So Far...

I'm not a fan of 29. I haven't been out of bed in days because I have strep so bad I swear my mouth and throat are rotting away. But... I do have some awesome bed head going.

29 and Holding

I can't get it to stand up right yet. 28 years of telling it to lay down is working against me. Red Fish keeps laughing and saying: "Mommy has funny hair." Gotta hold on to my rebellious youth as long as I can. ;)

Birthday part 3- The Fancy Nancy Balloon Party

This year Red Fish requested a "Fancy Nancy and Balloons party" whatever that means. I did my best to fulfill her wishes. The royal decree (that's fancy for invites) were sent across the land.

Preparations for the celebration of birth were made (that's fancy for birthday.)

The anticipation was almost too much.

All of the most exquisite Ladies and Gentlemen (that’s fancy for friends) were invited.

The guests were instructed to wear their poshest party attire. (That's fancy for ball gowns, capes, pajamas etc.) Half of Red Fish's friends are little boys so we had to be sure they knew they could go for a masculine fancy. Red Fish picked her own outfit: leopard leotard, purple striped leggings, giant tutu, curly hair and a party hat. She look fabulous although it looked more like a circus party than anything else.
We made sure to create some ambiance. (That's fancy for balloons and streamers.)

And we had a fitting table setting. (That's fancy for decor.)

Everything for the party had to be shiny or glittery because that is what Red Fish equates with Fancy.
We made some sparkly sunvisors with foam stickers because Fancy Nancy is all about accessories. Everyone got their face painted. Some kids only wanted something tiny, some wanted their whole face done. I actually really had fun painting their faces. I want to do it again. We read the original Fancy Nancy book while the kids ran wild and played with balloons.

Pin the polka dot on the ladybug was a raving success. They thought the goal was to get the sticker on the poster- so every body won.

We played a ring toss game. The kids were more interested on setting the rings on the cake than throwing them. We also played some duck duck goose but the concept was a little muddled by that many tiny kids. Every time I said goose everyone would jump up and start running around. They thought it was a fabulous game.
Red Fish didn't even notice that someone else had already blown out her candle during the song. She still blew it out again.

We had petit-fours (That's fancy for cupcakes) and apple juice.

Miss New Fish collected an extra cupcake and was hiding under the kitchen table with it at the end of the party. She was a lightly frosted. (That's fancy for a mess.)

Everyone went home with a party bag with star sunglasses, glitter putty, a sparkly maraca and a couple of treats. Best of all- I survived hosting my first children's birthday party with the aid of a few friends and my mother in law. Twelve kids is a lot of energy. Red Fish loved it so much she wore herself out and slept the rest of the afternoon. She got spoiled with all of the presents and attention.

Birthday part 2

Red Fish made it home safe and sound on the school bus. The bus driver let me come on to get her out so I had to snap a picture. She absolutely adored school and hasn't stopped asking when she can go back. I hope that attitude holds through high school.
After Red Fish came inside, she immediately wanted to do her "homework" She had a paper turkey feather to decorate for the class turkey. She colored it and covered it in feathers, foam and glitter glue.
I thought it was cute that she picked the school bus and the thing she was most thankful for.
My grandparents stopped by with some sparkly snow boots for Red Fish. She loves them so much she doesn't want to take them off, even for bed. After Two Fish got home from work we went out for a quick dinner and opened some presents. It's so fun to hear Red Fish ooh and ahh over every gift.

Red Fish got pretty spoiled this year because Daddy decided to do some shopping as well. He bought her the Toy Story movies. She also got a car rug from ikea and some cars and a couple of books. I thought it was very sweet that she shared her new toys so nicely with her little sister.

The School Bus

Today my sweet baby turned three. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. She is so funny and dramatic and smart. She is a prolific artist and spends her days filling pages with drawings, collages and paintings. She is sweet to her sister (at least half the time) and teaches her how to play games. She snuggles me and gives me hugs every single day. Red Fish is as stubborn as they come and cannot be swayed. I'm hoping that sticks with her so her peers can't convince her to rebel as a teen. For the last month, Red Fish has been talking about how she is going to be three and have a party.
Today is also the first day of Red Fish's new preschool. It is her new speech program. She will attend twice a week for three hours. I'm NOT ready for her to head to preschool. She is so little and I need more time with her at home. Red Fish was really excited though. We've talked about the school bus (YES A SCHOOLBUS HOW SAD IS THAT?) and what school will be like. I think she is really going to like it and she has been very excited. She got very excited to get dressed and wait for the bus this morning. This is the same outfit I wore to my first day of preschool. It was a little bit small for her but I got it on her. My Dad bought it in England when I was a little kid.
Her school requires a regular size backpack which I think is ridiculous because she is so tiny but she loves the new bag.

