The Un-Birthday

We celebrated Charlotte's Un-Birthday this past weekend.  She is finally to the age of friend parties and I was excited to get to host a party at the beach.  When will I ever get the chance again?

Charlotte decided on a Mermaid themed party and there are lots of great ideas out on the web for Mermaid parties.  We used One Charming Party for our ideas and printables.  This made it a little easier to host a great party without access to Target, dollar stores, and Michaels (to name a few).

One Charming Party gives you lots of ideas for you party and easy instructions for any DIY projects.  They even provide a menu.  I didn't get to take any great pictures of the party before hand.  I didn't leave enough time before guests were arriving and for last minute changes.  We had hoped to rent a table and be entirely down on the beach.  However the beach was already prepared for the Typhoon coming on Monday and they wouldn't let us rent a folding table.  Oh, and tinsel glitter is my new favorite thing.  It makes everything look cool.

We made the sign, the sandcastle, we dried our own seaweed (made the house smelly) to glitter, and I saw these suckers on another party and thought they looked like sea glass and we had to make those too.

One thing about having the party at a different location is you forget things.  I had cut out and glittered the mermaid cupcake decorations, but forgot them.  So, only the green ones with white chocolate sand dollars were decorated - Oh, well.

I love the paper straws.  I wanted to make sure everything was essentially safe if it was blown out to sea or down the beach.  So, we packaged their food in small paper bags and then in a bucket.  Lunch was Peanut Butter and Jelly Fish sandwiches, crab legs (carrot sticks), sea cucumbers (sliced cucumbers), deep sea pearls (blueberries), gold fish crackers, and sea weed juice (purple crush).  Of course they didn't eat much.

After lunch we played games.  Dolphin, Dolphin, Shark! (Duck, Duck, Goose).  Water Relay, we used large shells to run water from one bucket to another - girls vs. Grahm (Grahm graciously lost - with a little bit of my help).  Sea Shell Dig.  We collected shells from various beaches to provide the girls with great shells to find and not broken fragments.  Flip-Flop Hunt.  There is a cute message that you read to the girls and then they are given one flip-flop and they have to find the match.  And some Limbo.  Jayce was our DJ (he is growing up too fast).

We all ended up a little too burnt, tired, and happy after a day at the beach!

Happy Un-Birthday Charlotte!  I hope you had a wonderful day and know how special and amazing you are.  You are so sweet and tender hearted and always have a smile.  We love you so much.

Tattoo Artist?

We have a budding tattoo artist.  Let me know if anyone is looking for someone to design their next tattoo.

She was very proud of her artwork (someone was distracting her in the picture) and was convinced that it looked beautiful.

Maybe it just needs sparkles!

Scraps of Fabric = Budding Fashionista!

When every I am sewing this kids always grab whatever scraps of fabric they can and incorporate them into useful objects for their games.  They wrap up people, make booby-traps, tie things (sometimes a little too well), and so much more.

This time Charlotte used it as a fashion accessory and Jason recognized the photo op.  The two of them had a little photo session.

Tutorial tomorrow!

Furniture and Fur

Charlotte - "Why is Furniture called Furniture?"

Me - "I don't know.  (I am sure its a derivative of Furnish, but you don't need or care to know that)."

Charlotte - "There's no Fur on Furniture."

Me - (.....................Very True..............)

Photos for the girls

I wanted to have one year old pictures of Tennyson taken in a light pink dress that I was smocking for her.  Problem 1, it took longer than I thought to find the time to finish it.  Problem 2, life was crazy after it was done...  so the pictures are more like 14 month old pictures.  

Oh, and all you photographers - please give me pointers on what I need to improve on.  And Grandmas which ones do you want for your walls.

Charlotte turned 4 so these are her 4 year old pictures.  Well, I need to do retakes.  Even though it was cloudy, it was still too bright for her.  All of her pictures she was super squinty, except this one.

The balloons got away.

Un-Birthday!

Late as usual, we fainlly got our act together and celebrated Charlotte's Un-Birthday.  She wanted to have a Tangled Party and she wanted dress-up clothes.  So we had us a pink party - the only thing I wish I would have done is have the guests wear pink.

The crown broke the next day, but she loves the shoes.

