Whit a Bit

Our Whitney girl is 6 years old!  It's been so exciting counting down and prepping for her birthday and party.  I think her hardest decision once she figured out what kind of party she wanted was what she wanted her cake to look like.  Oh it's so hard to make tough decisions when we are so detail oriented!

Party theme--art party.  Happy day.
Cake--after about 10 different options, she wanted a flower cake.  Then there were about 10 different specific flower cake color combos she wanted.  I was fearful she wouldn't be happy b/c she was being that particular.  Fortunately, success!


What a happy girl.  A perfect day.

Here was the main craft we did at her art party.  We did a bunch of other fun things but kept coming back to the letter blocks b/c we'd have to paint then dry then paint then dry then modge podge then dry.  Hurray for happy 6 year olds who have 15 minute attention spans and just love to giggle with each other.

 

A bunch of happy working girls.

 

 

One of my most favorite cakes I've ever done.

And my first attempt at a polka dot cake.  Happy results.

A great birthday.
And what a great girl.  Whitney is just an awesome kid.  She gets along with everyone, she's laid back and happy most all of the time, she's thoughtful and loves to be helpful, she is hilariously funny, she is a problem solver, she continues to be an amazing big sister and best friend to Annie, and just a beautiful girl inside and out.  I feel lucky to be her mom.

Happy Birthday dear Whit a Bit.  We love you

A Birthday Boy

Andrew is 8.  We don't do birthday parties every year, we rotate party and out to dinner.  This is party year so all the kids are super excited.  Andrew decided on a Minute to Win It birthday party.  We had a ton of fun.  I think it was one of the easiest and most fun parties I've ever thrown.

The cakes were non-theme related.  He just wanted a cake that he could put Lego mini-figures on.  We settled on Lego bricks.  Also easy.  Likin' this party.
 

A happy boy with his cake.

As the boys arrived, we had random skill tests going on like stacking soda cans, milk jug lids, etc.

Then on to the competition.  Below, Andrew is being a cookie unicorn.  For full points, contestants had to stack 7 oreos on their heads.  Andrew is using the lean up against the sofa cheating tactic.

Another round of the competition involved stacking 5 dice on a spoon in your mouth.  Only a few succeeded.

We made towers using marshmallows and toothpicks.  Instead of 1 minute, they got 5 on this one.  We had some pretty fun towers and some obvious 'we don't know how to make a tower' towers.

Here I am demonstrating the Elephant March.  Contestants had to knock over water bottles with their trunks.  Another big hit.

Water transfer--getting water from cup to jar.  One of the quieter moments--loved it.

We had about 8 or 9 competitions and kept track of score on a big score board.  You have to keep score.  8 year old boys are competitive.  Then on to cake and presents.

We ended the party with a tape ball--probably the biggest hit of the evening.  I wrapped candy and fun little toys up in a big ball of packing tape.  Kids had 30 seconds to get whatever out of the ball they could.  When the timer went off, the ball had to get passed.  They played for over 20 minutes and we didn't even get everything out of it.  Very fun.

A happy birthday boy.
We are lucky to have such an awesome kid in the family.  Love you Andrew.

 

Happy Birthday Annie Girl!!!

How could this little gal be 4 already?  What a fun birthday week of excitement it was.  She had the countdown chain going and lots of plans for her party, her first ever birthday party.

She decided on a tea party with make up and nail painting.  We went with purse cakes b/c I thought they'd be easier than make up cakes like she originally wanted.  Each girl got their own personal cake--so fun!

We used our fancy china (thank you dear Aunt Ginna) and the girls ate their fancy food. 

Check out this make up mania room--one mom doing fingernails, one mom doing toenails and 2 moms doing make up.  They each got some perfume and lotion too and the girls were set.  You really can't go wrong with a group of 4 and 5 year olds and the word 'make up'.

Oh so pretty!

A great party and great birthday in general.   

The party was Friday and the actual birthday was Saturday.  We went mini-golfing Saturday with a gift card that has been burning a hole in Andrew's pocket all summer.  Then it was out for ice cream cones afterwards--can't beat that for a birthday.

The night before her birthday, I was holding Annie on my lap and telling her that she couldn't get older b/c I love three year olds and would miss not ever getting to have another one.  I told her I love 3 year olds b/c they are so funny.  Annie said, "Don't worry mom, I promise I'll still be funny when I'm 4."

I'm sure she will.

Annie in a nutshell---

happy, funny, easy going, messy (see above picture), make-up lover, bubble gum lover, gets along with everyone, a delightful part of our family.

Happy Birthday Annie.  We love you!!!

Whitney, Whitney...

Happy Birthday Whitney--the big number 5!!!!

Matt was in Chicago for her birthday so she got an extended celebration.

Her pre-birthday celebration was on Tuesday at Chilis!  She was loving it.

They even sang to her and brought her a big hot fudge sundae with 4 spoons--it was a shy girl getting sung to, that's for sure.

Then to open a few presents from mom and dad.

And eat some yummy ice cream cake

Then Friday, her real birthday she got her Ariel cake.  She was happy with how it turned out and so was I.  I think it was my fastest cake to date.

Happiness all around with presents from everyone but mom and dad.

We love our Whitney girl!

5 great things about Whitney--- 

a great sister, 

a friend to everyone, 

lover of her Twinkle Toes dance class, 

funny lady, 

dress-up queen

Birthday Boy

 There's a 7 year old in the house.  How did that occur? 

Andrew is our lego lovin', bike ridin' boy so it's no wonder that this birthday was full of Legos and a much needed new bike.  Yea for awesome grandparents to get this boy all Hero Factory and Ninjago'ed out.  I think he's set for a while.

It's a non-party year but I still love to make them whatever cake they want.  This year he wanted a Ninjago Snake cake, "Scales" to be specific.  I did my best and Andrew was pleased.  He definitely knows how to charm a cake maker. 

7 Things About Andrew--

silly, lego-maniac, 1st grader, Wii lover, math man, artist, and...well, the boy's got rhythm.

We love you Andrew!!!

Sounds Like Life to Me...

Time is going by too fast. Lots of random things to post, so we'll do a hodge podge of life:

Mom and Dad came for Mary's baptism. We took a day trip to Mystic Seaport and had lots of fun!

Matt turned 34! Yikes, we're getting older than I prefer (hopefully wiser too).

Oh Whit and her silly faces.

We skipped school one hot day with Grandma and Grandpa and went swimming. So fun!

Andrew had science day at school and made an awesome bubble blowing contraption.

I helped my friend Megan make a cake for her little boy's 1st birthday. She did most all of it and it turned out so cute. He even got a mini cake to destroy on his own!

Lots of UNO at this house--Whit even plays with her feet!

Grandma made the girls new nightgown (one for Mary's doll too). They are super cute! (Andrew got a teddy bear)

And Happy Father's Day to Matt. The kids were super excited to celebrate it with him!