The invite is in the mail

Invites are done.

Envelopes are addressed, stamped, and sealed.

I was very happy with how they turned out and Jennie was too (which was most important!).

They are simple but they match the tone and theme of her wedding perfectly.

My Funny Monkey

I hate to get sentimental over a piece of cardboard covered in foam but when you pull a book from the shelf and the poor thing looks like this....how can you not feel a little sad that it's probably time to throw it away?!

Those are teeth marks at the top there, my favorite part about this.

I used to read this book to Hannah every night.  We would get the book and she would hold it until we were ready to read, most days it would end up in her mouth while I got us settled.  Hailey followed in her footsteps.  I have read this book at least 100 times and we have come to the time where it's time for him to go.  We have moved on to different books.........and iPads.

Goodbye old friend!

Freezer Flashback

I found this homemade popscicle maker at Walmart for $1

I knew the kids would love it and if they didn't, it was only $1- small price to pay to introduce the girls to a piece of my childhood.  My mom used to make homemade popscicles for us and although I don't really remember them tasting that good, it was all part of the process.  

They were a hit!  

Right on time!

Jennie's wedding is just around the corner.

When she first got engaged I was a little jealous.  With the internet and sites like Pinterest, bride-to-be's are so lucky!  There are so many ideas, so many themes, many old traditions have been thrown out the window and weddings have different rules than they used to. 

Lucky for Jennie, she's got her own taste.   As much as she has used these sites to waste time, I find it hard to believe that they provided her source of inspiration.  It was fun following her tags but at the same time I felt relieved.  There are WAY too many ideas out there and for me, it would have been paralyzing.

Jennie has always had a pretty good idea from the start of the 'look and theme' she wanted.  There are some details in her wedding that are very important to her and then there are others that she is not so passionate about.  I offered to help and was willing to help in anyway that I could.

Dresses- check
Makeup, hair- check
Venues- check
DJ, Limo, Photo Booth- check
Centerpieces- Check
Invites- 'crickets'

There it is!  Something I can help with!!
She was more than willing to take the help (and VERY appreciative).  She showed me a few of her ideas and turned me loose.  She was involved in any decision I needed her to make but pretty much gave me free reign to do whatever I wanted.  We went out shopping with the idea to buy pre-made kits that we would just need to print but came home empty handed.  Nothing was going to work.  Well,  of course there were a few that Jennie would have settled on but I wasn't having it.  We can do better.

After a few 'design' sessions we had a winner and this evening the assembly line began!  Mom and Jennie will be coming over later this week to address and stuff the envelopes and invites will be mailed out by the end of the week- right on time!

Jennie's Shower

I was lucky enough to host a shower for Jennie.

We invited our aunts and friends of the family from our side.

Those in attendance

  Diane, Aunt Joanne, Caroline (Tom's mom), Emily and Betsy (Tom's sisters), Joan, Kate, Heather, Mary Weller, Kari, Kim, Kristin, grandma and mom.

Menu

  Chicken salad, crossiants, chips, watermelon, strawberries, grapes, fruit dip and for dessert fruit tacos and fruit pizza.  We also had a delicious sherbert punch.

Games

Since nobody is terribly fond of shower games I decided to just keep it simple.  

We had one wear three people were holding a prize (soap from Bath and Body Works) and I read a story.  Each time I said the word right they had to pass the soap to their right and to the left each time I said left.  When the story was done whomever was holding the soap got to take it home.  Pretty painless.

For the next game we had celebrity faces cut out of magazines and attached to photos of brides.

Each person had to do their best to guess who the celebrity was.

Thankfully most people got this one right :-)

It was a beautiful day and I was honored to be a part of this day with her.

I didn't get very good pictures of the shower favors.  Each favor contained Hershey Hugs and Kisses with a sign that said 'Hugs and Kisses to you for sharing in Jennie's special day' they also contained a homemade magnet.  These were some of the ones that were left over...

Brrrrr- where did summer go?

We woke up this morning to sunshine but by the time we had finished breakfast it was raining and freezing.

FREEZING!

Angel came up with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend and the kids couldn't get enough of her.  They followed her around, gave her walks, fed her treats, scratched her belly and probably annoyed her a little bit too.  She was a great sport!

Since it was too cold to do anything else we stayed in most of the day and played cards.  When the rain stopped the kids wanted to take Angel for a walk.

Brrrr....

4 Wheels of Fun

This weekend I am hosting a Bridal Shower for Jennie so it will be another short trip to the cabin.

Grandma Judy and Grandpa Denny decided to accept our offer to come up so we met them at their house and they followed us up here for the night.  As per usual, we made our Friday night stop at Pizza Pub.

We had a another first-timer with us this weekend......

It's pretty cold tonight but forecast is looking up for tomorrow- possibly 70's.

This evening we did a lot of talking and then Judy, Kim, Kari and I assembled the shower favors and started in on preparing one of the games.  