New Fish was excited to wait with her sister for the bus. She was very sad when she was left behind.Red Fish showed no fear. She got on the bus and waved goodbye like she has been doing it all her life. I got a little teary.And then there was one baby at home.

Long Post of a Ridiculously Fun Weekend

It was a fantastic weekend! Muffy, my roomie from college and her husband Arby came to visit us. I got to go on two awesome dates with my husband (Thanks Clara and Josh for babysitting!) and spend the whole weekend having a blast.

On Friday night we went to see Bram Stoker's Dracula at the theatre. It definitely was not as good as the book but I still really enjoyed it. The first half was a little cheesy and I was pleased when they killed Lucy Westerna off because her terrible accent was killing me. The set was great and I liked the adaptation from the book.Muffy and I went back to campus to show Arby and go to a football game with some friends. We took a picture outside of our old dorm since it has been 10 years since we lived there.
All of us at the football game. It was ridiculously warm ouside for November. Lovely N and her husband L are on the left. Lovely N went to highschool with Muffy and I met her when she came out to visit and later moved here. Sparky and A in the front. Sparky was Two Fish's roommate in college and we were all really tight friends. Muffy and Arby in back. We loved having them visit. It's so fun to see Muffy so happy. I love being around other happily married couples. It makes the world seem happier. Then Two Fish and I are on the right side.
Saturday night we went for Tepanyaki and Sushi for Muffy's birthday. The little girls loved the show the chef put on for us.

Sunday afternoon we went up in the mountains and walked around the frozen lake. We had to make sure that Muffy and Arby got to use the cold weather gear they packed for their trip.

All of the girls

Our little family

New Fish thinks she is such a big kid now. She kept trying to run off into the woods by herself so we had to keep close tabs on her.

Little A and Red Fish playing by the fire pit. After our walk around the lake we found a fire pit and made tinfoil dinners and smores. I think the mountains (and the ocean) are my happy place. Nothin better than sitting around a campfire with friends.

Arby made good friends with all of the kids and was chasing them around like crazy. They love him.

It was a fantastic weekend. So fun to be with old friends and newer ones. There is something to be said for keeping friends who knew you at certain times in your life. Childhood friends, highschool friends, college friends etc. They know you like nobody else ever can.

Sometimes the chaos of my life can be overwhelming so this weekend was a perfect break from reality!

Accomplished Today

It has been a rough week for a lot of different reasons. So I've decided to celebrate my victories. I feel extremely accomplished today. I got a lot done.

Some laundry

Some cleaning

Potty training

Cub scout den meeting- made homemade instruments and played music. Counts as music time for girls

Speech practice one on one with Red Fish

Time on the computer (Waterford early learning programs) with Red Fish

Story time with girls- read to them seperately today

Reading time for myself

Watch a show on tv

Playroom time

Play at playground with friends

Design, print and deliver birthday invites with the girls

Walk dogs

Meals and snacks for everyone

Bathtime (Any day on which I bathe and dress three of us is an accomplished day. I've given up on fixing my hair and wearing makeup.)

Work time- finished a big project and caught up on emails.

Made a few phone calls to check on my peeps

Snuggled my babies

Blog

I feel amazingly accomplished. Today is a victory.

'Lil Turkeys

Apparently supervising two tiny children with paint brushes is going to be harder than I thought! Good thing they love the bathtub!
We took down all of our Halloween decor and have been making some Thanksgiving themed decorations.
Handprint feathers and footprint body. I'm just trying to think of a project that Red Fish will like as much as the footprint ghosts we made last month. We glued on pom poms for eyeballs but they fell off when I hung the pics up too early. I think overall it was successful.

Babies

Is that sweet or what?

This baby doll wouldn't cooperate and lie still. She also refused to wear clothing. I guess everything I tried to put on her clashed with her diaper and necklace. lol.

A Frequent Scene At Our House

Collages, foam stickers, glitter glue (the only glitter that belongs in my house) crayons etc. I love easy projects for little kids. I'm not sure how we would make it through the day sometimes if they didn't have at least a few peaceful minutes sitting at the table everyday.