Disney Reveal

Landon and I worked really hard to keep our top secret Disney World vacation a surprise. There was months of planning and coordinating done while the littles were at school or sleeping. Our top secret chats were kept on the down low in order to protect the secrecy of our guarded trip:) We planned our trip 90 days in advance with half of the time that trip advisers recommend. We were still able to book everything we really wanted to do.  The secret was choosing a time to go that the parks weren't slammed at high capacity. Disney is always busy year round, but we decided that the littles would have to miss a few days from school in order to score a non peak time as close to Eliza Kate's birthday as possible.

I set up the kitchen table the night before with our red and white Disney polka dot decor and balloons. The box of Disney magic bands and Minnie and Mickey hats were on display announcing our big surprise. Landon caught the whole scene on video as they entered the kitchen for breakfast.At first they didn't catch on, but the light bulb moment happened when Miller shouted, "We're going to Disney World"! "We're going to Disney"! Squeals of delight and questions about our trip itinerary quickly followed all of the excitement.  Miller's wish was to go to Epcot this trip with the Test Track ride. I'm so glad that we did schedule something that he was excited about with all of our grand princess plans on the schedule. With that, we loaded up the car as our bags were already packed and headed off to the most MAGICAL place on earth all in honor our our birthday girl!

A Princess Birthday Tea

In keeping with our week long fourth birthday celebration, 

 we honored Eliza Kate with a very impromptu birthday tea with two of her neighborhood girlfriends. In fact, it was so on the fly that a proper royal email invited her friends over for a birthday playdate. And, I'm so glad that we did honor our girly with a small celebration. Our original plan was a surprise dinner with Cinderella in the castle, but as our trip approached our princess kept asking about cake with friends since she didn't know about her upcoming birthday trip. I thew together a quick playdate in order to keep our trip on the down low and pull off our top secret surprise.

And, I'm so glad I was able to decorate and get her excited about turning 4. This one oohs and ahhs over girly details. What girl doesn't love an afternoon tea party? After a few Hobby Lobby trips,  pink & purple took over our dining room table.  She picked up her Rapunzel dress from the playroom closet for such an occasion.

Pink tulle tied to anything really adds a princess touch to the table:)

I jazzed up a preprinted banner to display her birthday message with a little tulle. She threw her arms out as I was decorating exclaiming, "It's beautiful"!

Pink wands from the dollar bins at Target greeted her friends. I popped her cupcake in a purple,plastic tea cup for the birthday girl. It looked extra cute with a number 4 candle.

I whipped up peanut butter & jelly star wand mini sandwiches for our royal guests.

We decorated crowns, beaded necklaces and colored Melissa and Doug princess scenes before the princesses were invited to sit at the royal dining table for tea.

Pink lemonade punch replaced hot tea of course. And, the girls practiced their best manners with a little coaching of course.

They wrapped it all up with a little twirling and dancing on the bounce house. Eliza Kate's dress was a little torn and tattered exposing her belly button by the end of the playdate.

Grandmama made sure she popped in for afternoon tea with the birthday girl. It's not everyday you can have tea with the girls:)All of the fun continued with gift opening when daddy came home from work. It was a wonderful way to turn 4

A Birthday Visit

 This little lady dazzled us all by turning four on April 21st. {sigh}--Our baby girl is 4!! Eliza Kate requested pink and purple cupcakes to share with her Weeschool friends. She decorated a pink crown to wear for this occasion and I loved hearing her classmates sing to her. 

Of course she appreciated her girly, butterfly party plates and stuck her four year old fingers in the lavender icing before we got a single note of the birthday chorus out of our mouths. Her teacher put candles in a play dough replica of a cupcake for her to blow out. I'm still confused about this maneuver, but I think it had something to do with less of a mess?

I love how Eliza Kate's friend,  Aditi is practicing her blowing out skills in the dark! It was pure sweetness on this drop by birthday visit. I wrapped up my visit with a read aloud to the class during circle time. Eliza Kate chose one of her nighttime favorites-- "Emma Kate" by Patricia Polacco . How fitting that the title closely resembles her name. I also got a little teary reading "On the Night You Were Born" reflecting on the night God blessed us with our darling girl.  Basking in the preschool classroom visits with my girly is a pure delight. Happy Birthday, Eliza Kate!

1st Grade Performance

This stage loving mom woke up in the early morning hours of the big first grade performance with a disgusting stomach bug. Luckily, I held it together long enough surviving only on Saltine crackers and tiny sips of water to witness the most precious of concerts put on by all of the first graders

Songs included Animal Crackers in my Soup & I Love You a Bushel and a Peck.  One slow song was pinned as embarrassing with its nursery rhyme slow sound. The crowd cheered for America the Beautiful. Miller did get into it as much as a first grade boy could. Although, he did refrain from creating his own choreography like the cutest blond friends next to him. Leave it to a little girl to provide her own dramatic hand motions to the songs--love it!

The big surprise was the kazoos popping out of pockets rendition of Take Me Out to The Ballgame.     They used kazoo blows to replace different words in the song. 

