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!