The Other Stuff

We obviously cant blog EVERY playdate, there's plenty of "other stuff" that happens that doesn't make the website, but here's some cute shots of fun times with friends this year...

Calling All Ninjas

When they hit 6 years old, the kids get to have a party with just a few friends, doing whatever they want.  In previous posts you will see my daughter chose a tea party, riding horses and a cupcake sleepover.  Last year, my son chose to take buddies to a movie and In n Out.  This year he decided that he wanted a ninja party.  They all dressed up in their best ninja attire, ran the obstacle course, squirted sticky string everywhere, played in the back yard and had a LOT of candy.  My son specifically requested a cake filled with candy (seen here).  Those poor moms probably came home with their little ninjas who were both exhausted and had sugar-sick bellies, but they sure seemed to have a great time at the party.  Happy #7 my sweet boy~

My Angel Nephew

He turns one this month and there may be no cuter one-year-old on the planet.  He's got such a cool, laid- back personality that you can't help but love him.  We are so excited to see him (and his mommy and daddy) for his baseball birthday party.  This little charmer is just starting to walk and couldn't be sweeter.

XOXOXO!

And Then She Was Eight

Here's some select shots from my little girl's 8th birthday.  She asked to have some girlfriends sleepover, make cupcakes and ride horses.  So that's what we did!  Her birthday present was getting her ears pierced.  I have always maintained she couldn't do it until she was 8 so this is quite a milestone for her as all of her girlfriends have had ear piercings for years now.  They were all so excited for her and full of sage wisdom.

Puppy Lovers

My princess joined some girlfriends to celebrate one of their birthdays recently and the theme was puppies.  The girls each got to "adopt" a stuffed animal puppy and they played some puppy-related party games. 

We love any excuse for a party and this was a fun one.

Candy Monster

My little ninja fisherman turned six while we were in Alaska recently.  This is the cake I made for his birthday.  He requested a "Candy Monster" cake.  I think I nailed it, don't you?

Pictures of Alaska

 Hiking at Skilak lake

  Catching Dolly Varden at the Russian River

Catching Salmon on the Kenai River

Hiking at Hidden Trail

Catching Halibut and other oddeties in Homer

Sleepin' Over

For my daughter's 7th (gulp) birthday, she wanted to do a sleepover with some of her girlfriends.  So we let them do some crafts, make some cupcakes, sleep in sleeping bags on the floor, decorate their hair, play games, paint their own nails (and ours), munch on snacks, and be the silliest fun little girls that they could be.  Here they are, making memories about how nice it is to be young and just have fun.

Oh the Joys of Little Boys

My sister (okay, and brother too, but really, let's be honest...) blessed us with an amazing little nephew this year on tax day.  We had her shower a month before his due date and it was so nice to get to visit with family and friends that we don't see often enough.  I am so happy for both of them and their new little handsome son.  I know they will be great parents.  Babies are such a blessing for everyone who knows them, especially those chosen to raise them.  I can't wait to see what a great person I know he will become.  Congratulations to both of you and welcome little man!

PS~Nancy, I think I still owe you a shower gift for picking the date, good job!

Already 5

We spent a day decked out in Red White and Blue for my son's "Transformers and America" birthday.  I'm not sure where the theme originated, but he was convinced that was what he wanted.  So we did what we could, decorated the place up good and invited a zillion of our closest friends over to celebrate my little man turning a "whole hand of fingers" old.  From the looks of this picture, I think I hit the nail right on the head:

Kids on Ice

This was at the local skating rink recently for a friends' 6th birthday party. MAN, that's a lotta kiddos. Us mamas have our hands full, huh?

Tea Fit for a Princess

My little darling was invited by a friend to join the birthday girl in a day of princesses, pampering and partying. They met in Upland at Olivia's Princess Doll Tea House and got to dress up and show off all of their royal moves. They were super cute to see dressed up together. I will truly miss these days when they are gone.

One More to Go

Before we had kids, at one point, between CPA firms, I worked in an office with a man who was from a mix of Chinese and Hawaiian backgrounds. His name was Alan and he was my boss. So when Alan would stop by my 4x6 cubicle (gee, why do you suppose I quit?), Alan would talk about his family and, since he was my boss, I would sometimes listen.

