Archive for May 2011

Friday, May 27, 2011

Happy Birthday Vance!

Vance. 


My baby. 


Our baby. 


Turns 6 today. 


And, baby, I know it's cliche, but I can't believe it. 


He made me a Mama, Justin a Dada. 




Made Us a family.






He was meant for Us. 


He was exactly the baby we needed. 


We took the classes, read the books, but still knew nothing.  


He was patient with us while we figured it out.


Together we all learned.


Looking back you can say that he taught us. 






And he's still teaching us today.




Happy Birthday Vance!




We couldn't love you any more and you'll never know how special you are to Us. 




Love, 


Mama, Dada, & Vaughnie








Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Super Mario Party!


Vance wanted a Super Mario party. Alrighty then, game on.

Step One: Invites. 

I made them on my computer, printed them, and sent them out. These were inspired by others I had seen online. 


Here's where I discover that it's hard to find Mario party supplies. I talked to a manager at the party store and she tells me that it's due to licensing. She's hoping that they start getting more stuff in a month or so. That's no help to me as I need it now. I can order Mario party stuff online but am worried about getting it on time and don't want to pay a ton of money. Once again, game on. I'm a crafty lady. I can do this.

Step Two: Decorations.

Come to grips that having Mario plates, napkins, cups, and etc. are really just for me - the kids won't care. It seemed silly to spend money on things that ultimately get thrown away and where we were having the party provided everything to begin with.

I still wanted the party room to look exciting for when the kids came in. A red table cloth comes standard so I made the following to scatter on top.


I found a coloring sheet online then "colored" it in using my computer. I had them printed on cardstock at our local Office Max. I don't have a picture of them on the table, but they looked cute and stood out against the red table cloth.

I also brought along a balloon bouquet of primary colors since, again, I couldn't find any Mario mylar balloons.

Decorations done.

Step 3: Favors.

There were a million different ways to go with this one. I saw the idea for the Game Over! card online and new I wanted to incorporate that somewhere. I used the basic idea for the invite just switched the wording and again had them printed on cardstock at Office Max. 

I downloaded a Mario inspired free font for the question mark on the box. (For those clueless Mario readers...if you're still reading...these are supposed to represent the question mark boxes that Mario breaks in the game to find surprises.) If I would have known about the font earlier I would have used it for the invites too. I printed the ?'s, then cut, and glued them to the boxes.


In one Mario game the players hang out in protective bubbles at times, so there you go. Protective Bubbles. I bought bubbles, took the label off and created my own. I printed these out and simply used a glue stick to adhere. I could have gone with something fancier like double stick tape, but again, it's just going to get dripped on and thrown away. 



I have a thing for fake moustaches and was happy that they fit into the theme. I ordered the mold online and made chocolate lollipops. 


Here's a look inside the favor boxes minus the lollipop which were kept in the fridge until go time:


The party store carried minimal Mario favors. Vance chose the pencil case and stickers to go along with the bubbles and lollipop. 

So there you go, a homemade Mario party. This was Vance's first friend party and I felt it was a success. 

Truthfully, I enjoyed making all of this stuff and can't wait until next year to do it again. (Except the part where he'll be one more year older. That part I'm really not looking forward to at all.)

Game Over! 


Friday, May 20, 2011

Sneak Peek


I've been crafting like a mad woman lately.

Mostly for Vance's party, but a little for the family party too.

Did you know that it's extremely hard to find Super Mario party stuff?

No? I didn't either. I would have daintily coerced Vance in another direction if I knew. 

But, what's a Mom to do? 

Put on her Crafty Lady Thinking Cap and make stuff by hand for her soon-to-be 6 year old son.  

I'll be back after the weekend with the full story!

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

One year ago today


One year ago today we were packing for the beach.

Today the only thing I'll be packing is Vance's lunch.

And that's hardly the same, but still okay.

***************

We're gearing up for birthday parties. 

Family on Saturday and Vance's friends from school on Sunday.

My mind is on cakes, decorations, balloons, food & favors.

Some of which I'm still trying to figure out. 

***************

Crossing fingers for no rain on Saturday.

Come on, do it with me. 

