Sunday, November 20, 2011

Mia's Birthday Party

We couldn't wait to celebrate our sweet Mia's third birthday!
 We had Chick-fil-a deliver chicken nuggets and a fruit plate; those are two of Mia's favorite things to eat.  We also had animal crackers and potato chips.
 We decided on a zoo theme for the party.  Mia loves visiting the zoo, and since I like to refer to her as my little monkey, it seemed appropriate.
 Liz made this awesome zoo cage on one of the living room walls.  She colored and cut out all of these animals, then taped them and crepe paper to the wall.  She also put lots of the girls' Little People animals and stuffed animals around it.  It looks so cute!
 Both girls really liked the big elephant and zebra balloons on the craft table.
 Liz found these cute little foam animals that were easy for the kids to make; adults helped glue on the eyes on the sticks, but the kids were able to stick the animal pieces together.  This was a big hit.
 I found these cute little animal masks for the kids to color and wear.
 We also set out these pages for kids to color which many enjoyed.
 Great-Grandpa Hooks and Lois sent these beautiful flowers and balloons to the birthday girl; they were perfect to have on the counter next to the animal plates and napkins.  The bright colors matched just right!
 These were the cupcakes I made for my monkey.  When Mia saw them, she gasped and her eyes got so big; she was very excited about them which made me very happy!  She wanted one with blue eyes for her candles.
 I made the monkey cupcakes for the kids and then went a little more simple for the adults' cupcakes by using little zoo animals picks in them.
 A picture of me with my sweet little Mia.
 Our family of four before the party started.
 Mia and Daddy.
 Our silly girl couldn't wait for the party to start and her friends arrive!
 Lily wanted in on the silly action too!
 Our girls and the Shaffer girls had fun at the craft table for awhile.
 Mia was more than happy to have a picture made with one of her favorite people, my nephew, Zac.
 Our friend Avery wanted my dad to read a Bible story to her.
 Harrison had a lot of fun with Rocket and the computer.
 After playing for awhile and enjoying some yummy food, it was time for Mia's cupcakes.  She enjoyed hearing everyone sing Happy Birthday to You.  Later in the day, we could hear her in her room singing "happy birthday to me."
 Blowing out the candles with all her might.
 Enjoying her cupcake.
 After cupcakes, it was time to open presents.  Lily, Parker and Macey sat nearby so they could scope out all the goodies.
Mia was very excited to get this pirate dress-up doll from my parents.  She loves pirates!
 She loved digging into bags to see what she would pull out.
 Last Saturday, Lily was determined to pick out a present for Mia, so she and I went to Toys R Us.  We walked up and down each aisle until we came across this huge Princess coloring and activity set.  She just knew Mia would love it, and she was excited to help Mia open it.
 Mia did love it and was happy to give Lily a hug to say thank you.
 All the kids gathered around when Mia opened her gift from the Pacins - a Little People pirate boat set!
 Mia was super excited when she received our gift - a Minnie Mouse scooter.  She immediately took it on a ride and hasn't stopped!  She loves it!
We had such a fun time celebrating our sweet 3 year old!  Thank you to all our family and friends who made it so special!

Mia's 3rd Birthday!

Friday was Mia's 3rd birthday.  I can't believe it!  She is such a sweetheart.  Ryan and I decided to take her out on Friday morning, just the three of us.  We both love getting to spend time with just her.  Mia is so much fun, and her precious personality comes out so well when she isn't forced to share the spotlight.  She is such an awesome little girl!

