Party Animals!!

Yep, you can just call us party animals.  Seems like we've been "partying it up" lately.  And let me tell you, we KNOW how to throw a wild and crazy party!!  Like the tea party we threw for Lan and some of her cousins.  She doesn't get to see her cousins much, since we live away from them, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity.

One of the cousins had spent a couple nights with us, so we let her and Landry help us prepare for the party.  They started by decorating treasure boxes for all the girls.  Inside, we put lots of princess goodies.

Apparently Snow White went a little "hoochie" for a moment.  Sorry about that. LOL

 Then, we had the girls make place cards for everyone

We set the table using pink, pink, PINK!

 Each girl got a treasure box, a crown to decorate, and a candy necklace to make.  Have I mentioned this was a very impromptu party?  The silhouette machine is a dream that made this all possible.  Plus, my mom is very creative and quick on her feet :)

And this was our centerpiece!  I had never made one of these, but it turns out, it was easy peasy.  I didn't even have to smooth the icing out because the girls were going to embellish the dress with lots of pretty candies.

 Our party wouldn't have been complete without Aunt Connie!!  She came dressed especially for the occasion!

I just love how the girls like to look after Landry and help her out.  They are so nurturing!

Now to add the embellishments!

Such concentration...

 The girls with their masterpiece!!  We even had a baby princess there!

 Time to serve the "tea" (or strawberry punch)

 Maybe a short break for a piece of candy

 Oh, and did I mention we had little pirate running around too?  He spent most of his time playing with mommy's phone

I love my little princess :)

Now, if that wasn't wild and crazy enough for you, here's another:

My mom's birthday happens to be tomorrow, but since we will not be with her then, we let Lan throw her a mini-party while at her house.  Doesn't get much crazier than letting a 4-year-old decorate a cake entirely by herself!

What do you get when you let a 4-year-old decorate a cake by herself?  

An absolutely BEAUTIFUL mess :)

All partied out yet??  We weren't.  We had two weddings....

Two birthday parties....

And Lan even threw a tea/vegetable party for some VERY special guests!

Now that's a wild party ;)

Celebrating the 4th

After spending almost a month and a half away from home, we finally returned.  It was bittersweet, always sad to leave loved ones, but nice to get back to normalcy.  Oh, and we returned home to no water.  But, don't you worry!  A little demolition and a pretty little penny, and we are back in business :/.

Ok, now onto the 4th.  I spent my morning at a photo shoot and the kids got to play with Miss Emily.  There was a community event going on in a small town down the road from ours, and I thought really hard about going.  However, the thought of 100 degree temperatures for hours, and two kids all by my lonesome, quite frightened me.  But my mom had made them some RIDICULOUSLY cute outfits to wear, and we had to show them off somewhere ;)  After Eli awoke from his nap, I decided I'd take the kids out to eat.  To be honest, we were planning on having an All-American Mexican dinner.  But it turns out, all the Mexican restaurants close for our Independence day.  I guess I'm the only crazy person that would eat Mexican on America's Birthday.  Instead, we decided we'd be truly patriotic and go to Cracker Barrel.  Can you think of anything more American than sitting in rocking chairs and "playing checkers" on the porch of Cracker Barrel??  Well, maybe a few things, but it was the best I could think of in a hurry.

We got lots of attention for sure.  The sweet old people kept telling me how lovely my family was.  I think they really just felt sorry for me, this pregnant woman trying to take 2 little ones out to eat alone. ;)  Especially when we finished eating, and the kids starting shouting "Yay! Toys!!!"  As crazy as it sounds, it was pure bliss!  There is only one thing that could have made it better....DADDY!!!!

After we ate, I started thinking about our plans for when we got home.  Our neighborhood is quite infamous for shooting the most obnoxious fireworks until the wee hours of the morning.  I usually fret about this as I fight to get my kids to bed and back in bed over and over again.  Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em right?  We stopped at the store and got all the supplies for a perfect, 4th of July, dessert picnic.  I threw the kids in the tub when we got home, put their jammies on, and we spread a picnic right in our front lawn to enjoy some dessert and fireworks together. 

I should add that some of us enjoyed it more than others.  E was amazed at the sounds and lights.  Lan, however, thought we were under attack.  She ran inside for a while and came back out like this:

Poor little thing.  In her 4-year-old mind, she thought her raincoat and sunglasses might offer some protection from the "attack" going on around her.  Hey, it works for the sun and rain.  It was short-lived though.  It just became too much for her to handle, so we moved our party inside where the sounds and lights were much easier to take.

Hope Everyone had a wonderful 4th!!!