Claire's Fairy Party

It's been a "magical" birthday weekend filled with all the things that every four year old fairy needs! We had eight little girls dressed in fairy wings and tutus and we made butterflies, beaded bracelets, and magic fairy wands! The girls had butterfly cupcakes and Claire had lots of fairy gifts to open (who knew there was so much fairy stuff out there)! Claire even insisted that we put on one of her new Barbie movies after we finished with cake and presents. It was ultra girlie and super fun! Can't wait to start planning the next one!

Ready for the party!

The Birthday Fairy

Rear view!

Checking out her fancy cake

Pin the Wings on the Fairy

The birthday girl making her bracelet

Happy Birthday!

Make a wish...

Barbie movie (the quietest those girls were all day!)

Her new Barbie Escalade from Granna & Grandad

Even Kate got to ride!

Happy 4th Birthday Claire!

Happy Birthday Claire! My baby is officially 4 today... although she's been telling everyone that she's "almost 4" for a while now when people ask how old she is. The first thing that she said this morning when her eyes popped open was "am I four now?" She had a great day at school today, a quick trip to the dentist, and then a birthday dinner at Rudy's BBQ (one of her faves). When Grandad got there tonight she asked "where is the birthday cake?" When he responded with "what cake?", she said "Grandad, I had a birthday cake at my dinner at Rudy's when I turned 3... remember?" That child doesn't forget a thing! And today was only the beginning of her birthday celebration. Tomorrow we're having cookies to celebrate with her friends at school (since she had a dentist appointment during snack time today) and then Saturday is the big fairy party! More to come...

Party Prep!

We're in the final countdown to Claire's 4th birthday and her fairy party! I don't know who's more excited about it all this year... I'm loving the theme and we've both really gotten into it. All this party planning has given me and Claire a lot of "projects" to do together. Makes for great girl-time and I wouldn't trade those moments for the world! Tonight we made meringue cookies. They're the "forgotten" kind (leave them in the oven all night), so I'm not sure how they taste but they sure look cute. And if Claire licking the bowl clean is any indication, then they ought to be great!

Sneak peek!

The girls' craft bags are ready to go!


And no post is complete with a pic of the girls. Here's one I snapped of my dancing queens!

Claire's First Day of Pre-K

Today was Claire's first day of Pre-K. Although she only moved down the hall, it was a huge step in her little world and she was SO excited. She is now in PPK (as she calls it) or Private Pre-Kindergarten. She has to wear uniforms to school which makes it extra special. She is officially a big girl and I couldn't be a more proud mom! I know she's going to have a super year!












First day of dance this year... and now she gets to take TAP! She's so excited!

End of Summer Fun

Just a quick post to share a few pics from our trip to the Hyatt Lost Pines resort. It was the perfect place for our family "mini-vacation" and there was plenty to keep the girls busy... riding the waterslide and floating the lazy river, face painting, making s'mores, late night movies on the lawn. And all of us big kids had a pretty great time too! Will definitely be going back!

The Scillians at Lost Pines

On the porch with Granna & Grandad

They even had a chocolate fountain at dinner!




And back at home... caught one of the sweetest moments ever! I love this picture!

Where Has The Summer Gone?

I'm a confident woman... I can be honest with myself. I am the world's WORST blogger! In this age of social media, I enjoy having the ability to keep up with friends and family (and maybe even a few complete strangers, I admit) just by logging on to my computer. The problem is that I can't keep up! I can't keep up with reading all that interests me and I sure can't keep up with posting about my own life. My intentions are good, but once I get behind it's tough to catch up. So here I go again!

We're already heading into the last week of July and it seems like we were just getting ready to celebrate Kate's first birthday and kicking off the summer. We've definitely managed to stay busy and the girls have had a great time this summer. After the birthday party and Claire's first dance recital, we started right into swim lessons and gymnastics, vacation bible school, plenty of parties on the weekends, and trying to get as much pool time as possible. And there's plenty more planned for the remainder of the summer... weekend mini-vacation to Lost Pines, girls' weekend in Vegas (just for me!), and Claire's birthday will be here before we know it!

I'd sure hate to over-promise and under-deliver, but my "mid year" resolution is to do a MUCH better job at keeping up my end of the deal in the on-line world. Wish me luck! In the meantime, here are a few pics of the girls from this summer...

The Birthday Girl

Little doll!

Every girls needs at least one costume change on her birthday!

Claire's first dance recital

Easter Parade (her dance)

Kate on her actual birthday

All about the bikini!

Ready for the pool on the 4th!

Happy Mother's Day

A very Happy Mother's Day to my amazing Mom, my sweet Mother-in-law, my great mommy friends, and all of the other mothers who inspire me every day!

We've been getting outside and enjoying the springtime weather lately and that has meant a few weekend road trips. A couple weeks ago, we made our annual trek over to Round Top to see the bluebonnets and eat at Royer's. It was a little late in the season to see many big patches of bluebonnets, but we were able to get a couple good pictures and eat our piece of pie (gotta love Royer's!). This weekend, the girls and I went with Granna and Grandad to the Bayou Wildlife Park. I have to say that I didn't quite know what to expect (I've lived in Houston all my life and had never heard of it before), but we all had a great time! Kate wasn't so sure about it all at first, but she warmed up to the animals after the initial shock of a big elk peering into her car window. Claire was her usual daring self (except around the ostriches with their big eyes) and was feeding llamas and riding horses before it was all over! When Kate gets a little bigger, we'll definitely have to go back.

I'm officially into birthday party planning mode... my baby will be 1 in less than a month! I have to admit that I'm a little obsessed with it right now. I think it's something about having a party at home. Every detail is important! It will be a big weekend with both Kate's party and Claire's first dance recital. I'd expect a few pictures to be taken over those two days! :)

Here are some pics from the past few weeks...