Mike's response: Absolutely! What ever I have to do to be able to watch the Hockey game! (awwww....)
And Em-she's pleased as punch with her beautician skills! She has 1 color to chose from (which she picked at the store all by herself-pretty isn't it???? lol), her prices for services are reasonable, and her schedule is WIDE OPEN for booking appointments-any takers?
Yesterday we took the kids to a FABULOUS Children's Museum called "Imagine". We've been wanting to check it out for a while-so we finally decided that it was finally THE day! No more Cabin Fever for us.....
We stopped at the Alderwood Mall on our way, and had a refreshing and oh so yummy lunch at Panera, and then headed to the Disney Store with the kiddos! That couldn't have been cooler (well, it COULD-if it were CLOSER! :) but such is life in Ellensburg!) Emma was over the top excited and ran from shelf to shelf saying "Oh wow-Mom did you see this one?" Bryce was most interested in the display of Ariel toys....(hmmmm....half naked girls are his interest these days????? :) In the end each of them picked out one new stuffed friend to sleep with tonight and we headed back to the car-onwards to the museum.
It was BY FAR, the best children's museum we have ever been to-hand's down! Even Mike was the first one to point that out (we really enjoy Downtown Seattle-but this was like a whole different ball game) This place was 3 stories tall with so much to explore. Both kids shot threw the door like lightning to begin their adventures!
Inside the museum there was: a "downtown" area with a Vet Clinic-where kids got to pretend to be the doctor and take care of various critters housed in a wall of hospital kennels (this was a favorite of my kids) and an Italian Restaurant, a GIGANTIC treehouse, an art studio, a plane-where you could pretend to be a pilot or stewardess with working intercoms and all, a firehouse-with a big firetruck shaped play structure, a Ferry boat shaped room-filled with water exploration, a bank-where the kids pretended to be tellers at the drive thru, make money rubbings, and play connect four with HUGE coins!
Then there was a theater-here the kids could pretend to be the ticket salesperson, or manage the lights and sound effects of the stage. If the kids were on the stage they could see themselves on a big T.V. monitor-it was too cool! There was a train room that felt as if you were in a giant rock tunnel playing with the ultimate train table ever-you could crawl under the rock train table or scale the rock walls as if you were climbing the mountain over the train tracks!
In the farm section the kids got to ride a tractor, a horse, collect eggs from the chicken coop, throw toys to the ducks, throw "grain" bean bags into a giant cylo, and best of all...MILK A COW! (which was absoultely hilarious to watch!)
Topping it off, there was a rooftop play area with the COOLEST dinosaur exhibit/excavation play area! There were various sand tools for digging up the "fossils" which were covered with small wood looking rubber bark chips (instead of sand), there was also an "Indiana Jones" type machine that the kids listen to dinosaur sounds as well as archaeologists on! In other areas of the rooftop there was: a giant instrument/musical spot, a life-size chess game-board with huge pawn pieces, a play jeep, and super fun slides & rock wall play structure. Despite the semi-dreary weather, the kids played and played up here-especially when a band of bagpipe playing men started a little concert in the music corner! What a cool treat!
It was a great way to let the kids burn some energy, explore, and for us to GET OUT OF TOWN! Highly recommended fun!!! When all was said & done-the kids were completely knackered and in bed by 6:30pm!
We love to spend our Friday nights relaxing as a family-it's our favorite thing! Tonight was no exception-a little freshly popped popcorn, snuggled with a blanket near a warm cozy fire, watchin' a movie and surrounded by your loved ones....does life get much better than this?
I think Em has Disneyland on the brain too....today she got out a bunch of toys & trinkets that she has collected from the park since her first visit at 9 months old! Last year she thrilled in collecting the pressed pennies. Today, once again-she found the collector book in the "safe spot" I had it in.
She has been sitting playing with the various character coins since 9 a.m! I was standing behind her and I heard her "talking" to the toys saying things like: "Ooooohh, this is wonderful-just great! I gonna go to Disneyland and ride Alice! Then Small World you can see um.....Nemo and Dori......and Ariel...."
Even Brycey Boy has been particularly into the sippy cups they got there last summer! October can't come soon enough for us-I guess it really our "Happiest Place on Earth"
Our scheduled preschool field trip this month was to a little bakery here in town called Dakota Cafe-the bummer is, they ended up being "no shows" and didn't follow through. It was sad. So in a desperate plea, I ran to my neighbor and friend, Lynette Horsley, and begged her to pretend to be a chef with me for the kids! There was no need to beg though because she was TOTALLY up for it! Yay!
