March 27, 2013

Eggstravaganza 2013



Sunday afternoon we enjoyed our church's annual Easter Egg Hunt and party. Despite the freezing morning and some strong winds the afternoon turned out pretty nice. Allison had so much fun on the bounce house and the teenage volunteers at one bouncy climbing wall handed Allison up to the top so she could slide down the other slide. The chocolate dipped peep on a stick might have been the highlight for Allison. My parents got to come hang out and watch her egg hunt.  Allison had so much fun showing off for them.

It's so fun to see how fast she's growing up. Two years ago Allison was just sitting up and we sat her down in front of an egg for a photo. Last year we practiced at home to make sure she understood the concept. This year she had no problem and cracked each egg open to check out the goodies inside before moving on.

What amazing volunteers to help Allison up
Checking out her painted craft egg in the mirror.  Watching her make faces at herself cracked me up
Its not fun unless you get chocolate ALL over


With daddy, ready for the word "GO"
What a beautiful smile!

March 26, 2013

Blueberries

This year in addition to cherry tomatoes we are also growing blueberries.  I did a little research, and found an article on growing blueberries from A&M.  Anytime I can use an aggie example it's easier to get Kevin on board with my ideas.

It will be 2-3 years before we can expect good berry production, I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can keep the plants alive that long.  Our lime tree has hit the three year mark, but we've nearly killed it once or twice.  Gardening is not one of my natural gifts.  

We planted 3 different varieties of blueberry for cross-pollination.  Right now we have all three in a half-barrel.  I'm excited to see them budding now and can't wait to see how they do this year.  


March 25, 2013

Easter with Nana and Papa D

"Just like Minnie"


Easter Basket

Saturday Allison fell asleep in the car on the way home from the BNSF Easter Party.  When she woke up she begged to go for a drive.  I grabbed my keys and we headed out, ending up at my parents house for an impromptu visit.  They let Allison have her Easter basket since we will be camping during actual Easter weekend.

Allison was delighted with her big purple basket - filled with a soft My Little Pony, a Minnie Mouse dress up outfit - complete with ears, a bag of colored goldfish snacks and some candy.  Allison was most excited about the candy stash until we got her to try on the ears - she didn't take them off until bedtime and even that was a stretch.

Showing Papa D her candy stash

March 24, 2013

BNSF Easter Party

Waiting with daddy
Yesterday morning Kevin's office hosted their annual Easter Party.  Allison had such a good time and was so excited to meet the Easter bunny.  Based on past experiences we learned to get there right when they open to avoid a long line for pictures.  10 minutes early and we were the first ones in line.  Allison played with daddy and took pictures with me while we waited.

Allison wasn't scared at all and climbed right into the bunny's lap.  We could hardly get her to look at the camera, she was staring up at the bunny in awe.  It was so sweet, but not great for pictures.

After photos we watched the clowns make balloon animals - Allison got a giraffe and a bunny.  She also decorated a cookie with purple frosting and won an Easter basket at a spin the wheel game.

Unfortunately the egg hunt and petting zoo were cancelled due to the rain, but they handed out treat bags full of candy so Allison didn't even notice.

Waiting in line with mommy

Allison was so excited to meet the Easter Bunny

it doesn't get any cuter
showing off her cookie





March 21, 2013

Dream Castle

Monday we bought a new set of pots and pans on a rare Costco trip. Big thanks to my dad for letting us benefit from his membership. After unpacking and washing all the new dishes we had a lot of cardboard and a big box to deal with. I told Kevin to leave it and we would have some craft time fun.

Yesterday Allison watched the Sophia episode about making a dream castle so that turned into the perfect craft. We piled up the random pieces into a tower and then decorated it with stickers. We've been adding to the decorations today and will continue to do so until she gets bored or runs out of stickers - whichever comes first.
Posing with her dream castle "just like Rapunzel's tower"
Stars on top
Carefully decorating


This afternoon adding glitter glue
Next up - what to make out of the giant box. . .

March 17, 2013

Happy St Patrick's Day

Today Katelyn, one of the little girls at church, brought all her friends special goodie bags for St Patricks Day. Allison was so excited and gave her a big hug.

I should have gotten a picture of the treats before Allison got into them but oh well, it was cute. Allison got into it as soon as we got her buckled in to go home.



