Ivy's 1st Slumber Party

As most of you know Ivy turned 8 at the beginning of September. I decided to have her first slumber party as we have always invited a bunch of kids but barely any show up because it is the first week of school and pretty hectic. I figured a slumber party was a good way to keep it small and inexpensive but still fun for the girls and special for Ivy. I started looking for ideas on-line and found two great sites, http://www.amazingmoms.com/ and http://www.birthdayinabox.com/ , that gave me tons of ideas on how to run a slumber party without it getting out of control but still having a great time. I took a few ideas from those sites and came up with a few of my own and the party was a huge success. We had 8 girls total and thankfully Tiff came to help me otherwise I might not have made it through. Thanks to $5 pizzas from Little Caesar's and a delivery from Ben we had dinner and moved straight to dessert. I had made cupcakes early in the day and gave the girls everything they needed to decorate their own, frosting, a few kinds of sprinkles, plastic knives. They thought it was so cool. And when it came time to sing "Happy Birthday" I put a candle in each girls cupcake. It was all a little messy but well worth the fun. The rest of the night went just as smoothly. I had decided to do a new game or activity once every hour and it worked out really well. The girls played freeze dance, simon says, and sleeping beauty. We made door hangers and I did every one's makeup. At 10 we finally all sprawled out in our sleeping bags on the floor and watched movies. I think Ivy fell asleep first, she was so tired. In the morning as a last little special thing I made heart-shaped waffles for all the girls with whipped cream and chocolate chips. It really ended the whole party perfectly. What I thought was going to be a night of crazy stress for me turned in to a great time to get to know Ivy's friends and give her a party she wont forget.

Kindergarten At Last!!!

Well I started this blog and then never wrote again. I guess you could say Lorisa and Avery inspired me to start again. And what better way to start than Luke's first day of Kindergarten. While it has been 1 month now and he is doing great, I thought posting the pictures of his first day would be good. He went in just fine, wasn't nervous at all. It was so bittersweet. While I know he needed, was ready, to go to school; it was still hard seeing my baby go. Luke and Ivy have become such their own little people. And the differences in them is really funny to see. What surprises me the most is how close they remain. They look out for each other, take care of each other. Growing up like an only child I never knew the closeness of siblings until I was a teenager and could relate to my own sister. But they have a relationship unlike any other. They hate being apart. They still sleep in the same room on the weekends and actually miss each other on weeknights when we force them to sleep in their own rooms. When Luke is upset he goes to Ivy and sometimes even crawls in her lap while she comforts him. They are constant playmates and rarely ever get tired of each other. I pray every day that they remain that way. I think they will. I can't believe how time has flown by. People always tell you it will but you never believe it until it happens...