Disney on Ice: Treasures

Last night , Eric and I bi the bullet and took the

cora's 2nd birthday

Much like the year she was born, Cora Bee's birthday was a cold one, but beautiful blue skies :) 

Since she LOVES "kitty" so very much, we had chosen a Hello Kitty theme for her, complete with pinks, lime green and white.  While she slept, daddy, sissy and I got busy decorating--steamers, balloons and food filled the kitchen and the first floor!

Shortly after she woke up, we got her dressed in her kitty shirt as guests arrived. We celebrated with the grandparents, Matt, Steph, Kristin and Coulter, and lots of friends and kiddos--i think we had close to a half dozen 2 or 4 year olds!

She didn't care to sit still long enough to open presents, but she did enjoy some of her specially chosen foods: shredded chicken sandwiches, chips, string cheese, and celery with peanut butter.

She especially loved her cake, complete with kitty design, and to my surprise, blew out her "2" candle like a CHAMP all by herself!

Ladybug Valentine party

Amara was excited to pick out her own Valentine's this year for her class party: Batman for the guys and Tinkerbell for the girls.

She and I worked on them a few nights and she and daddy got a turn too--there were quite a few in her class and at school she wanted to include (like Mrs. Kay, the Busy Bees teacher she LOVES and Mrs. Patty, the receptionist downstairs who gives her a peppermint patty at the end of each school day.)

Eric took Amara to school equipped with her teacher gifts (embroidered lady bug sweatshirts) and all her Valentines too.

I was lucky enough to be able to volunteer for this party too, like Christmas, so I went just before 10 prepped with a craft and 3 different games.

Boy was this different than Christmas!!  I think there were almost twice as many kids there--NO idea where they all came from!!  I bet the boy to girl ratio is at least 2:1 and they are raucous ;)

We started with the flower vase craft and that went pretty well.  Amara did well with hers, making the flowers and decorating her vase--some of the kids were quite particular.

Then we moved on to the games: find your heart string, finding a partner, and counting the candies in the jar.  Amara loved handing out the prizes (valentine's buttons and lollipops) to all the friends.

Before we knew it, it was time for cleanup and lunch. A few of the other parents snuck out and we took care of all the feathers, puff balls, ribbon and skewers, and I got my box all put away while the kids handed out their valentines in their custom decorated bags...and the others lined up to wash their hands.

The meal was a pasta bake, salad and banana and milk.  They prayed and then ate like little ladies and gentlemen.  So sweet.

With several kisses and hugs, I left--another party tomorrow at Sarah's awaits!  What a fun Valentine's day ;)

Grandpa Jahn turns 70 (SURPRISE!)

Mom decided to throw dad a surprise 70th birthday party this week, so what started out as homemade pizza at our house, turned into close to 40 people at Grandstand!

She and Sue got decorations while I picked up the cake.

After I picked up Amara from school, she came over with me. Her quick friends the Holdermans and Weidebuschs helped her decorate with balloons while I set up the cake (yum).

Guest began arriving and trickling in, right up to the last group at 6--Haylee told me that she had seen mom and dad pulling up and parking, so we knew we were close.

We all yelled surprise at dad and surprised him we did. He made the rounds, welcoming and thanking all his guests, then got to enjoy a piece of strawberry cake and a beer on his birthday.

We ate through all the pizza, salad, bread, beer and cake we had, and everyone was almost cleared out by 7:45.  We packed up, (mom took the old photo albums home) settled the check, and got on our way. 

Eric said by the time he got Cora to her room (he left with the girls around 7) Cora was actually REACHING for her bed. She ran her little legs off!

Amara had a blast playing with Gideon and Wyatt and Tim's boys--I thought she'd be tired too, but she was still hoped up on excitement by the time I got home.

Dad said he had some really cute and clever cards--i'm sure he did knowing that bunch.  I hope he had a wonderful party--we sure are lucky to have such great friends and family, and SUPER glad to have a dad like that to celebrate!

Ellie is 5!

We were so excited to go to Chucky Cheese this weekend and celebrate Ellie's 5th birthday with the Smith family!