All together now...

Please, no rain on Saturday!



   


Monday, May 16, 2011

Shorts!


Vaughn is dancing because of her new shorts. 

Well, maybe not. She just likes to dance.

I'd like to think it was because of the shorts because, you see, these are the first "real" shorts that she's ever worn. 

Real because I bought them at a normal store and I didn't pay an arm and a leg for them, therefore not caring if she ruins them tomorrow.

***************

I started writing that last week but blogger was down so I couldn't post it. I didn't really finish it, but there you go.

This week is all about getting ready for birthday parties. Got lots to do. 

So glad to see the sun today - ready for temps to rise!

Have a great day! 






Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Mother's Day Gift Basket O' Fun


Mother's Day came and went. 

Vance made a beautiful plate for me at school and it was cute to see how proud he was of it. 

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather to celebrate. 

Because of that we spent most of the day outdoors. 

At the end of the day I realized something. 

I wouldn't describe myself as being lucky. Yes, lucky in love, lucky with kids, that sort of thing - but not one of those people with random luck. 

At every stop we made that day we were somehow gifted with freebies.

That never happens to us. 

Two bagels and a muffin, a free entree card at Chipotle, and a bottle of vodka.  

Like a very strange gift basket from the universe. 
  
I could examine everything and dive deeper into the meaning of it all but it's just easier to say:

Life is funny, right?

Hope you all had a great weekend.


Friday, May 06, 2011

Vaughn's still 3


I did a silly thing.

I brought home a dozen balloons for Vaughn's birthday. 

Kids + Balloons = Parental Annoyance 

The madness ended last night. We popped them all together and said goodbye.

 Vaughn gathered all the ribbons up and danced with them on her way to the trash.

***************

Vaughn's stats from her 3rd year checkup.

39 lbs (97%)
39.25" tall (90%)

The equation based on the parent's heights says that Vaughn should end up being around 5'5" but our doctor believes she'll be taller than that. 

And that continues the theory that Vaughn will always be one big beautiful lady.

But we already new that, didn't we?

***************

3 years ago we sold our house in Wisconsin on Mother's Day.

I'm just throwing it out there into the void that wouldn't it be nice for that to happen again this year. 

Have a great weekend. Give your mom a hug. 




Thursday, May 05, 2011

Que Mysterioso

Brothers are good to have around. 

If Vance hadn't seen firsthand what Vaughn did last night we would  have never known why our precious little lady puked up a giant fuzzy hair ball. 

He simply explained that she was sucking on the hose to the toy vacuum. (It actually works.) Mystery solved thanks to Big Bwo.



On a side note, ewwww. 

One of the toughest parts of my job is reminding myself that little kids don't have common sense. My day-to-day would be so much easier if they came out of the womb with that trait. 

Aaaaaannnnnnndddddddd breathe.  

***************

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Guacamole for everyone! 




Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Happy Vaughnie Day!

Newborn baby Vaughn. So little. So peaceful.

(Hopefully this is the last picture of her with a monitoring device on her ankle.) 


Oh, how she's changed through the years. 


Larger than life. We wouldn't have it any other way. 

Happy 3rd birthday to our big little lady. 

Monday, May 02, 2011

Mulch? Done.

Wanting to surprise the Mr., I moved a ton of mulch by the time he got home on Friday. I got the front of the house finished, the side yard, and part of the back before he pulled into the driveway.(Vaughn and I also planted petunias, basil, cilantro and three other plants. Two of them were purple salvia which we did not smoke.)

(That's a joke.) 

Here's my method: I use the snow shovel to scoop the mulch into the wheelbarrow then wheel it, dump it, and spread. Vaughn slowed me down a bit, but helped by scooping mulch into her little bucket and dumping it into the wheelbarrow. She also wanted to drive the wheelbarrow, of course.

Once he got home we finished pretty quickly and were able to enjoy the rest of the evening with that task being done. (And by enjoy I mean playing kickball with Vance and blowing bubbles with Vaughn.) 

It's needless to say that I'm still sore from all this activity. And that I still have mulch dust in my ears and nose. 

Lots to do today! Have a good day!   

 

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