Halloween 2015

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Elise

Happy Halloween from the cast of Frozen:

Elsa…

Anna (and Olaf)…

And Sven…Hope your day was full of treats!

Fall Family Fun

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Elise

It’s fall y’all! My favorite time of the year, and not just because I have an autumn birthday, but also because the weather is glorious, crisp, and refreshing. And even more importantly, there are so many fun things to do together as a family. Last weekend we spent a morning exploring a fall farm festival, like we do every year.

There were pumpkins (which Lydia used as a fairy princess throne)…

And there were animals (Caleb tried to hug the donkey through the bars, but had to settle for petting him on the nose, since Caleb was far more enthusiastic about the donkey than the donkey was about Caleb)…

And there was corn (this is Alethea’s interpretation of what a “Corn Fairy” might look like, I think she got it spot on)…And more corn (which Caleb preferred to play with while standing outside of the box, since he had a hard time walking through it)…

And even more corn (because I can’t resist a fun photo op)…

HURRAY FOR FALL!

Playing Favorites

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Elise

My three favorite summer photos of my three absolute favorite kids…

I sure do love them, ice cream mustaches, blackberry juice stains, dirty knees, and all!

What We Did This Summer: June

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Elise

Our summer is absolutely flying by. We have been super busy. Too busy to write as much as I’d like to, but I thought I should at least share our month-by-month highlights. I give you… June.

We worked on the deck….

And Alethea graduated from kindergarten…

We celebrated her graduation with a trip to Como Town for rides and cotton candy…

And we worked on the deck…

Caleb turned one and we celebrated with a baseball party…

And in what might turn out to be the highlight of the entire summer, the girls and Caleb sat on the grass behind second base and ate cake with their bare hands to conclude his smash cake photoshoot…

And we worked on the deck…

We played in/on/near the water every single day it didn’t rain…

And made several trips to the library and various playgrounds…

We enjoyed hanging out (and being goofy) with our neighbors…

And we did some more work on the deck…

We met this guy at the nature center…

Caleb thought it would be a good idea to pet him…

The girls thought it was a better idea to stay a long way behind him…

After working on the deck some more, we planted a fairy garden…

And the girls looked to see if they could find any trace of tiny magical visitors…

Alethea took her very first ballet class…

And she loved every minute of it…

All that along with a couple parties, trips to the beach, hanging out with friends, and lots more working on the deck made for a busy, but good month. And spoiler alert for the “What We Did This Summer: July” post, the deck still isn’t done and we’re not exactly sure when it will be. It’s ended up being a beast of a project, but we keep telling ourselves, “It will be so nice when it’s done.”

Here’s hoping this finds you all sitting back, sipping lemonade, and enjoying the sun!

Happy Easter!

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Elise

From our home to yours… we hope you had a very blessed day!

A Mermaid Party

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Elise

How is it April already? I guess this means I should post pictures of Lydia’s 4th birthday party before it’s completely too late. After all, as she informed me firmly the other day when I told her she wasn’t old enough to do something, “But Mommy, I’m ALMOST FIVE!”

Not sure if 4.25 is almost 5, but that’s a discussion for another day, so instead I give you the invitation for Lydia’s fourth birthday party…

I am proud to say that I purchased some mermaid clip art and then Photoshopped my own invites instead of hiring out this time. I can’t say that it was quick or easy, but I am happy with how they turned out. Lydia was okay with them too, although she didn’t hesitate to point out that the mermaid isn’t a “real Ariel”. Can’t win ’em all I guess…

She was delighted with her party outfit though. I found her dress online at JCPenney (my go-to source for little girls’ special occasion dresses).

And when I say she was ‘delighted’, I mean her exact words were, “I love my new dress! It’s pretty, it has a flower… And it covers my underwear!” Truly, could anyone ask for more?

Besides a fancy outfit, there were also balloons, which Caleb carefully inspected for leaks…

And I decorated the mantel and memory table with pictures of the birthday girl and other mermaid inspired things (bonus points to the first person to find and correctly name Ariel’s two treasures from the movie)…

The dessert table included cake, cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, white Sixlet “pearls” and coconut delights (homemade Almond Joys). It was quite a spread!

The candy seashells on top of the cupcakes, the favor bags, and of course, Ariel walking on the sandy beach next to the cake were all quite thrilling for our birthday girl. She could hardly wait until it was time to slice the cake so she could steal Ariel off the cake stand.

I wish I had gotten more pictures of the actual party for you. Suffice it to say that I was a bit busy in the thick of it, but it seemed like all the guests had a good time and enjoyed the seafood appetizer spread. Lydia herself was more interested in the presents and blowing out the birthday candles, but who can blame her?

Life sure is grand under the sea…

Happy birthday to my four (I mean, almost five) year old girl!

PS. If one BobbleHeadBaby celebration isn’t enough for you, visit my Parties Page to view them all!

You Might be a Minnesotan if…

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Elise

…while planning your spring decor, your four-year-old suggests, “Let’s put some snow in jars with some eggs and it will be just like an Easter egg hunt!”

Because we’ve been there:

And, oh yeah, we’ve done that:

It’s beginning to look a lot like… Easter???

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Elise

I’m not terribly good about blogging on a schedule, you all know this by now, but one holiday that I’ve managed to mark for several years in a row now is Valentine’s Day. In fact, I’ve posted something on V-Day four of the five years my blog has been in existence, which is probably better than I’ve done on any other holiday.

So to keep my hot streak going, happy hearts day from three little valentines…Rest assured, no babies were harmed in the making of this valentine… XOXOXO,

Alethea, Lydia & Caleb

PS. You can check out Valentine’s Day posts from previous years here: 2010, 2012, 2013 & 2014

iPhone Archives

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Elise

So you all know by now that I love taking pictures of my kids. However, unlike a lot of parents, I rarely photograph them with my phone. Not that there is anything wrong with phones, a lot of people seem to get really good pictures with them, I just always seem to reach for my camera when something cute is happening. I guess I feel more in control with my Nikon’s myriad of settings at my disposal.

Anyway, I don’t take many photos with my phone, but I’d finally taken enough of them that my iCloud storage was full and after many weeks (it may have been more than a year actually) of reminders that my photos weren’t being backed up, I finally plugged my phone into my computer and downloaded my library.

And what do you know, I take an occasional share-worthy phone photo too. Here are my four favorites….