Cora's 4th birthday party

Cora decided she wanted a roller-skating party this year for her big 4th birthday celebration, so we planned it for our special lady--we did NOT however plan the massive snow-storm that hit the 24 hours before the party ;)

Amara was a little bummed that roller-skating was limited, but Cora was thrilled that all her friends came out to celebrate with her and even some family and a few of sissy's friends too!

We arranged for Tinkerbell to make a surprise visit to the party. Since we rented the whole rink out, the little kids didn't get trampled, and Cora could walk around with her friends. She enjoyed every second of her time with Tink and friends.

Eric, the prince and softy, got Amara on skates and literally walked her around the rink--my condition for her to be allowed to skate at all, per Dr. Courtney's orders, not my own.

We really, really all had so much fun skating, playing, eating, dancing, and doing special games for Cora. She got to spin a big prize wheel and won an inflatable purple monkey--which just made her night. 

Since she asked for a Barbie and Tink themed party, that's what we did and we had a cake for each--the purple barbie one she found online in chocolate and a white cake with Tinkerbell on it as well.

Cora also liked that in addition to playing with all her friends, she snuck in some slurpies, hot pretzels, games, and prizes that she normally enjoys when we go skating, BONUS mom!!

We did the chicken dance, the DJ played all her favorite top 40 as well as Frozen songs, and they used special glow sticks with the disco balls--which the kids loved.

I can't say enough about what a great group we had--and I was so thankful considering the freak weather. It had cleared and was melting, but people really came from as far as Plain City, super sweet and very appreciated for my sweet lady.

Cora really rocked some moves on the dance floor-no skate mate for the birthday girl tonight!

And Mr. Monkey didn't leave her side!

The kids did a craft and made their own gift boxes, complete with custom sugar cookies to take home. I was so proud of myself for remembering to send balloons home with the kids ( which i normally forget till about half are gone) I almost forgot the favors! These kids got hooked up!

We had such a fantastic time celebrating 4 magical years with Cora Mahrea--I saw smiles all night, dancing, singing, and we are so, so lucky to have friends and family to share such an amazing little lady with. Love you, my Cora Cora Bee!

First texts look like this

Amara found Eric's old iPhone in the drawer and I told her she could keep it. No harm right? She could play apps, get used to the responsibility, etc. 

Well I think it was a day or two after we gave it to her--this text popped up on my screen. It was the middle of the night and Eric was right next to me, so we were confused, but we quickly realized that being home on the wireless network that her old phone was sending texts from Eric's account.

Eric and I had a good laugh about it and a talk with Amara the next morning about going to sleep and not playing her phone all night.

Within the next few weeks, she also texted Kalvin and Tiffany, all at night--so we hope there aren't any others we didn't catch, but we thought it was funny. Lucky for us since it comes from Eric's account, we always know about it, and it only works here at the house.  She's too smart for her own good sometimes. 

Cora's 4th birthday celebration!

We always take the girls birthdays off to have a special family day to celebrate, but this year it happened that Cora's birthday fell on a day COSI was closed. We decided instead to plan a day full of her favorite things and that started at Sweet & Sassy.

The girls loved walking the runway, putting on a fashion show, getting their hair and makeup done and nails too. It was perfect for my tiny fashionista and we finished the trip off with a few glittery goodies and a plush puppy friend for the car trip. 

Next we headed to the movies to see Paddington Bear. We went to the crosswoods location with the big reclining seats and loaded up wtih popcorn and treats to celebrate our sweetie. 

Color Me Mine was next on the docket and Cora picked a mermaid, Amara a dolphin and plates for Eric and I. Cora has all the patience in the world, so we spent a good time there, but we had fancy dinner plans, so we did pack up to go after a good deal of painting. 

We met up with G'ma and G'pa Jahn at Asian Fusion for dinner--something that has become a tradition with the girls it seems. Cora loves when they throw rice in her mouth for sure, the fiery volcano stacks and when the chef's make her scrambled eggs the best :)

We had a great time at dinner and grandma brought a few presents there--a purple Sophia watch, some crayons and minion Dave, who she loved! After a great time at dinner, we all headed home to open gifts.

