Dr Cam Rocks!

I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but Kenzley had another 3 cavities at her last check up. I don't know if you remember from my post last year but she had 7 cavities last year that she had to have work done on at PCMC. Poor kid just doesn't have good teeth and it doesn't seem to matter how good we brush, the sugar bugs love to live in her teeth. The day after we got home from Vegas, Kenzley had an appointment to see Dr. Cam and he was going to fix her teeth. I was nervous, as any mom would be, especially because last time she was put out completely, and this time we decided to try it in the office. In Dr. Cam's words she was the best patient he has ever had. She just laid there and watched the movie and let Dr. Cam do his thing without any fighting or moving. AMAZING! Now normally I would hand it to her, but I do have to say that our dentist is pretty amazing. Even with all of the work Kenzley has had done on her teeth, she still looks forward to going to the dentist. Dr. Cam is so gentle and very kind. He makes the kids feel at ease and they know he wouldn't ever intentionally hurt them. It helps that Kenzley thinks Dr. Cam is handsome and tells him every time she sees him. I feel very lucky to have such an awesome dentist who isn't just a great dentist but a great friend to my girls. Thanks Dr. Cam for all you and your office staff do!

Vegas 2013

This year we took our annual Las Vegas trip for the college basketball tournament. Mike and his parents always go to the games and the girls and I stay behind and find other things to do. The past couple of years we have done the same things each time and so this year I was on a mission to do something new with the girls. I was very excited that I had found some new things to do which included, the zoo, a mermaid show, a dolphin show, and a children's museum. We of course did our yearly visit to the strip as well, because some things never change. So our first day we started out at the zoo. This wasn't as great as I thought it would be. While the website makes the zoo sound awesome this zoo was ghetto. It sits in a dingy neighborhood and the only way you would know the zoo was there is by the painted cement wall out to the front of the zoo. We were able to see some ostriches, one monkey with a man in his cage, a couple of tressas, lots of pigeons, one lion, one cougar, a cockatoo, and some wallabys, and an otter. That is all the zoo had to offer and I paid as much to get into that zoo and we do for our local zoo.

The next day our outing included going to the mermaid show and the dolphin show. The mermaid show was free and we got watch the stingray feeding prior to the show. Brinley was impressed by the mermaid, however, Kenzley was not. Kenzley thought she would be a real mermaid and was very disappointed when she saw her outfit. The dolphin show was at the mirage and was worth every penny. They did lots of fun tricks and the girls got to pet them. It was kind of a rainy overcast day that day and so not very many people were there, which was nice.

The next day we went to the strip and spent some time in the m&m store and in coke world. The girls were dying to watch the 3D m&m movie. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day and so all I got was phone pics.

Our last day I had planned on taking the girls to the children's museum and coincidently that day was the re-grand opening. We drove to the museum which is located in the ghetto of Vegas. It had hundreds of homeless people swarming it and needless to say, since I was alone with the girls, I didn't dare get out of the car. So we ended up with option B which was a trampoline park. I know this is something we could have done at home, but they still had fun and enjoyed their time.

Mike and I were able to have a date night one of the nights we were there. My inlaws watched the kids and Mike and I went shopping. Then we went and ate at Bucca Di Beppo, which is awesome and I recommend it to anyone. Then we went to Sam's Town and gambled away $100 and on our way back to the condo we stopped and got a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory for dessert.

 

Valentine's 2013

This year for Valentine's Day we didn't do much because we were leaving for Vegas a couple weeks later and we were going to celebrate it there. I did still manage to make Mike a homemade gift from the girls. I had been looking at pinterest quite a bit for some inspiration and that is where I found my idea.

Mike has a frame at his work that we gave to him with pictures in it from a couple of father's days ago. I try and update the picture of the girls at least once a year. I feel that at least that way he has some cute and fun pictures of the girls on his desk. While I was searching pinterest, I also came across some ideas for homemade Valentine's that we could make for the girls to hand out.

The Sundaes are what the girls gave their teachers

The shovels are what Brinley and Kenzley gave their classmates

The suckers are what Skyeley handed out to her little friends

 

I owe my mom a lot of thanks, because I found these ideas and was only able to help her for one day get what we could put together. She then finished the rest and delivered them to the girls so they could hand them out. We had our normal steak and lobster dinner at my inlaws with Mike's cousin Tyler and his family. It is always so nice to see them and catch up, even if it is only on special occasions. Mike and Kenzley were also able to go to Chick Fil A's daddy/daughter date night. Kenzley is a big daddy's girl and enjoyed this night out with her dad. That morning she made sure I straightened her hair and that she wore a dress so that she looked cute for their date. I picked her up from my mom after work and we met Mike at Chick Fil A. She got to get her picture taken with the princess cow and her dad, eat at her favorite restaurant, and she got a rose with cow on it from her dad. They also had limo rides available, but Mike had a basketball game that night and so they didn't have time to go for a ride. She was so smiley all night and was excited to tell everyone she saw that she went on a date with her dad.

