Spring Crafts (and a Miss A update)

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching my sweet friend Celia's three kids for the day. Celia and her husband had the opportunity to get a way for a few days before baby number four arrives this spring. Celia's parents were coming in to town to keep the kids for the duration of their trip, but someone was needed to watch the kids on Thursday until her parents arrived. I was thrilled to have them for the day, and even though it made for one busy Thursday-we had a total BLAST. 

 

My kids LOVE having play dates and I actually think they behave better when friends are over. It gives them all something to do and someone new to hang out with. 

So with a total of seven kids (all seven and under) here for the day, I wanted to be prepared with some fun stuff to keep everyone busy and entertained. 

And, of course it gave me a great excuse to get a little crafty too!

Because we've been enjoying such beautiful weather and because their are little hints of Spring every where, I decided to go with SPRING as my theme for our day. 

Every one's favorite craft--AND the tastiest--was...

make your own FLOWER CUPCAKES!

All you need is:

Cupcakes

Frosting

Marshmallows

Gumdrops

and Sprinkles

So easy and so simple to assemble!

And yes, they were quite yummy too!

After we devoured our cupcakes, we moved onto tissue paper flowers.

This was definitely a little more difficult than I anticipated, and the kids required my assistance, but the end result was a beautiful bouquet of flowers for the kitchen table.
Because the color combination is endless, these flowers could be a perfect (and CHEAP) decoration for a birthday party or a baby shower! 

And while the "big" kids were busy making flowers, the babies and I made some hand print butterflies.

I LOVE hand print artwork!!!!

It can be real messy to accomplish, but it's also a true keepsake and well worth the effort!

Oh, and while the babies napped, the girls and I made some felt flower hair bows their hair. I followed this awesome tutorial and then just added a hair clip to the back of each flower!
So easy and cute!

****AND...thank you for all your prayers concerning sweet Miss A!!! I talked with her mommy yesterday and she was VERY happy with how court went on Wednesday! Miss A will stay in her current home--which is a wonderful place for her to be:):)!!! 
Thanks again for each and every prayer that was lifted up on her behalf!!!**** 

Happy Friday Everyone!!

Prayers for Miss "A"

So many of you "met" our sweet Miss A when she joined our family last year through foster care. Many of you have even emailed me asking for updates on how she's doing in her new home.

My heart is heavy this morning y'all, and I thought I would post this and ask for prayers for this sweet girl. Today there is a HUGE hearing that will determine the future of this precious little girl. I can't share any of the details of the case, but the Lord knows the circumstances at hand. Please pray for Miss A's momma, her father, grandparents, case workers, and the judge! Pray that decisions made today will be made with Miss A's best interest at heart! Please pray for wisdom and discernment for all involved. Pray for Miss A and that her heart would be filled with peace throughout this entire ordeal. Pray that she would know and understand that she is loved deeply--by her family, and by Jesus! Pray that the time she spends with her family today would be precious and sweet! Thanks guys!!! I'll post an update when possible!

Our oh so romantic date...& my SURPRISE

My sweet hubby is always hit with a double WHAMMY on Valentines Day. Not only is it the day of L-O-V-E, but it's my birthday as well. Poor guy-right;) I must say, he's totally got the hang of it though and always goes out of his way to make me feel like his princess. He truly is the best gift giver EVER, and knows how to make me feel special. On Monday, Shane took the day off from work so we could spend the entire day together. My sister Al came over and kept the kids for us ALL day long. What a blessing.

Monday morning I had to help host Riley's Valentine Party at school, so our first stop on our little date was--

PRESCHOOL! lol;)

 

I know Riley thought it was extra cool to have both Mommy AND Daddy attend his party with him.  

 

We did a fun craft,

 

played a few games, 

did a little limbo, and ate some yummy pizza. 

The kids seemed to have a GREAT time. 

 After we got the party cleaned up, we kissed Riley goodbye and headed over to IK*EA. Neither one of us had ever been before and we were both super excited to check it out. We have been looking for some cubby-like shelves to help organize the toys in the playroom. After checking other stores, I'm happy to say that IK*EA had just what we were looking for. 

