Sunday, November 30, 2014

Morgan's 6th Birthday!

 Well my oldest little girl just turned 6! It was her year to have a birthday party (we switch off years since both girls' birthdays are in November). I just CANNOT swing two birthdays in one month!
She is all about Hello Kitty right now so choosing the theme for her party was easy. 
I found her a Hello Kitty party dress months earlier. It was perfect and she loved it. Oh, and I found this headband at Target. We both thought it was adorable and perfect for this special event!

 We had her party at the park right next to our house. It made set up and clean up really easy.  

 I made her cake from scratch. I truly love making the girls' cakes. They love them and talk about them all year round. I know they look a little wonky because they're homemade but that's part of what makes them so special in my eyes.
 The below picture is just one of her invites, I already had the frame and I already had this vase with flowers in the girls' closets. 




 We rented a bounce house this year. The little party goers of course loved it and it meant I didn't have to plan any party games.
It was a gorgeous day! It had rained for 24 hours straight leading up to the party which is basically unheard of here. We lucked out because it quit the day before the party but it did make for some soggy grass.



For some cheap, easy extra whimsy, I used golf tees to place balloons in the ground in a portion of the park. At one point I looked over to see Charlotte squealing with glee as she ran through the balloons as if they were a maze.
See the big Hello Kitty back there? I used an old card board box to make a Hello Kitty photo prop. 
My mug...
I had to get the below life sized Hello Kitty after seeing how much Morgan loved her life sized Minnie Mouse that she got for her Minnie Mouse party a couple of years earlier. The girls have played with her every day since the party and she's only slightly deflated.



Since it was an outside party, I wanted to have another activity for the kids so I bought some bubble makers and a big container of bubble solution. It was a hit! I'm actually looking forward to using these bubble makers again next summer. They were fun!


Proud parents!
 Love my mom and dad hugging in the background of this picture. I especially love my mom's smile as she watches Morgan open her gifts. Of course Dusty is working her tail off taking notes of who got what presents for Morgan. I couldn't do parties without my sis. She is such a big help! She gives so much to her family.





The party gang!
Morgan tried out the scooter Daniel and I bought her below.
 Charlotte had a blast with Papa and he did too. He was bouncing her around on his knee. He used to do the same with me.



 Chase loved the above picture he took of Charlotte. He took most of the pictures that day! We're so lucky to have him in our family because he's a great kid and cousin. Matter of fact, looking at these pictures makes me swell up with love and pride for my family. For every event, they are always there rallying behind us and supporting us. They don't just show up, they participate and are our number one fans. I'm so lucky to have a family who is so involved and loving. 


Frank and Dusty bought Morgan a remote control car. Chase showed her how to work it after the party. Awwwww...
And as a side note, if anyone ever needs a present idea for Morgan, she LOVES these coloring pages she got with markers. They're kind of like those felt ones that were so popular during the 70's lol! She has happily sat coloring these pages for hours at a time since the party. Thank you to everyone who participated or sent presents or wished her Happy Birthday! Your love is priceless to us! 
Morgan loved her party and had a GREAT time! She has talked about it a lot ever since. It was nice getting to know some of her school friends parents too. One day when I dropped Morgan off at school, one of her friends ran up to me saying hello and told me Morgan's party was the best ever! That made my day. I love this little girl with all my heart and look forward to many more birthdays! Thank you Morgan for making my life so much richer.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Halloween Night!

We had a bit of an Adventures Of The Sea theme going on with our little mermaid and pirate this year!






 We did something a little different this year. Instead of trick or treating in our neighborhood, we headed up to the mountains to watch my nephew play football. My parents came into town to watch his game and to attend Morgan's birthday party that weekend so we decided to join everybody at the game. 

The girls "watching" the game. I say watching loosely because there's not a whole lot of watching that actually takes place with these two. We're there for support though.
 Number 23, my studly nephew!
They were going to have a "trunk-or-treat" in the parking lot of the high school but it rained. Go figure! We're in the middle of a major drought with no rain for months and it finally decides to rain on the one night where large amounts of people plan on being outside! 
So instead, they modified their horror house/gym into a trick or treating type of experience. The two didn't quite mix well for really little ones but my girls still had fun.
 Look at Charlotte though. She really had to assess the situation before walking up to each person and getting candy. She'd kind of just stay back and circle until she was ready to go in for the candy!
 The high school kids were really sweet and loved the girls AND hooked them up with huge handfuls of candy at each station!
 The below stash was after Daniel and the girls ate on it all night!
I enjoy watching the girls have a blast each Halloween!