Jake and the Neverland Pirate Party

This year for Kenzley's 4th birthday she wanted to have a Jake and the Neverland Pirate's party. She has been talking about it since her party last year and hasn't forgotten about it since. I was really worried about how I would be able to pull off the theme because the tv series is so new and it made it hard to find things. I knew I didn't want the party to be to boyish, especially since we were only inviting girls. I started on my search for a cute girl invitation and I found this one on etsy. The lady did an amazing job, she was fast, offered free printables for other parts of party, and most importantly she was inexpensive. One of Kenzley's main requests for her birthday was that we had glow in the dark cotton candy. I hadn't ever heard of it either, but apparently she saw that Katy Perry had it at her party and so that meant that Kenzley had to have it at hers. This was probably the hardest idea we have ever tried to pull off. I could find images of the cotton candy all over the internet and on pintrest, but I couldn't find anywhere to actually purchase the sticks that needed to be used. For the cotton candy you can't just use any glow in the dark stick, it has to be certain ones so that the cotton candy lights up the right way and also so it will stick. I came across a cute shop in Kentucky and the lady was willing to make them for me and overnight them to me. After talking to my husband but the cost involved we decided to keep searching for the sticks so we could do it ourselves. There is a guy in californing who sales the sticks in bulk, like 500 in a box, and so I called him to see if he had any idea where I could buy them individually, because I only needed 12. He gave me the number of a guy in north carolina and that guy was willing to sell them to me individually. For the cotton candy part we decided to purchase a cotton candy machine of our own instead of renting one because it was more cost efficient that way. 

They really are pretty neat, they are battery operated and very durable, we were able to reuse them when the kids were ready for more cotton candy. With being pregnant and having so many problems with my pregnancy I was really nervous about how this party would turn out. I wasn't feeling up to much and I feel like my guests may have noticed but I still tried to make it a great birthday for Kenzley. Once our guests arrived I had each child start coloring their pirate bandanas. I was able to find these on oriental trading and the girls loved coloring and designing their own bandana. 

When they were done coloring their bandanas I had them go to the pirate make up table, where they could get their pirate make up. None of the girls came out looking like a ragged pirate of course but it was a good excuse to put on some play make up. Each girl also got an eye patch and some pirate tattoos to put on their body. Once everyone was dressed like a pirate we took their pictures.

 Here are our cute little pirate ladies.

After we were dressed like pirates, it was time to go dig for our treasure. I purchased a small plastic swimming pool and filled it with play sand and then hid necklaces, rings, bracelets, and golden coins throughout the sand. I gave each girl a bag put their treasure in once they retrieved it.

Once everyone got their treasure we decided it was time to eat. We had shark's blood to drink (hawaiian punch), fresh fruit, cupcakes, and of course the cotton candy. I purchased plastic Jake and the Neverland Pirate cups that I found at Wal-Mart for each child to drink out of and take home after the party.

Once we were done eating it was time to open presents and just let the birthday girl enjoy playing with her friends. Thanks to everyone who came and supported us!

Tangled Birthday Party

Brinley turned 5 on September 30 and this year for her birthday she wanted a Tangled party. This theme was hard for me because there weren't too many ideas on the internet to help me get my creative juices flowing. It also was hard because we just moved a little over a month ago, and while I am thankful we moved, it sure put a little kink in my party throwing plans. With that said, this was probably one of the most enjoyable parties I have thrown since I started doing at home parties for the girls. I started with a fun invitation created by this lady! I aboslutely loved how the invitation turned out and she was very reasonably priced!

My best friend is always willing to help me with these parties with whatever I ask her to do. I have kind of started giving her an assignment for each party, that way, it kind of ensures that she will come. For Brinley's party I asked her to make Rapunzel's tower. I didn't want it for any other reason besides a photo op. I love being able to take the kids' pictures by or with something fun at each party and I thought this would be perfect. The tower was perfect and all the little girls loved it. I loved how it turned out!

For our first activity at the party, I thought it would be fun to let the kids paint the wall like Rapunzel does. I brought home a couple of sheets from work and a few rolls of table paper. I hung a sheet on one of my bare walls and then taped the table paper horizontally across the sheet. I also covered the carpet with a couple more sheets and our art wall was ready. This was a huge hit at the party and everyone loved painting the wall. Even after the party was over a few little artists were found back in the room painting again.

For our second activity we made our very own Princess Rapunzel crown. We got a template from familyfun.com and I cut out and glued them together. Then I let the girls decorate them with foam stickers and sequins. While we decorated we decided to eat our pizza too.

Once we were done eating we and our crowns were on we played pin the nose on flynn rider. I was able to google and coloring page of flynn rider without a nose. I printed it out and took it to my nearest kinkos and had them blow it up. I also printed out a coloring page of flynn rider with a nose and cut out his nose and then blew it up on the copier at my work. The girls loved this game. The person that got their nose the closest won a princess dress up kit. Our winner was Taysee, congratulations Taysee!

We let the kids play for a while after and then it was time for presents. I had all the little princesses sit on the couch and then I called them one by one to go pick out their gift to give to Brinley. Brinley was so thankful for all that she got. It was cute to watch how excited see was and to here her say thank you. Thank you to everyone who came!

Then it was time for cake and ice cream! We sang happy birthday and Brinley blew out her candles! This is where I wasn't very creative. I didn't make any food for her party. I even bought her cake. I am so disappointmet in myself. I won't be doing that again, but she was happy.

 Mike has a coworker at his work that makes all different types of hair bows. Since I was running out of time, and I hadn't put my party favors together yet, I asked her if I got all of the supplies, if she could make the bows for me. She gladly accepted. I ordered Rapunzel bottle caps from here and I ordered some cute polka dot ribbon from ebay. His coworker made a set of hair bows for each child to take home and even made a cute Rapunzel hair bow holder to put them on. Thanks Sarah!

Thank you to everyone who came! We appreciate all the love and support you give us! Happy birthday Brinley! We hope you had a wonderful day! We are so proud of you and the beautiful little girl you have become!