We decided to make 2 stations-One where I would help them make homemade pasta (spaghetti) and the other where Lynette would help them make homemade breadsticks! At her station, Lynette even went as far as to let the kids MAKE THE FLOUR! She gave them each a handful of wheat grains and let them throw them into the wheat grinder so that they could experience that process too! Go figure I had such a cool friend willing to go the "unplanned" extra mile for my kiddos huh?
The kids all got their own aprons and chef hats, and had a great time. Thank heaven for great friends! It may take me a while to figure out who my true friends are-but when I finally figure it out-I realize how truly blessed I am for them! Hugs to Lynette for always being there for me! The kids had a complete blast! :)
I pretty much had everything ready to go and just needed to decorate the venue and make a few stops for last minute items (like inflating the balloons and pool toys, etc.)
Shannon came to help me decorate the pool patio area of the Ellensburg Inn while Mike & his dad went to do those last minute things. We got done JUST IN TIME for Emma to walk through the door to "ooooohhhh" and "aaaahhhhh" over everything. I just LOVE that about her! She ran into the pool room and walked straight up to all the decorated tables and balloons, etc. just looking at each and every little detail-favor boxes, fun shaped/themed Peter Pan and Tinkerbell plates, banners, cupcakes, pirate boats for lunch, tinkerbell bowl filled with green M&M's, her favorite Chocolate Covered Pretzels, cauldron filled with ice & "nummy pop juice", etc. She gave me a HUGE hug and squealed....made my heart melt-and I knew right then, that all the time and energy I spent planning and executing, were completely 100% worth it! She asked so nicely if she could go play with the crocodile and pirate ship floating in the pool-and quickly ran to her dad for help getting into her new "tinkerbell type" swimsuit. Bryce put on his Pirate swim trunks and they were ready to PAAAARRRTY!
Guests included: Sienna Pascoe, Brydon & Gwen Thomas, Ethan & Amie Hall, Amelia & Ellie Moan, Marissa & Ayden Schnebly, Cousin Stephanie, Grandma & Papa Martone, Nick & Zack Zimny and all the kids' wonderful mommas!
The kids played and played in the pool with the inflated crocodile and pirate ship. The latter was a complete HIT, so much that the poor boat was "shipwrecked" by the time the party was over!
They all took a short break for a lunch of McDonald's Chicken Nuggets & French Fries in pirate ship shaped boats, while the adults had "Hearty/Pirate" Potato Corn Chowder in bread bowls-and then every kid hit the pool for another round!
We had the Peter Pan soundtrack playing as well as some of EmmaLee's favorite tunes through my i-pod & speakers. Emma noticed each time the song changed to another "favorite" and would sing along-she was SOOOO excited about everything :)
She opened some fantastic presents from her friends, we sang Happy Birthday (without candles to blow out because they weren't allowed in the venue) and ate yummy festive cupcakes. Before everyone headed home, all the kids put on their dress up favors of: Tinkerbell skirts and fairy wings for the girls, and Pirate Vests and masks for the boys-and we took a group picture!
EmmaLee is STILL on cloud 9 and the party ended 7 hours ago! She is one VERY happy little girl!
She is so pleased with all her new toys. Since we got home and unpacked, she's been lining all her presents up in a row on the couch in a very particular fashion and looks intently at each of them, before she moves on to another one. She is so grateful. She has some wonderful little friends :) Before I put her to bed tonight she looked at me and said "Mom-I Three..." and smiled. Man I love that kid!
Done with Emma's cake for the party tomorrow-my 2nd cake ever! Yay! I am really excited that it actually turned out looking how I thought it would-it's got it's mistakes, but hey-it LOOKS like a treasure chest-Woo Hoo! My first time with Marshmallow fondant and edible brush on glitter paint....not too shabby huh? All the fun party picts to come tomorrow.....the kids are pretty excited-hopefully they sleep well tonight!
My little Sienna, from preschool-told me that they have a friend who is a real Chef and asked if she could bring him to school since we are studying "cooking" this month. What a fantastic idea & opportunity! So today Executive Chef, Josh Carter, came to talk to the kids about what it is like to be a professional chef! I was very impressed-he came dressed in his Black Jacket and let the kids all come up and try it on.
He told them how you have to go to school to learn all sorts of neat things about food & cooking tools. Then he sat down and carved a rose out of giant strawberries for each one of the kids! They were SOOOO excited!
Way to go Josh-right down on 3 & 4 year old level-he had them totally mesmerized with his carving skills :) Hugs to Josh Carter and Sienna for this experience.