Alan had three boys and they were the primary topic of conversation. Well, as Alan explained, the first birthday party is HUGE in his culture (not sure if it was Chinese or Hawaiian or both). He explained that it had something to do with getting through the year of highest infant mortality rate, but I came to later guess it had something to do with just surviving a year of the parents' sleep deprivation.

Anyway, they threw very large, extravagant parties for the first birthday of each boy. I liked this idea and for both of our kids I did the same thing. Each of these first birthday parties kind of carried over to their second, third and yes, fourth and fifth birthday parties as well. Whereas many people get a few kids together for cupcakes and PB&J, we have invited as many as 70 people and spent months planning and preparing for them. So it was with a little relief and also much regret that my eldest child (who will be starting school in the fall) and I had a talk about what we would be doing for her next party. My suggestion to her, in the hope that it would be more intimate, and knowing she would be making some new friends this year, was that she pick 5 friends and we will go do something with them. No fireworks, no bells or whistles, just start the tradition of a "normal" child's birthday party. She was receptive to the idea and we agreed that my littlest's 5th party next year will be the last sha-bang. Although I know I may regret it later (I really do look forward to all of our friends in one place together), perhaps it will save me a little bit of sanity in the long run. So mark your calendars folks, next July is the last in a series of ten shin-digs in the Mountains. I hope you all can make it!

My Little Soldier

Recently my youngest child turned four. Oh my goodness...[sigh] FOUR. Well, he has been requesting a soldier birthday for almost a year now so what could I do but oblige his request. We played "search and rescue" to find hidden soldiers, "sergeant says", ran the kids through a basic training obstacle course, painted our faces with camo face paint, wore our camouflage and dog tags, got tattoos, played target shooting on the range with the rubber band gun, ate some ribs and other barbecue, tried to land planes on an aircraft carrier, whacked at an enemy tank with a bat until it turned over all of it's candy and then finished the day off with a huge water balloon fight. There were about 40 people there throughout the day and it was beautiful weather for a barbecue. I was so busy that I didn't get many pictures of the festivities, but here's a shot of my little camo man and me trying to finish up making his tank birthday cake.

A Whole Lotta Moms

There are few certainties in life. You will owe taxes (whether you pay them or not), you will someday die (the big question being when and how) AND if you are a mom, you will have a very very VERY busy schedule. That is why it was a small miracle when, recently for a good friend's birthday, we got 22 (that's right, almost two dozen) moms together for a night out. I felt very lucky to get to join them since I just went out the weekend before with the girls up in Oregon. We all met for dinner at the local resort where we enjoyed reconnecting with those we hadn't seen in a while and meeting a few friends of friends. We certainly are all lucky ladies to have this network of awesome moms. Thanks ladies, and happy birthday Em~

A 5-Year Old's Cupcakes

One of my favorite parts of my daughter's fifth birthday was getting to watch my sweet little fairy princess decorate cupcakes. She may have overdone it with the edible confetti and sprinkles on the top of her flower cupcakes, but was so proud of herself for doing it by herself. She loves to help cook and I am so proud of the big girl she is becoming.

My Little Tinkerbell

Happy Birthday to the cutest little 5 year old Tinkerbell ever.PS~ Thanks Aunti, for the adorable Tinkerbell skirt for her party. She looked so cute!

Mah Boiz

I was happy to hear we would have such great attendance at my little man's 3rd birthday. This excitement was fizzled slightly when I found out that I would have to finish setting up and preparing for the party rather than go with hiking with the boys. Oh well, as it turns out, I needed the time to get everything together and they all lost their sunglasses that day so I saved myself a few bucks. Plus, we all got to play on the lake the following afternoon. All's well that ends well, right? Here's a nice pic of the guys before their hike:

My 3 Year Old Fireman

We had a super time playing with all of our friends and family last Saturday at my little guy's birthday barbecue. I suppose it's a little easier to believe he's three since he's already the same size as his sister who is almost 4.5 and wears the same size clothes and shoes. He's going to tower over her before she knows what happened. Happy birthday my little man~

Happy Birthday My Son

Seeing you sleeping on Grandpa's lap last weekend, it was hard to believe you've grown so quickly. I love you so much and wish you a wonderful fourth year. Love, mom