Yup - this is the favorite dress.  She also has a new tutu with petals inside, a poodle skirt (I made with leftover fabric from one of the coats I made), a fairy costume (the boys broke the wings the next day), an ice princess dress, and others that still have not made it in the mail.

I saw a recipe for pink lemonade cupcakes.  We tried them and no one really loved them, so we wont be making them again.  Basically you add pink lemonade concentrate to a white cake mix and add lemon to butter cream frosting.  Plus - my kids still don't eat cake.

The for the highlight of the night.  We headed to a beach and Jason launched the lanterns.  It was windy and so a bit tricky - next time we will wait for a calm night.  We had an audience, it was fun and magical - I hope she loved it.

Looking forward to more pink parties.  Happy UnBirthday, Charlotte!  We love you!

Dr. Jekyll

Since we moved here Charlotte has an ever growing number of things she sleeps with. I really try to keep the numbers to 4 things at the most. She always sleeps with a couple of dolls and then she adds in whatever new thing she has or recently rediscovered toy. The most recent addition is a snake.  I don't think in a few years that she would be able to sleep through the night with a snake in her bed even if it is plastic.


I have spent the last few days elbow deep in paint. I am finally getting Tennyson's room painted and the ceilings in Charlotte's and my room painted as well as the hallway.  Since I have been a little distracted my sweet little girl moved out and a mischievous little girl moved in. 

This new daughter of ours likes to sneak into the art drawer and glue card stock circles (from a happy meal) onto the walls in her room.  She likes to dump several large cupfuls of water onto the bathroom floor and onto a pillow that was for some reason in the bathroom.  She finds it necessary to remove all of the books from the shelf (about 50), bring all of her toys from her room into the living room (not to play with).  She is also starting to have accidents again after more than a year of none.  Also this little girl and her big brother Grahm (with help from Jayce) decided to use washable crayons (because the really are good for this add a little water and isntant face paint) and markers to draw on Charlotte and Grahms face just before basketball practice and pictures.

I think the little alarm is going off in my head - she needs more attention and love.  We need to bake some cookies together and read stories.

Dental Visits

During the Holiday break we took the three older kids in for a dental checkup.  It was the first time Grahm or Charlotte had been to see "The Dentist" - Jayce endured a visit while "The Dentist" was in school.

They all enjoyed getting a few X-rays.  Tennyson and I bounced around in the hall and tried to keep the other two children entertained with whatever I had in the Mary Poppins Bag that day.  So far so good - No Cavities!!

Officially 3

She is officially 3 Years Old!!

Are these pictures looking familiar.  Well the bike we gave her for her Un-Birthday broke, so we replaced it.

 She was driving around with sugared cranberries in her mouth and I told her she had to chew them up.

 The newest member of her fan club - Lindsay.  She came to help us celebrate and baked the yummy Oreo Cake.

We celebrated with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, pineapple, and salad with olives. 

You love all things pink and princess.  You like to slash bad guys, cast wizarding spells (Harry Potter).  You like to jump on the trampoline with your brothers.  Help Mom or Dad cook.  You love to help - your brothers can't fold clothes as good as you can.  You love everything and everyone.  You love to tell us Thank You and give big hugs.  You are such good help with Tennyson.  You amaze me all the time, I wish you could stay 2 or 3 forever, but am excited to watch you grow.  We Love You.

A very late UnBirthday! - with a post edit

This year Charlottes' UnBirthday was pushed back and pushed back.  We finally decided we had better have and UnBirthday Celebration before Grahm's Birthday and her real Birthday. 

So the other day we asked her what she wanted for dinner.  She was very creative - it involved lots of Strawberries and was a sandwich.  After a little coaching and meal planning help she settled on Hamburger Sliders, fries, strawberries, pineapple, grapes, confetti cake, and ice cream.

I don't think her feet ever touch the ground!

She loves her pink bike (it is easier for her to pedal than the red trike!).

Soft doll house with a bunny family of 4.

She is to the age where you don't say smile!  She also received "Japanese Jammies".

Grahm had to add to her Birthday pile and decided to give her on of his own toys - Max!

She was so excited that I went outside and picked her flowers!  The way to a girls heart is so easy - hint  - hint...

Happy UnBirthday!  We Love You!  You are growing too fast!

She told me recently that when she turns 3 she will be able to drive (oh dear!) and her car will be pink!