Emerson's Art Birthday Party

Our energetic and fun girl turned 5 today! She was so excited! Everyone she saw today she told them it was her birthday- she smiled and her joy showed all day! Before we went to church today she said- "I can't go to church today because I might miss a phone call to tell me happy birthday". A few days ago she got in trouble for answering the phone and she said "Can I please answer the phone on my birthday because people call for me that day". She waited all day for people to call her.

She chose a Art theme for her birthday- so we did tye dye t-shirts, bead braclets, decorated art smocks, and did canvas hand prints. I am exhaused- the set up and clean up for this party was a lot of work! I found most of my ideas on www.pinterest.com the best website ever!

the t-shirt station

The tye dye cake

Me and the birthday princess

Art Smocks with glitter glue and fabric markers

The handprint canvas- luckily the two Grandmas were very helpful with the paint and wet wipes to clean their hands. Overall there wasn't much mess (or I should say I haven't found it yet)

OK- note to self- all the kids need for entertainment is a "balloon forrest" as they called it. My kids LOVED the balloons!

We ate tie dyed cake, white chocolate dipped pretzels, cake balls, fruit, and Trix balls (rice crispy treats made with trix cereal), and these jello cups

I found these layered jello cups on pinterest. I thought they looked fun. I started at 7:30 Saturday morning and finished them at 5:00 Saturday. If you ever want to make them just know it is time consuming. Make the jello using the quick set method then put them in the cups or pan and put it in the freezer- reserve about 1/3 of the jello and mix with cool whip (however much you want- I used about 1/2 c) and layer on the jello after it has set. I let them sit in the freezer for about 30 minutes for the jello and 30 minutes for the cool whip. Repeat with each layer. They were very cute and tasty. I think you could only use one or two colors if you didn't want to spend so much time!

The new guard dogs

Meet Pete & Rex

My grandparents got the cutest 6 week old lab puppies! We couldn't wait to go and play with them! My grandma says she now knows how to get the grandkids all to come over in a big hurry- get a puppy!

Andy's Summer do

We took Andy to get shaved for the summer. We have never done this before- he seems very happy! It took us a while to get used to his new look. When we picked him up from the groomer Emerson told the man "That's not our dog" I kept insisting that it was Andy but she kept holding her hand up telling him that that is not the same dog we brought in this morning. I am excited that I wont have to sweep and vacuum every single day! I didn't even know that this wasn't normal to vacuum everyday!

Phone Pictures

I have so many pictures on my phone this week so I thought I would just dedicate a blog post to my cell phone pictures

I got this great new rug today for my bathroom. I loved the rug but nothing in my house is the gray color except the master bath.

Caroline was in heaven on the baby doll aisle at Target. She didn't want to leave any baby behind. Suprisingly we didnt buy and baby dolls. v

Caroline had an MRI last week- she has had a whirlwind week. We found out our almost 3 year old was aspirating fluids- aka when she drinks it goes into her lungs so we have been to multiple dr appointments trying to figure out what is causing this or how we can treat it. At least now we know why she coughs all the time.

Caroline's big girl bed- I got the bedding at Target this week- I hesitated to get white but I figured since it was on sale and washable it was worth the price.

A few pictures

Here are a few pictures of the house as we get it set up. Don't think I have it all under control at 2 weeks- I am only showing you the good rooms with out boxes

I am the 1%

Extra holes

Caroline was so happy as you can tell- she kept jumping up and down saying "I get my ears pierced too!" I hadn't planned to get hers done but she kept saying yes and she watched Jessie and Emerson. Pictures are below

Emerson was so excited to finally get her ears pierced. She started asking to get them done a few months ago. I kept putting it off because I wasnt sure if she was old enough. But then I found out Jessie, my niece wanted hers done too so Misha and I decided to do it together! Emerson went first! (I was a little nervous that we wouldn't get further than the black dots marked on her ear) She did great- more than great- she didn't even cry. They did both ears at the same time. She was all smiles! At bedtime tonight she asked if she could take them out now. I think getting them pierced was the easy part and the drama will be taking care of them and turning them!

Caroline's turn. Love that face. I promise she asked to do it. Kirt was there too and said we might as well get it over with.

She didn't cry when they did it- after the girls walked off she burst into tears. I may have shed a tear too- I felt really bad about letting her do it. A little mommy guilt that she was crying.

Jessie, Caroline, and Emerson with their beautiful ears.

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Beach preview

Best Friends

Cutie Pies- Caroline and Andrew

Childrens Aquarium

We went to the Childrens Aquarium in Fair Park today! The kids and I both needed a fun break from looking for houses, packing, and keeping our house clean! We went with our friend from Charleston, SC- her husband and Kirt have been best friends since high school- and her baby and Meredith and Andrew met us too! My kids LOVED Ellie- They wanted to push her stroller, give her a bottle, play with her hold her hands. Ellie was such a good baby and Heidi was appreciative of the help!

Emerson and the albino alligator. She wore a button on her shirt that said "Birthday Girl" and loved for people to ask if it was her birthday and she would smile and say "No, not today". We have worn this for 2 days so far- we will see it may become our new accessory!

Ellie, Andrew, Caroline, Emerson, and Sam

Up close and personal with the sting rays- the kids could pet them, they would come right up if you put your hand in the water.

Of course I couldn't resist a cute photo-op of Andrew and Caroline! They LOVE each other- they hop around and hold hands. I will post a cute video of them in a minute.

Swimming like a fish

So this may be our new hangout- we are moving at the begining of July and when we took Sam to tour the new school we found this great shopping area with a beach park and spray fountains for the kids to play! The kids are so excited and can't wait to go back! The area was full of young kids and moms! It will be a great way to meet people in our new neighborhood!

The kids are also taking swimming lessons! Emerson learned to swim last summer but apparently she forgot how but she caught on quickly and now she can swim across the entire pool even stopping to take breaths! That is big for a 4 year old! And Caroline- cried for 5 out of 7 lessons- the last two days she caught on and smiled and played. She needs another set of lessons (or two) before she will be swimming after the other kids!

The last day they made a train with the swim noodles- it is an indoor pool so it was so nice not to worry about sun screen!

We took lessons with my friends little ones- Ellery and Andrew! I think Lori, Meredith, and I enjoyed catching up during swim lessons as much as they enjoyed swimming!

1, 2, 3 strikes your out

Spring Baseball is coming to an end and I couldn't resist getting my camera out to take pictures of my favorite 8 year old.

Hug them a little tighter

Friends of ours lost their 2 year old today. He drowned in their backyard pool. It has consumed my mind this afternoon and all I want to do it hug and kiss on my kids. It could so easily happen to anyone- drowning is the number one most preventable accident but one minute in lack of supervision and it can happen to any of us! I don't know if it is my history as a pediatric nurse that makes me so freaked out about this. I remember everyone of my near-drownings- I can tell you the room number and what they looked like- it is forever ingrained in my head. It breaks my heart that this family didn't get to say goodbye to him and they thought they had safety barriers in place. Please keep this family in your prayers tonight and enjoy EVERY moment with your kids. Life is so precious and not to be taken for granted.