Porter

This little boy is the cat's meow, the bees knees, the sun, the moon and the stars. He is my little Prince Charming and makes me happy to get up in the morning just to see him smile at me with those little dimples. Yes I am smitten.

Topher

Yes, I know he has a dirty face and he's in his pajamas-this is him though, crazy, loud and messy. Boy, sweet, boy!

Bekah

This little princess is just that. She is growing up way too fast, and sometimes I look at her and think-wow that girl is stunning, I can't believe she's part me!

I just took some little personality shots from today...Remembering how cute my kids really are!

Matilda and one more tutu

My mom sent Bekah this beautiful little frock for her birthday. She wore it to church today and we all agreed she could be the next little Matilda. Too cute, and Topher was looking pretty dapper himself!I've been making this tutu for a bit for my niece who just turned one-it took a ton of tulle-but I love the finished look. My niece lives in Utah-so I grabbed the closest kid (I have a lot to choose from) and stuck it on him. He didn't seem to care one bit! (And in this pic you can see his cute little bottom teeth!)Tess-sweetheart, it'll be sent tomorrow, and I apologize if drool baby aka 'slug' left a trail on it!

And I am done making tutu's for awhile! Finally!

Princess Perfection

A birthday party that goes exactly how you visioned it? Impossible? I thought so too-until today! This party went off without a hitch, and was exactly how I had pictured it, but better!The food was bright and fun and the girls were so excited about it-especially these little cuties.The tutu's/decorations were so cute-thank you again April for all your help and fabric and everything!The girls and Topher all enjoyed their picnic lunch of pb and honey or jelly sandwiches, string cheese and teddy grahams and of course their 'Cinderella's pumpkin punch' (apple juice served out of my pumpkin tureen). They watched Sleeping Beauty as they came and as they ate, and it kept everyone calm and in one spot during lunch.Then we played our party games that Bekah wanted to play...we played our Picasso Princess-I had each girl reach in and pull out a piece, and then they put it on not knowing what they were going to get-I was surprised how many got it close to where it should be-but it still turned out silly and the girls had quite a few giggles over it.Then we did the piniata, and they were all little princesses about it-after a couple turns each-I finally busted it open-and they were thrilled with all the fun goodies inside.Then we did cake and presents...My favorite was this apron that my friend Jaime made for her-she knows I love owls. SO cute! She also included all the letters of Bekah's name and a couple hearts in cookie cutters in the pockets-such a great gift. I might have to steal it and speaking of stealing...I think if I changed the waist ribbon, this would fit me!Then the girls got their favor bags that included a ring pop, a candy necklace, a pencil, a yo-yo.......and one of these. A full size Hershey bar wrapped in a thank you note. (So cute if I do say so myself!)Then they all got their own tutu's that we personalized with their initial and took a picture of them in front of the castle.I think I heard from every girl at least once that this was the best birthday party they'd ever been to. So all those hours of preparation were worth it. No fits, no boredom, no fighting. Just perfect little princesses!

Happy Birthday Bekah-I'm officially birthday'd out-luckily I don't have anymore until March! Then I have Topher's-I have some idea's....

Her Best day EVER

So my little girl is now 5! Her birthday was on the 12th and we celebrated the day away! I really can't believe she is so big-she is officially not a baby or even a toddler any more. She's a full fledged kid! I hate it obviously, but my tears have been shed-so I'll get to the fun stuff! I made this castle for her to wake up to as a decoration for her princess party this weekend, but the little stinker came downstairs and caught me with it the night before as I was finishing it up-the reaction though was priceless-and so worth it!Then I always decorate the kids' rooms while they are sleeping so that they wake up to something fun-(for past years, check out our video blog). Of course she woke up before I had the chance to go up and get it on video and real life reaction shots. She came downstairs all grins and said "I love the balloons mom!" I was upset I missed it, so I made her re-inact it for me, she was more than willing with a funny stretch and yawn and mock surprise on her face and the whole bit. Such a little actress! Then we went and got donuts for breakfast and went to the Appah's for a whole day of fun! April made Bekah's favorite lunch-mac & cheese and apples and the kids got to play for hours. Have I told you how much I love the Appah's? Then Bekah got to join Phoebe at ballet. Talk about an excited little birthday girl!She absolutely loved it and wants to take it now, Chad and I are considering it, but trying to decide if we are up for the commitment level it takes both financially and time wise-but she'll probably win. I mean how cute is she in her little leotard and ballet slippers! After ballet I told her she was going to meet a new friend....She was soooo not expecting the new friend to be a horse! My friend Suzanne was so very nice and agreed to get one of her horses out and let the kids feed it and brush it and even ride it. Bekah has not stopped talking about how her new friend Rio ate carrots right out of her hand, and showing me how to hold your hand so you don't get nibbled on. She tells anyone who will listen that the horse was being silly that day and rolled in the mud, so she got to brush her. The funny thing was though, is she was scared to ride her-she was a really big horse-but Bekah is usually so all about riding them. I hope she gets over that real quick-I guess we just need to get her around them more!This kid though had no problems getting up there, Suzanne walked Rio slowly and he was all about it, even when the horse got spooked and it ran a bit. Scared me to DEATH, but Topher thought it was great fun!Bekah on the other hand had this look the whole time she was up there! Still she loved being able to see the horse and also Suzanne's dogs of course!Then we headed home for Bekah's choice dinner-cheese pizza and presents.She got spoiled of course with scrapbook kits, a movie, a Sleeping Beauty Barbie and the dumb things I said I would never buy for her-Littlest Pet Shop galore! She got one silly little puppy in her stocking and I swear she loves that thing more than any other toy she owns-so she was beyond ecstatic to get like 5 of those things and a pet shop to put them all in!Then we had cake-she wanted the Funfetti out of the box cupcakes-so that's what she got, I did make her a giant one in a small pyrex bowl which she thought was pretty cool and Topher thought was pretty unfair, but what do you do?I think this is probably the best day she has ever had, as she was going to bed she was giving me a hug and said, "Mom, Thanks for making my birthday so special." So worth it! Thanks again to Suzanne and April for helping me have the perfect day for her-she really loved it!

