My Baby Turns 1

I would like to have a "do-over" on the first year of Charlotte's life. I really would. This little girl grew up when I wasn't looking and couldn't look because my hand were filled with other little people. Oh how I adore this child. She is wonderful. I love every single little thing about this little one. I am so so grateful to be her mom.

Happy Birthday my Beautiful Baby Girl.

Apron

I am IN LOVE with pinterest. If you don't have an account, let me know and I will send you an invite. I have found so many fun ideas and I have had so much fun recreating those fun ideas.

I found this apron from Anthropologie. Love it.

I started here ...

And came up with this...

I gave this to my new sister in law at a shower about a month ago.

The basic shape:

Simple ruffle added to the bottom

Straight across neck line.

I hope to be making one of these for myself someday soon!

Terrible Teeth

There is nothing that gives me the willies faster than teeth that should not belong in your mouth any longer. I have no patience for them. By some crazy coincidence both Anna and Josh had two of the most disgusting teeth. We bribed them with things you wouldn't believe. Money, toys, outings, you name it we offered it. But they both stood strong and insisted the teeth fall out when they were ready.

I should have taken the side profile of Anna's teeth...pretty much perpendicular to her face.

Josh on the other hand...I have never seen anything like it. His permenent teeth pushed those little baby teeth right on top of each other. Funniest thing I ever saw!

Luckily within a few weeks all 4 combined teeth were either knocked out accidentally or pulled out intentionally. We were all thrilled to see them go so much so that I think they made a killing off the tooth fairy!

80's Night

In October I was in charge of a youth activity for a group of 30 girls. We had a blast. About a month before the activity, the Beehives (the girls I am in charge of) made a work out video. We turned on some music and pressed record. They were awesome. So on the night of real activity we "worked out" to the beehives video. It was pretty fun. We then had a green smoothie demo which was exceptionally good. I need to be better at making those!

Quinn turns 4!

On "Octover 7" (that is how quinn says it) Quinn turned 4. I guess I need to accept the fact that I am going to be in denial for the rest of my life as I watch my children grow up right before my eyes.

Anna made this for Quinn. It is him and her sculpted out of play-doh.

Quinn woke up very excited!

For some reason the chair has become the tradition for the Bday presents so they wake up in the morning and head to the chair.

We haven't done a friend birthday party yet for Quinn...for a few different reasons but we have made it a family thing which has been so much fun. Quinn's birthday was conveniently on a friday so when Anna came home from school we surprised the kids and told them we were going to Park City for the night! We were all dying for a "vacation". Park City was perfect...close but far enough away to feel "away". Quinn was so excited. For some reason it took some convincing for Anna. I think we learned that Anna does better with a head's up. She likes to know the "plan"...I think I know where she gets that...Adam....

The night consisted of Cafe Rio take out (pretty much for me), swimming, all sorts of games, singing and of course cake.

The kids went to bed way too late but they had the most wonderful time.

I admire those women who are into cake decorating...I am not. It isn't my thing but I am totally ok with that. This "lego" cake is probably as creative as it is going to get from me. It tasted really good though!

thank you family for making the night so special!

The best present (because every mom should gift themselves a present on their child's birthday) was when my mom had ALL of my kids sleep at their house the following night and Adam and I had a night in park city to ourselves. The first time in a long long time. It was wonderful. Dinner, shopping, movies, hot tubbing and lots and lots of uninterrupted talking and sleeping. No pictures. We were too busy!

The Tooth Fairy Party

Don't tell my other kids but I am in love with Anna's Birthday. I'm sure I will love the other birthdays too but this age...is SO fun!!

A couple of months before Anna's Bday we were talking one night as I was tucking her into bed. I asked her what kind of party she would like to have. We brainstormed some ideas but all the ideas I threw out there she wasn't thrilled about. And then it came to her..."Mom let's have a Tooth Fairy Party!!" OK! The ideas came pouring in and I ran with them. It was SO much fun to plan. I will do this party for Charlotte. The girls had a blast. I have never seen so much excitement. It was so fun. If you are looking for a fun party for giddy little girls...this is the one for you!!

So the invitation:

I did have several girls asking me if we were going to find THE. REAL. Tooth fairy... I don't know if I'll change the wording of the invite next time. It did cause a little bit of drama.

