle spencer!  he and chelsae got married in july, stay tuned for that post!!!)

 

grandpa did a great job as the conductor, and even put up with that silly mustache that kept falling off!  he also had a very pretty little mrs.!

at the end of the movie the conductor handed out these magical bells!  if you believe in santa you can hear them jingle!!!

this was a fun treat for the kids and a great memory that we will continue each year with the cousins!

(all auntie nickie's idea, want to give credit where credit is due!) 

shawnae's bridal shower brunch.

*i hate doing this, not going in ORDER of how events happened, but thus it must be so....i'm picking up in early december and then i'll back track...*

Dec. 7, 2013


big sistah- nickie, baby sister- chelsae, bride-to-be shawnae, mom and sis-in-law (me!)

my sister-in-law shawnae lived with us for almost the whole past year.  it was exciting and fun to see the changes in her and her life, watching her fall in love with tim and start their new life together.  naturally i volunteered to throw her bridal shower here at our house since this is where she and tim first met, where their friends and his family are located.

on the eve before my sister-i-law nickie arrived with her brood of three giggly girls.  we ate pizza and the kids watched a movie while we chatted and worked on finalizing details regarding the shower. mom and dad came along with great-grandma not too long after and the evening became a late one!  last minute shopping and preparations had us up until 3:30 a.m.!!! even dad got a "second wind" and helped whip up some delicious breakfast casserole for the brunch.

my brother was in the middle of butchering a deer so he had fun taking part in our craziness as well. (the only one not pictured here is chris, i think he took the pictures).

me finishing up the games for the party- we played a "he said/she said game."  i got the idea off of pinterest and them made one up of my own.  we also played a "famous couples" matching game.

the next morning everything was beautiful!  thanks to our menfolk who took the kids out for playtime and lunch!  we were able to set up in quiet and enjoy several hours of time with each other (and even sneak in a nap!) 

nickie was in charge of the hot cocoa bar and chelsea made the adorable tags for the toppings.  i did the donut "trees" (which looked much better in person). bryce found me these adorable vintage tea cups at the thrift store down the road..exactly what i had pictured in my mind

display table where there were some recipe cards for "advice for recipes for a great marriage."

these are the only sneak peeks you'll get of my christmas tree this year...

we filled my formal livingroom to it's capacitity!  we had 20 women laughing and chatting in here!

playing games....

opening gifts...

 

this frying pan had to be the ultimate gift!  it had a picture of rapunzel and flynn ryder and said: "when tim gets out of hand whack him with this frying pan!"

loved it, almost peed cracking up about it

she tried it out on tim when came over later!

family- grandma opal, mom, aunt brenda, cousin anna

 tim's sister-in-law brandy and aunt carolyn

family friend of tim's and romy, long-time friend of tim's, girlfriend to his best man, and one of shawnae's bridesmaids

all the single ladies...from shawnae's singles ward

it was a fun shower and we had a great turn-out.  so happy to be able to show our love for shawnae.
wedding countfown...2 weeks!

i am zachary.

* oh and i failed to mention in my previous post that i've also somehow been managing to run a full-time daycare since the beginning of september, most days having 5-6 EXTRA munchkins underfoot, and i mean literally underfoot!  god is granting me this capability because in my small world my three dear children are usually all i can handle most days!*

...................................................................................................

today zach told me "i am zachary."  this is the first time he has referred to himself with his own name before.  my does it sound adorable coming out of his mouth.

later, as we're driving to dinner he starts shouting out: "that is stupid."  i instantly said, "oh zach, that's not a very nice word.  let's not say that word, ok?"

zach: "ok mommy.  i sorry."
brady: "what word did you say zach?'
zach: "i said THAT'S STUPID!" (yelling it to brady)

it is getting so entertaining to have him pick-up on conversational speech.

officially almost a year behind...again

i have wrestled with this blog thing.  it's not my natural inclination to get things done right away.  i procrastinate, let it pile up and then take care of it....unless its laundry or dishes.  i have a clutter counter in the kitchen, a cluttered desk covered in bills and to-do lists but i just am not good at getting on my blog frequently and updating.  i know i've said it before, but my friend, Charlotte is amazing.  she always has her blog updated, almost immediately after events occur.  me....?  i have like 7, 351 pictures waiting in lieu of being edited and sorted.

i hate this because my parents and other family live far away.  i am sure they would appreciate updates that are not a year behind.  this has been one crazy year i just tackled and i'm sure the coming year is full of it's own craziness but i am hopeful that it wont be so crazy that i feel like i have to often reach up and make sure my head is still attached to me body.

shorty after moving into our new house we began demo...actually i began demo 2 days before we officially closed (shhhhh....yeah i took  a MAJOR risk)  but inside i knew this house needed to be ours.  it just did, we were supposed to live here.  we ripped out trim, outlets, lighting, tile....every room has gotten a face lift.  the kitchen is completely unrecognizable from the day we moved in and there are still a million small (and not-so-small) projects to be done but nothing NEEDS to be done...i can take my time.

a few months after moving in i was called into the bishop's office and before he even opened his mouth i knew he was going to extend me the call to be the young women's president.  i just knew.  that has been crazy busy, huge learning curve, fun...did i say crazy busy?  i have never had so much responsibility and so many meetings before!  i love my girls though and the women i work with.  i think i may just now be getting the hang of most of it.

in april we learned that we were unexpectedly expecting a baby.  after the initial shock (having had to try for up to a year before to get pregnant) we settled into the happy knowledge that our family would be growing by two more little feet.  i was overwhelmed, in the midst of remodeling hell, planning for girl's camp and just...life...adding in sickness, debilitating tiredness, and then at 10 weeks we miscarried.  it was devastating.  i had never realized what a physically and emotionally painful process this could be.  i am still affected by this loss, often thinking of how my belly would be swollen and i would be due in just a few short days to welcome our new little one.  i had been determined that the baby was a girl, and we had already named her Sadie.  the experience was horrible and i never blogged about it.

my sister-in-law lived with us during this time and thank goodness for her she watched the kids many hours while we painted, painted, painted and anytime we needed her.  she was with us for almost a year, and then my brother moved in.  it has been a great opportunity for all of us to grow our relationship and see him make changes in his life that brings him closer to us as a family and to God.

we've had two sisters get married this year, i've helped to throw three bridal showers and decorate for a wedding, 2 cousin weddings, brady got baptized, i have dealt with a lot of my own personal "demons" as i like to call them, figuring out who i need to be, who the Lord wants me to be, and emotional roller coasters- trying to live life with sometimes debilitating depression....

anyways...it has been a year of the refiner's fire.  i am exhausted...can you tell?  thank goodness for wonderful family and friends and a truly amazing husband who has never put me down, picked up my slack and been there through everything there was for me to "throw" at him.  we made it.  i made it.  {deep inhale and exhale} phew.

where am i going with all of this?  i'm getting this dang blog going.  i'm starting from today.  i'll get to all of the yesterdays when i can get to them.