Yesterday as Mike and I stood chatting in the kitchen and we realized that it had gotten a little too quiet for an extended length of time-which if you know my kids...this means-uh oh! So I went in search of my 2 rascals and found this:
and this...Bryce is completely awstruck with this toy!
It is a Wiggles guitar that was given to them as a hand me down toy from their cousins. Douglas used be obsessed with the Wiggles-and then Emma went through a phase too. When we were visiting them in Oregon about a year ago, she found this toy in their stash and they graciously gave it to her. EmmaLee is over the whole Wiggles thing-for the most part- but I had no idea Bryce liked them now! He sat on our bed FOREVER just listening to the songs that would play when he pushed the various buttons. Mike and I stood in the doorway (I was armed with my camera-of course) and we watched as he sang-looking more like Stevie Wonder than himself....he'd push the button, close his eyes and slowly wave his head from side to side as he sang "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Fruit SaaaalAAAAAD!" We had to hold our breath from laughing too hard-Bryce was completely mimicking how he has seen & heard his sister sing this song with the DVD. Now there he was, all on his lonesome, having the time of his life Rockin' out with the WIGGLES tunes on his guitar! This toy has stood the test of time-4 kids later and it's still a favorite!
Yes people-it is true...
PRINCESS TIANA CALLED EMMALEE TODAY!
By the look on her face, can you see how excited she was about it?
We got an email from Disney Movie Rewards about becoming a fan of D.M.R. on Facebook-so I did...then it emailed me a code to imput into our D.M.R. account, which I did....and viola! A phone call from Tiana to Emma! See couldn't believe her little ears....Tiana was talking to her all about cookin' up some Gumbo and kissin' frogs....
What a fun freebie from Disney-Thanks for a magical memory Disney!
There is a local Ice Creamery here in town called Winegars (you're thinking weird name for an Ice Cream shop huh???? It's owned and operated by an Ellensburg family "The Winegars"). On your birthday they send you a cute handmade card with certificates inside for a FREE ice cream sundae and a drink. So we went with Emma today to redeem her cards. She chose mint chip ice cream with mini M&M topping and Bryce chose chocolate peanut butter swirl and mini M&M topping. Somewhere in the duration of our treat enjoyment though-Emma ended up scarfing Dadda's Butter Pecan cone, her mint chip AND brothers Chocolate PB. Happy Birthday to her I guess! :)
Bryce "helping out" behind the counter....
Why use a spoon when you can just drink it-why didn't I think of that???
A tradition my mom always did with us that I vividly remember LOVING from my childhood was: Valentine Bags! Each Valentines Day we would wake up to a bag filled with silly "Oriental Trading type" trinkets such as: festive holiday pencils, erasers, stamps & stickers, hair accessories, Valentine attire, candy, etc. So this is something I've decided to carry on with my kiddos! We picked up these fun "Princess & The Frog" (not really-but my kids think so) Chocolate Frog, and new dinner sets for each of the kids. Bryce got a Disney Pirates plate & Batman cup. EmmaLee got a Scooby-Doo set.
My mom sent the kids her usual Valentine Bag too. Bryce got a Sheriff Woody shaped cereal bowl, Spiderman shaped Chocolates and ever so cute Gymboree chonies (spanish word we use when referring to underwear-his little toosh looks so cute in the "heart breaker" and "pirate" briefs! we couldn't stop laughing....he LOVES to be just like his big sister)
EmmaLee got a tin lunchbox type Disney Princess heart shaped purse filled with candy necklaces & bracelets as well as a pack of Gymboree Valentine heart panties (which she LOVED!)
Happy Valentines 2010! Hope your morning was full of hugs & smiles like ours was!
P.S.-I hear that Grammie & Grandpa, and Grandma & Papa put stuff in the mail that haven't arrived yet...looks like Valentines will last longer into the week for these 2-how fun is that?
UPDATE: Grandparent packages arrived today and OOOOOH what fun! Grammie & Grandpa sent a Disney Tarzan 2 DVD (which they were oober excited about-we don't have any Tarzan movies!), Toy Story themed boxes of sweets for Brycey, and Tinkerbell chocolates & fruit snacks for Emee! Grandma & Papa sent cute cuddly new fleece blankets (pink monkeys & frogs for Em, and of course...pirates for Mr. B) as well as new jammies-which they put on INSTANTLY! These kids would LIVE in jammies if we allowed it :) Thanks for the fun festive goodies everyone! They are much appreciated.
