Partying with Elmo!

Our sweet & crazy, one and only girly girl turned three and she chose an Elmo/Sesame Street party as her theme. This was our first party to host in the new house… less than one month after we moved in. Stressful? A bit.

I made her invites and printed them on Shutterfly. I love how they turned out.

There were no shortage of ideas for Elmo parties on Pinterest, so this was an easy party to plan. I went with a primary color scheme for the actual party and used some things I already had around the house as well as lots of printables.  This was, by far, the least prepared that I was for a party. I was still sewing her dress less than hour before go time. I also owed my family an apology for my host-zilla-ness that morning. Regardless, they rallied around me and helped me pull it off and we all had a great time!

Happy Birthday, Gracie!

Welcome to my party!

All ready to play host!

The indoor set-up

These character bags were fun to make. The kids used them for the Piñata candy.

The wall sign was a last minute purchase from Party City the night before the party. It was too cute to pass up!

The party table:

Elmo Cake & Cupcakes

Elmo fruit tray

Party favors:

The cups were filled with crayons, a little notebook, and a sesame street crazy straw.

This party is brought to you by

the letter G and the number 3!

Outside, we had plenty of space for the kids to run around and play ~ yay for the new backyard! We also had a few games & activities set up. The first stop was “Cookie Monster’s Cookie Creation Station.”

Ben making some play-doh cookies with Cole & Elise

We also had “Oscar’s Trash Toss.”

At first, I just had the kids line up and take turns tossing their trash. I soon found out that I had grossly overestimated their trash tossing skills and abilities. We quickly abandoned this method and moved on to…

…boys versus girls trash pick-up race! Racing and a crazy mama yelling “Go! Go! Go!” makes everything more fun, right?! :)

P.S. The girls won!

Gracie requested a Piñata, so we brought this little guy home. I will say there was something not quite right about beating this sweet Elmo until he fell apart and spilled his candy.

Take that, Elmo. And that. And that.

Patiently waiting for their turn to bring the hurt.

You ain't got no legs, Elmo.

(Read that last sentence in your best Forrest Gump voice).

Get your candy, folks!

Group shot – post candy mayhem!

Cake time! This picture cracks me up - Carter especially!

Singing to the birthday girl

Bri trying to get Noah to sing… he wasn’t interested.

Blowing out her candles!

Enjoying some cakey goodness with Mommy!

Taking a minute to recap the festivities with Grandad.

Despite all of the moving craziness and party planning craziness and all around “I’m naturally a little crazy” craziness, the kids had a blast at the party. I will, of course, do it all again because how can I not celebrate these three precious kiddos!

Courtesy of Sweetie, Elmo actually showed up at the party!

Thanks for coming, everyone!

If my kids had a rap CD, this photo would be on the cover… Ben is so gangsta

Noah says, “I’m outta here, crazies. Word to your mother… I mean my mother… I mean our mother… you know what I mean.”**

**To be technical and historically accurate… Noah only says “ball”.

Grace’s Birthday Dinner

I asked Gracie what she wanted for dinner on her birthday and she requested purple pancakes and strawberries.

She quickly verified and approved the purple-ness.

She also appreciated the plumpness of the strawberries.

As did Ben.

Crazy daddy.

Gracie is 3!

Quick stats:

29 pounds

3 feet tall

Birthday Questionnaire

1. What is your favorite color?

Pink

2. What is your favorite toy?

Lion King Toys

3. What is your favorite fruit?

Peanut Butter Apples

4. What is your favorite T.V. show?

Word World

5. What is your favorite food?

Cereal Bars & Yogurt

6. What is your favorite snack?

Fruit Snacks

7. What is your favorite animal?

A puppy

8. What is your favorite song?

“God is Bigger” & “Good Morning, George” by VeggieTales

9. What is your favorite book?

The Lion King

10. Who is your best friend?

Avery, but she always doesn’t let me use her tooth brush… but I only want her toothpaste.

11. What is your favorite cereal?

Dora Cereal

12. What do you want to be when you grow up?

A Mommy Like You

My Gracie Girl, you are three today! I wonder if you’re a little bummed because you've just mastered the art of holding up two fingers when someone asks you how old you are. I’m sure you’ll get the three fingers figured out a lot quicker! You seem to be growing in fast forward all of a sudden. You were just learning to talk and now you're saying things like “Actually…” and having these conversations with us that just make us stop and stare at you like, “Where did this big kid come from, and what has she done with our baby girl?” You are such a challenge for me because everything that comes out of your mouth is the most precious thing I’ve ever heard. This makes disciplining you SOOOO hard. You have learned early to play the “I’m your only little girl” card. We will definitely have our work cut out for us with you!

