Instead of hauling the kids to the store, I bring the store to our very own living room.
First we had our “school lunch” for dinner. And some homework
The girls had to find the letters to spell their names out of sugar cookies.
Let the shopping begin…to start the fashion show!
Melania’s 6th Birthday. Inspiration: hot pink, feathers, and flamingos.
The invites- made with a flamingo stamp and a hot pink feather
The food was easy. Grape skewers & shrimp cocktail.
hot pink, mini cupcakes with feathers
Shave ice
Canon ball!
The party crew.
The flamingo piñata. Yes, I did make this. 🙂 Post to follow
Everyone got a turn, youngest to oldest.
Once the string broke, the big kids got what was left of my hard work, pitched to them. They loved it!
Jackpot!
Party bags to collect their treasure.
Make a wish!
Our annual Back to school Family Night. The girls decorated their binder paper T shirts and ate packed lunches for dinner.
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.
Notebook Paper T-shirts
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)
My little sister, Marissa is having a baby! So I jumped at the chance to throw her a shower.
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!
We did the sprint distance “Vi Tri” in Visalia. Its something the 2 of us have talked about doing for 3-4 years now, and we did it!
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!
Im not sure why…
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?!
Vienna turned 2!
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!
Jacinda Hale-Yeah! 