happy spring break

... and well by the time you read this, Happy Easter too!

Today was the first day of spring break. It was a low key beautiful kind of day. I asked the kids to write down 3 things they would like to do this spring break and this is our spring break manifesto...

 Jaiden: 

1. putt putt golf

2. go to movie theater

3. play all day 

Alyssa:

1. sew sock animals

2. pool

3. teach school (to her dolls and animals of course!)

I think we can manage this quite well during spring break!

While today was beautiful and low key, and the kind of day I enjoy... it was still too windy for me to get all my yard work done but it was a perfect day for ...

 kite flying!

Jaiden and Alyssa made kites in art class except Alyssa hasn't brought hers home yet since she was out of school since Thursday due to a really high fever, but Jaiden brought his home and he spent the better part of the day chasing the wind. He had to keep adding string to his kite because he wanted it to really high!

 This is his kite.... way, way, way up there but let me just say it is very hard to photograph a kite in wind like this.

 Attack of the kite... aaaagh! 

Not really but you get a sense at how windy it truly was. The wind would die down and I would settle into some more yard work and then bam, the wind was crazy... I took cover and Jaiden headed out for more kite flying - so very cool!

We took a break to dye some eggs and there was a pattern - 

the return of the camouflaged eggs...

 and return of the awesomely pinkalicious eggs

Hopefully we don't lose one again this year!

Happy Easter!

final birthday post..

... and just in time before we start another birthday celebration! 

As I was saying... oh yes, first this was her birthday cake. She picked out the chocolate cake at Whole Foods and the lady (only asking for Alyssa's name) decorated it with pink and purple and the cutest little flowers too... nothing fancy but exactly what Alyssa wanted.

Then it was home to set up, only to find that Splits had helped himself to a few treats!

Meet Splits - Jaiden's very special penguin from his camp counselor after breaking his nose last summer but Splits was actually with Jaiden for his 1st year at camp two years ago and wow, reminding me of a camp ... this will be Jaiden's 3rd year! can't wait to hear and hopefully not see the result of such serious adventures!

 Okay back to the birthday girl... she wanted an American Girl birthday party except that I wasn't really certain all the girls would have American Girls so I called it a doll/stuffed animal birthday and asked the girls to bring their favorite doll or stuffed animal.

The plan was they would do 3 craft things, play a game, eat cake and maybe just play with their dolls or stuffed animals but the crafts were a hit, they ate and loved having a mini picnic with their dolls.

 The first craft involved making a tulle skirt. It is a simple loop they make with strips of tulle. This was my demo. 

Then Jaiden took over and he was in charge of the next two crafts...

First, a sundae in these adorable cups we found at Ikea. Each pom pom was sorted into his special box and each pom pom had a different flavor. 

Green= pistachio gelato

White = Coconut or Vanilla

Yellow = Lemon sorbet

Lavender = Grape

Blue = Blueberry

and the mini red was the cherry on top.

 Then craft #3 was a mini tote bag that you could decorate with fabric coloring pens and the girls could add a jewel to their bags (the demo didn't have any bling - Splits prefers simple designs!) but they had to ask Jaiden to put it on for them with the glue gun. This was his front side of Splits bag...

And this was the backside... I can't remember what the symbols all meant something to do with his current favorite game of Minecraft.

Here is what I set up before the guests arrived...

Splits and Alyssa enjoying a moment of quiet before all the squeals and giggles set in...

Super easy peasy doll sized cupcakes - use mini muffin papers, add a big fluffy pompom (glue to bottom of paper to secure), glue some beads on for sprinkles and a sparkly mini pom pom for decoration. Voila! No baking necessary!

Little doll sized tea cookies - cut first heart from craft foam with scalloped craft scissors, cut smaller second heart from pink felt, glue on top of brown heart, smear glue on pink felt and sprinkle with glitter. Yep, no baking for this one either!

I had to include this photo because it shows Jaiden in action. A couple of the girls tried to jump right in saying they knew what to do so I stepped up and said they had to wait for Jaiden's instructions. I should have videotaped it as he was so sweet explaining the various gelato, sorbet and ice cream pom poms.

 Next was the bag craft and you can't see it very well but he is holding one of the special jewels that he says he will adhere for them.

