happy birthday, noonie!

Sunday was Noonie's birthday. We celebrated with lunch. and cake, of course. and a little stack of happy presents.Oh, and the owl? The little pumpkin helped me decorate...he he he. But I do love that little owl!
{looking at the pic, the OCD in me is having a fit over the non-conventional placing of the forks by the knife, even if I put them there myself for a casual setting. Aaaah!}My sweet mom.Happy Birthday to you...
"Noonie, I put 6 white candles for 60 and 1 pink one for the one, because pink is the best." ~ Grace.Happy Birthday, dear Noonie...
{notice who's already blowing...}...and many more!A little someone couldn't wait to try the tres leches cake...These are all for you, Noonie!!L.O.V.E.I'll help, I'll help!!This picture makes me laugh...check out Grace & Noonie...so excited over the purse and then there's Hudson sort of like, eh, what's the deal? Let me see if this thing right here comes off or not.Lookin' good, Noonie & Papa J!Just us girls...
{someone was hamming it up for the camera}Love this sweet one of Noonie and the little pumpkin!
{and of course, Hudson - in typical male fashion - wanted nothing to do with the pictures. Aaaaah!}Happy 61st, Noonie!
{and if you're wondering, 'why are you putting her age for the world to see, don't you know you should never do that??!' this is what Noonie always says, "be proud of your years, they are a gift from God."
Amen to that.

meow, meow {birthday party planning}

About a month ago, I started asking the little pumpkin what type of party she wanted to have for her 5th birthday. We tossed around a few ideas. I really thought she was going to go with "Lalaloopsy" - one of the contenders - since she loves playing with the mini dolls.

But then one day while playing with Praline (kitty cat) and Chocolate Chip (puppy) - two of her little American Girl stuffed animals, she came to me and said she wanted to have a kitty cat birthday.And then a few days later she told me she wanted to have a kitty cat birthday................................................................... at.our.local.gymnastics.facility!
He he, that's my girl, always mixing it up. Not sure what
'kitty cats' and 'gymnastics' have in common, but it's kind of fun too, since the gym is where I used to work while in college. The owners are such great people - I know it'll be a fun day for her and all her little buddies and they'll have the entire gym to themselves. Let the swingin' and flippin' begin!

So to sweeten it for my girly girl, I tweaked it a bit and we're having a vintage kitten birthday party with lots of pink and aqua blue {her favorite colors} and a few other fun colors to make it pOP!

Can't wait for March 10th...I think it's going to be just purrrrrfect. *wink*

Photos~
Kitten in Mittens: The Sugar Nest
Bunting: Starlit Nest Gifts
Miss Kitty: Loralee Lewis
Candy: Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats

beauty and the beast...and other random pics

I usually get most of my creative work done after I put the littles to bed, but lately I've been falling asleep right as I'm putting them to bed! Sorry for the blog absence, I've just been feeling extra tired! I'm behind on emails too...sorry if I haven't answered you yet...I'm working my way through and hope to catch up this week.

Here's a little bit about what we've been up to this past week...

Making rice krispies treats...yes, in costume! Hudson begs to wear his dragon costume at least once a day, so of course, the little pumpkin had to follow suit and wear hers too!Cheering for the Tigers...we had a great time having our friends, the Andersons, over. The game was another story. Heartbreak!Hudson has been coming home from MDO with lots of artwork lately. I love this little penguin he made. His teachers said he picked out the colors for each piece and glued them all by himself - he didn't want them to help him. He's been having a terrible two's very independent streak lately.We had a fun playdate with some sweet friends from school...we went to see Beauty and the Beast and then had lunch at Chick-fil-A. The girls loved the mini screening of Tangled II - can't wait 'till it comes out!Hudson was more interested in the popcorn than the movie ;)Papa J helped me with some projects at work and of course, the littles loved the trip to Lowe's for supplies! Thank you Papa J!!I'm thankful it's a long weekend...I need time to catch up! I've been having bad migraines, but I think my contacts are to blame. And I'm hoping my littles get over this head cold that has come out of nowhere...at least long enough for us to enjoy Monday's holiday.