We spent several hours browsing around the store before heading over to the mall. Shane needed to find some basket-ball shoes. After going in and out several stores, he finally found a pair that he liked. 

So with the preschool party done, playroom shelves needing to be assembled, and basket-ball shoes purchased, our oh-so-exciting-date came to an end--lol.

We headed home, scooped up our little troop, and then ALL headed to 

M@rio's Pizza to celebrate my birthday--Italian style!!! 

Okay, so maybe this date won't go down in the books as the most romantic date ever,

  BUT it was PERFECT. 

Kid-free shopping, crossing things off our "to do" list,  

and then devouring a ham and pineapple pizza

 while sitting at a table surrounded by my sweet family.

 

Yeah, a PERFECT day indeed!!!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering what was in this beautifully wrapped box...

 

  Well, my precious husband ordered a BEAUTIFUL "Blog book" from my sweet friend Terri. 

 

Oh, my, goodness y'all...I now have my sweet family's memories to hold in my hands.

Right now I have 2008,

and 2009 is in the works!!!

 

 We have had SO much fun looking at each and every page. 

 

The kids LOVE it and BEG for us to read it to them. They LOVE hearing stories about them!!! 

THIS is why I blog--so I will NEVER forget the special (and the not so special) moments with my family!!! 

What an AMAZING and PRECIOUS gift, one that I will treasure FOREVER!!!

Happy Valentines Day...

 

 from me...and my sweet little valentines! 

 "We love because he first loved us!"

1 John 4:19

Family, Fondue, and Fun!

Saturday night we celebrated Valentine's Day with the kids.


We enjoyed a festive family dinner complete with yummy food, games, and even a fun dessert.
First on our agenda was make-your-own-heart shaped pizza's.

 The kids were excited to roll up their sleeves and get busy in the kitchen.

Hudson was eager to help his Daddy make his pizza!

Next came the sauce and toppings of choice. Hawaiian pizza is our family's favorite so we added lots of ham and pineapple to each pizza.

While our pizza's were baking in the oven, we kept everyone occupied with a little Valentine game.

The object: Put a conversation heart in your mouth, and drop it into the glass below.

Who new that such a simple game could keep everyone entertained. Corban actually got pretty good at it the more he played!

Finally the pizza's were done and it was time to dig in!

Sophie lu was very proud of her sweet creation!

And Hudson thought his was delicious!!!

After everyone had finished their pizza, it was time to bring out the BEST part of the evening---dessert!

We decided to do chocolate fondue for the first-time-ever with the kids! We served it with strawberries, marshmallows, pound cake, and pretzels!

 Of course,the kids LOVED it.

I mean what's not to LOVE--right!?!?

Delicious!

Our fun evening ended with everyone snuggling on the floor in the playroom, while watching a movie. It was such a sweet ending to a PERFECT night!

When things get a little fishy...

One day this week, we loaded up and headed over to my sister B's house for a fun play date. B has to head back to work on Monday (her maternity leave is up) so we wanted to make sure we got together and enjoyed one last hurrah before she headed back to her class.

  Miss Sophie couldn't wait to get her hands on sweet baby Brooklyn!
She LOVES to help feed her little cousin her "baby juice"(as she calls it)!

After we played for a while, the plan was to then head over to the mall and grab a bite to eat. Before we fed our hungry bunch though, we stopped by the B@ss Pro Shop.

A few times each week, the store invites all it's visitors to come by and watch them feed the fish that are on display in their huge aquarium! 

 We were able to watch these hungry fish get their yummy lunch first, before we indulged in some pizza ourselves!

How cute are these two blond boys?!?! Riley's best buddy Rhett spent the night with us the night before, so he got to joined us for our fun morning out!

And speaking of blonds...these two are pretty stinkin' adorable too- I must say...

 Sophie-lu received this UGLY, squishy, bass fish from the man doing the feeding. 

She's carried that thing around with her everywhere!!!
She's even sleeping with it at night!
Who knew our sweet, prissy, girly-girl would have such an infatuation with a bass!!!