One of Connor's favorite things about 2nd grade thus far is having learned the Pledge of Allegiance in sign language, which they do each morning. (This is among many favorites - I need to do a 2nd grade update; he is rocking his school year). As such, he has taught Isabel and Lucas to do it as well. And not to steal Connor's thunder, but Lucas doing it is one of the most stinkin' cute/entertaining things EVER. Not so much the actions - he only knows some of them - but because of that voice of his. Oh, it is so... Lucas. Brian and I agree we could sit and listen to Lucas talk all day long and be thoroughly amused. So without further ado, I present Lucas saying/signing the Pledge. The end is my favorite - I don't know if he just runs out of steam or what? I seriously adore that little dude.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Isabel is 5
Five years ago today, she entered my life. This one sparkling, bright, pink jewel among a sea of dazzling, handsome blue gems. And what a journey it's been. I'm pretty sure she was born talking. And singing. And dancing. And drawing. And telling stories. And talking. And with a zest for life that is quite possibly without equal. And oh, how very loved she is.
We celebrated the big 5 - pardon me while I get slightly misty, I feel we are leaving little-girl hood and entering a new era - with a friend party on Saturday (see previous post for deets). And tonight we had a family party with Brian's parents, my 2 brothers and sister-in-law.
I tried to play photographer again, and get just one nice shot of Isabel on her birthday. Wow, it really wasn't in the cards this time around. Here's a pathetic offering. Hello, is that an angel? No, it's just Isabel in an extremely washed out picture. Grumble grumble. Seriously, a camera in my hands becomes a weapon of mass destruction. I'm almost as useless with a camera as I am with a cell phone. But I digress... that's a story for another day.
Let's head inside, shall we? Perhaps it gets better. Or, not.
When we get together with my brothers, it doesn't take long for a boy pile to develop. Such fun, these crazy, young, energetic, kid-less uncles.
Another cake, this time the seasonally scrumptious pumpkin delight-
More presents-
The Barbie CD sing-a-long CD player from us was an unbelievably huge hit. My daughter loves singing, music, dancing and performing, so this was the perfect gift. The boys joined in, and oh my, what a show we all enjoyed. Suffice it to say they all have the performing bug. Lucas had some sort of rock-star swagger, Isabel belted out the Lion King and a whole slew of patriotic songs, and the boys dueted (is that a word?) on some Jack Johnson. Now that's an evening of entertainment as its finest. We could charge admission!
The birthday girl with her Nanna and Grandpa-
Happy 5th birthday Isabel. You have our hearts.
We celebrated the big 5 - pardon me while I get slightly misty, I feel we are leaving little-girl hood and entering a new era - with a friend party on Saturday (see previous post for deets). And tonight we had a family party with Brian's parents, my 2 brothers and sister-in-law.
I tried to play photographer again, and get just one nice shot of Isabel on her birthday. Wow, it really wasn't in the cards this time around. Here's a pathetic offering. Hello, is that an angel? No, it's just Isabel in an extremely washed out picture. Grumble grumble. Seriously, a camera in my hands becomes a weapon of mass destruction. I'm almost as useless with a camera as I am with a cell phone. But I digress... that's a story for another day.
Let's head inside, shall we? Perhaps it gets better. Or, not.
When we get together with my brothers, it doesn't take long for a boy pile to develop. Such fun, these crazy, young, energetic, kid-less uncles.
Another cake, this time the seasonally scrumptious pumpkin delight-
More presents-
The Barbie CD sing-a-long CD player from us was an unbelievably huge hit. My daughter loves singing, music, dancing and performing, so this was the perfect gift. The boys joined in, and oh my, what a show we all enjoyed. Suffice it to say they all have the performing bug. Lucas had some sort of rock-star swagger, Isabel belted out the Lion King and a whole slew of patriotic songs, and the boys dueted (is that a word?) on some Jack Johnson. Now that's an evening of entertainment as its finest. We could charge admission!
The birthday girl with her Nanna and Grandpa-
Happy 5th birthday Isabel. You have our hearts.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
A fancy 5th birthday party
This was the inspiration for Isabel's 5th birthday party (held yesterday):
It's a fabulous theme. Because, really, you can make anything fancy. And what girl doesn't like to be fancy now and then? It was loads of fun. Some of the recipes and games came from the book. It was the perfect guide.
I made Isabel a burned-edge fabric flower for the big day. These are my favorite; they are incredibly fun to make. You literally burn the edges of synthetic fabric with a candle or lighter, and it curls up.
We created a little photo spot via some pink leopard-print wrapping paper. And voila! The birthday girl in all her fancy pink glory-
I cut flower-shaped foam placemats for the girls to decorate with jewels and glitter glue (my dear friend Paula served as my trusty party hosting sidekick - thanks so much for the help!)
We used a pretty, sparkly butterfly wand as the magic wand in a game of fancy freeze tag, wherein the girls could freeze and unfreeze each other with a (gentle) touch of the magic wand. Much giggling ensued.
