Fruit Loop Necklaces

So, instead of candy necklaces (which everyone likes better, I was told) we copied Avery's sunday school and made fruit loop necklaces- and it was huge hit!

Even ben got into it.



Aves and I also did some that hair-in-your-face-drives-me-crazy watercoloring.  works of art we made, I gotta tell you.  Then munch hung hers up on the wall in the kitchen- very fancy like.

and then her night ended like this
 and ours is still going because ben didnt fall asleep for his nap until 5 and wouldnt get out of bed until 8. yep, you heard me,  8pm.  whew.

dancing silhouettes

These are going to be the main decoration at Ella's dance party. I love them because they are big, bold, super easy and cheap to make! All you need is a large roll of paper, transparency sheets, some paint and overhead projector. I found my paper at a teacher supply store and my sweet friend Amy let me come up to her school and borrow her projector.

I printed dancing silhouettes on transparency sheets and then blew them up big on the wall with an overhead projector. I just taped the paper up and traced the silhouette image with pencil. 

My next step is painting the images all black and I can't wait to see how they turn out! If naps all align right maybe I can get started painting them today.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Friday Loves

Hope you guys have a great weekend!  We dont have big plans.  Jeff is only on pager call which means he just has to go in and round on sat and sunday and not have to work any 30 hr shifts.  So we are pretty excited about that!  Hopefully we will have a little neighbor horrah, maybe watch a little happy feet ("they sing GLEE, mommy!" oh gosh.  It's Queen aves, its Queen....) and relax...

I know I started out the week with things I was loving from the www but I thought I would share a few more.

i LOVE this blanket and want to make it right after I finish my granny square one that is taking for-ev-er.  her hats and other blankets were super cute on MADE too.

This mustache party is so so cute!!

I love these personalized buttons!!

how cute is this Wizard of Oz party!??

and check out her pioneer party?! (Sorry, I clearly just discovered One Charming Party) I so would have loved this growing up.  I was kind of Little House on the Prairie and Christi obsessed.

Also, my mother in law (whose house pics you can see a sneak peak at at Nan's blog) has these and I just love them.  We are really into tea parties over here.  and I am really into Ikea.

and love this unicorn.  love it.

ok guys.  happy weekend! hope its a great one!

Dallas World Aquarium

This weekend we had an impromptu visit to dallas and had so much fun with jeff's parents and my parents. We also got to spend time with Jeff's college roommate Paul and his wife Kristin and their two kids.  We bribed them with food to come to the aquarium with us and it was a blast.

Ben could not have enjoyed a place more.  He was so excited to be there and so upset when we left.  Then he fell asleep on me at lunch because he was so exhausted from the excitement.

They let you feed this bird blueberries and avery did it!  We had to hold her hand because she was kind of scared but he was super gentle.

me and my crew.
(check out my bag thats stained blue from my jeans.  im so cool.  i cant even help it)

paul, elyse, baby june and a two headed toed sloth.  such sweet girls!! (kristin I have no idea why we dont have any pics of you!! im so sorry!!)
elyse was so open and kind while my kids were a little more shy.  she was so sweet to sassy and sassy warmed up to her pretty fast.


checkin out the manatees.
(PS. I would hate to be a manatee.  They are so big and have tiny little fin/wings.  So oddly shaped.  They do probably praise the Lord that they aren't walruses, though.  Gosh, that would be awful.  They weigh as much as manatees and then have to pull themselves on land with their tiny fins/wing-whatever you call them.  At least the manatees get to stay in water.
PPS.  Did anyone else in the world see the made for TV movie "switched at birth" about two girls who were switched at the hospital that I video taped off of tv and watched all the time in the 80's and they saved manatees on it??? why did my parents tape that for me??? ok, maybe you dont have to own up to doing this on the internet and maybe I shouldnt be either.  forget i said anything....)



Overall, amazing experience.  Def check it out if you are in Dallas.  Lins had her 21 birthday their a few years back and that was the last time I think I have been.  It really just has the coolest set up and feels like you are in the rainforest!  I promise they are arent even paying me to say this.  Its just cool.
and, I guess, so are manatees.

oh happy day!

Let me start off by saying that McKenna is finally doing better!!! YAY!!! Yesterday was the first time that she really started to look and feel better. Man. What a scary week. Whooping cough test results came back negative yesterday and I have never felt more relieved. She still coughs bad enough that she loses half her bottle, but we are headed in the right direction. We are doing lots of laundry over here! I am so thankful that she is getting better and so so blessed to have wonderful friends and family that are helping us through this. 

Guess who turns 3 this month?   

Ella is beyond excited about her birthday party coming up in a few weeks! And we all know that I am just as excited and in full force party planning mode. Last year at this time I was doing this to get ready for Ella's Tiny Two party. 

Another big event this month is match day! Thats when we find out where we will go for Bob to do residency. My original idea for Ella's 3rd birthday was "Where's Ella." Kinda like "Where's Waldo." I was going to combine her party with the reveal of where we will be for residency. The only party details I could think of was Ella wearing a red and white striped shirt...I couldn't get the party vision so I ditched that idea and started thinking of another one. 

I wanted to do a party that I knew Ella would love. It was during the half time show of the super bowl when I had my AHA-HA moment! Ella LOVES to dance. She was pulling out her best moves during the halftime show when the Black Eyed Peas performed. So a dance party it is!

I don't have any pictures to show of things I am working on at the moment but don't worry, a 9X12 black and white checkered dance floor and PA system has been rented for the party:) 

I will be back soon with more details and pics.