Chelseas Birthday

My baby girl turned 3 on Oct. 31. I have a hard time with my kiddos birthdays. It always hits me hard. But I love how happy and excited they get. Having her birthday on Halloween means we usually end up celebrating it in the beginning of November so that people with actually show up! This year since Halloween was on a Sunday and everyone was trick or treating on Saturday we decided to throw her party on her ACTUAL birthday. We celebrated at Sugar Space which is a neat little rental space in Sugarhouse. They set up tunnels and costumes for the kids. And of course, a bouncy house! There were special tables set up for the kids. It was just a really neat place. We had so much fun. They played music and had a disco ball going. None of the kids would do any of the dance games so it was my mom, sister, stepdad and husband doing things like the freeze dance and macarana and stuff while the kiddos sat and stared.

The only disappointment was that my plans didn't work as well as I had hoped they would... We had a pretty small turn out. I way over invited and was a bit afraid that we would have too many people there but a large number of people were no shows. That was a bit sad. Some people that I assume would never miss her party and some who I wasn't sure would come which is why I overinvited. I always plan on people not coming but I was pretty surprised at how many didn't come. But the people who did come are all really awesome so it made up for it!

 Tunnels 

 Playing

 Costumes

 Coloring books

 Princess Vanity 

 Hula Hoops

 Watching weird grown-ups dance

 Freeze Dance

 Macarena

 Princess cake on brown. Exactly what she said she wanted her cake to be. 

 How doggies eat cake

Pinata

Pinata goodies

Halloween

Happy Halloween! Yes I know I am a little late with this but better late then never, right?

Halloween time

I have no reason to blog right now. I actually have had so many things that I have wanted to blog about but never got around to it. Now they have escaped my mind or are so far back that it seems silly to put them in right now. But I am sitting here, waiting for Brandon to get home, reading blogs and have an urge to write SOMETHING in mine. Just so all of my loyal readers have something to look forward to! (Hi Mom!)

Halloween is in a week. I adore Halloween! If I was told I could only celebrate 1 holiday for the rest of my life I would hands down pick Halloween. Its just so much fun! I am a bit disappointed this year though. Halloween lands on a Sunday and it seems like there is so little to do in the time leading up to the actual day. Most years my kids have gotten so much wear out of their costumes by Halloween this year they are still in the packages. Everyone is having their Halloween celebrations on the day before. I'm a bit sad about it because it is going to make us have to pick what to do. It will be so much fun though.

Zach is going to be Iron Man, after zero then much consideration. He picked it because it is his friends at schools favorite superhero. So we got him a pretty cool one. Then he and I were talking about it and he wanted to change to something else. He wanted to be Spiderman, ideally. So he and I went back to the store and I showed him the Spiderman costume. He said "Its the same one I had last year! I still have mine from last year! I want to be something different so I can have different ones to dress up in after Halloween!" He is a thinker! So we looked at a few other things and he didn't find anything as cool as his Iron Man costume. He decided to stay Iron Man. And I am ok with it, because it was finally because it was what he wanted to be and not because he thought his friends would like it best. 

Chelsea is a bit more unique. She is going to be the dog with the party hat from Go Dog Go! It is her favorite book, she knows all of the lines. I sit down with her with it and she tells me the story. We were reading it one night and she said she wanted to be that for Halloween. So after much searching I found her a very cute pink poodle costume. And then I got to work making her a party hat. I think it turned out great. It has everything on it that the one in the picture has (except the bone. I'm trying to find one light enough and small enough thats not an actual dog treat still), I'm pretty proud of that! Brandon helped by filling it with foam so that I could design it a bit easier. It was a great idea, except the part that after it was all done the foam shrunk it down so now it doesn't fit her head. I am going to have to figure out what to do about that soon...

Chelseas birthday is also on Halloween. She is very excited for her birthday. Its the first one she has had that she really knows whats going on and is looking forward to it. That makes it a lot of fun. So far her party is very unplanned. Wish me luck!

