Farms & Carnies

While in CS our last visit, we headed to the Smith's home to hang out and coax baby Laynie to come out (it didn't work, but she finally made her arrival a few weeks later)! The girls started off playing on the trampoline and then added a sprinkler underneath! They loved it!Hoyt was shy at first and wouldn't leave his mom's side (who can blame him with all those girls around) but as soon as we went to feed the animals he was game!





Our girls have so much fun with them and play really well together. We usually spend an entire day over there just chatting and playing and even getting in some animal time! I am always interested to see how the girls will respond to the animals..some times they are overly excited and not shy one bit and others they are terrified..who knows!!
We also got to share the experience of the carnival with the girls!! My parents watched HB while me and Natalie took them to meet Carrie and her crew.

It was a lot of fun and I was surprised with all the rides they could ride and enjoy! Of course a night at the carnival isn't complete without Cotton Candy!! We splurged and they each got their own bag!The grand finale was riding the Ferris Wheel! They weren't sure at first but quickly loved how high we were and how quickly we were going around!As usual, a pretty successful trip to CS!

Sibling Love love love

Georgie loves to hold her little brother..but always climbs UP on a table and pats her lap and says, "Me want to hold Hayes now!" (not so fast sister..he weighs almost as much as you! I'm thinking these 2 are going to be confused as twins in the next few years!"Hayes, you want to play peek-a-boo with me?""PEEK-""A-BOO!" squeals of delight

playdough time at Artworks
caught them being sweet reading in their roomthe babies watching tv together
Emmaline loves when he sticks his fingers in her mouth! It's as if she is getting away with something we don't let her do..because Hayes-man did it, not her..

1st Dentist Appointment..

..definitely won't be the last!

The girls finally went to their first dentist appointment and it went pretty well. I tried not to talk it up too much but wanted them to know what to expect so E was nervous and G was sorta nonchalant about the whole thing. We went to a pediatric dentist and I was hopeful that it looked like my dentist did as a child..a indoor playground and videogames and fun stuff..but no this really didn't have all the bells and whistles..
It was older for sure and had some arcade games in the waiting room..the girls are too short to reach the controls or see the screen so that was just an annoyance.
We get called back after mounds of paperwork and everyone was really nice. The girls watched this older boy have his blood pressure and x-rays done first but it didn't ease Emmaline's nerves. She started crying as soon as the lady tried to drape the heavy vest over her..I told the nurse to just go ahead and take them, but she said, "We can't do the x-rays if they are crying." Great..so Emma had an easy out now!! We tried it on G but monkey see monkey do..They headed us back to where all these chairs are all lined up and on the ceiling are these cute little hanging pacifiers..They were from the kids who had given them up..they had their names and dates on them. Georgia was mesmerized. The lady asked the girls to hop up on the seat and lay down..they give them sunglasses so the light isn't too bright in their eyes and then the dr. was there to take a quick look. Emmaline started crying but Georgia was still gawking at the pacis so she was all game. The dentist was very nice and counted her teeth, scrubbed them, checked for cavities and then put on some flouride. Apparently that didn't taste too good so she started whining a little but got over it pretty fast. Now it was E's turn and she had watched Georgia and was a little more willing to have her turn..She started crying as she laid down but once the dentist talked to her and counted her teeth she was ok. Of course, she cried when he did the flouride but they were both so excited to get a new toothbrush and sticker that it made it all better!The dentist said G's teeth looked fine though she has a slight underbite. E's teeth are showing the beginning signs of cavities in the back molar. So we go back in 4 months to see how they are doing.
They were going to let us go home but I told them I wanted to try the x-rays again..this time G went first. She was brave and looked so little in that big chair and vest. Because of that, Emmaline followed suit and did great too! Thank goodness! For their bravery they got a ring and necklace! SCORE!!The x-rays showed Emmaline's teeth look great and are coming in nicely! Georgia's teeth on the other hand are coming in almost sideways! Lovely! Can't wait to see that!
So needless to say, I forsee lots of days spent at the dentist! I'm not surprised as I spent my fair share of afternoons with a numb mouth in my younger years too!

Favors & Invitation

Ok, so this is the last party post I am doing..promise..
I really wanted to do her invitations on a cute recipe card but I totally underestimated how hard they are to find..period..not even cute ones, just regular old recipe cards.
Anyway, I decided to just make my own and found some cute cooking themed paper and forgot about the whole recipe thing..I do love how they turned out..cute, simple, yet girly!
On to the party favors..I know I touched on the aprons before but I wanted to show a few more pics. Me, my mom and Natalie sewed the aprons, we added coordinating ribbon and my friend, Jillian monogrammed them. I love them and was suprised at how easy they were..I am inspired to keep sewing new things, and really glad to not sew anymore aprons for a long time!!The kids got to decorate and take home their chef hats as well.
Their boxes to take home were cupcake boxes painted with their initial on it. I added in homemade playdough, chapstick and a watercolor set.
This party was fun to plan and get ideas for! I had a hard time narrowing down the different activities to do, but am glad with how it turned out!
Seriously though, next time, I am just going to buy tons of Cascarones and have an egg themed party! They loved getting confetti everywhere!! I wish I had more pictures of that part but I was busy passing them out and seeing it all go down!Uncle Toodge & Natalie of course were with us every step of the way through the party, but one of the best and most fun things was the gift they gave E..it was a sweet, white, round picnic basket with a ruffle on the top filled with felt food..that she hand sewn and an adorable blanket to picnic on..E had the food out in the car and her and Georgie were sharing a lunch in the car before we hit Highway 21 back to SA..she said, 'what a fun surprise present' and couldn't wait to have a picnic..she was asleep with 'food' everywhere covered in her blanket not long after!! Thank you for a great gift and can't wait to have a 'real' picnic at home!! And I stole these pics off of Nat's Colley Blog..until we have our own!
Emmaline is already planning her 5th birthday party..she wants a pinata..sorry, sister..it's gonna be a while before we start up with all this again!! Now on to the rest of our life I have been putting on hold!

