Sheepy

And I know Valentine's day is like, so over, but I didn't really have a chance to play around before so I declare February as Valentine's month!
Which means nothing except an excuse for me to play with cute hearts and stuff...because I can't help myself... like I need an excuse...!
sosmitten



I've been having a lot of fun lately with some great resources from these wonderfully talented ladies. Check them out!
Vol.25
Pugly Pixel
Paint The Moon

6th Birthday Party

So, I managed to make it through the first 5 years without a 'proper' birthday party. It's not that I don't like birthdays or parties, just the ensuing chaos of a house full of sugar fueled toddlers/preschoolers is a bit too much for me. And I am so 'not martha', sadly. But we've always had a celebration with family.

Now here we are at 6, and the kids know.
We've always had cake and presents but they know now that the other kids have parties with friends. And lots of gifts. And games and balloons and all the rest of it.

And so we had a full-on birthday PARTY!
Robots vs Dinosaurs (who can pick just one?).
We rented a room at the community center. Invited friends. Painted birthday shirts. Borrowed a bouncy castle. Made some cakes and had some fun.
The kids helped decorate by helping me draw and color banners. We played a few games. We made robot necklaces from beads and string and beads and bolts and washers.
We built 'robots' from cardboard boxes and miscellaneous recycling items. They were awesome.
We danced like robots and dinosaurs. We ate chocolate cake (Bug) and carrot cake (Bee). We opened presents and ran and bounced and made lots of noise.
I think the boys had a great time.

I didn't manage to get a lot of photos, as often happens when you are busy 'in the moment' so here are a few and the lovely Mrs. M was thankfully handy with her camera and I will post a few more later too.
As is often the case, when we get together with good friends and family my heart is full with gratitude. Thank you for the love and all your helping hands. And I'm thankful for the two tiny boys who have grown and made us laugh and challenged us and inspired us with their curiosity and passion. Happy Birthday boys!
Love Mom

Valentine

Tiny Dancer

The Babe recently started taking her first dance classes. And it is just about the coolest thing ever!

She's been 'entertaining' us on the coffee table at home for a little while now so we decided it was time for some big girl dance classes. And by 'classes' I mean a room full of 3-4yr olds running around while their patient teacher tries to get them to focus long enough to figure out how to skip. Or point their toes. Or stand still for 2 seconds. It's not a formal class, but more about creative movement. Babe calls it 'ballet-ing. As in, I'm ballet-in'.


Parents aren't regularly allowed to stay in the room during class time (too disrupting) but we had a few minutes to observe at the end of class on her first day. My sassy, outspoken, uncooperative child was a model student!
She listened and focused and followed directions. In fact she was quite serious about the whole business. Although a couple of times her very serious face caught mine and burst into a huge beaming smile.

At the end of class Miss Babe was not ready to be finished and she asked if she could have one more dance. Her teacher played one more piece of music just for her. Bliss!
It was one of those moments that was kind of magical for both of us.

I tried to sneak a few shots in during her last class. And when she realized I wanted to take her picture I got 'spazz-face'. That's her favorite thing to do when I try to take her picture these days. Then she likes to look at her goofy pictures in the camera. She cracks herself up. Spazz Girl.