A Tale of Two Favorites

Today's agenda includes

• Drop Hailey off at grandma Judy's for a special day
• Make a run to Anchor Paper to check out their scrapbooking stuff and check out the possible paper selection for wedding invitations (did I mention yet that I get to make them!!!!!)
• Meet Kari and the boys at Archivers in Rosedale for a fun filled day of scrapbooking
• Pick up Hailey from grandma's and drop girls off at home
• Meet Loriann at La Casita for dinner 
• Attend Lee DeWyze concert at the Cedar Cultural Center

I think I have created a monster.....

The kids had a blast!

They sat at their own table, scrappin' away and conversating about who knows what.

At one point they noticed the die cuts posted on the wall....from that moment they were hooked!

Kari and I spent a good 30 minutes cutting shapes for them, they couldn't get enough.

We got to the Cedar Cultural Center early and there was plenty of parking.

When we got inside we saw why- the place was empty.

Seriously empty.

There were folding chairs set up in front of the stage and I was expecting the room to be somewhat small and intimate but this was not what I was expecting.

All tickets were general admission so we could sit wherever we wanted however every seat is a good seat in a place like this.  So we took our seats in the front row, just off to the left of the stage.  

FRONT ROW.

Kara Laudon opened for him, a local girl from St Paul- she was great.

I was expecting hoping that once he came on the place would fill up a little more but nobody new came in so hear we are ready to celebrate our night with Lee and 25 of our closest strangers.

He was great!  Such a unique voice and such a talented guy!  Not surprising he won American Idol a few years ago but totally surprising that he didn't 'make it'.  His first album was decent, definitely more of a pop feel.  Tonight he played mostly new songs.  His new style is more 'him'.  It's got a Mumford thing goin' on and it is really working for him.  At times we were looking right at him and carrying on conversations with him.  I couldn't help to feel bad that there were not many people there but then after seeing what Loriann was finding on Google about him- he's doing just fine.  And plus, I did my part!  But really, go download his new album, you will NOT be disappointed. 

And that's why it's called an accident

Kari watched the girls for me again today while I had to work.  I have really appreciated her help but I can also appreciate how tired she must be at the end of the day.  These kids are busy! She has been bringing them to the library and they have LOVED it!  

We planned to sleep over again tonight.  I thought I would stay home with the kids tonight and send Kari off to do some errands or shopping or just sit up in her room with the door closed and not have to answer to anyone but thanks to Grandma Chris, coming over in the afternoon and helping out so she could get a break, the plans had changed.  Kristin and Bobby invited us over to show Kari her house and then we would all go out to dinner.

When I got to Kari's she informed me about a little accident that occured today. 

Hannah was rocking back and forth on her chair while at the table and her chair slipped and she bumped her chin.  (Of course that happened....I always warned Hannah about that).  She said it only bled for a little bit and they put a band-aid on it but she has been playing fine.

I called Hannah down to take a look and when I saw that the band-aid had some blood peeking through something told me we should take a look before we leave.

She laid her head in my lap and as soon as I took the band-aid off I knew what we needed to do.

It wasn't big and at a first glance it appeared that the skin was scraped off her chin but after looking closer I could see that her chin was split, the fat was peeking out and we were headed to the clinic.

Sure enough Dr Kelly agreed that we needed to close this up and thankfully it was a perfect situation for 'skin glue'.  He just needed to clean her up, trim the stuff peeking out, glue her up and we would be done.

This kid was a ROCKSTAR today!

She was super nervous but sat still and followed directions-I am so proud of her!

Worst part of it all, no swimming for 5 days.  Boo :-(

Noodles and a Movie

Grandpa Dan met us at the theater in Rosedale to see Despicable Me 2.

After the movie we had lunch at Noodles and Company.

Ever since Agustin was little  he has had a great imagination.  He can turn anything into a toy and can entertain himself for hours.  In the car, at home, at a restaurant...you name it, he'll make it happen.

Today was no different.

We were waiting for the little kids to finish eating...one noodle every 5 minutes, Kari was taking care of some business on her iPod, dad and I were catching up and Agustin was creating his own adventure.

Not totally sure what was going on but I know that there was a bad guy and lots of explosions.

I hope this kid NEVER loses that imagination and finds a way to continue to express himself as he finds his way in this world.

Let the sun shine down and the ideas pour out

Today was productive.

Jennie and I (along with the help of the cutest little blondie you will ever see) spent the day doing wedding.

Party City, Joann, Michaels and lots and lots of talking.

We were able to get a good list made of the items we possibly needed and a few pictures to refer to later.

Some items we may need to order online and after our day today I think we both feel better prepared to understand what we are looking for, specifically size and shape of things.

We made decisions on the card box, table number decorations, cake table fabric, invitations, and centerpieces.  Nothing purchased or officially checked off the list yet but having the idea is half the battle.

P.S. This wedding is going to be absolutely GORGEOUS!