We thought your brother was a talker, but you give him a run for his money! Now I have two chatter boxes. The two of you constantly talk over each and I feel like I need one of those “take a number” machines just to keep up. I so love that you want to share the things you see and learn with me, and I hope you are always so willing to sit next to me and talk about your day! You are at the age where your pronunciations are hilarious. Your “n’s” become “ng’ – so Ben is Beng. Your “g’s” are “d’s” and you can’t say your “r’s”. When I ask you how something is, you say, “Petty dood.” You are funny, funny, funny. My favorite thing you do right now is when I say something to you, you say, “What?!” and you wrinkle your teeny nose up. I have to get a picture of your “What face” so that I could remember it forever!

You are very musical. You hear a song once and you remember the melody and many of the lyrics. You will also make up your own lyrics to songs that you know the melody to. You have a sweet little voice and I hope you continue to take after your Daddy, because your poor Mommy can’t carry a tune in a bucket! Besides music, you like dancing, playing with your dress up clothes and dolls, and watching cartoons and movies. Your favorites are Rio and The Lion King. You also play “Lion King” constantly with a large pile of toy cats that you’ve assembled from around the house.

You are so very snuggly and I think that taking a nap with you might be one of my favorite things on the planet. You are so teeny and you lay so still, and then you get the cutest smile on your face when you wake up and see that someone is still there with you. You lavish us with hugs and kisses and you always want to sit in my “lappy”.

At three years old, you know your ABC song, but you don’t recognize individual letters yet. This is mostly because your Mommy is a complete slacker! I really want to start doing some letter activities with you at home. You have learned some of the phonics from your Leap Frog Video (because it’s filled with songs!) I wonder if your school teachers will have to sing all of your lessons to you. :) You know your colors and you love animals like your big brother (as if he’d give you a choice). You’ve been potty trained since you were 2 1/2. It only took 3 days – you were so easy! Thank you for that! You can get dressed, brush your teeth, and buckle your car seat straps by yourself. You can make your bed and clean up toys, which would make Maw Maw Gus so proud. You are not shy in social situations – you like meeting new people and talking and playing with friends just like your brother. However, you are fearful about some specific things. You don’t like to be alone in a room by yourself and you don’t like loud noises. Your fears were at their worst right when we moved to the new house. You would absolutely panic if you realized you were upstairs by yourself and everyone else was downstairs, or vice versa. We are trying to be sensitive and helpful as you adjust to our new home and I’m sure it will get better in time. Right now you share a room with Ben and you seem to have no intention of leaving! Eventually I’d like to put Noah with Ben and make you a girly room of your own, but I think it may take a year or two and some serious convincing to get you to make the move! Even though you fight with your Bubba, you know he looks out for you and you guys really are great friends.

I really can’t believe that you are already 3 years old, my little Gracie. You hold such a special spot in our family as the only girl and I know that God put you in that role for a reason. You have three amazing guys in your life that are going to be there to look out for you, lavish you with love, treasure you, and show you how you deserve to be treated. Any boy who tries to get past your Daddy and your two brothers will have an uphill battle. The bar will be set high and it will be only the best for our princess! I can already imagine the strong & sassy young woman you will become. A friend of mine told me about this song and you and I dance to it all the time. Maybe one day you and your Daddy can dance to it at your wedding. I love the lyric that says “And I would never try to make you be Anything you didn’t really want to be Gracie girl.” You may be our little bit, but you have a personality that makes up for it. I am so blessed to be able to walk through life as your Mommy and to have a front row seat as you conquer the world with your joy and creativity! 

Happy Mother’s Day

For Mother’s Day this year, Brian surprised me by taking the afternoon off. I opened sweet cards and a gift from him and the kids, then we headed out to Boerne for the afternoon. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant, and then we did some window shopping on Main Street. It also happened to be the weekend of “Boerne Market Days.” The square was filled with different vendors selling crafts, home décor, food, jewelry, art, and anything else you can imagine. It was a relaxing day without a big agenda – my favorite kind. I am so grateful to celebrate Mother’s day with my three precious blessings.

Noah looks completely freaked out, as usual.

Love, love, love them!

College Life Wrap-Up

UTSA is just about done for this semester and my girlies are heading off in different directions in pursuit of some summer ministry opportunities, jobs, & general merriment. I wanted to give them a little send off, so I invited them over for dessert and craft time.

I made these fun little printables to put into two-sided Ikea frames. It’s a quote from Elf on the front and a scripture on the back. Idea inspired from here.

I picked up some chip board letters and a pack of scrapbook paper and the girls each made a letter for their rooms/apartments.

Then for some reason, they decided to pretend like they were in a police line up… just because they’re a little weird.

The Usual Suspects. One of them may be Keyser Soze.

I’m 98% sure that none of them will get my Usual Suspects reference, since they were 3 years old when the movie came out. They make me feel so old.

Oh, how I love them, though. Mary, Ellen, Haley & Lauren – I love you girls! I love your soft hearts, your senses of humor,  and your commitment to our group and Young Life. I love your excitement for knowing Jesus and serving Him during your busy and crazy college years. You are all an inspiration & blessing to me! Don’t forget me this summer.

Also, please remember, YOLO.