I'm excited that tomorrow is Noonie's birthday! We're having lunch over here after church. Papa J is making his yummy Poppyseed Chicken and I'm making my mom's favorite...the Pioneer Woman's Tres Leches Cake! Y-U-M!!!And of course, birthday planning for the little pumpkin's 5th is in full swing!!! Yay for that!

Reyes {2012}

Uggh, I feel like I've been running so far behind this week!! This first week of the new year has been B.U.S.Y!!! I've been playing catch up ever since the clock struck 12:00 on 01.01.12. About the only thing that's up to date is our laundry because I'm just a little OCD about our laundry - HA!

Anyhow...this past Thursday on the Eve of Three Kings Day, the littles cut grass to leave for the camels of the 3 Wise Men traveling through the night to meet baby Jesus and pay homage to our Savior...one of the traditions I grew up with that Noonie is helping me pass on to Grace & Hudson.

Grace kept cutting and Hudson kept dumping! Boys!!They were so excited to fill their little shoeboxes!!And then in the morning......the camels the Wise Men traveled on had eaten all the grass and los Reyes Magos (the 3 Wise Men) had left them some surprises!

Hudson was up first...by the time I got out of the shower, he had already partially opened his present, but I managed to grab my camera and snap a few pics...Grace - my little night owl - was still sound asleep. I woke her up and when she remembered it was 3 Kings Day she jumped out of bed!Later Noonie came over and it seems the Wise Men had visited the littles at Noonie's house too! She brought over this fun automated train track puzzle that Hudson just can't get enough of!!Noonie, let me give you a big squeeeeeezy hug!!Grace couldn't wait to see if the Wise Men had visited Noonie's house or not. She was sooooooooo excited when I picked her up from school and Noonie told her they HAD!Art supplies! The little pumpkin's favorite! Yay!Thank you, Noonie!!The littles were both jumping off the walls, hugging, squeezing, climbing, wrestling...guess to be expected for a Friday afternoon after the first week back from holiday...so I just rolled with it.And can I just say I have some of the sweetest memories captured on film all thanks to Noonie! Thanks mom! I always love downloading pics and finding the surprise ones you always take when I put the camera down.Good times!Off to make rice krispies treats with the littles to try and use up the 4 bags of marshmallows I found when I cleaned our pantry yesterday! Yum!

rodeo day...safari too?

Today is rodeo day at the little pumpkin's preschool. Her pink cowgirl hat didn't go with the outfit so we made good use of a party favor cowboy hat from Carson's birthday last May. Thanks, Amanda!...bet you didn't know we still had that lying around here!!

Can you say, "Howdy, pardner!"Not to be outdone by his sister, Hudson quickly grabbed his safari hat {and took his favorite stuffed tiger to MDO this morning}... he he he.Note to self #1: buy more boy dress-up toys!
Grace LOVED this sword & shield set she played with at Preston's house last weekend.Note to self #2: PAINT that dining room and re-upholster those chairs already!!!! HA!
Don't worry...it's on the to-do for 2012!

But you know what I'm excited about??? Tomorrow is Three Kings Day...El Dia de los Reyes! The littles are excited to set out grass for the camels of the Wise Men in hopes that they will leave a little treat in their shoeboxes on their way through town as they travel through the night to meet baby Jesus. More about this sweet tradition {here} and {here}.

locked-in

Do you remember {last year's} birthday mayhem?
We are so not having a repeat performance.

It *seems* the little pumpkin has finally made her choice for the big #5.
{of course, just the fact that I'm uttering the words means she'll probably change her mind tonight - HA!}

This year we're lucky because her actual birthday - March 10 - is on a Saturday which means we can have one combined party for family & friends all on her special day. Yay!

So what's the theme?
Want a hint?
Here ya go!...............with a twist, of course *wink* I can't believe my baby girl is about to turn 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cozy in your jammies...

...and hanging out with your cousins!
what a fun way to start off the new year!preston-3, carson-4, grace-4, hudson-2

thank you thomas & julie for the invite!
your new house is beautiful and we're so excited for all that's in store for you in 2012!