A Clifford the Big Red Dog Party

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Elise

This is a little later than I had intended, but I must share the details from Alethea’s 5th birthday party. As requested by the birthday girl, we went with a Clifford the Big Red Dog theme. Some people who heard about the theme choice expressed surprise that Alethea was still interested in Clifford. While it’s true that all things Frozen have recently become her obsession, Alethea still has a soft spot for Clifford in her heart.

Using my selected color scheme of red, yellow, blue, and white, I practiced my Photoshop skills and was pleased with how her invitations turned out.

The cake table was covered with deliciousness including chocolate and lemon cupcakes, dipped pretzels, little cups of puppy chow, and the birthday girl’s request… a giant bone shaped cake.

My friend Jen made the bone cake and another friend, Erica, made the cupcakes. Pure homemade scrupmtiousness all the way around. And did you see that I snagged a red “5” candle at Party City? I couldn’t believe my good luck that the number I needed was in the perfect color!

Clifford and his stuffed friends all attended the party. The paper hats were another Alethea request. A little tricky to get them to stay on, but don’t they look festive?

Alethea joined her pals up on the mantel for a quick photo op just as the party was starting. (I found out that it’s hard to locate a red dress for a little girl in the spring, but was fortunate to track down Alethea’s party outfit on eBay a few weeks before the big event.) If you look closely at the pictures, you will notice that Alethea’s memory table this year featured photos from each of her past birthdays. Also, if you’ve got an eye for such things, you may notice one of the home improvement projects that has been keeping me busy this spring. I’ll give you a hint, it rhymes with shmantel.

The party menu consisted of, what else, hot dogs, with plenty of toppings and sides. I did silverware wraps to make it easy to create a custom hot dog and carry utensils at the same time. The favor bags contained a variety of Clifford items (stickers, pencil and party blower) as well as generic items that fit the color scheme (bubble tube and candy).

After everyone had full tummies, we moved on to opening presents. Alethea seemed to enjoy all her gifts, but Aunt Leah scored major points by giving her the light up LED unicorn Pillow Pet that she’s been asking for since December. I think she’s a rather homely unicorn myself, but Alethea is over the moon about her, and has lovingly dubbed her “Glowy”.

Once all the presents were opened, it was time for the cake. Alethea blew out all the candles and then decided that she wanted part of the paw print for her slice, which she ate along with a pretzel, some ice cream, and a cup of puppy chow. Sugar rush!

And that’s how we celebrated Alethea’s Big Red 5th Birthday. It sure was a good one, although I can hardly believe I’m the mother of an almost kindergartener. Where does the time go?!?!

PS. To view more BobbleHeadBaby celebrations, visit my Parties Page!

Happy Birthday, Alethea!

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Elise

Oh, her eyes, her eyes
Make the stars look like they’re not shining

Her hair, her hair
Falls perfectly without her tryingShe’s so beautifulAnd I tell her every day

When I see your faceThere’s not a thing that I would change‘Cause you’re amazing
Just the way you areAnd when you smileThe whole world stops and stares for a while‘Cause, girl, you’re amazingJust the way you are!

Happy 5th Birthday, Alethea Margaret!

We think you are truly amazing, just the way you are!

Love you forever and ever,

Mommy & Daddy

Happy Easter!

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Elise

Our Easter weekend was quite nice. Saturday included a little egg dyeing. Once again, the wire whisk trick worked like a charm, not one cracked egg.

After the girls finished their eggs, they rushed down to the playroom to gather some coffee mugs, a carton of eggs, whisks and bottles of dye. Apparently their stuffed friends wanted in on the egg dyeing action.

Sunday started with getting dressed up for church. The girls were unbelievably excited to finally don their special outfits. They’ve been begging for days to wear these dresses!

After church we had a little egg hunt in the backyard.

And then was our feast (ham and all the fixings), after which the girls eagerly dove into their Easter baskets.

To top it all off, the girls spent the rest of the evening outside playing, because the weather, at long last, was absolutely perfect.

Hope your Easter was wonderful too!

He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Vacation!

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Elise

Sorry for the long silence. March came in like a lion in more ways than one around here. Not only was the weather horrible, but all four of us managed to come down with Influenza A during week one of March. Week two found Peter and the girls feeling better, but the flu morphed into a sinus infection and bronchitis for me. The coughing and headaches might have even been worse than the initial flu. So forgive me for not posting. I’ve been in a bit of a fog.