The place was packed--but the girls loved climbing in the structures, riding rides, and then playing games with their friends.

Cora took to basketball quite a bit--we played several times.  Amara was more of a roving player.  She would take a turn on this or that game and move on.

I'm so thankful the kids haven't picked up on the whole ticket thing. We collect them.  We have a bag at home, but we take them with us each time and just toss them in there for later ;)

Ellie was so polite at her table, she shared pizza and cake with the girls as we watched the birthday show, sang to her, and celebrated with her.

cuddly strip quilts for the girlies

After doing a few baby quilts recently, Amara asked for one. I hadn't done one for her yet, because she is SO attached to her green blanket, I didn't figure she'd care for anything else.

But, I got some fabrics for her and she picked them out (we did it together really) and we got to work.

We also picked out some fabrics to make one for Cora--complete with some hello kitty fabric thrown in, and we had our path ahead of us.

But, I got some fabrics for her and she picked them out (we did it together really) and we got to work.

We also picked out some fabrics to make one for Cora--complete with some hello kitty fabric thrown in, and we had our path ahead of us.

Last night, we finished the bindings and washed them, getting them all ready for the girls.  We were going to hold them back and surprise them on Cora's birthday--but we figured there will be so much else going on, no reason NOT to give them to them today.

This morning, Eric fished them out of the dryer (among the Valentine's pillow cases we made and also a horse one for Irelyn) and Eric presented them to each girl.  The BOTH squeeled (literally, i've never heard Amara make that sound) with excitement and asked immediately to be covered up and get all snuggly.  It made my day--and week, for sure.

Later in the day, they were used as gymnasics mats for Amara's cartwheels, a shroud for Cora--with only her tiny face peeking out, and to cover up numerous sleeping babies too.

The work (though not even that much) was SO well worth it. I can't wait to start on my next ones for them.  Maybe Amara will help me pick one out for her new room remodel? we'll see--

Happy valentine's day, Daddy

It's tough to sometimes coordinate a gift to daddy from the girls.  I thought what better way to celebrate with him, then to have his valentines surprise him at work! 

I got some yummy cookies from Leslie at the Pink Apron--one of his favs, coordinated an early pickup with Sarah, and we headed downtown.

Our friend, Tony Howard helped get me in the building and coordinate the surprise, then the girls helped daddy pass out his valentines to his friends.  They also enjoyed spinning in the office chairs and watching the trains go by the building outside.

It was a fun short visit for daddy--I think he'd had enough, haha, but everyone had a sweet time with him.  xoxo

Colin's winter picnic party

On a perfectly snowy, dreary winter day, what could be better than spending it with great friends--celebrating a special birthday?

We headed up to Recreations Outlet for Colin's bday party after a low-key Sunday morning at home, but as soon as we got there, the girls took off!

Amara played with Fiona and some of the other kids, and Cora set off climbing anything she could get into.

The kids had a blast playing, eating, and celebrating with Colin.  The end of the party came so quickly, they didn't want to leave (but the catnap on the way home from Cora was a sign that she tired herself out.)

I can't believe Colin (and Cora) are 2 this month--next year will be an entirely different party :)

star student of the week poster project

Amara was selected this week to be the star student of the week in her ladybug class.  We had a poster "all about me" to fill in and we decided to work on it together after Cora was in bed.  Some of the sections included her drawing a picture of her family, things that she likes, and things that she didn't like.

She also had to jot down 3 wishes, and there was a section that talked about her height, weight, hair color, and she wrote her name on the poster.

She had a hard time finding things she didn't like, but she said that she didn't like scratchy things, medicine, mud, and a few other things.  Things she liked was much easier and ranged from waffles and oranges, to yellow daffodils, pink flowers, and a beautiful sunset and house picture. 

She was very proud of it when we were done, and daddy printed out a pic of our family for the top section.  She carried it into class the next morning and Ms. Misty was thrilled to see her artwork!  I know she got to present her poster in class to her friends--i'd have loved to have seen that, but I'll just have to imagine :)