Fancy Nancy Party 2012

Yes!  We had so much fun at our Fancy Nancy party--that I do plan to have another one next year.

If you haven't read a Fancy Nancy book--you really should.  She is VERY much like Alaina.  The little girl loves to dress up and has a BIG imagination.  She also LOVES to use big words--which is something I really enjoy in the books.  So I had the idea that we should have a Fancy Nancy Party--afterall--Alaina LOVES to dress up. 

So we invited our playgroup friends and Alaina's best friend Lexi & her sister Cece.  It was to be a luncheon and everyone should dress up!  (Moms included!)  You can dress up fancy or fun--I wore my wedding crinolin with a fancy top.  A lot of the other moms wore fancy dresses from long ago. 

I let Alaina pick hers and was surprised when she chode the black & white number.  Normally she goes MUCH fancier.  But hey--it's her party.  I spent several weeks putting together a menu and party ideas.  I wanted to make it simple finger foods (nothing that would stain clothes) and easy prep.  I planned to use my nice stoneware (aka china) for the kids and wine glasses so they could feel REAL fancy.  And hey--if something got broke--I figured it was worth it--when else should I use the good stuff! :)

To continue with the Fancy Nancy theme, I picked out various themes from her book to keep with the "fanciness".  We had a cake decorating station (Fancy Nancy & The Delectable Cupcakes) a hair salon, a nail decal/tattoo station, a photo area (thanks to my friend Rachel), a dress-up area, and a jewelry area (where the kids could make necklaces).  The kids had a blast.

We welcomed everyone as they came in and got the kids busy with tattoos or making necklaces.  After that was lunch.  I have to say I was very proud of myself and the layout.  Please notice the ice cream cones that I filled with grapes and turned into mini-teacups.  (Thank you Pinterest! :) )  The kids really enjoyed drinking pink milk or "stellar juice* from wine glasses.  A few even told me they weren't allowed to have glass.  (I let them know that today was an exception.)  I do believe a great time was had by all.

It was sad to see everyone go--but as you can see we have lots of great memories from all the pictures.  --

Until next year's Fancy Nancy Party--

March 2012

This March was one of the CRAZIEST weather months ever.  We went from sweating in tank tops and shorts to sledding in 8" of snow.  We set MANY weather records.  In this time we discovered that Talia does not like being outside (unless she is being held.)  This should make for an interesting summer since we are planning on camping 3 different times.  (Hee hee!) 

Well with all the nice weather I was ECSTATIC when it snowed again.  We had bought the kids sleds for Christmas and I hardly thought the "mudding" we did in February counted as sledding.  We had a great time sledding.  Talia was not too fond of sitting in the snow though.  She also went on her first sled ride--which ended up being a bit dangerous.  Ky was in the way so Daddy had to try to bail off the sled with Talia in his arms.  He did a VERY Impressive roll keeping her tight to his body and she didn't even touch the ground.  However, I think at that point she decided she was done with sledding and being outside (as you can see from my attempt to get the kids pics with all 3 of them on the sled.)

After sledding we then went to Aunt Annie's Pretzels and enjoyed free pretzels (it was National Pretzel Day!)  An awesome ending to a fabulous day!

The kiddos  had an AWESOME time at Chucky Cheese this past month.  They earned it!  I began some chore charts for them where they put a sticker on each chore they complete.  Once they have completed all their chores for the day they can then watch tv or have computer game time.  As a further incentive, I told them that when they each reached 100 stickers (took 4 weeks to get to).  We would go to Chucky Cheese.  This system worked awesome for Ky---however, Alaina I think is still a bit young.  I am hoping to rework the system some tomorrow and see if I can give her more incentive.  I plan to include short term goals now such as "Get 50 stickers and you can pick dinner, get 25 stickers and get extra 30 minutes of video time."  We will see how that goes.  Speaking of which I also saw a cool idea for consequences on Pinterest (LOVE THAT SITE!!! I AM SO HOOKED!)  You have a fishbowl with papers and each paper has a consequence on it.  Anyway--if you don't have an easy "natural" cosequence you can have them pick from the bowl.  In the bowl--to the consequences you add one that says "God's Mercy".  This is to teach them that God's Mercy has saved us from the worst punishment of all--so this is their AKA "get out of Jail free" card.  How neat is that??!!  Anyway--we met our friends Wendy & Julie and her daughter's Angela & Katherine at Chucky Cheese the kids had a great time.  Rob got a little miffed over a soda spill which soaked just about everything.  And it was a little crowded (mental note--Saturday evening is TOO busy!), but of course none of that mattered to the kids.