The good news is March week three brought much improvement to my heath and more interestingly, our family’s spring break vacation to Wisconsin Dells, Waterpark Capital of the World. We enjoyed a three night stay at the Wilderness Resort, which boasts four indoor waterparks, plus a variety of other attractions.

I didn’t get a ton of pictures (because water and cameras don’t mix and because Peter and I were too busy just trying to keep up with the girls), but here are my best shots:

We spent the majority of our time exploring the different waterparks, but we squeezed in a trip downtown to eat at MACS Macaroni and Cheese Shop, which I have to mention because it was sensationally good. Why aren’t there more restaurants whose entire menu is gourmet variations on mac and cheese? One of life’s mysteries, I suppose.

We also spent one evening chilling in our suite, watching Disney’s Frozen and eating popcorn:

Both girls seemed particularly intrigued by the sisterly storyline. After the movie, Alethea was overheard saying to Lydia, “Don’t worry, you won’t turn to ice. You’ll be my sister forever!”

And then there was swimming and more swimming (and lots of water slide riding, of which I could not for the life of me get a decent picture).

Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Ken-Ducky Derby. Every morning at 8:30am they race rubber duckies down the lazy river. We went two mornings and somehow Lydia’s ducks managed to win both mornings, so she ended up with a duck whistle and a water bottle. Alethea’s ducks weren’t quite as fast, but I was super proud of her for being happy just getting to keep the ducks. She was quite cheerful about it and is already talking about doing more duck races “when we go back”.

So that’s where we’ve been. My plan for this coming week is to attempt to get back to a normal schedule. Here’s hoping March week 4 is in fact like a lamb. Come on spring!

Future Olympian?

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Elise

Like so many other little girls, and truth be told, like her mother before her, the Olympic Games have inspired Alethea with dreams of figure skating brilliance. I personally got never much better than being able to skate in a straight line without falling down. Alethea though has been practicing her jumps and spins every evening, sliding around in socks on the hardwood floors in the hallway. So you can imagine her delight when I announced to her this morning that I’d found a pair of ice skates her size at the thrift store and I was taking her skating for the first time.

There was a brief disagreement about what she should wear. She insisted on a skirt, “Because I’m an ice skater.” And I insisted that she wear pants, “Because it’s cold outside.” So we compromised with a skirt over stretch pants. As she donned her selected outfit, she told me confidently, “I’m going to do spins and twirls!” And then on the way out the door, she asked, “Will there be anyone there watching me skate?”

Despite the Olympic visions of grandeur in her head, she was all smiles when we pulled up at the little ice skating pond at a local park. No audience, no music, not even a real rink, but that didn’t dampen her spirits.

We got her skates laced up and then we were off… very slowly and carefully. She leaned on me heavily as I walked backwards holding both her hands. She slipped and slid and was constantly losing her balance. I could tell it wasn’t exactly how she’d imagined it would be. I wondered how long it would take for her to get discouraged. I thought maybe she might want to give up. So you can imagine how proud I was when after about 15 minutes of difficulty she commented, “This is really hard. Let’s do it some more.”

My tenacious girl was absolutely determined to conquer the ice. Fast forward nearly an hour and a half later and she was letting go of my hands and counting how many steps she could take across the ice before she needed a steadying hand.

Since Gramma was at home watching Lydia, we decided to go to a restaurant, just the two of us, to celebrate her success with some lunch and hot chocolate. When the beverages were delivered, Alethea’s eyes lit up on beholding the giant cup, served on a glass plate with a doily. “This is a fancy restaurant!” she exclaimed.

So there you go. A day in the life of a future Olympian. Yes, it’s a long shot, but I’m fairly convinced this little girl can do whatever she sets her mind to!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Elise

Lydia…

And Alethea…
Want to wish you a very happy Valentine’s Day!

XOXOXO

For more Valentine’s Day fun, here’s last year’s Vday post and the one the year before that.

On Sharing a Room

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Elise

Now that Bobble Head Baby #3 (Bob for short) is on the way, I’ve gotten a lot of questions on what the room situation is going to look like for all the kiddos, how many bedrooms we have, and whether the girls are going to share a room. And the answer is, we have four bedrooms in our house, but only three of them are on the upper level, so yes the girls will be sharing a room and Bob 3.0 is going to have the nursery all to himself.