Even in the snow, the weather didn't deter Cora's birthday bike from arriving--she loved it and grandma and grandpa were thrilled. We loved the expression she had when she opened her ice skates too, and Amara was glad Cora liked the cash register she picked out for her too. We all had fun watching how animated Cora was too--no surprise there. 

We had all had a long and amazing day, but it wasn't going to be over without singing and cake too, right?

So we brought the cake in--it may have been out a tad too long, my berries froze!! But it was SO good. I was so happy :) We really all had an amazing day celebrating Cora all together, then with the Jahn's for dinner--such an amazing sweet girl and supporting grandparents that we really couldn't ask for more. 

Cora's cake

With dad's birthday just a few days before Cora's, we had celebrated with cake recently--when Cora said she wanted Strawberry cake for her birthday. For dads, we used Golden Delight on Bethel--we've gotten several of theirs over the years and they are great but pricey and not convenient. 

On Cora's birthday, I drove up there, only to find they are closed on Mondays, so I punted. I called Eric, he found me a frosting recipe that sounded close, and I headed to the store. 

I got home with my bags, and got to work on the cake first. Next, sliced up some beautiful berries and started assembling it. Last, made my frosting--it came out PERFECT! I was so excited I could have died!! My decorating has never been the best, but it was purple and you could make our her name, so that worked for me. 

I wanted it to have plenty of time to set up, so it waited on the back porch for us till after dinner. When I finally showed Cora, her eyes opened wide and she gasped. I think I started to cry--she was SO happy and I was so proud. She really liked it, I could tell.

Everyone said it was better than Golden Delight--I don't know that I'd go that far, but it was VERY good and I will gladly make that for my girls' birthday parties any time they ever ask me for sure!

our sweet valentines

In the middle of a winter snowstorm, grandma and grandpa Jahn braved the elements to bring Valentine treats to the girls. Amara already had pics, so she was dolled up but back in jammies and hopped up to see her surprise visitors and explore her treats.

Cora was still in her morning PJs too, but smiled as big as the world to see two of her favorite people come up the drive. They opened their cards and candy and we played a bit--we had such a sweet and special visit, it really warmed all our hearts. 

hip hop pics

Hip Hop picture day was planned well before Amara's accident and it would have been just another day--but the circumstances made it very special. 

Since her cast was so new and we were still trying to figure out clothing, I got to work examining her shirt, trying to figure out how to get the sleeve apart in a way that it could be put back on--but would still look awesome. 

I figured it out and spent a WHILE taking the seam out of a mix of spandex and fishnet type material without destroying feathers, etc. At the end I was pretty proud of myself!

The next morning she got up ready to rock her hair and makeup and we held our breath while we got the shirt on and it was PERFECT!! Everyone was so happy to see her at pictures and Kaylee and all her team got to sign her cast on top of that--the adventure took an ordinary event into a creative and thoughtful outing for both of us.

Amara's kindergarden valentine party with ms. bice

The good news is that I love prepping for Valentine's party, so Amara had her valentine's done. The bad news was the party fell the day after she got her cast on, and she wasn't up for a full day of school quite yet--but being the volunteer party organizer and mom of a hurting baby-girl, we made it work.

I kept her home with me in the morning, but then we packed up and headed to school in the afternoon. Amara was still learning her cast, but she was getting it quickly and enjoyed the tissue paper craft we planned. Ms. Bice and the other volunteers helped the kids with the games and snacks too.

I think all the kids had fun making messes and thank GOD I thought to plan and bring tablecloths--patting myself on the back for that $4 well spent. 

The ring toss game was fun too and ended up being perfect for Amara too. No worries about getting hurt there and it moved right along so they got several turns. 

