Micah's Ducky Birthday Party

This may be a bit late but then those of you who know me, shouldn't be totally surprised about this. Micah LOVES rubber ducks apparently and I thought it would be an adorably cute theme for a one year old. We had duck sugar cookies (courtesy of Grandma), lemon cupcakes with lemon creme cheese frosting, lots of finger foods, some lemonade and blueberry lemonade for our food and drink items.

For entertainment, we had a ball pit with a few rubber ducks thrown in, a duck pond and a design a duck table. We also had a surplus of bubbles available.
I suppose pictures speak a thousand words so I'll post a number of pictures of our ducky bash. It's all just in time for me to post about Amber's birthday party which will be happening in only about 2 weeks! Enjoy!

Christmas 2010

So I'm a little late with the Christmas post and yeah, maybe A LOT late for any kind of update but whatever. I'm just going to post the Christmas pictures...










On another note, it WAS Micah's first Christmas so I guess I owe him at least a few words... Really, it was a joy to have him open his first presents and to dress him in new pjs on Christmas Eve. Micah recently has been perfecting the art of sitting up and actually interacting with toys so it was a blast to see his eyes light up when a new toy came out of a box. Even if it wasn't a "toy" then he was still excited because everything was so new to him.




This was Amber's fifth Christmas though just as exciting as any other. She was completely ready to dive into the presents under the tree but she also reminded us that it was Jesus' birthday. :) It is so amazing to see her grow in her understanding each year.





On Christmas Eve, while holding Micah( and simultaneously directing the kids' music at church), I started thinking about how Mary must have felt while holding Jesus for the first time. I remembered the joy that I felt when I finally got to hold Micah (and Amber) for the first time and really wondered what it must have been like for Mary. Then how proud she must have felt of him when all those people came to see him and present their gifts. I also wonder, "did Jesus notice the gifts he was given?" If only, the whole world could realize the gift that HE gave to us.

Littlest Pet Shop PARTAY!

For Amber's 4th birthday she wanted a Littlest Pet Shop themed party. So after looking in just about every store out there, I found tablecloths, cups, invitations, and napkins. The rest left me to be creative. I printed out signs saying "pet cafe", "pet lounge" and "pet playground",made a big sign for the door, and hung some crepe paper streamers. I cut out a number of pawprints for the walls using my trusty Cricut, set up some of Amber's pet shop toys and voila; I had the decorations!

Food
For food, we set up a number of "pet foods" in different labeled containers. I used sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds to make "bird seed" and a number of vegetables cut up to be rabbit snacks. Honey Puffs and Choco Pops made perfect kitty chow. Insect bites and Scooby snacks worker for frog and dog treats. Finally gummy worms were our fish food. For the adults we also had cracker and cheese platters as well as some deli spirals. I displayed cupcakes using my cupcake display rack, put a four candle on Amber's cupcake and some Littlest Pets on a few around the bottom ring. On the middle ring, I used peppermint patties and junior mints to make pawprints on the cupcakes.
Games
The kids enjoyed making animal beaded necklaces, pinning the tail on the cat and digging for silly bands in a sand box. They also each had goody bags with Pet Shop coloring books, stickers and a few Littlest Pets.
Presents
Of course, Amber made out like a bandit. She got some new Pet Shop play sets, a number of craft supplies, pjs, an Olivia play house, an Aqua Sand play set and lots more.

Then and Now

Amber is now FOUR years old. Those four years have been full of so many wonderful memories from her first steps to her first play dates. She's truly been a blessing to our lives. She's now our little dancer, preschooler, artist, storyteller, photographer and big sister. It can only continue to get better from here. :)

Back to School Season

I've always liked the end of summer and the "Back to School" season. Call me a nerd (I am trained to be a teacher after all!), but I've always liked seeing the selection of new binders, papers, pens and all the other school supplies. For me, this time of year has always marked a new beginning, a time to try new things.

This year, I won't be going back to school but I will be trying new things. Instead, Amber is starting school. We've decided to home-school, at least for the next couple of years so Amber is doing preschool this year with me and she will enter kindergarten next year probably with the help of PA Cyber. She is very excited about doing school work and wants to show everyone her accomplishments. I hope to maintain that excitement as time moves on. If only she could be this excited when she enters high school. (I KNOW, that's probably just wishful thinking.)

Welcome Micah David Kingsbury

Finally, here's some pictures of the new addition to the family. Micah was born June 15th, 2010. He weighed 6 lbs. 13.6 oz. We're all soo happy that he's finally here and Amber loves being a big sister.

We'd also like to thank everyone for their prayers and support, we've been so blessed throughout the end of pregnancy, labor and delivery and bringing baby home. We've had people bring gifts, food, and just offer to lend a hand. Thank you all!

Baby Shower and other baby preparations

I've been meaning to post this for a few weeks now. Some friends at our church organized a nice shower for us a few weeks ago. I wanted to post a few pictures even though I'm dumb and didn't take any at the actual shower, I did take some when we got back home. The shower was wonderful, Thanks to all who came, sent gifts, and organized everything. It was complete with a diaper cake, bibs on the wall, snacks, gifts, and a nursery rhyme game. The princess cup was for Amber since she's a big sister and the large blanket was handmade by Zola. THANK YOU!





In addition to the shower, I promised some pictures of the finished product in Amber and Micah's room. I did finally finish...check out the pictures to follow. I was quite proud of the my crafty job with the letters for Micah's wall. :)