I'm kind of a big deal

...People know me. Christopher wore this new sweater to church on Sunday, I thought he looked cute, then Chad pointed out he looked a little Ron Burgandy-ish. He does kind of have that aura about him! hee hee

Options....

Topher is usually not down with me taking tons of pics of him as of late, but he saw me taking some of Porter and I think he got a little jealous-so he came over in his new favorite get-up (courtesy of my sis-in-law, I still don't know about my 2 year old having a gun...) and asked me to take his picture.Then he brought over his favorite Christmas Present-this Handy Manny toolbox and wanted me to take another picture-obviously showing me that he has options for his future career.Then for good measure-took Porter's toy out of his hands and wanted me to take a picture of that-his 'business man' pose.Silly kid.

Chad Meets Hooty

So once again-I must confess my love for the Appah household! For Chad's birthday yesterday, Jason put on the school's mascot's head-Hooty the owl-and went into one of Chad's classes. He sang Happy Birthday with some balloons and even did a little dance. Chad was mortified, it was right in the middle of a quiz. One of Jason's friends got it on his cell phone video, Chad is the one in the orange hoodie on the back row-you mostly see Jason doing his diddy-oh but it is so classic. For some reason I can't embed it onto my blog but here is the link to it. Thanks Jason-you made my day and made Chad, well.....mad, but he will eventually get over it...or get even!

Hanging Cupcake Invitations

I posted a tutorial on my blog on how to make these tasty looking treats. I am getting excited for the party! I have big plans for the treats and cake...I love my kids' birthdays more than my own!

Snowman Hot Cocoa Cans

I made these for a few neighbor gifts this year. I knitted the hats on a baby loom...Got a can of my favorite cocoa-yummy!Wrapped it in plain white paper-drew on eyes and mouth with sharpie, and painted on a nose.Added the hat.Still felt like something was missing, so I braided a scarf and there you have it!

If you don't have a knitting loom, or don't have knitting skills or time there is another way!

My sister in law made some of these similar anyway one year with some ribbid cotton. I think she just made a big loop like an arm sleeve-sewed it up and cut a bunch of hats out of it. She just tied a bit of ribbon around the top to close it. Simple, and adorable.

What I did all November

I made perpetual birthday and anniversary calendars for all of Chad's siblings (he has 7) and his mom. I used a cork board tile, made a calendar for each month with everyones birthday and anniversary on it and found some cute binder clips and some jute to hang them.I also made a pocket out of an envelope and included a couple handmade cards that matched with each, so they could see how to use the pocket-the perfect size for cards, and gift cards for the upcoming month that they need to send.
I'm really proud of my little tag cards-I had a bunch of tags and didn't really have a use for them, so I tied a piece of ribbon or string through the hole and embellished the front very simple-and voila! Made me 8 little cards pretty darn quick!
Every one was different and I really tried to do something that looked like it matched the personality of the recipient.

I'm a little upset, I took pictures of everyone's but can't find 3 of them-I don't know how they got deleted, but they did and they were some of the more colorful fun ones too! :(

Anyway I think everyone liked them, I wasn't there to see everyone's expression-but I keep hearing good reviews!