March 14, 2013

Family Dinner

Last night Kevin's parents and my dad came over for dinner.  We had enough people we got to use our dining room table, a rare event.  Allison loved having everyone around to play with her.  I can't wait for all the grandparents to retire so we can have these dinners and visits more frequently.

March 11, 2013

Easter Wreath

My friend Jamie and I made Easter wreaths based on some Pinterest inspiration.

We looked at the instructions and supplies from two blog posts (see below) and then just made it up as we went along.

Total cost: $12 and 2 hours to make two really pretty wreaths. Instead of using all the pastels we each picked a specific color palette. Jamie did blue and purple and I used pink and green with a couple yellow accents.

Supplies:
2 twelve inch wreaths ($3/ each at Walmart)
3 bags regular eater eggs (42 eggs in one bag for $2 at Walmart)
3 bags mini eggs ( $2/bag at hobby lobby)
1 bag tiny glitter eggs (hobby lobby)
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
ribbon or tulle for hanging

Optional Decorations:
ribbon for bow
Ribbon trim, glitter glue, nail polish, washi tape, buttons, stickers


We raided our ribbon supplies and hot glued ribbon trim on a couple of the eggs, as well as some glitter glue designs. We also tried some nail polish stripes and had the buttons out to hot glue but ended up not using them. Our wreaths have 3 rows of large eggs (one on top, and inner row and outer row) with smaller eggs filling in any gaps to fully cover the wreath frame below.

I'm so happy with how this project turned out.   Allison likes it so much she's asked for one for her bedroom door.


We looked at these two tutorials:
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2012/03/robins-egg-spring-wreath-by-grits.html

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2012/03/make-a-washi-tape-spring-egg-wreath.html


March 10, 2013

2 & 1/2 Today

My baby is two and a half today. She woke up sick so it hasn't been a very fun day. I told her she was halfway to her next birthday. Kevin then piped in with "she's halfway to five." I told him that I wasn't ready to think about her being five. My very helpful husband then told me Allison was 10% of the way to 25. I think I need a glass of wine after that revelation.

March 7, 2013

Rodeo Day

My little cowgirl had a great Rodeo Day at preschool. They clapped and stomped through music class, made a clothespin horse at craft time, and took photos sitting in a real saddle. But the highlight of the day, no surprise, was the horses. Allison was so excited when she saw the miniature horse and got to feed her treats. All the girls in the class loved the miniature one so much they brought out a regular horses saddled up and let them take turned sitting on a real horse. Allison told the horses thank you and bye-bye. She had no fear and was ready to ride! I can't wait until she's a little older for a pony birthday party.











March 5, 2013

Delicious

I let Allison lick the spoon after I made brownies. My little foodie told me "delicious!" I am constantly amazed by what she eats - shrimp, lobster, spicy salsas and dips. We balance it out with chicken nuggets and more strawberries than I can count.

March 4, 2013

Super Beast

This week Allison moved up to the Super Beasts class in Little Gym. She's been taking classes since her first birthday and enjoys them so much. It was fun watching the older kids and this class is geared towards less parent involvement. In the fall she will move up to a non mommy-and-me format.





Babysitting

Saturday night Kevin and I hosted a "date night" for some of our friends. We used to have a structured babysitting schedule with some couples at church but scheduling became an issue. Last month we decided to go free form, if you wanted to babysit offer, and then other people will offer so you can go out. I kicked things off with the first round and had 3 couples bring over their kiddos. Everyone kept asking if I was sure we could do this but I was so at peace about it - totally unlike me. Kids came over at 5:30, played for an hour then had a pizza picnic around our coffee table. They ran around for another hour then some cookies and a movie. My favorite quote of the night came from Michael as he played with Allison before anyone else had arrived: "you be Princess Leia and I'm Darth Vader." He hasn't even seen the movies but he's really into Star Wars, I love that.  The kids all entertained each other, it was amazingly easy.

Pizza and a Sophia episode


We made rainbow cloud crafts 


Everyone played dress up and makeup


Sadie found a hat and 'purse' to go with her dress and bangles


These three took turns with 1 in the car and the other two pushing

March 3, 2013

Handprints

Today Allison traced her own handprint. It's something I've only done a couple times with her so I'm excited to see her repeat it on her own.