When it became snack time, she hopped right up to help me pass out the treats--cookies and juice boxes all around. She sat with her assigned table and a few siblings who attended too, it was a busy, buzzing classroom!

At the end of class, Ms. Bice told Amara they had passed out Valentine's earlier, so she got to hand deliver them. All the kids loved her designs and she had a few extra for the other kids too. She really enjoyed her time there and I'm so glad she went and we organized a great party for she and her pals.

let the signing begin!

We had to wait 24 hours for the cast to fully cure, but when Amara woke up on Friday (post cast) she was ready to dig out the markers.

She was not playing. After mom and dad and sis, she had a list of people SHE wanted to sign her cast--she was awesome. We had a stash of colored sharpies wherever we went and she told them where there was room left, and even "secret places" for special folks. She's awesome. 

that's the breaks

I had spent the day with Cora for mommy-cora day and was putting her to bed, when i got the text from eric, "Don't freak out, but Amara hurt her arm..." and so it began :(

Eric took her to urgent care, after a fall trying a new stunt out in hip hop dance practice wednesday night ( Feb. 11). I stayed with Cora, but broke down when I got the call it was broken.

I texted Dr. DiCarlo who told me to get her to Children's Ortho first thing in the morning, so that's what we did. At just after 9 on Thursday we got the confirmation she broke her lower arm, both bones--pretty good. They cast it immediately after multiple sets of xrays to be sure of the break and treatment, but told us that with COMPLETE rest and care, that we could avoid surgery.

She was a trooper. Said it hurt that first night but only told us the next day. By 24 hours post accident, she was home resting, waiting for that magical hour when we could start signing it, and enjoying being waited on hand and foot (which I was happy to do and insisted on).

Prognosis was 6-8 weeks in a cast. missing out on a lot of winter activities including anything having to do with snow or rough playing, dance, karate, etc. but the bonus (as she told Carissa) was "that I get to spend more time with mommy, daddy, and sissy"--but I secretly think she means watching more family feud which she has become addicted to, lol.

Mommy-Cora day

Love LOVE my mommy-girl days! Started them with Amara when she was three, so it seemed only fitting to start with Cora when she was three--although they are VERY different ladies with very different ideas of how to spend their days, but I love them both for sure!  

Cora and I hit up Chik-fil-a for breakfast and some play time first. There were a few other kids there, but we quickly moved on to our next outing.

Build-a-bear! And we made an Elsa, and she SINGS :) I am pretty sure this was Cora's first solo trip there, so we really had fun taking our time. Cora is much more a take-your-time, gal than Amara, so I (again, selfishly) get to enjoy both.

Next stop the Chiller Ice rink and a special skate lesson with coach Kristin! She was great (well both) and loved it and looked amazing and was having a blast. Kristin was great with her and whether this ends up being Cora's thing or not, she was smiling ear-to-ear the entire time. What a magical moment with her.

We zoomed over to Dublin to pick up cookies for Cora's bday party and also decided to head to Whole Foods for lunch. Cora picked her favorite foods, from watermelon to mac and cheese, pizza, fruit punch and one solitary chocolate macaroon for dessert (she picked green for me). We picked up a few other goodies in our trip too, but shopping and eating there with her was just a delight. 

Making our way back south we stopped at the popcorn factory for my girl who LOVES popcorn any time of day or day of the week. She tried cherry, blue raspberry, vanilla, and a few others, but in the end we brought home plain, cheese, and a TINY bag of watermelon--just because.

We picked up Carissa's daughter Hannah who had arranged a horse-riding outing adventure for her, to wrap the day. We went to Wounded Aarow range, really close to our house) and had a great time! Cora played with kittens, goats, chickens, and had a nice horse lesson too. Hannah even let Cora use her awesome pink helmet.

I know I could do Mommy-Cora day any day of the year with this doll and never get tired of it, but I guess big-all-day-blowouts like this are pretty awesome too. Guess I better get cracking planning the next one, now that I have two ladies to plan for, huh~?