Then onto the birthday cake...

 So cute is that little one. I love those pig tails and hope she won't be outgrowing them anytime soon. 

I included this photo too because it cracks me up. I mean look all those cute dolls and their crafts!

 And that was a doll/stuffed animal birthday party for a very cute 7 year old who happily invited 5 friends and each of those 5 friends made her a special card, drawing, some doll barrettes and in one case a hilarious set of new doll clothes made with tape, staples and scraps of fabrics... I should pull that out and photograph it ... truly hilarious but I love how sweet all of them were.

ribbons, bows and paper...

oh dear... there are a lot of photos here, but I had a hard time narrowing it down. These are of her birthday afternoon waiting for her when she came home from school and then waiting for when Daddy came home. I didn't include all the photos just a few that I really liked.

I made that enormous pom pom... although it was as good as the tutorial I had found on line but I love those tissue pom poms and clearly need to work on improving but for a 7 year old... it worked beautifully! 

This was actually hanging in the morning (along with the pom pom) for her birthday wakening. I have been using those butterflies and the banner since her 1st birthday!! 

After school... I love how he gets into something and she stands there and watches. 

As it turns out, he was intently working on his sample tote bag for Alyssa's birthday party. He was in charge of teaching a few of the crafts and he took his job very seriously. 

Then Daddy finally made it home so the unwrapping of presents began... 

 My favorite is when they open each other's presents ... always first. They spend a lot of time examining what they picked our for each other and the other one looks on hoping they like it... and always, the other one loves it. It is so precious to watch. 

 This year, Alyssa was really big into teaching, American Girl clothes, toys, and Lego's. And you can tell just how delighted she is!

 Oooh... 

 ... examining a little doll folder and homework assignment...

 ... caught red handed and also checking out the new doll desk - a HUGE hit because just where would her doll sit when she was teaching?

 This is a really cool American Girl doll book series. What I love about these books is that they come with a book that has several make your own crafts based on a theme... in this particular case... you guessed it - school! It also comes with some premade items or items that you can add to your make your own items. You can purchase these books at American Girl store for $18-20 but even better is buying them at Amazon for a lot less!

 soooo very, very cute - what a good sport!

 and it just wouldn't be complete if there weren't some doll clothes in the mix!

Then it was off to Red Robin for her free birthday meal and sundae!

 Sadly, I was so unprepared when they came and sang. I didn't even have my camera out of my purse so these are definitely a little strange on the lighting. I am sure I could fix them in Aperture but I am being lazy... and well, you get the idea!

Jaiden ate the entire sundae. Alyssa hates whip cream (wonder where she got that from :) totally my girl!) and then after he ate the whip cream and scrapped it off the ice cream she was convinced it was still there so he ate the ice cream and hot fudge too!

And this was her birthday day! Stay tuned for her birthday party adventures... bet you can't guess the theme!

and then she was 7....

yep, this little one is now officially 7! Her cookie says so. 

She greeted us bright and early to make sure we knew it was birthday as if her counting down wasn't enough over the past 3 months. Daddy asked her "what do 7 year olds do better than 6 year olds?" and she thought and answered "listen!"

We are still waiting to see the change...

At school, the kids sing happy birthday and then they do this adorable count up of "are you 1?" "no" "are you 2?" "no" all the way to "are you 7?" when she gets to say "YES!" It is truly sweet and you can tell by her happiness just how pleased she is!

Then it's birthday cupcakes. She gets to choose 2 people to help her and they use hand sanitizer, then pass out napkins and cupcakes. No one can take a bite until the birthday girl has taken her first bite. It is also amazing to see all those cute 1st graders patiently wait for her to finish passing out the cupcakes and get back to her seat. 

These were the cupcakes I made - chocolate with vanilla frosting and pink and green sprinkles! They were quite yummy too! 

And this photo is for Cyndi because I don't want the top photo to be too deceiving as if I had a nice clean kitchen ... when in fact, it was almost fully ransacked because I had to race home, frost and sprinkle, go back to school for volunteering and the celebration!

A lot more photos to come... definitely sorry for the delay! And well, serious lack of blogging. I thought I'd have a lot of time once they were both in school full time but this year has proved that theory very, very wrong!