Spring Break 2014

Our break started off with us trying out a new kid friendly restaurant in town and then having people over for the evening. Obviously the kids had way too much fun skinny dipping in the too cold pool!After a soccer game and a quick afternoon of packing me and the kids hit the road to Temple to visit my brother, sis in law and nephew! We were so happy to get to their home and get to play with Preston and all their animals. It had been a long time coming getting to hang out with Toodge and Natalie and Preston. It was fun to see how much PT has changed and watch him and Sidney play together a little! Bright and early Monday morning we hit the road to College Station..we had big plans!! It was Emmaline's 7th birthday and we needed to celebrate! Where else but Chuck E. Cheese..or as E calls it..Chunky Cheese! Hayley, her 3 girls, Autumn and her 2 kids and Pepper and her 2 kids showed up for a small get together. Emmaline and the kids had a great morning with friends and running wild all over the restaurant. That evening Sherry came to stay at my parents' house while they were in Vegas. We went to celebrate Emmaline again at Cheddar's with a great dinner and dessert. After opening presents and all the fun we were tired. The next morning we hit up Bee Creek park and saw old friends. While Sherry was in town we planned to take Sidney's one year old portraits and possibly a few of all the kids together. I think they turned out pretty well!One day my mom took E and HB to the movies while Georgia spent the day with Sammie at the drive-thru safari a little outside of town. She loved it! We met friends at Chick-fil-A, went to Kristi's house for the afternoon..the kids had so much fun riding their 4-wheeler, jumping on the trampoline, playing hide n seek and running down to the pond to watch the turtles. It was a beautiful day and it made the day perfect. I went out one night with friends to eat crawfish. We celebrated Pauline's accomplishment of becoming a nurse and getting a job at the Med! So proud of her! The next day me and Pauline went and got a pedicure then, Autumn and I went to dinner the next night and had the best time just talking over a bottle of wine. It had been a long time since we had done that! We always have fun at my parent's house and enjoy eating at fun restaurants, playing outside, riding bikes and visiting my dad's store. The week really did fly by. On the last day we were there, it was time for us to pick up our new pets..we had planned to take over care of Aunt B's rabbits over Christmas. I told her I would get them during Spring Break and she made sure we got them. It was interesting picking them up and transporting them home. Luckily they have their own cages and are pretty friendly. The kids were so excited!Overall it was a wonderful break and we were happy to get home on Saturday so we could enjoy a full day back home before school started back. Daniel was busy in the backyard and house while we were gone. He always stays busy and creates new things to do!

Emmaline at 7!!

1.What is your favorite color? green
2. What is your favorite toy? Ana Barbie doll
3. What is your favorite fruit? green apples
4. What is your favorite tv show? Shake It Up
5. What is your favorite thing for lunch? PB&J

6. What is your favorite outfit? my soccer uniform
7. What is your favorite game? Soccer & Tag

8. What is your favorite snack? goldfish
9. What is your favorite animal? Elephant
10. What is your favorite song? Frozen songs
11. What is your favorite book? Frozen books
12. Who is your best friend? Hadleigh
13. What makes you happy? Friends who share with me

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? swing
15. What is your favorite drink? Sprite (on special occasions)
16. What is your favorite holiday? Valentines Day
17. What do you like to sleep with? blue Taggie blanket, Ana doll
18. What is your favorite thing for breakfast? Honey Nut Cheerios cereal

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Olive Garden
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor or a teacher
21. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? fishing
22…with Mommy? snuggle

23….with Georgia? Play Polly Pockets

24….with Hayes? bouncy ball
25….with Sidney? tikle her
26. Something you want to do before you turn 8? go to Disneyland

Emmaline's 7th Birthday!!

We had an Art Party to celebrate Emmaline's 7th birthday. It was SO much fun! She exclaimed, "this is my favorite birthday party ever!" So my work here is done, I guess!
I have been planning and slowly buying things for this party theme for a few months now. So I think that helped when I decided with the coaxing of a friend that in 2 days I needed to have her party. It was the only day her friends would all be able to come. Otherwise we were looking at a weekend in May as the earliest time we could do it. So a party in 2 days it was!

Me and Emmaline took a last trip to Hobby Lobby and Wal-mart and then it was off to the races of cleaning up from Sidney's party decorations and putting up Emmaline's. I like to hang up pictures of the birthday kid all around the house for their friends to see. I also put up the birthday banner and any other streamers, balloons or décor we bought for the particular party.

Emmaline requested chocolate cake which I made and it was so good. I also made rice krispie treats to look like paint brushes with a stick in them and colored icing on the bottom. They didn't turn out as good as I wanted but they tasted good and were colorful! I dipped pretzels, oreos and marshmallows in the colored icings also. We served easy foods like hotdogs, chips and Hayes and Georgia helped me make fruit skewers. I served pink lemonade in decorated mason jars with fun paper straws and found cute diamond shaped reusable ice cubes Emmaline loved.

The first thing we did while waiting for all 6 girls was to decorate their mason jars with washi tape and get their aprons on. I sewed the aprons from oil cloth I already had. It was pretty easy and fun to do! It was amazing that I literally ended up with the exact amount of fabric I needed. Once all the girls got there we started our first and most time consuming craft. We used pie pans and placed pony beads in different patterns of color or shapes. Once they got their beads just right we used the toaster oven on the porch to melt them all together. After 10 minutes we took them out and laid them over a glass cup and put back in the oven. In 5 minutes the beads had melted together and were falling around the cup to form a shape. I would take them out then help mold it into a bowl shape. They turned out so cute and it was a fun, easy project..just took a little time.

The girls went wild at this point and were running and playing upstairs and outside. Daniel grilled hotdogs and we got them to sit down long enough to eat something.

Then we started painting the canvases on the back porch. They all chose their colors and paint brushes and got busy. Some finished really quickly and others were very detailed. I so forgot to take a picture of them with their finished canvases. While they painted we turned on Frozen outside for them to watch and that was a hit. The excitement level was high!
Once we got all cleaned up we came inside for cake, icecream and the birthday song! The girls played and ran and drove the cars and made loom bracelets and danced and were all over the place. It was a great birthday and lots of fun. I think Emmaline enjoyed herself.

She put together a small goodie bag to go along with the apron, canvas, and bead bowl. It had some hair ties, pen and pad to write on, candy and some other items.

Only having 2 days to prepare was tricky, but I really felt like we accomplished everything we wanted to do. All her friends were able to come and it went pretty smoothly!

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!! I love you Emmaline Jade and have enjoyed these quick 7 years..your love for life and friends and fun is contagious!!