A Double Birthday Party

These two are 10 years and 3 weeks apart, so we found a weekend in-between both their birthdays and celebrated them both!

 

If I’m being honest, I did have an ulterior motive, this guy…

Little Graeme was born just 3 weeks prior.  I literally waited to see when he would arrive, and then calculated what weekend he’d be old enough to come to a party!  That is how my kid’s birthday party came to be!

  Adrienne is in LOVE with him, and perfectly okay with him stealing the attention!  So was everyone else:)

If you can spoil a baby we most certainly did.  It’s safe to say he never had to be put down!

 

During our off time(we had to take turns holding the baby-insert eye roll) we did manage to eat, drink, and be merry!

Oh yeah, and the birthday girls got some presents!  Sof got a reading tent from the Grandma’s and Papa.  She’s super excited about it!  Now if I could just get her room rearranged and get it hung…

It Happened In October

Obviously I’m behind in blogging.  I’m trying to catch up though, so you have to bear with me!  In an attempt to post a lot of cute pictures that have nothing to do with each other, I’m affectionately calling this “It Happened In October”.  Because they did.  And you shouldn’t start a sentence with because.  Or and.  Or and isn’t even a sentence.  I did not take a writing or grammar class in October.  No siree, you will not find a pic of that in this post.

We did however, visit the cider mill.  We met the cousins there on a chilly afternoon, and actually had quite a nice time.  Lots of fun stuff to do there!

Sof found a piece of brown paper and insisted we make a pirate’s map(so we can go on an adventure).

Sof started having homework, and she loves it!

She also had a pajama day, which made me realize we have no public appropriate pajamas.  Off to Target I went!

 

One morning we made a family trip to the grocery store.  Lexi by chance brought her DVD player in the car.  She brought it in and I set her and Sof down at a table with a couple donuts while mark and I shopped.  It ended up being a very fun and productive morning! 

Last but not least, we had our non-bowling group dinner!  Unfortunately, Mark was sick and I had to go on my own:(  I had to take a pic because Kelly put on such a beautiful table!

Halloween 2013

Halloween seemed to creep up on us.  Luckily the kid’s costumes didn’t need a whole lot of preparation:)  Lexi decided to go as a movie star, which only required us going in the basement and digging out an old fancy Christmas dress.  Sof wore an old dance costume to be Belle.  We did have to get a few accessories, but pretty easy!

 

Our first event was the subdivision party.  Cider, donuts, and games in the clubhouse.

That quickly lost it’s charm and Lexi headed home while Sof enjoyed the playground.

We carved pumpkins on the 30th.  Like I said, it creeped up on us!  It was a beautiful day, like seriously perfect weather. 

Lexi dug right in.  A seasoned pumpkin carving professional.

Sof was not so sure about the gooey stuff.  She prefers to hire help(aka daddy) for the dirty jobs. 

After the pumpkin was clean, she instructed him on how to cut the face.  Then she ran off to play. 

 

Lexi had a certain vision for her pumpkin too.  She spent quite awhile working on it, but when it was done it didn’t live up to her expectations.  She was having a fit about it, and Mark asked her what she wanted to do.  She said throw it away.  So that’s how the pumpkin carving ended.

 

Note to self: Pumpkin carving is overrated.

Adrienne was at dance, but we gutted her pumpkin for her.  She came home the next day and made the coolest pumpkin!  At least we had one win!

Sof had a little party at her school.  She got to pass out goodie bags, which she loved doing!  I was so glad I took the time to let her make them!

Unlike the day before, it was awful weather for trick-or-treating!  Cold, windy, and rainy!  Kids don’t care about weather when they are getting candy though.  Lexi went with our neighbor friend Rachel.  They begrudgingly let me snap one(bad) picture before they were off and running!

Adrienne stayed home and handed out candy, so both Mark and I were able to take Sof. 

She figured out pretty fast that the quicker you go, the more candy you get.  Every house we went to seemed to know her!  Sof talks to everyone that walks by our house, especially if they have a dog.  She greeted each dog by name and chatted with the owners.  Mark and I just stood back and laughed.  Maybe she needs to apply for subdivision president?  

We finished early enough to make a surprise trick-or-treat visit at Aunt Anne and Uncle Rick’s.  We went in to visit a moment, and I finally had to cut Sof off the candy.  Once I told her no more, she offered Uncle Rick(a fellow chocoholic) her big bag of M&M’s.  He said no, but she insisted. Pretty soon she was on his lap and he was sharing. 

     

She’s not stupid, that’s for sure!  She smells weakness, and she will get your chocolate!  Uncle Rick is a total softie!  

Sof’s Actual B-Day

We’ve had illness swarming around our house last month, so Sof’s actual birthday was pretty low key.  Luckily our new 5 year old is easy to please.

When I put her to bed on the last night as a 4 year old, we talked about what she might want to take to school for her birthday treat.  She liked the idea of cider and donuts(so did I, easy peasy!).  So before school we made a stop at the cider mill.

It was a big hit with her school friends, and the teachers!  Who doesn’t love fresh donuts and cider?

After school we came home and had a quiet dinner and evening.  Sof asked for a turkey sandwich for her birthday dinner, which I happily obliged(again, easy peasy!).

She opened her gifts from us.  She’s hard to buy for, but the Play Doh ice cream shop was a big hit(and mess).

Her favorite part is blowing out candles.  Her two favorite things are sugar and attention, so singing happy birthday and having dessert are right up her ally!

The next night was Friday.  Em and I decided to take the girls out to dinner and to paint pottery.  We ordered dessert for Sof’s birthday, and she really thought the whole restaurant was there for her birthday party.  They happened to be having a costume party there later that night, so there were balloons all over.  She pointed to them and said, “Look mom, they even got balloons for my party!”.  LOL.

   

After dinner we went to paint pottery.  It’s something every age can enjoy!  We can’t wait to see our creations fired and done!

Sof chose a unicorn.  She had fun painting it a million colors, and then the lady showed her how to make the eyes.

She watched her closely, and then she did the other eye all by herself! 

Lexi picked a three eye monster, and used some cool spotted paint.

Adrienne made a mug with grumpy morning eyes.  It turned out awesome, and I can’t wait to get it back!

Livy and Kaitlyn both chose little treasure boxes.  Livy had a very specific vision for hers, and she really worked hard on it!

It ended up being a really fun girls night out, and the fact that Sof thought it was her birthday party was even better!