Letters from the Tooth Fairy

Birthday Banner made on the cricut

So the girls showed up exactly 6 minutes after the bell rang for school to be out. I couldn't believe how fast they ran home! I brought them all in and had them sit on little rugs on the floor (just to try to control the chaos). I started out reading them a little story. In the middle of reading the story the doorbell rang!! I hyped it up. They all ran to the door to find a lonely tray filled with 12 little silver packages tied with pink ribbon and a note signed by the tooth fairy. I brought the tray in and read the letter:

"You will need some energy

to help you on your quest.

Eat this food and you will find

a chance to pass the test!"

love, The Tooth Fairy

I thought they would need a little after-school snack so I prepared tiny circle sandwiches (PB&J), flower shaped cheddar cheese, tiny grapes, and a few crackers.

I forgot to take a picture of the final tray but as I was trying to figure out what to wrap their little snacks in I looked to see my kids had torn open a 72 hour kit blanket... you know those silver shiny ones...perfect. They are huge and they are double lined...so cheap and so pretty!

As soon as they were pretty much done with their snack the doorbell rang again. They squealed and all ran up stairs to find this on the door step:

The letter read:

"Magic Fairy Dust will

sparkle in the air

To start your adventure

and help you prepare"

much love,

The Tooth Fairy

there were instructions on the bottom of the letter:

"magic fairy dust can only be given to you by a friend.

First stand in 2 lines.

The leader sprinkles magic fairy dust in her friend's hair.

The friend then spins around in one circle and blows a kiss.

Then she does it to the next friend"

The fairy dust was just some gold glitter I had on hand I didn't use much at all. Some of the girls were wondering why they weren't flying...that was tricky to explain!

When they had just finished the glitter the door bell rang again. This time there were two vases filled with different colored wands with a note:

"Every child needs a wand

to make a wish come true

do a twirl and you will find

a special wand for you."

love, TTF

The wands were so so simple to make. I bought a bunch of different tulle fabric and coordinating ribbon. I cut the fabric into rectangles and tied a ribbon around the middle. Fluffed the fabric and glued it onto a wooden dowel (wrapped in ribbon) and you have yourself a magic wand. The girls were in love!

One fun trick I learned: I took regular ribbon, wrapped it around the dowel and pinned it down at both edges (with a clothes pin) I set my oven for the lowest setting and "baked them for about 15 minutes. When they are done you take the ribbon off the stick and the ribbon is perfectly/permanently curled. So fun!

After the girls got their wands we played a game of fairy freeze tag. One wand "froze" and one wand "freed". The girls had fun with this but I could tell they were anxious to hear doorbell.

When the doorbell finally rang, they were greeted with a little tray filled with little felt purses. They were all different colors and they all had a unique button to match.

the note read:

"You are on a treasure hunt

a special purse to fill

open up your eyes to look

the money you find is real"

I knew that I wanted to have a treasure hunt but I was having a hard time trying to come up with ideas of how to not loose all of the money in the grass only to be found by the lawn mower...then the thought came...Balloons!

Each girl was allotted 4 quarters. Each quarter was in a balloon. The balloons were covering the floor of my garage. Easy to find. Easy to pop. The girls had a BLAST popping all of the balloons and then filling their little purses with the money.

blue for Quinn and Josh

The doorbell rang for the last time.

The tray was filled with a pyramid of tiny little pink boxes.

the note read:

"You darling Girls-

I had to run

someone needs me fast-

But I've left a little present

a special box to last.

You can use it for your treasures

or for a "just pulled tooth"

Just know that you are wonderful

and that's a magic truth!"

love, The Tooth Fairy

Cop-out I know but I was not about to dress up so it worked and for the most part the girls were ok with it!

I found these little boxes at JoAnn's for $1! I spray painted them pink and then sewed a little silk pillow to fit inside. I have learned from years past that with crafts and kids...the more organized, the more simple...the better.

so each little box came with a little bag of stickers. the girls just peeled off and decorated the box however they pleased. Simple, no mess and they loved it.

we finished the party with some fruit pizza (anna's request) some songs and a lot of presents.

Huge Success!!