As to some ways we are trying to make the transition to sharing a room easier for the girls, here’s what we’ve done so far:

You may recall that back in January of 2013 we investigated different bunk bed options and ended up choosing a bunk bed that had a trundle underneath. Since we didn’t think Alethea was ready for navigating a top bunk, we assembled just the bottom bunk and the trundle and let the girls try sleeping in the same room.

Despite the adorable sleeping kids picture, I’ll be the first to admit that Room Sharing Attempt #1 was an unmitigated disaster. The girls kept each other up until 10:30 or 11:00 every night and were unbelievably cranky the next day, every single day, for two weeks, until we abruptly ended the experiment and Lydia resumed sleeping in the crib. We tried again in the spring with similar results and after calling round #2 a failure, we agreed to shelve the whole rooming together idea until the possible future Bob 3.0 was in the works.

Fast forward a few months to after we found out Bob 3.0 was on his way, when Peter said to me, “We need to try moving the girls in together again.” To which I replied in a somewhat whiny voice, “Do we really have to?”

After discussing the pros and cons of bottom-bunk-and-trundle vs. top-bunk-and-bottom-bunk, and consulting with Alethea on whether she was interested in sleeping in a top bunk (she was… VERY) and whether she thought she would fall out (after confirming that there would be a railing on the edge, she observed, “If I’m rolling on my pillow and I roll up to the railing, I just won’t roll and further”), we decided to give the green light to the top bunk option.

One of my preconditions about putting up bunk beds, was that we had to change out the ceiling fan for a non-moving light fixture. Fortunately, I’d bought a fantastic pink chandelier at a second-hand sale months ago, planning on using it in the guest bedroom.

I still think it would have looked great in the guest room, but it’s very cute in the girls’ room too, and I’m pretty sure it’s safer than a fan they can reach from the top bunk. Admittedly, Alethea has asked on more than one occasion if she can swing on it, so there is the possibility that she may one day bring it crashing down in the middle of a trapeze performance, but thus far she has heeded our warnings and refrained from any acts of daring.

The girls began Room Sharing Experiment #3 in November, and it has been the most successful try thus far. Not completely without bumps, but it seems to have helped Alethea to have a space of her own, since Lydia is not allowed to climb up to the top bunk. Lydia herself is quite pleased to be a Big Girl who sleeps in a Big Girl Bed and will happily inform anyone who will listen that, “I don’t sleep in a crib, because cribs are for babies. I’m not a baby anymore.” She shows no inclination to return to the nursery and seems unbothered by the fact that another little occupant will shortly be residing there.

Having successfully arranged a bed solution, last week I moved on to the clothes. Fortunately the closet was big enough to handle both of the girls’ hanging wardrobes without any adjustments. For the dresser I found these nifty extra-deep spring-loaded drawer dividers on Amazon.

Installation was a breeze. I think it took me longer to get them out of the packaging than it did to get them into the drawers. And when I was finished each girl ended up with two dresser drawers, each divided in half, which is how I managed to condense the contents of two four-drawer dressers into just one.

We have a few other orders of business to attend to, like getting the lamp on the bookcase fixed, moving some of the girly accessories in from the nursery, and come summer, finding some sort of solution to the lack of fan since the room does get a bit warm, even with the air conditioning on, during the warmer months.

But the good news is, I can cross off “Get Girls’ Room Organized” from my before baby arrives to-do list and move on to “Revamp Nursery Decor”. Goodbye pink… hello planes, trains and other things that go! Should be fun!

It’s a ….

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Elise

Also happy to report that all signs are indicating a perfectly healthy little one arriving in late May!

A Year In Review

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Elise

As many of you know, every December I make a calendar for the coming year. Each month features a couple photos from that month the previous year. The girls and I enjoy reminiscing about “remember last year when….” each time we turn the calendar page. Since most of you won’t be at our house every month to reminisce with us, I thought I’d share them all at once here on my blog so that you too can enjoy Alethea & Lydia 2013: A Year in Review…

Happy New Year!

Christmas Traditions

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Elise

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a very merry Christmas and are gearing up for a fantastic New Year! Around here, we’re also gearing up for a very special birthday party, because someone in our family is turning THREE YEARS OLD in just over a week.