After the party it's the after party

The same evening as the party the adults headed out to celebrate Spring Break!! My parents came in town early to help us out and we got to hang out at Sherlocks with friends and all stay at their spot at the Embassy Suites. FUN!! Did I forget to mention the time change..oh the time change..it killed me. I was so tired, not on Sunday necessarily but Monday and Tuesday were rough. That coupled with HB's poor sleeping habits did me in. I was not in a good mood. OK, so after the party. My parents came and stayed all night with the 3 kids while we got to sleep in and then we went for a late breakfast at Taco Taco (yummy tacos). Toodge and Natalie headed out and the rest went back home to open more gifts!
My mom was so excited to show Emmaline her gift. We had discussed for weeks about what to get her. I wasn't sure what they decided. Pop was against the gift my mom wanted..so I am sure all you ladies can guess what happened..
MaMa won! Emmaline opened up some gifts and then went outside for the BIG gift..It was a Barbie Jeep! The girls were so excited.. They immediately jumped in and took off. It did take them a moment to get the hang of it but soon after they were wearing their seatbelts and driving to the "park to swing", E would park it and they would jump out and swing for a bit and then they would jump back in and drive to their next spot. The girls' names are on their doors with cute sparkly stickers; just as any Texas girls' should be! They even have music they can change..that seems to be Georgia's job! Pop was not sure it would be safe for the girls and for Hayes..so we will see and be really cautious to make sure noone gets hurt..Pop got his own gift for E..he got her a Pandora bracelet with a charm and Uncle Michael & soon to be Aunt Rachel got her another charm with a jade jewel on it (for her middle name & green eyes I can only assume!). It is so pretty! The girls also got some placemats they can write on, clothes, shoes, games and other goodies!! We are so very blessed! Now I just need another closet or 2 for all the new things she got!I think the thing they loved the most was getting to go swimming at Embassy Suites,the huge breakfast they have and getting to have a sleep over with MaMa and Pop. My parents said they talked all night long and Pop had to do some threatening to get them to sleep! We had a lot of fun and we really appreciate them helping out at the doctor appointment for E's 4 year check and HB's 6 month check.. Emmaline was a healthy girl at 40.5 inches (75th%) and 37 lbs. (50th%). At the 4 year check they give 4 shots. Emmaline was ok until it was time to lay her on the table and Pop (thankfully) held her hands down..she started crying but not too much and was able to regain composure pretty quickly. She got a popsicle and that seemed to help!
...and then we headed to CS...

Emmaline's Cooking Party

We had Emmaline's party on a beautiful Saturday morning. We have been lucky 2 years in a row for perfect weather so the kids can go outside! She was beyond excited about her party and having company in town. She woke up to find Uncle Toodge & Natalie on the couches snoozing..she saw Toodge first and told G what a great surprise that was and then she peeked under the covers and saw that Natalie was there too! Lots of squeals!!Quickly after that we started all the running around and prep work for the dozen kids that would soon be showing up. Emmaline wouldn't let anyone do her hair, not even Natalie who can usually talk her into a braid, so it was done by herself in a "clip, half way up".
Friends started arriving and the fun got started. First, we had them decorate paper chef hats with markers & stickers. Next, the kids played in the playroom and outside and snacked on goldfish, grapes & carrots.We had bubbles and sidewalk chalk for the kids to use also. After awhile we had them come inside to the kitchen and put there aprons on and find a spot at a table.We had tables set up where the kids could stand up and use a rolling pin to make their own pizzas. They rolled out their dough, added homemade sauce, shredded cheese and pepperonis. They had fun getting to make their own and watch Daniel (our head chef) toss his into the air. We wrote their names with a Sharpie on foil so we knew whose was whose. Each kid got their plates and ate outside. We also had homemade pizza and pizza rolls for the parents too!
After the kids ate and played some more, we brought out the Princess Birthday Cake and sang Happy Birthday to our girl. All the kids were excited even though it took Emmaline about 4 breaths to blow out her '4' candle! We may or may not have cut the Princess cake..i'll never tell!The kids were sent outside to the tables and were brought blue-iced cupcakes to decorate with lots of choices of sprinkles, candy hearts, and M&Ms.They also got icecream to go with their cupcakes. It was fun to see them with blue lips! Lastly, the kids got to break Cascarones (dyed eggs filled with confetti) on eachother and I think they loved that best! Before everyone left she started opening gifts and was so quick I had a hard time figuring out who gave her what. She got so many artsy, glittery, gluey things and of course there was Barbie and My Little Ponys too! It was finally time for the party to end and as they left with their personalized aprons they each got a cupcake box that I painted (pink for girls and brown for boys) and modpodged their initial on the top in the same fabric as the aprons. Inside the box was homemade playdough (Emmaline's Kool-Dough) with a recipe card, a watercolor set and chapstick.
Her party was a success and a wonderful day. Emmaline was so happy and just kept saying how much she loved all her friends being there and all her presents. I am so glad I was able to incorporate both cooking and Sleeping Beauty to make the birthday girl happy.Some gift highlights were the washable painting pony you draw on and then can wash and start all over again. Also, her Rapunzel hair wig..it is this long blonde shimmery hair that almost touches the ground..must get pics of her and G in it..and maybe HB too! So also got a jump rope from us and it's funny to watch them try to do it. We are so thankful for all the sweet gifts we received. She loves them all and can't hardly play with one long enough to go to the next...and it starts all over each day!! Thank you to our family and friends who came to celebrate our little girl!! It wouldn't have been the same without you!