I am also room parent for Zachs class which means I am planning his class Halloween party. That should be a lot of fun! He has a really cute class.

Love after Love by Derek Walcott

The time will come 
when, with elation 
you will greet yourself arriving 
at your own door, in your own mirror 
and each will smile at the other's welcome, 

and say, sit here. Eat. 
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart 
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you 

all your life, whom you ignored 
for another, who knows you by heart. 
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, 

the photographs, the desperate notes, 
peel your own image from the mirror. 
Sit. Feast on your life. 

Birthday BBQ Bash

I have had such an amazing weekend. Saturday was Brandon and my annual Birthday BBQ Bash. I personally think it was the best one we have had. Of course that had less to do with us and more to do with the amazing people we had there. Most of my favorite people in the world were there. It really was a blast. Brandon got a smoker for his birthday and used that to make a ton of ribs and chicken. He did such a great job. The food was EXCELLENT. 

We had a pinata for the kiddos. That was fun. They all seemed to really enjoy it. It was full of all kinds of prized that I let Zach and Chelsea pick out. They really wanted bouncy balls in it and the only ones we could find at the party store were tiny or expensive so I took the kids and a pocket full of quarters to Old Navy and hit up their bouncy ball machine. I'm sure they thought I was crazy but then again I probably wasn't the first to do it!

Brandon and I got SOOO many great gifts. We really appreciate all of them. The best thing ever though HAS to be my super awesome crabby fanny pack from La Dayna. There is no way to top it. I think I will be picked for the Amazing Race just so they can see more of my AMAZING fanny pack!

Did I mention I made 2 giant pitchers of Sangria too?? 

Thanks to everyone who came and made my (and Brandons) birthday so special this year. It really was fantastic. 

Princess Chelsea and the Princess Festival

I took Chelsea to the Princess Festival today. We had SO much fun. They have a "show" where all of the little princesses who are visiting have to save all of the Princesses from the evil Winter Fairy and her sisters Spring Fairy, Summer Fairy and Autumn Fairy. Its so sweet. Chelsea was a bit nervous around the Princesses but both my kids get that way around characters for some reason. They also had a treasure hunt where we had clues and had to figure out what princess or booth the clue meant then have them sign it. The last one is Prince Charming who tries a special shoe one the little princesses foot to make sure that she is a REAL princess then because she is she gets a special book from him. The book is the story of Princess Ilissa and is basically a story about how the festival started. Its a great story.

We were also able to just wander around an meet the princesses. They had the Little Mermaid, which is Chelseas favorite, and Chelsea got to play in the fountain with her. You could jump on a trampoline and "fly" with Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. Alice and the Mad Hatter were having a tea party. Winafred from the Princess and the Pea was letting little girls sit on her stack of mattresses. She said she took the pea out though because she didn't want to bruise all of the little princesses.

Chelsea had a name tag on and everyone who was volunteering there would say something like "Oh Princess Chelsea, I have heard wonderful stories of you!" or something to that affect and bow or curtsy because you ALWAYS bow or curtsy for royalty.

She got to make a few crafts. Made a crown, a wand and a purse. She could have had her hair done into an updo but she said she didn't want to.

We had such a fun time. I think this may have to become an annual tradition for me and Princess Chelsea!

Fathers Day

I want to say happy fathers day to some of the special dads I know.

Brandon... You are such a great dad. I couldn't ask for anyone better. I am really glad you are my partner in raising our children. They both adore you so much. Its beautiful to watch. I love you so much!

Ted.... I am so thankful to have you in my life. Your funny and sweet. You make my mom happy and that means everything. Not to mention how much my kids love you. I love you!

Jay... Such an amazing father in law. I couldn't ask for anyone better. I know that I could count on you for anything. Thank you for being so great to me. I love you.

Dad... I cant believe it has been so long, over a decade. You taught me so much and protected me. In fact the last time I talked to you, you offered to kick the ass of my boss I was having issues with. I love you.