After taking Lily to school that morning, we let Mia open her birthday present from Grandpops and Grandma Jan.  She was THRILLED to get a LeapPad of her very own.  She has been sharing the one they gave to Lily for her birthday last month, so she was beyond excited to get her own.  The cool thing about LeapPad is you can put any game you purchase on two LeapPads, so all the games that were already on Lily's that she enjoys are automatically put onto her new one.
 She couldn't wait to start playing!
 After a few minutes of play, the three of us headed out to breakfast at J. Christopher's.  It was delicious as always.  Mia loves breakfast foods, so she was glad to get pancakes with butter.  After breakfast, we went downtown to the Georgia Aquarium.  They took this sweet picture as we walked in.
 Mia was a little nervous to meet Deepo (remember that the Aquarium was built by the generosity of Bernie Marcus, founder of Home Depot), but she gave him a high five when I went up with her.
 Next up was the first touch tank.  Mia loved petting the little sharks at the McWane Center in Birmingham a few weeks ago, and she liked trying to pet the sharks and rays in this tank too.
 You may have to look closely at this picture, but look at this sweet face.  So precious!
 I don't remember seeing this before, but the rainbow coral was so pretty.
 Mia was fascinated by the scuba diver who was cleaning the tank.
 The huge whale shark swimming by.  When we walked into the big viewing area, Mia immediately asked for the mermaids.  I couldn't believe it.  We saw the Weeki Watchi State Park mermaids here last Christmas.  It's been almost a year, but she remembered and asked about them.
 I would not want to swim near this shark.
 Mia is such a funny little girl!
 I can't get enough of this sweet little one.
 After a few minutes on the indoor playground, we moved on to touch tank number 2.  Mia liked petting the big crabs and watching the shrimp walk by.
 We all liked watching the two beautiful beluga whales.
 We liked how the turtles swam right up to the glass.
 Touch tank number 3 let Mia touch a star fish and sea urchin.
After lots of fun at the aquarium, we moved over to The Varsity for lunch.  Mia loves their hot dogs!
 We always let the birthday girl pick where she wants to go for dinner, and Mia picked F2O which is a delicious little place over at Cumberland Mall.  She loves their grilled cheese sandwich and jasmine rice.  Because they burned both of the girls' grilled cheeses, the chef came out to apologize and brought us free dessert...cupcakes for all!  Mia thoroughly enjoyed hers!
We had a fun day celebrating our sweet girl.

Mia's Birthday at School

Last Wednesday, Liz, Ryan and I took cookies to Mia's school to celebrate her birthday.  Her actual birthday was Friday, but we had other plans for her (details coming in another blog entry), so we decided to visit on Wednesday instead.  She was very excited when she saw these cute little turkey sugar cookies.
 We shared with all the kids in the class.  They seemed to enjoy this little surprise.
 Picture with our sweet girl.
 I love my little bit!
 Ryan loves his little girl too!
 Bama and Mia have such a sweet bond too.

Lily's School Picture

How cute is this Pre-K school picture?

Family Picture

This is the picture we had taken at the church a few weeks ago that will go in the church directory.  I thought it turned out pretty well.

Miscellaneous Things

Lily looks so cute in her uniform jumper with vest.  I love these uniforms!
 Mrs. Worrell had a birthday while we were at the beach, and Lily really wanted to make her a card.  This is how she decorated it.
 This is what she dictated to Liz to write on the inside of the card. 
 The picture Lily colored for Ryan and me.
 Mia loves the Leap Pad!
 Mia loves to color.
 Not to be outdone, Lily wanted to color too.
 Lily loves practicing her letters on this paper.  She's getting pretty good with most letters.
 My mom helped the girls make masks, and they have had a lot of fun with them.
 Lily's drawing of our family.
 This is how Mia practices her letters at school.  I couldn't get it to turn sideways, but you get the idea.  She enjoys doing this.
 Mia's little fingerprints made a cute apple tree.
 I love when Lily makes things and writes "I love Lily Mommy Daddy Mia."
 Lily's drawing of our house.
 Lily wanted to make a Christmas wish list.  So she dictated the first five things to me (she saw these things in a toy catalog) and then she wrote out the next few things.  It's a little hard to read, but what she wrote was: new cd, new crown, abby doll (abby-cadabby from Sesame Street), garden (she wants seeds to plant a garden), butterfly doll, sticker book and new pencil.
 Lily then convinced Mia to make a wish list, but she doesn't quite understand what it's for which is how she ended up with "box and more pillows" on her list.
 Lily loves swinging on the trapeze on our home playground.
 Mia loves the playground too!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Yea Lily!

Lily's report card came home recently.  She's doing great!  They grade on 40 different areas (what ever happened to Math, English, PE?).  I am very proud to say she received 39 "E" grades which means Excellent/Outstanding.  These E's were given for things such as follows rules, obeys promptly, listens attentively, works diligently, grasps math concepts, shows interest in books/stories, memorizes assigned Bible verses, forms letters correctly for age, runs/jumps/skips/hops and participates enthusiastically in arts/music.  The one "S" (for Satisfactory - meeting expectations) that she received was for "displays self-control" in the "conduct" area.  I know how excited she gets about school, so I can easily see this being an area she needs a little work on.  We are so proud of our sweet Lily.  She is such a smart and creative little girl, and it is awesome to watch her love school!