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. :)

Mrs. Fix-it, a confession by me

You know the term "Mr. Fix-it", well I've always thought that term applied very well to both my Dad and my husband. Not always in the same way but they both want to "fix" things. If there's a problem, they just want to come up with a solution. We'll I've always thought of myself as one who wanted to talk about things, not just fix them. (Or as probably my husband would say, I like to talk things to death!) I don't always come up with a solution but I want to vent my frustrations and have someone commiserate.

Recently though, I don't know whether we've switched roles or if I've just had to compensate too much but because hubby has been so busy finishing classes and working. I find myself wanting to "fix" everything for my daughter and soon to be son. Everything has to be done right and if someone does something wrong then it needs to be fixed. I get thoroughly frustrated when someone else doesn't seem to feel the need. For instance, yesterday at church I felt like no one else cared whether all the Children's' Ministry plans for summer were perfect but I did. I was close to biting a few people's heads off for things like disorganization and scheduling difficulties (I won't mention names).

Now that I've realized this about myself, do I think it will change soon? No, probably not. I'll probably always want to fix everything for my kids. I'll always want to fix other people too even though I've realized this is a next to impossible task. (I mean seriously, it's been about 7 years since being introduced to my in-laws, and I still haven't been able to fix the problems there!) Instead, I've realized that I just need to work on patience and to trust that everything will be fine as long as God is in control. Many of our church volunteers will never be totally organized but God did put them there to help so instead of fixing them, I suppose I need to learn to just work with them.

Who wouldn't want to fix everything for this?

I do NOT have a green thumb

Since it's near Mother's Day, it got me to thinking about how many people are getting plants or garden things for their mothers. I've inherited a lot of my traits and talents from the women in my family and many in particular from my Great Grandmother (Gram) but one thing that I did not inherit was her green thumb.

I wish I had pictures of how PERFECT her yard looked when I was growing up. She could make anything grow and even keep it alive. A weed in her yard was a menace. I, on the other hand, have gotten her persistence and stubbornness but very little ability to grow AND keep things plants alive. Last year, I made the decision to attempt to do a little landscaping, plant a garden, etc. I figured that anyone could manage to grow a few things if they put their mind to it. So, we planted turnips, radishes, and peppers in our make shift garden at the end of the driveway. I lined the edges with bricks and voila, thought I'd have myself some fresh vegetables. This was not the case. I planted some wildflowers in part of the backyard but I caught the birds and squirrels digging up the seeds and eating them. In the front yard along our steps, I planted three lilies that I purchased from Home Depot; some herbs in a small pot on my windowsill and finally finished with a hanging basket on our porch. Needless to say, I don't need to mention how many of these plants did well. It was pretty clear to all neighbors that I was indeed an amateur.

So you're wondering, do I have a empty yard? Of course not- in the spirit of perseverance, I decided to try again this year. I have now hung a beautiful hanging basket on our porch, the lilies amazingly did come back this year in the front, and I replanted part of our backyard with wildflowers. Herbs are now growing on my windowsill and so far they aren't dead! (Pictures to follow)



I'm now planning our porch furniture for the year. Because of course, we need to be able to sit out and enjoy my green attempts. :) I'm thinking two adirondack chairs from Home Depot in a nice lime or aqua as well as two folding tables from Joann. So even if the hanging basket is the only thing that survives, at least we'll have a nice view!