But before we get too far past Christmas, I thought I’d share about some of our family’s Christmas traditions, because I love Christmas, and I love traditions, and I love hearing about other people’s traditions so I can ~~steal~~ adopt them for our family! So many good ideas out there. Here are a few of ours:

THE TREE
Every year our family, including my parents and sometimes other members from my side of the family, goes to a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree. Sometimes it’s great fun, sometimes it’s freezing cold and the kids are miserable, but whatever the case, we always take a photo in front of our selected tree.

THE ORNAMENTS
When I was little my parents would buy me a Christmas ornament every year. Peter’s parents did the same thing, so it only seemed fitting that we carry on the family tradition from both sides. Every year the girls each get a new ornament for the tree that will go with them when they move out into their own houses. Some years I pick them out. Other times we let them choose their own. When it’s my turn, I try to find things that remind me of them in some way. This year Alethea got a Clifford ornament I scored on eBay. And since both girls are currently obsessed with ducks, Lydia got this cutie:

Our second ornament tradition is that whenever Peter and I take a vacation (with or without the girls), we buy three souvenirs: something small for the house, a charm for my charm bracelet and an ornament for the Christmas tree. We actually managed to start this tradition on our honeymoon with a blown glass Canadian flag and have continued it ever since. This year we went to San Francisco and after much searching, located this one:

I love our ornaments because very year decorating the tree is like unpacking a box of memories. A bit of our childhoods, mixed with great travel, and a dose of “oh my goodness, our children are growing up too fast”!

THE ADVENT CALENDAR
Two years ago I was trying to figure out how to make Jesus’ birth more central to our Christmas celebration when I stumbled on this magnetic advent calendar. It was a bit more than I was hoping to spend, but it’s been totally worth it. The girls look forward to pulling out a new character every day leading up to Christmas. Truth be told, I think they were just as disappointed to find out on December 26th that there wasn’t a door to open on the calendar as they were when I told them there wouldn’t be any more presents that day either. Most importantly, it has inspired conversations, both spiritual and otherwise, about the nativity and Jesus’ birth.

Favorite advent calendar moments from 2013:

Lydia rearranging the figures, when Alethea looks over and says, “Lydia, you have to leave ONE of the angels in the stable because SOMEONE has to say, ‘Do not be afraid’!”

Alethea constantly calling the “innkeeper” the “lightkeeper”. Thank you summer camping trip in Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.

CHINESE ON CHINA
This is one of our more unique traditions, so it deserves a brief explanation of its origins. Many years ago, Peter’s grandfather and his siblings owned and ran a hardware store and by the time they closed up shop on Christmas Eve, nobody wanted to cook and the only place open to eat was the Chinese restaurant. Although the hardware store has long been out of business, the family tradition continued and evolved in Peter’s father’s generation to become a formal sit-down chow mein dinner. In keeping with Peter’s heritage, every year on Christmas Eve, we go to church and then come home to eat Chinese take-out with our friends and family. And because family traditions should evolve, we order a variety of other dishes in addition to the usual chow mein.

This tradition is a favorite with me because it combines everything I love about entertaining… the decorating, the formality, using my china and crystal, and having good conversations over a meal, while eliminating the thing I dislike most… cooking for a crowd.

THE JAMMIES
Here’s a tradition that came along as a bit of a practicality. We are very fortunate that we get a lot of gently used hand-me-down clothes for the girls from some of our church friends. For whatever reason though, we always seem to still need more pajamas. Thus the beginnings of our “wear new pajamas to bed on Christmas Eve” tradition. Here’s Alethea modeling hers Christmas morning 2009:

THE STAIRS PHOTO
Alright, I know this is getting long, so last one… a tradition I stole from one of the designers on HGTV. (I think it was Genevieve Gorder, but don’t quote me on that.) Every Christmas morning the kiddos are required to stop on their way down the stairs and let me take their picture before they get to open presents.

20102011

2012

2013

Our stairwell is completely devoid of natural light, so I know this will never be the world’s best photograph, but it does mean I get at least one shot of the kids together in their jammies on Christmas morning.

So there you go. A few of our family Christmas traditions. Now it’s your turn. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? Any that our family should try out? Please do share!