Mrs. Swan the music teacher retired this year, so the grade presented her with beautiful flowers. Miller volunteered before the event to be the one to present her with the bouquet. I was so proud of his confidence to be able to say, "Thank you, Mrs. Swan for teaching us." I have to admit, I didn't know what that boy of mine was going to say. I was just surprised that he wanted to be the one to do it!

Landon and Eliza Kate attended this family event with standing room only back at the classroom for a Writitng Portfolio morning back in Mrs. K's class. I am continually impressed by the parent and grandparent involvement in Miller's class. These firsties don't even know how blessed they are to be supported & celebrated!

We sat and combed through all of his writing pieces from the beginning of the year until spring inside of his decorated, portfolio organizer. He read aloud selected pieces for us to enjoy. Even though writing is not his favorite academic area, his gains were evident. He has wonderful creativity, but doesn't enjoy the handwriting element. Eliza Kate made herself cozy in  the reading nook while we soaked in every word Miller was reading. He was so proud.

Luckily, my bug was just a 24 hour deal. I was well on my way to recovering the next day with only happy memories of our special morning together. 

At the Cross

Here are a few stolen moments of  Easter pictures at my parent's church. The grounds are so beautiful this time of year. Unfortunately our timing was off for the cross pictures in direct sunlight. But, the littles loved viewing the floral arranged cross. It truly is a beautiful display of what Christ did for us. This is one of the traditions that refocuses the meaning of Easter. We've been capturing these moments since the littles were wee ones:)

 I know these photos will be treasured for years to come.

Easter 2014

Omi and Papa drove into town to spend Easter with our family. It went down in the books as one of the craziest prep weeks getting ready for an upcoming trip and Eliza Kate's birthday. It's always something, isn't it? Since it had been since December since Omi and Papa laid eyes on the littles, it was time to enjoy the weekend as a family. Our baseball game and practice were a complete wash out, so we did have a wonderful time of togetherness.

Omi and Papa just happened to catch our color vibe for Easter morning. Can you believe we didn't plan these details? With the azaleas and dogwoods in full bloom, we snapped a few photos on our front walkway. Easter was later this year, but still surprisingly chilly:) 

Easter dinner was at our house with both sets of grandparents. We dined on the traditional Honey Baked ham with  a few sides including my favorite Better Homes and Gardens scalloped potato casserole. Grandmama brought over an oval shaped Easter egg cake for the family's rendition of the birthday chorus for our four year old cutie pie. Her birthday just so happened to fall on the day before Easter this year. Birthdays turn into a week long festivity at our house. 

We sure do love every ounce of sweetness she adds to our home. It's tempered with a bit of four year old sass. 

There was an Easter basket sugar fest being consumed on this day. The kids received these adorable lollies that resembled bunny faces--hilarious! I made sure to oversee the kid's meticulous tooth brushing before bed. Not one tooth was overlooked:)

Thankful for the cross that gives us a reason to celebrate on Easter. Praying that it was a blessed Easter in your homes celebrating the HOPE of our salvation.

Easter Party {Preschool Edition}

The preschool party is something that I absolutely adore about this season of life and one of the many reasons I will mourn when this stage of life is over. My month long break in April from my tutoring job came just at the right time to attend a flurry of school events in both kid's classrooms. I planned the Easter party with another sweet mom in her classroom.  The egg hunt soaked up most of our allotted time. These three year olds had a wonderful time hunting for the colored , plastic eggs on the playground. 

One thing that I never want to forget about this age is Eliza Kate's face when she spots me coming to her school. Her arms fling wide open and she shouts, "MOMMY"!! with a surprise hug. Where's the pause button?

And, it's simply adorable seeing her interact with her school  aged friends at the class parties . Her teacher said that she is a sweet friend and the class cheerleader. We are working on playing in a group of three. When EK is involved playing with one friend, I'm coaching her on how to include another little girl when they ask to play.  This social dilemma is something I've observed on her playground after school. I'm thankful for the time after school each day that we gather on the playground to witness her sweet friendships. To me, this is the main benefit of preschool at 3 years old--social education!

Eliza Kate could barely get her eggs in the bunny bag before the mystery of what's inside made her stop to open up her oval shaped treats.  Her friend Caleb pulled up a seat to look for candy too.

With our time running out, we only managed to decorate Easter basket Peep cupcakes. It takes some searching to find an age appropriate activity for three year "peeps". They did enjoy decorating their cupcake treat sbefore faces and fingers were covered with lime green frosting goodness.

I treasure just watching her creative mind working on a masterpiece.  Eliza Kate is into details and when she has her mind set on a certain way, she carries it out explaining her reasoning. She just had to have three PINK jelly beans inside her peep basket:)

 There's always something to celebrate in the 3's room. We left the cross art supplies with the teachers for another day. I'm sure they love a pre-planned activity to fill in the gaps. Even if they get to it after Easter, cross art can be done at any time of the year. 

Thankful for mornings filled with preschooler activities with my girl! Easter blessings to all!