So now that I am talking Pinterest...if you haven't joined the site--do it!  And follow me!  I am so hooked and man the recipes and yummy food I am making.  Last night I made Deep Dish Pizza and Monkey Garlic Cheese Bread with Chocolate chip lava cookies for dessert--all from Pinterest.  WOW!  YUM!  Oh yeah--and the picture of the baked donuts--(so much healthier than fried) were from Pinterest too.  There is just so much good stuff and ideas on that site!

Midmonth--we of course celebrated Nana's birthday.  We drove to Milwaukee for the day and took her out to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant.  It was a funny day--the temps was in the 80's in Madison, but in Milwaukee it was in the 60's.  It is very difficult to dress your kids in such varying weather.  Nana & G'ma Jan played bubbles with the kids as well as ping pong.  Nana LOVED her gifts--a hummingbird feeder and the butterfly footprints picture (another idea from Pinterest. Each kid used their feet to make a butterfly.)  Rob baked a delectable dessert--brownie raspberry cheesecake goodness....mmmmm. 

The following weekend we traveled to Arlington Heights to see Aunt Janice, Aunt Linda, Uncle Tom & Aunt Sue.  On the way we stopped at the Rockford museum and let the kids play.  I REALLY love that museum.  It may be far away, but the membership price is TOTALLY worth it.  I know we will be traveling there several times this summer.  Anyway the kids as always had a great time and we had fun visiting with family.  The kids had a blast playing with Aunt Linda's styrofoam Easter eggs and sent us out on hunts for them after they hid them.  Then of course there was a raucous game of traffic with Aunt Linda. 


 We have been going through a difficult period of lying from Ky.  It has been challenging.  I am sure that he has been witnesssing much lying at school (particularly from one boy who apparently does it often.)  At the same time, we probably should have figured it was going to happen sooner or later.  It has been tricky to deal with and even harder to explain to him the "crying wolf" idea and how we can't trust him anymore.  It is hard when he swears up and down with big watery eyes that he is telling the truth and yet I tell him "I don't know."  I hope he figures it all out soon--because it is just rough to know how to handle situations (especially when other people's kids are involved) with him.

Kylan came home the other day and said his friend says a really naughty word in school.  I asked him to whisper to me what it was and he said, "For Pete's Sake!"  I just smiled and nodded.  SO GLAD--we didn't have to have our first REAL conversation about naughty words! :)

Alaina came down with Fifths Disease.  Surprisingly a new one for us.  She had a mild fever one afternoon and then that night vomited.  That is when we noticed the rash all over her body and her itching.  Thankfully it was very mild and quick.  We had to miss playgroup that week which she was bummed about.  Instead I pulled up bins of clothes from the basement and let her sort through them.  (With the unusually warm temps, I didn't have any summer type stuff.)  She LOVED it.  That girl and clothes.  I am not sure how much she tried on--but it made for a VERY happy girl!

I LOVE kid language--you know how kids slaughter words when they talk or misinterpret what they use.  One of my favorites right now is Alaina's use of the word "but".  She likes to use it, but forgets to use it to join to another thought or sentence.  For example, she will say, " I like your cake but."  Which of course the double meaning is what makes it so funny.  HA HA!  And then of course she is ALWAYS "firsty" (thirsty) and don't forget she is "free"(three).

Talia  now gives kisses (or licks) and hugs including pats on the back.  And I have to say her hugs are the best.  Her little arms wrapped around your neck--you just know that all is well with the world. She is also standing on her own.  She will let go and stand for a few seconds.  She is VERY proud of herself when she does this. 

She also enjoys "tucking" Alaina in bed for naps.  It is so cute--she lays on top of her and says "tuck, tuck, tuck" in a whisper voice (mimicking what I do.) 

Talia is a pincher.  I am not sure if I have mentioned this in other blogs-but the last 5-6 months she has gone through phases of pinching and screaming.  The pinches actually leave bruises on me.  Once I got out of the shower and noticed all these little purple marks on my arm.  It took me a few minutes to realize that it is from her.  She likes to pinch when she is nursing and when you are holding her--especially if you are front packing.  And the pinches always catch you by surprise! 

Her screams are just crazy.  She screams for no reason, but to hear herself scream.  She hurts my ears!  AGH! NO SCREAMS! STOP!  Thankfully after a few weeks she stops--but then a few weeks later she starts again.  CRAZY!  This month we had another period of screaming.  EGADS!

I recently pulled up one of the baby walker toys and of course the big kids are playing with it more than she does.  (I don't get it!)  However when she gets behind it she LOVES being able to push it around and walk.  I know it will be VERY soon that she will be walking on her own.  She is SO ready to run with her brother and sister.  She is definitely growing up faster than either Ky or Alaina.  It is so hard to watch her get bigger.  I feel like I am losing my baby and well--that is because I am :(

I don't know if I have mentioned this before by Talia will call me Dada.  When she is really upset she will call me Mama--but otherwise I am Dada.  I guess it is only fair since Alaina called Dad "mama."