Busy Bee Valentine party

Amara was very excited for her valentine party this year and especially to spend it with her new teacher Ms. Ashley.  She and I looked up box ideas on Pinterest and she found a birdhouse box she latched onto.

At the party, all kids had made their very personalized and special boxes to trade valentines with.  The brought home 18 valentines each--seems no one wants to miss the party! We even switched a day of the week to make sure she could be part of it.

Amara made special crafts during the party too. Art is certainly her favorite activity, hands down!  And one of her buddies, Saphira and she wore the exact same outfit to the party--what are the odds?

And the Valentine party girl was happy to demonstration (before the blue bird bit the dust, lol).  The cold didn't put a damper on her spirit or her party day for sure.

Fruit salad! a special and healthy snack for the kiddos with all that sugar going around.  Amara told me they had a great party and great fun all day--the teachers made things special for them with games and tablecloths and decorations too.  So glad she had fun.

Prepping for the Busy Bee Valentine party

Amara's birdhouse valentine box idea required a bit of preparation--so we called in the reinforcements (daddy) to get started.

Eric and Amara worked the construction, while she and I planned out the decorations.

Glue guns, glue, sequins, glitter, and paper covered the table, that is no joke--

Meanwhile, the decision (whose??) to rainbow loom bracelets for 18 kids was in full effect. We loomed it up for weeks in advance, but darn it they were cute.

We found these cards online and everyone took their turns getting Amara ready for her party--so much that Cora decided she wanted a matching valentine box (shocker).

I was so impressed by how everything turned out and even MORE impressed that we really put everything together with things we had around the house and in the yard. I think the only things i had to buy were the little bird, nest, and eggs--go us for using what we had! woot!

enjoying the snow!

By all accounts--and I mean by the constant barrage of newscasts this winter, this is the 3rd snowiest on record for central Ohio.  Some factoids i've learned this winter include:

"Normal," for us is like 18"--we're over 50 in mid February, with more to come.

We've set several "coldest day" records in this season alone.

Terms like "Polar Vortex--" never before hear of, became regular vocabulary this winter--bringing temps into the -40 windchill range, and temps into the -teens.

And most importantly--kids don't care :) Well, not entirely true, they do--but only as it relates to how long they can play outside, which when it's 30 and it's been zero for weeks, is surprisingly long!

We learned to take cold and snow in stride this season. Got to spend a lot of time in it, learning where good places to sled in the yard are, and what places get icy.

Also, that when our driveway gets plowed, that we get a snow MOUNTAIN by the garage, that the girls loved climbing--oh and that the melted snow ends up in the basement, lol.

Lots of popcorn by the fireplace nights, lots of snuggling, and lots of wet socks--and I've enjoyed it all.  Prettiest winter BY FAR in years.

Celebrating Johnathan's birthday

Jonathan's birthday is Christmas eve, but with Sarah having the week off, then vacation time, and other parties, Sarah waited a few weeks to have the kids party.  When they did though, the girls were EXCITED!! We picked up Krispy Kreme doughnuts to help with breakfast on Sunday, but Monday was party day.

The girls left in their jammies, with Jonathan's gift in her backpack and Amara even packed a special toy to teach Jonathan today, her tracing toy--which she has gotten super into since Christmas.

Cora was excited too, she put her jammies on, complete with bracelets, headband, and fluffy coat and the girls took off, snow on the ground, ready for a beach party day!

They were both exhausted at the end of a fun party day--I wish I could have gone too, haha...but I'm so glad they got to celebrate with their buddy for his special 6th birthday :)

Winter Tiny's take on OSU

January 25, 2014 was Amara's first competition as a Cheer Center Star on the Tiny prep team and boy was she excited!  We had to drop her off at the OSU field house at 9:30 for her 11 o'clock performance.  We took off warm-ups, prepped bows, and with a good luck kiss, she was left to coaches Jill and Devonte.

We were able to watch a few teams before we went down to watch her teams, Eric brought Cora up separately so they didn't have to stay all day, but she was so excited to see her sister cheer and wanted to run right out on the mat with her.

Amara smiled and waved when she saw us in the viewing area.  The girls all got to their starting spots and then got to their routines.  Amara did really well, even though I could see the nerves a little--she said she wasn't nervous and that her favorite part was "being on the stage," they looked so cute.

She got to come and sit with us afterwards.  Grandma and Grandpas Jahn and Young catered to the girls buying popcorn and cotton candy for an hour or so, then Cora wanted to go--and Amara had to go down for awards.  The awards were one big dance party of cheerleaders!! It seemed like there was a thousand girls on the mats, all line-dancing and laughing and having a great time.

Grandma Jackie snuck out and got Amara her first cheer competition shirt from OSU to--she put it in her bag to surprise her, but she asked if she could have one, and that will be a special keepsake for her to have always.

At first, they announced they announced the Cheer Center Tiny's won 3rd place, but a correction was announced and they actually took FIRST PLACE at their first compeition!! They were so excited to see their trophy!!

Daddy brought some roses for his little girl and she was so excited to have them--I think she really felt special and grown up all day and we all doted on her.

In the end, we trekked back out into the snow and loaded up for home--we'd all had a long day, but the girls were glad to see each other when we got home and we all enjoyed snuggling up and having a nice warm dinner together.  It was a really fun day and we really, really had fun watching Beanie cheer.

Cora's trip to the doctor

Cora had a tiny bump rash over the weekend and we decided to let Dr. DiCarlo look at it.

A few weeks ago, though, I should back up--I took both girls to urgent care on a Saturday; one had a cough and fever and the other said her ears hurt. They did great, and we were in and out in a jif.

Back to Cora--the appointment was at 9:15, so she and I hung around the house. I made her toast and we watched Ariel.  We got packed up to go and I waited for the fight that never came. She talked very matter-of-factly about her 'little rash' and how the doctor needed to look at it.

Once we got there, she waited patiently, used the potty at the office, and we went back to the room and entertained ourself.  When Dr. DiCarlo came in, she got a little sheepish, but didn't offer to cry or get upset at all. She let him look in her ears, her mouth, lift her shirt, etc. and didn't make a peep--we just smiled and talked the whole time.

We ended up having to go get blood drawn too at another place--I had anxiety over the whole ordeal, but she sat on my lap while the technician drew blood without a peep.  She got her sparkly band-aid and her doc mcstufins stickers and were were out the door without incident.

I'm thrilled that our doctor visits are almost non-events now, but it is also a reminder of how quickly my little girl is growing up too.