Pretty Princess Party

Addie BFF from school invited a several of her friends over for a Princess Party. It wasn't anyone's birthday, she just wanted to have fun with her friends and do princess "stuff." It was SO sweet and SO much fun- that all of us Mom's said we would love to do it again!!

Here is Cinderella ready for her Ball- she is a tad bit wet in the hair dept as we had gone to the pool before hand.... And yes, Cinderella and Snow White as the best of friends!

(Notice the glass slippers!)

Addie and her BFF, Molly. These 2 are SO sweet together!!

All the Princesses practicing good manners during the Tea Party portion. They passes a plate with mini-cupcakes on it, said "please" and "thank you" and sipped pink lemonade.

Posing, as any Princess would, on the Grand Staircase! Aren't they an adorable little bunch?!?

And then it was on to the craft portion! Here they made wands, bracelets, tiarras, and then decorated them (and their Mom's) with glitter glue, stickers, and sequins. It was perfect for these little princesses!

And then Miss Rachel (Molly's Mom) finished it up nicely with reading a Princess book on Manners- the girls were all ears and listened so nicely.

It was so nice- and such a sweet time with friends! We may be hosting a Princess Party of sorts next month!

Birthdays X 2

Today was a big day around here! Not only was it PopPop Old's birthday (Lisa's dad), but our good friend, Karen, was being induced! We were rather surprised that she made it this long, but we were praying all day long for a smooth delivery for her little girl, Avery Grace!

Hannah, Avery's Big Sister, came and spent the day with us so that both Grandma's and Mike could spend the day with Karen in the hospital! Our kids love each other so it was a blast and an honor to spend the day with Hannah!

The day started off with a bang- Grandma Deb arrived with Hannah AND Dunkin' Donuts!! Yay!! Here I'm getting thumbs-up all around! yum!

Even though it was a bit on the cool side, we still wanted to wear out the kids- so we took the kids to the pool to play and burn off some serious energy. We ended up having the entire pool all to ourselves!!

Ready, set, go!!

Lunch Buddies!!

Silly Hannah!! String cheese face!

And finally, with about 10 min left before we needed to leave, Hannah got in the Big Pool to join us in a game of Ring Around the Rosy!

Just as we got up from naps, we got the call that Avery had arrived!!! To celebrate, we headed to McDonald's to have ice cream sundaes!! Addie has been thinking and talking about this for weeks- so she was thrilled!!

Once the Sundaes were gone, Hannah and I headed to the hospital!! Here she is in her Big Sister t-shirt, holding french-fries, standing outside of the Maternity Ward! She was SO excited!! All the way to the hospital, she kept telling me that HER Avery had come, that she was going to kiss Avery, that she was going to love Avery, that she was going to share with Avery- she was SO happy to finalllllly meet her much anticipated little sister!!

Drum roll......

Avery Grace!!! She weighed in at 7lbs 14 ozs and was 21" long! This was such a relief- the ultrasounds estimated that she could have been closer to 9lbs!!

Here Hannah is meeting her for a 2nd time- Mike held her and made the 1st introductions. She was VERY interested, VERY gentle, and VERY excited when Avery grabbed her hand!

Avery is such a pretty baby- she looks a lot like Hannah, just with a head full of dark, curly hair! Hannah was so gentle, I know she will make a fantastic Big Sister!!

And to celebrate at our house- for both Avery and PopPop Old- we had candles in cupcakes and sang "Happy Birthday" to both of them!!

Kids Swimming!!

Here are the kids showcasing their budding swimming skills! Al and I are SO proud!! At the rate they are progressing, they should be able to pass the swim test by the end of the summer and go off the beloved slide!!

Happy Birthday, Al!

Poor Al had to work on his birthday- all day.... Thankfully the kids were worn out from spending a good hunk of the day at the pool, and took marathon naps, so they could stay up and celebrate with him!

Waiting for Daddy!!

Showing off the special gifts they selected for Daddy- Alden found a "special" rock by the pool, and Addie made him a bead book mark that she called a snake! Strange- yes. Heartfelt- yes!

My gift- a ceramic travel mug that Al had his eye on!!

Special birthday dinner- yum!

Helping Daddy with his candles!

We love you, Al! You are a fantastic father, a wonderful provider, always up for an adventure (and we have had our fair share!), and I look forward to celebrating many, many, more birthdays with you!

Preschool Pool Party

Addie has missed her school friends- a lot. She often asks me if it's Tuesday, or if we are close to a Thursday... So when one of her classmates threw an end-of-the-year pool party, I knew she would be ecstatic! It was the perfect day and everyone had a blast! We hope to make this a weekly event the kids- and Moms- had so much fun!!

We ended up with an extensive spread!!

The classmates!! There were more kids than this as just about all of them had 1 sibling with them!

Pool Fun!

The pool has been a blast and since the kids are really getting into it, I thought they might like goggles- I was right!!

Alden didn't want to wait for the pool!

All fogged up!

Ready to try them out....

Yup- they work!! And yes, Addie is swimming in this picture- way to go!!

Another day the kids had picked-up on the Snack Shack, so I allowed them to pick out 1 treat. Addie was THRILLED!

And well, Alden loves ANY food, so he was happy camper!

How were the popsicles??

Thumbs up all around!!

Just the beginning of many more pool posts and happy memories!!

Memorial Day Weekend!

We had a blast this Memorial Day Weekend- the pool opened AND good friends came into town to celebrate!!

On Saturday, we hit the pool twice- once when it opened at 11am and then again after naps.

This is how they started off the day at the pool...

Not so sure....

And 10 min later- they are off and swimming like little fish!!

Saturday evening, our friends the Woody's came- the girls all hit it right off! Addie and Kyla had "sleep overs" both Sat and Sun night- they did great, no chatting, just sleeping!!

Sunday morning, we all skipped church and had a huge breakfast at our house, and then the kids played outside. After that, the men went golfing and all the women and children hit the pool.

Picnic time at the pool!

A group shot- aren't we a good lookin' group?!?

Best Friends!!

This picture just exemplifies the kids- the girls are coloring and Alden is zooming by in the beloved red car!

Mikey was a HUGE hit with Addie and Hannah! He got on the floor and played with them- and they just adored him!!

Dinner Time!! The Big Kid Table!!

The Little Kids Table- these love LOVE each other!!

And as a surprise, Karen made him a cake and we all sang to him!!

It was fantastic to spend so much time with our friends!!