Disney 2013 ~ More to Come Soon!

Probably the highlight of our vacation ~ Anna Claire and Mallory meeting Merida...

We've been back from Disney since Friday, but Friday led to loads of laundry Saturday which led to Father's Day Sunday which led to the start of Vacation Bible School yesterday, so I haven't had much time for a proper post-Disney update. I literally JUST picked up my camera to start sifting through the 412 pictures I took, and decided it would have to wait. Some of you might have seen a few sneak peeks on Instagram, but I'll definitely share more pictures of all the fun soon!!

Five Year Old Favorites

Last summer I found a list I had made of some of Anna Claire and Mallory's favorite things, and since I'm feeling a little nostalgic what with the girls turning five earlier this week, I thought I'd try to make this a tradition around birthday time. Here are their current favorites:

Anna Claire ~~
Book: Children's Storybook Bible
Song: Joy to the World
Game: Bucket o' Beads
Lovie: Ralphie, Moo Moo, Monkey, Cupcake Buddy
Disney Princess: Aurora and Merida
Movie/TV Show: Pinocchio/Transformers/America's Funniest Home Videos
Food: Broccoli and Carrots

Mallory ~~
Book: Tinkerbelle Song Book
Song: {she couldn't think of one}
Game: Candy Land
Lovie: Lovie Bear
Disney Princess: Belle
Movie/TV Show: Octonauts/America's Funniest Home Videos
Food: Chocolate and Crunchy Shrimp

Run, Jump, Tumble, and Play...

I can't believe Anna Claire and Mallory are five today!

We celebrated Saturday with friends and family at The Little Gym. We've always had Anna Claire and Mallory's parties at home, but they've been to a few parties and gyms and jump castle places, and asked a while ago if they could have their party here {best part: I didn't have to clean the house!).

I got the invitations from Tiger Lily Invitations like last year. I highly recommend Jessica. She is SO easy to work with and she's in GA, so it's a quick ship to SC. She didn't even have a gymnastics themed invitation in her shop, but I couldn't find anything I loved anywhere online, so I asked her if she would be willing to whip something up for me and she came up with these which the girls and I fell in love with {I'm pretty sure that's the worst run-on sentence in the history of ever, but I'm too tired to revise}. Bottom line: These were just what I was looking for!!

My mom baked the cakes as usual but I decorated them. I DO NOT recommend sugar sheets; I didn't find them easy to work with at all, but I suppose the little gymnasts turned out okaayyyy...

I used the applique I stitched on the girls' shirts as a pattern, and it was not easy! I am pretty proud of the words I piped on the cakes, though. This was my first attempt ever. I did ONE test run before icing the cakes...not too bad either...

 Anna Claire and Mallory were sooo excited and had the best time at their party!

This is everyone after all the running, jumping, and tumbling was over...tired!!...and ready for cake and ice cream. I do have tons of shots with all the little ones running around playing, but they are not the best pictures. Most are out of focus and without a working flash the lighting was terrible.

 

 

Some of the details...I was determined to give The Little Gym a personal touch as best I could.

Happy Birthday sweet girls!! Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!! We are so happy you had such a great birthday celebration!

And thanks to everyone who came out to help us celebrate Anna Claire and Mallory's FIFTH birthday! We love you all!!

Flip~Flop Applique

Part of my issue with knocking out embroidery projects is deciding what to make. It's not rocket science, but I probably put too much thought into the process. Cuteness factor is #1. Then there's the longevity of the project. {Is the design seasonal? They probably won't be wearing this flip~flop t~shirt on a warm day in October.} I also think about supplies on hand. {Will I have to buy fabric and thread or do I have what I need?} Then I think about whether they already have something to wear with it if, for example, it's a shirt. {Will I need to make or buy shorts or pants?}

In this instance, I already had the orange pants and the chevron shorts. After agonizing over the decision, I was finally able to choose these cute flip~flops...very easy and very cute!

The shirt coordinates with the orange polka~dot pants which are part of the collection of ruffled pants my mom made the girls a while back. I loved all the pants so much I convinced her we needed some coordinating shorts, as well. These are a cute mix of the turquoise chevron and orange dots {love that color combo}.

Just Keep Swimming

 

Sunday we spent practically the entire day by the pool; it was so pretty outside. The water is still too cold for mommy, though I did make it all the way in for about ten minutes and Walter spent a good deal of time splashing around with the girls. Anna Claire and Mallory, of course, have been swimming since April. Brrrr....

 

No surprise, then, that Mallory has already gotten up enough nerve to try swimming under the water. She's doing great. Earlier this week she was splashing around and told my mom she was a great swimmer ~ just like Michael Jackson! My mom asked her if she meant Michael Phelps???

 

 

End~of~the~Year Play School Picnic

Monday was such a BIG day!

After kindergarten testing and a quick outfit change, we headed over to Anna Claire and Mallory's end~of~the~year play school picnic...their official last day of play school.

It's so bittersweet ~ more so for mommy, I think. I pretty much cried all day Sunday, but I guess I got it out of my system because I did not cry at the picnic, and the girls had such a great time!

We sure will miss their wonderful teachers and wonderful school!

Look Out Kindergarten, Here They Come!

 

Anna Claire and Mallory had kindergarten testing bright and early Monday morning ~ 7:30am ~ before their end~of~the~year play school picnic.

 

They were so excited to go, but not so excited about mommy waking them up at 6:30 to get there on time. Luckily their new school is less than four miles from our house. Nevertheless, today was a nice test run to see how mornings might work next school year!

 

The teachers took them back one at a time and asked them questions about their letters, numbers, colors, etc. Mallory told me she read a story out of a book {???} and that she told the teacher all about the chicks next door, one of which she's named Lollipop. Huh? We have no chicks next door. After some careful questioning, I figured out she was talking about the chicks next door to Grandmom's house. ha.ha.

 

Anna Claire's testing took forever. I'm pretty sure she talked the teacher's ear off! She came out with a huge smile on her face and didn't seem worried at all when she told me she missed a couple of her letters. It was painful not to be able to go back with them, but it sounds like they did a great job. So proud of them!!