1st week of summer

This pool has been a lifesaver! They go in it 3 times a day at least.

Aside from swimming, we've watched some old school movies (Home Alone, Little Rascals and Edward Scissorhands), colored and cut out My Little Pony's and stocked the good girl basket with fun goodies. The behavior charts are up and the girls are earning stickers for being good. They are also losing stickers for fighting with each other and having attitudes.

I took Haylee to see Flat Stanley at the Palms Theatre on Saturday and we loved it. I laughed the whole time; cute show!

After the show I took Haylee to Build A Bear because she got a gift card for her birthday and she has been dying to make a My Little Pony. Yes, that is her new obsession. She made an adorable Fluttershy. I told her I'd take her back later this week to get the accessories for her since I left her other money at home.

We've gotten a good summer routine going. Unfortunately Natalee still continues to wake up at 6:30 every morning and neither Haylee or I are ready to wake up then. Haylee eventually gets up and plays with her while I get to sleep a little longer. They eat breakfast, watch cartoons and today they made bracelets together. Sometimes I wake up to find Natalee has raided the pantry.

Natalee still takes a nap everyday since it's exhausting to wake up at the butt crack of dawn, swim and make messes! While she naps Haylee gets to play on the Ipad which means she watches My Little Pony videos and plays her new My Little Pony game she downloaded. I usually lay on the floor next to her and ice my back. I'm still trying to take it easy and so far my back is feeling better. I hate my back. And I'm terrified the sciatic pain may come back.

I'm looking forward to play dates, Summer Movie Fun at Harkins and Vegas in 2 weeks. We're also planning our annual Staycation and getting excited to go camping a few times to escape the heat. The girls go to summer camp next month; just twice a week for 3 hours and I am looking forward to that too!!!

And Kona has finally figured out it's way cooler to stay inside so she keeps us company a lot more now.

1 week down, 9 1/2 more to go!

Last day of school

School has been out for over a week already and so far I am surviving!

Natalee's last day of school was Thursday. She took the cutest little owl cookies to school to give out to all of her friends.

Has she changed in the past 9 months?

Maybe a little. She loved preschool. She made new friends, learned a lot (I love how she writes her name) and had the best teachers ever!

She came home with little goodies and had fun at her water party.

Haylee's last day of school was Friday. Has she changed in the past 9 months?

I know she has learned a TON in the past 9 months. I can't believe 1st graders are learning multiplication already.

Her original teacher had to leave half way through the school year so after a few temporary replacements, Ms. Yandell was her teacher for the rest of the year. Haylee really liked her.

This year for end of year teacher gifts, I got their teachers cookie bouquets.

I've condensed a couple of the end of school traditions this year.

*I made collages with their first day of school and last day of school pictures along with a picture with their teacher(s).
*I had both of their teachers write in their Oh The Places You'll Go book.
*I made a new questionnaire and will trace their hand print on the back. It includes all their favorite things about school and life at this point.
*I recorded Haylee talking about her favorite memories of 1st grade in her recordable book.
*I still need to write their letters about all the things they learned this year and how proud of them we are. I did give them their end of the year present though. I had Natalee's teacher make her a necklace (she made Haylee one too) so she can always remember her preschool teacher.

And I bought Haylee a beautiful Hello Kitty necklace.

It's hard to believe my little Haylee will be in 2nd grade next year. Even harder to believe school starts July 31st!!! And sweet little Natalee will be in Mrs Brianne's preschool again and will continue to learn and prepare for Kindergarten!

FROZEN Party

This past weekend the girls' had their joint friend birthday party. It was so much fun and turned out (almost) perfect! The highlight was Anna and Elsa showing up. It as a huge surprise and the the kids were speechless, all 14 of them. It was awesome.

The week leading up to the party was so stressful. We had Girl Scout events, last day of school for both girls and then preparing for the party. All of this while I can barely move around because I hurt my back. Thanks to my Mom, Josh and Mallory (who made the cupcakes) we were able to make all of my ideas a reality and pulled off a super fun party the girls will never forget.

Here are the details-

For decorations,  I draped strips of table cloths in 3 different colors of blue from the ceiling and had white pom poms coming down from the light in the middle.

I also added silver spirals to the ends of the the table cloths. In the doorway to the kitchen I had silver spirals hanging down with pictures of Frozen characters attached to the end (forgot to take a picture). On the front door I had this sign-

My mom also wrote a quote on our chalkboard which we displayed by the present table.

I used 3 different colors of blue streamers to make a background behind the food table.That was probably my favorite; it made for a perfect back drop for pictures afterwards! The food table was decorated with Frozen figurines and food label cards.

I loved all the Frozen inspired food!!

We had Olaf's Noses (carrots),

Snowballs (marshmallows),

Frozen Hearts (strawberries dipped in white chocolate),

Sven's Antlers (pretzels),

Kristoff's Ice Blocks (jello cubes)

and Sandwiches (we finish each other's sandwiches).

To drink we had melted snowman (water) and blue koolaid squeeze bottles.

I also had rock candy for icicles which I ended up sticking in the goody bags.

Goody bags had Frozen word search books, stickers and snowflake cookies. I added the rock candy and the Olaf "build a snowman" pieces since we ran out of time. On the front were tags that said "thank you for chillin with us today".

During the party the kids colored Frozen pictures, made bracelets (note to self, don't use stretchy string) and played pinned the nose on Olaf.

I also had mazes and the build a snowman activity but ran out of time.

And then of course was the big surprise! My Mom gathered all the girls in the living room and told them she had a magic trick to show them. She told them to close their eyes and count to 3. When they opened their eyes Anna and Elsa appeared in the kitchen. The facial expressions on the kids were priceless. They were shocked and speechless. Anna and Elsa read a story and had them interact by asking them questions and having them do certain things that went with the story.

Then I took lots of pictures and we all sang Happy Birthday to Natalee and Haylee.

The girls got a lot of awesome, fun gifts. Natalee got a huge Sven stuffed animal, a fun Princess game and the Sofia floating palace to name a few. Haylee got a Lego Friends set, Build A Bear gift card and quite a bit of Frozen stuff to name a few. I gave the girls Frozen shirts, flip flops, chapstick/lip gloss and necklaces. I also gave them the cutest mermaid dress made by Izetta Jane and Haylee got a Frozen tumbler cup (Natalee already has a Frozen water bottle).

(Present time was a little chaotic and this was the only picture I got)

I am so thankful most of their friends made it. We had a mixture of preschool friends, Girl Scout friends and 1st grader friends. And cousin Hannah too. It was such a fun day and the girls sure felt loved.

Frozen party= success!