Calling all Boy Bands

Spending the morning at the lake watching the kids in the water- Check
Getting Hailey to finally jump off the dock- Check

Dinner at The Pourhouse- Check

Boyz II Men- Check

98 Degrees- Check

New Kids on the Block- Check

Having a ton of fun seeing a 90's boy band that I wasn't expecting to like so much- Check!

It's beginning to look like a Wedding

Another short trip to the cabin.   I have a concert to attend tomorrow night so we are just up for the night and will have to leave in the early afternoon tomorrow so I can get home to shower, etc.

Jennie brought a wedding project up this weekend- probably just the start to the weekend cabin projects :-)

We sat with Jennie tonight and walked through some of the items that are still left to do on her list.

Invites, table number decorations, tuxes, programs, centerpieces, and lots and lots of decisions.

We decided we needed to spend Sunday afternoon shopping and getting ideas.

I offered to help with the invites so we would also be on the hunt for invitation paper or a kit or something that we could print ourselves.

Things are starting to come together!

Everyone's a Winner!

Kari and the boys came over today and we decided to surprise the kids and take them to Chuck E Cheese.

You can tell Hailey's done this a time or two as she just makes herself at home.

Agustin and Nico were most interested in collecting tickets.  They played the Skee-Ball and other games to get as many tickets as they could.

Hannah's favorite thing to do is spend her tokens at the picture machines.

There is one that makes 'credit cards' with their picture on it - can you even stand those adorable pictures?!

She also is a huge fan of the Chuck E Cheese photo booth- the one were you pose for a picture and then get to watch while Chuck E draws it for you.  She did a few of just herself and then was able to talk Nico into posing with her.  AHHHH!  I can't stand it!  As Kari would say- 'It's so cute it makes me eyes bleed'.

Tonight was Hannah's last night of T-Ball.

Instead of a game there was a pizza party at Andrews Park and a trophy ceremony.

There were two Tball groups and one tennis group.

The kids were called up with their team and then announced their name in the microphone while they were presented their trophy.  

As soon as the night was over Hannah handed me her trophy "Mom- I need you to carry this so I don't break it.  It's special."

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and more

I have been looking forward to this day for weeks!

We got tickets for 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie' at the Children's Theater.

We started with lunch at Culvers.

After lunch we asked the kids if we could get their picture.

They gave us a few rolled eyes but then lined up and the challenge was on!

Poor Hannah- She was trying so hard to be serious and help to get the cutest picture ever but her fellow little people were NOT understanding why this was taking so long?!?!

Once we got to the theater we tried again.....guess this isn't happening today.

Once inside Hannah found a seat between Nico and Grandma and I was lucky enough to be sandwiched between Agustin and Hailey.  Hailey didn't know what to expect but was very curious about what was going to happen and what this 'movie' was gonna be all about.

For those of you not familiar with the story, it goes a little something like this....

(something being the keyword here, I did my best)

A boy gives a mouse a cookie- then he wants a glass of milk

Once he has a glass of milk he will need a straw

Once he has a straw he will blow bubbles in his milk and get his face dirty

Once his face is dirty he will need a washcloth and mirror to wash it

Once he looks in the mirror he sees a hair that needs to be trimmed on his head so he will need a scissors

The scissors lead to a vacuum which leads to a mop which makes the mouse tired which leads to a nap.

Can't take a nap without a bed and pillow, then comes a fort, a bedtime story, and a HUGE mess.

While the mess is cleaned the mouse is left to color- a finished picture should be hung on the fridge which requires a magnet, the search for the magnet creates another HUGE mess.

The picture gets hung on the fridge, the mouse gets thirsty and has a glass of milk and you know what goes great with a glass of milk????

Yup- a cookie.

The kids LOVED it.  The grown ups LOVED it.

Hannah and Agustin laughed out loud the WHOLE entire time.  Hannah shouted "This is hilarious!" more than once and Agustin was laughing so hard at some points that he was actually doubled over.

Here is the stage before.

And after.

After the show the kids were treated to a cookie of their own but thankfully none of them asked for milk.

Kari really wanted to walk the boys through the art museum so we decided since it was free we should check it out too.

Hailey got bored within the first 10 minutes but Hannah lasted a little longer thanks to her tour guide, Nico.

He took her around and read her the signs.

They talked about how old these items were and he would read a little bit to her about the artist.

Every so often you would hear a response like "Ooooooh, that's old."  or  "Wow, that is beautiful".

As if that wasn't cute enough- look at them!  Hannah with her pearls, Nico with his ladies in tow......man!

What. Happened. To. My. Kids.

Picked the girls up tonight from Kari's and before we even made it a few blocks they had both collapsed.

I would take this as a sign that they had a really good day :-)

Hannah had her last T-Ball game tonight.
Hailey spent the better part of the night begging to go to the park.

Hailey: "Mom, can we go to the park?!  Pretty please?"
Me:  "No honey, not tonight.  Sorry babe.  We are here to watch Hannah and it's too late after the game to play.  Maybe another time."

A few minutes went by and she appeared over my shoulder....

Hailey:  "Mom, I will give you money if you take me to the playground...."