Sunday, June 10, 2012

Party 4 a Princess

On Friday, we celebrated Layla's birthday with her big princess party.  I had a hard time deciding what to do this year.  With Grady's first birthday, I knew I wanted his party to be separate so we could celebrate just Grady.  But all of the sudden, two parties were coming quickly and they were coming close together!  It really wasn't that bad and Layla's party was on a much smaller scale.  It was Layla's first little kid party and all of the kids did really well.  We lucked out again with the weather and the party was held mostly outside.  Pictures galore below!

The four year old!
One last backyard party before we move!

Here were the favors.  Each child received a crown, wand and Disney book.  I made the crowns out of felt by the yard  and elastic from Joann Fabric.  I had looked at a few options to buy and the best deal was if I made them.  They took a couple hours one night to sew but I think they were about .20 to make each!  The books were found a couple months ago in some deal bins at a local grocery store.  It was a fun find!
The wands!  Once again, I looked at many options to buy.  The best deal was if I made them.  I bought wooden stars and wooden dowel rods and spray painted them gold.  I used the hot glue gun to secure everything together.  I love to spray paint and hot glue!

It is not a party unless a mason jar is involved :)

The table before all of the food was out


Royal guests!

Flowers for the kid tables.  The jars were saved from Grady's baby food days and the flowers were from Aldi!






The kids loved the dress up station, but it was so warm that the dressing up didn't last too long!

Prince Liam!

The magic fairy dust was a hit.  The kids poured sand and glitter into plastic bottles and then a lot of them blew it into the air.  I had read online that this was a fun activity but didn't quite understand until I saw the kids in action.  Shea is now requesting fairy dust for Liam's birthday party :)

Royal shoe and shield station



My mom gave me most of the heels from cleaning out her shoe collection and I sprayed painted them gold. 


Cinderella made a grand entrance!

Our sweet family friend, Haylee, played the role of Cinderella.  She is the sweetest person you will ever meet.  Haylee did awesome as Cinderella and had a little pack of kids following her around!

Cinderella read a story, played "Cinderella Says," and took pictures with the little kids.  Thank you to my mom for renting the costume and getting it to Haylee!

Layla brought Cinderella into her room to show her...well, everything :)  Grady also got to meet Cinderella.  He had just woken up.  Grady almost slept through the entire party!

Good-bye Cinderella!


Cake time!
Thank you Jessie for this picture!  I love it!

The royal family minus one.  Grady had already gone to bed at this point.


We ended the night with a first viewing of Cinderella for Layla and Shea.  They loved it.  Well, mostly loved it.  Layla spent most of the movie behind this blanket.  She is very sensitive to anything mildly scary in movies (the cat chasing the mice was her worry in Cinderella).  The ominous music gets her every time!

Sweet Liam and Blue fell asleep on the couch during Cinderella.  Liam was tuckered from the party!


 Happy 4th birthday, Layla!  We are glad you enjoyed your princess party so much.  
She asked me the next day if she could have one again soon :)

  Now...onto our next adventure....packing and moving.  We have an accepted offer in on a house.  It is a great house, but it is a short sale.  Short sales can be heart breakers.  Cross your fingers for us!!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Turning four

Whew!  Turning four makes for a busy day.  
Ryan was able to take the day off so we made the most of the day, bouncing from one activity to the next.  Layla had a great day and tomorrow...we will rest!




Birth time picture...3:36 p.m.


Do you think Layla had a good day?

Checking out the turtles together



Grady was as excited as Layla...he loved all of her gifts!

Now onto the princess party with all of your buddies...what a week!

Four


Layla turns 4 today.  Lately, Ryan and I have been telling Layla all about her birth story.  Specifically, Layla loves to hear over and over again about who was in the waiting room when she was born.  She loves to hear about how tiny she was too.





We love our little Layla and cannot even imagine what life was like before she came into our lives.  She is one special girl.

Happy 4th birthday, Layla!  Now that she is four...she even makes her own birthday cake.  Such a big girl. Good thing she still needs my help with the oven :)





Thursday, May 31, 2012

Joan

Last weekend, we celebrated a special lady's birthday.  It was a big birthday for Joan and my cousin Trevor had the idea of getting everyone together to celebrate Joan's 60th birthday.

If you know Joan, you know she is a pretty wonderful lady.  She has always been a constant in my life.  Through each and every stage, she has been there cheering me on.  I don't know how she does it, but Joan is close to everyone in the family and makes everyone feel special and celebrated.  She reminds me so much of my Grandma Rose in this way.  I feel so fortunate that my own kids now get to experience Aunt Joan.  They are lucky little kids. 

On Sunday, we celebrated 60 years of Joan.  It was such a nice day. 







The kids had a blast all day!  Thank you Trevor for being such a good sport with the kids!!  You are a natural with them!

 Happy birthday, Joan!!  Thanks for all you do.

Friday, May 25, 2012

1 Last Birthday Post

I promise I will stop with the Grady birthday posts...after this last one.  Grady is officially one and after the big bash on Saturday his actual birthday was pretty calm.  My parents were up for the day and Ryan was home for the night.   And don't forget, it is birthday season around here.  Layla's birthday is just 12 days away.  I am trying to gear up for another party.  It will be a princess party with all of Layla's little buddies.  
Now one last birthday dose of Grady!

Officially one!!  Here is the shot of Grady at 12:26 p.m. (birth time) on May 23.  He was just wiped down after lunch.






Somebody loves his new toys!

Loving the new sand and water table from Cassie, Jamie, Shea & Liam







Thursday, May 24, 2012

The First "Last Day of School"



Layla was very excited to bring her teachers the flowers she picked out.  She had a main teacher, teacher assistant and music teacher this year.  We really loved them all. 
One last day of table work!



The parents were invited in for an ice cream treat for the last day.  I thought it was fun that the kids made the ice cream.  Layla told us she got to add a little milk as her ingredient.

Ryan even was able to come by!  One of Layla's classmates cracks me up.  Any time Ryan is at the preschool during the day she says, "Aren't you supposed to be with my sister at her school right now?"  She is always calling Ryan out :)  For the record, Ryan took his lunch time to come see Layla for her last day.

Layla and me- We are so proud of Layla.  She has grown so much this year.  Layla was feeling sad on the way home and is ready to "bump up" to her next preschool class.  I was feeling a bit sad too.  I always have a hard time stopping something that Layla really enjoys.  It might take us a couple days, but soon we will be all adjusted to summer break!