We gave them each a bag to do their back to school shopping. (in our Living Room)

 Filling their bags with cute new things is such a blast.

 Especially when it was something they saw in a store and had begged for. Surprise!

 some new shoes

 One benefit of shopping this way, is you we get the deals all year and pack them away for our special night. My mom, otherwise known as Maama, provides a large quantity of back to school items. I have told her many times that she has a problem. But, I am happy to benefit from her issues of over buying

 There were many poses

 the night was ended with homework and brownies.

 Preschool

 Along for the Ride

 Group shot

This is an idea I found, loved, and tweaked bit for my taste from here

 Start with a plain white t-shirt. I used a Target boys undershirt. I cut at the neck around the existing neckline to girl it up a bit. (optional)

 Then using my yardstick and some sharpies, I made a horizontal red line on the left hand side of shirt. Then I made vertical lines from top to bottom in blue to look like notebook paper. (dont forget to put a piece of cardboard on the inside of the shirt to avoid bleeding through)

 Then I gave my girls a variety of colors in sharpies and let them go to town.

 and viola, there you have it!

 They turned out really cute and they had fun creating their own look. It was easy for me to let them loose, since it was a doodling kind of project. (a helpful hint: do not use fine point sharpies. they do hold up in the wash. The regular point looks great)

Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of everyone who pulled this day off. I was overwhelmed by the hard work so many were willing to do for the love of my sister. These are some of the amazing people that worked their butts off to make my crazy ideas happen! Susie Q, Leata, our mom, and Lorraine.

My BFF who also did a TON behind the scenes with me. How hot is she?!

Some of the details…

Everything on the menu was tiny. Baby burgers, baked mac & cheese in baby food jars, veggie cups, guacamole bruschetta

And some tiny, sweet treats too. Mini lemon cupcakes, Snickerdoodles, baby strawberry shortcake, and vanilla bean ice cream cups

I love you sis and can’t wait to be an Auntie to your sweet little baby!

Its something the 2 of us have talked about doing for 3-4 years now, and we did it!

Here’s Brian setting up our transition area

The swim was rough. I got into a super slow, overcrowded lane, so it was hard to pass. When I got on the bike I kept thinking, “just pass anyone you come up to.”

The girls started about 10min after the guys. Brian and I passed each other twice during the event and cheered each other on. It was so awesome to see my studly husband doing something he has always wanted to accomplish.

Yay, I did it!

And then the most shocking thing happened. They were announcing who got what place by age and long/short race. We stayed, wanting to be a part of the experience, and see who the winners were.

When I hear on the speaker,”Jacinda Hale”. Huh, What?! So I go up to see what happened. And they tell me I got 1st place in my age group!!!

I was pumped! Got 10th place overall in the girls division out of 56.

It was an amazing experience. I LOVED doing this with Brian. Im so glad I did it, and cant wait to do it again! If you’re even considering it, DO IT! It’s such a great culture. Everyone is so encouraging and warm.

Who of you have tried a triathlon or plan to? Or another physical event? Would love to hear about it.

First we decorated umbrellas for our drinks

Posing under our rain clouds

Our rainy day treat

We attempted playing “heads up, 7up”

We threw on our rain boots for a walk and had them close their eyes for their surprise…

Yay for umbrellas!

(and for Old Navy clearance! I’ve been holding on to these for a rainy day.  ha, ha!)

We had some fun then went inside. The girls got their jammies on, when all of a sudden, the rain really started coming down. “Get your boots back on!”

What are you all doing out there to have a fun time with your families?

Would  love to hear about it!

As a mom of girls, you wait for the day their hair is finally long enough to do this!

Cuz, its not like they want you to do it.

Although she did like the end product.

Its not just me right?!

She is in love with Minnie, so there was really no other option for her party theme. Here are the invites

Each child received minnie or mickey ears to wear.

The kids colored Minnie pictures.

We served waffles, sausage, tater tots and berry cups. And my mom still had that Mickey waffle iron after all these years! I found a tasty way to make egg/dairy free waffles, that everyone would want to eat. And made way too many, my freezer is packed!

The bean bag toss

Vienna did more of a drop in than a toss.

Here are some other minnie details…

Thanks for the board inspiration H! wish you were there!

It was such a fun and simple party

I love you Vienna! Can’t believe you’re 2!

Me and my man

With my 2 best friends at the same time! Couldn’t get better

Getting our wannabe groove on

Don’t you want to be here?!

She made it! We had been working on that 2nd top tooth for weeks, all to be able to sing that silly song. And she did it just in the nick of time. December 23rd, 2 twists and voila!