When the cat is away, the mice will play

Another reason I opted out of our soccer trip to Asheville was I would be going to Saluda the following weekend for our third annual girl's mountain weekend. Below are the updates I received! What he waited to share until I got back was that they ate pizza for dinner three nights in a row and that the night all the dads got together they all swaped "this parenting thing is so easy" stories. :-)

Caption - "Drinking a cold one" (Calm down, it is lemonade!)

Kids Workshop, Bounce House & Snow Cones at Home Depot this weekend

 

Caption - "HD rocks today."

A Day of Red & Pink

The Preschool party was a success. The kids enjoyed the cupcakes, watermelon and strawberries all served on red plates, forks and table clothes of course! .                                                              

Dinner also had its fair share of treats. Addie tore into her present to discover a new pink dress-up dress. Followed by pink pancakes shaped like X's, O's and hearts for dinner. {Hugs, Kisses & Love!}
 

 

I am not a red roses & box of chocolates kind of girl nor do I consider Valentine's Day an extravagant gift sort of holiday so I mean it when I say it was a great day! I am also looking forward to the date night Jim inspired with his gift (a necklace and gift card to Beadlush) and we are already enjoying mine... the pancake pen used to shape our dinner and a homemade message board, (he now needs to hang, ha)! I LOVE YOU!   ...............................ard.     ...........                                      

Love is Work

For a day that is supposed to simply be an occasion to let people know that you care about them, it sure has been a lot of running around and craft/prep time. ha!

Teacher Gifts: Red Velvet or Chocolate covered strawberry Cake Pops by Trendy Treats by Johnnie, slotted threw foam butterflys Addie decorated.

Cupcakes for Preschool Party. (They also have cute polka dot papers that I found on sale at Michaels.)

 

Assembling "Addie's" Valentines for her friends. I wanted to find a non-candy card and we love bubbles so this was perfect. (I created and printed 4 per piece of paper, cut them out and then rounded the edge with a new craft toy I love!)

Jim and I finished them up while watching TV

Finished product

Addie's Vday gift she will get tomorrow night - stay tuned! I made this more work then it needed to be and it is not something a 3yr old would even appreciate but I think presentation always makes things more exciting. (Besides I was not running to the store.)

We Love Home Depot

Addie has been several times before but this was my first time getting to take her to the free Kids' Workshop at Home Depot. It is held the first Saturday of each month and so far it has been a daddy-daughter event. Jim would take her while I got in a long run and some down time to recoup but today he stayed home to study for a CFA certification for work while she and I got to play and build an awesome birdhouse. Now we just have to find a spot to hang it in our backyard.

Adorn-ments

Our selection of Christmas tree ornaments has grown significantly this year. Some of the crafts have fared better than others but all have been wonderful. Here are just a few of her creations:

Baking Cousins

Uncle Tom invited us over to what I believe should be the start of a Holiday tradition, (not just Christmas but any of them), bake & decorate cookies. The little girls had fun participating in every single step from cutting the dough to eating the final product. I think more sprinkles ended up on the table then these gingerbread men/dogs/snowmen, etc but who cares!

   

Preschool Christmas

Addie's Preschool Christmas Party was today and was not sure what to expect. I thought it would be a song then I would head back into the office to finish up a few things before picking her up at the normal time. I was grossly mistaken! There were crafts, a performance, lunch, dessert and play time! (They made an other ornament for our tree & food for Santa's reindeer so they are sure to find our house Christmas Eve night. Next was songs on the stage with hand motions and bells. Then is was time for pizza & decorating sugar cookies before the free-for-all of running around the Teen Activity Center while the parents chatted.) Needless to say I got nothing done at work today but it was a lot of fun!

This crew is really becoming tight friends and it is such a blessing to know my precious child is so loved by the other families. I know these kids will all end up at different elementary schools sooner then I would like to think about so am enjoying these moments while I can. {Addie told me on the way to school today that "Riley & Lowery are my best friends."}

Don't they look so big?!

Art By Me

I love that Preschool sends so many art projects home for parents but I also am not sure what to really do with it all. As usual I have grand ideas and intentions but time always runs away from me. Even so, it still hurts me to just throw her work away but as that pile grows taller I am getting better about picking the more special pieces. Such as this sweet project...

The even cute part of this is there was the opportunity to order this as magnets, bookmarks, mousepads, etc but that is where time got away from us again. At least I can share it with you here.

Halloween Fun

Today we went over to Kilgo Methodist Church for their costume parade, trunk-or-treat and to purchase some pumpkins. Only 1 of the 3 events was successful for us. Addie had no interest being involved with any of the crowd and candy was not worth it for her to speak to any stranger, especially ones in costume. We did end up having lunch there before heading home and I prefer she eat a hot dog over chocolate and sugar anyway so that was all fine by me.

I knew my child would not want to dig into the guts of a pumpkin and my husband would not help me carve it so tried a different route. Above is a before - during - after shot of our little craft.
 

Pinterest Inspired Painting Party

I was pretty excited about this party! It would be the first time it was really something FOR Addie, and I believe she actually understood that. We invited HER friends and they did something SHE loves. Everyone seemed to have a blast, especially the birthday girl!

(I was busy running around so sadly did not get nearly as many pictures as I would have liked to. I am hoping friends were able to capture some of the moments I missed.)

My little poser was willing to humor her family... at least for a little while before having to take a second look at her canvas, (and then another!)

               

Thanks for making the trip Grands!

Everyone got to take home their individual masterpieces. Planning to hang her two in the hall bathroom. Not sure where to put this one - a hand print from each of her special friends that were able to celebrate with us. (Should add Teva's print to that bottom right corner.)

Happy Father's Day

After the thrill on Pinterest wore off, I decided it mostly serves to make me feel like a less then average mom. There are so many fabulous crafts and projects documented. Many of which I know "I could do" but finding the time and precision to execute is quite the obstacle. Finally, an idea seen on Pinterest that came to fruition AND even improved upon. Even though it did take 3 trips to different drug stores to collect the candy. This turned out to be a fun painting project for Addie and a perfect "card" for a certain father with a sweet tooth. We love you daddy!

Its says: "Happy Father's Day! We didn't think a Kit Kat, a trip to New York, an Orbit around the Milky Way or a shopping Spree was enough to say how much we love you. Besides the 100 Grand slipped right thru our Butterfingers and it wasn't PayDay nor was there an Extra Whatyoumacallit around to sell. We do wish you Mounds of Almond Joy both Now-and-Later. Hope this card doesn't give your tummy a Rolo but instead, you a few Snickers. We love you to Pieces!" Then it was signed Love, 3 Airheads