The fancy group taking a breather-
We played follow the hostess (basically do as I'm doing). Again, more giggling. It was tough to get some non-blurry pics, they were doing such fancy actions!
I made paper medallions (these are FUN!) and put some fancy French words on the wall. We had French class and learned to say some French words, in a Fancy fashion of course.
For lunch, we served crepes with Nutella, fruit kebobs with Mademoiselle Howell's Fancy Honey Dip, flower-shaped jelly and PB&J sandwiches, and orange fizaroo drinks (OJ, sparkling water and orange sherbet)-
After lunch we read Fancy Nancy Tea Parties, and then opened presents. What a haul! The gift theme definitely ran along the pink and art supply lines (notebooks, markers, colored pencils, stencils, stickers, easel, chalkboard), sprinkled with makeup, jewelry, a tea set, Cinderella play set, Barbie and Strawberry shortcake DVDs, Puppy in my Pocket set, purple pony, puzzles, cute bags, a super cute Halloween shirt and spiderweb hairbow, and books. Each gift has been well loved!
The cake was the one debacle of the day. As I inverted it, half of the cake stuck to the pan badly and basically was obliterated. It broke into about a million pieces. And so, subsequently, did I. I had a near meltdown, then recovered and sent Brian to the store in search of a fancy cake. He came home with a blue cake with balloons on it...(?). First time I've ever done a store-bought cake. I was disappointed, I had plans for a fun cake, but it turned out fine. :)
For goody bags for all the fancy party attendees, I gave them pink sparkly glitter pencils and princess Silly Bandz-
and a cupcake necklace; I made these cupcake charms (idea from my friend Monique), and made them into necklaces. Super fun!
And they each got to pick a lollipop and scoop of gumballs from the lollipop bouquet-
I took a picture of Isabel with each of her friends in our fancy photo spot. I am going to print each picture to send to each girl with their thank you. In the invitation, I had asked each girl to come dressed fancy; it was so much fun to see the different ways the girls chose to be fancy. They are all so cute I had to post them all. Seeing her next to all her friends is a blatant reminder of how stinkin' small she is. What do you do?
Ooh-la-la! What a soiree!
It's a fabulous theme. Because, really, you can make anything fancy. And what girl doesn't like to be fancy now and then? It was loads of fun. Some of the recipes and games came from the book. It was the perfect guide.
I made Isabel a burned-edge fabric flower for the big day. These are my favorite; they are incredibly fun to make. You literally burn the edges of synthetic fabric with a candle or lighter, and it curls up.
We created a little photo spot via some pink leopard-print wrapping paper. And voila! The birthday girl in all her fancy pink glory-
I cut flower-shaped foam placemats for the girls to decorate with jewels and glitter glue (my dear friend Paula served as my trusty party hosting sidekick - thanks so much for the help!)
We used a pretty, sparkly butterfly wand as the magic wand in a game of fancy freeze tag, wherein the girls could freeze and unfreeze each other with a (gentle) touch of the magic wand. Much giggling ensued.
The fancy group taking a breather-
We played follow the hostess (basically do as I'm doing). Again, more giggling. It was tough to get some non-blurry pics, they were doing such fancy actions!
I made paper medallions (these are FUN!) and put some fancy French words on the wall. We had French class and learned to say some French words, in a Fancy fashion of course.
For lunch, we served crepes with Nutella, fruit kebobs with Mademoiselle Howell's Fancy Honey Dip, flower-shaped jelly and PB&J sandwiches, and orange fizaroo drinks (OJ, sparkling water and orange sherbet)-
After lunch we read Fancy Nancy Tea Parties, and then opened presents. What a haul! The gift theme definitely ran along the pink and art supply lines (notebooks, markers, colored pencils, stencils, stickers, easel, chalkboard), sprinkled with makeup, jewelry, a tea set, Cinderella play set, Barbie and Strawberry shortcake DVDs, Puppy in my Pocket set, purple pony, puzzles, cute bags, a super cute Halloween shirt and spiderweb hairbow, and books. Each gift has been well loved!
The cake was the one debacle of the day. As I inverted it, half of the cake stuck to the pan badly and basically was obliterated. It broke into about a million pieces. And so, subsequently, did I. I had a near meltdown, then recovered and sent Brian to the store in search of a fancy cake. He came home with a blue cake with balloons on it...(?). First time I've ever done a store-bought cake. I was disappointed, I had plans for a fun cake, but it turned out fine. :)
For goody bags for all the fancy party attendees, I gave them pink sparkly glitter pencils and princess Silly Bandz-
and a cupcake necklace; I made these cupcake charms (idea from my friend Monique), and made them into necklaces. Super fun!
And they each got to pick a lollipop and scoop of gumballs from the lollipop bouquet-
I took a picture of Isabel with each of her friends in our fancy photo spot. I am going to print each picture to send to each girl with their thank you. In the invitation, I had asked each girl to come dressed fancy; it was so much fun to see the different ways the girls chose to be fancy. They are all so cute I had to post them all. Seeing her next to all her friends is a blatant reminder of how stinkin' small she is. What do you do?
Ooh-la-la! What a soiree!
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