The Big #6 (Before the Party)

The Little Miss had her highly anticipated 6th birthday last weekend!  Here's the pictures of the before party and decorations.  She chose a Lalaloopsy party theme.

Love this picture of my babies.  J-man wrote his sister the sweetest birthday card.

They both look so big in this picture.  Where did the time go?

Meet Sprinkle Spice Cookie, the doll a certain Mommy searched high and wide for.  Z was thrilled.

 Now on to the decorations....
Alan and I decorated the night before the party, after Z went to sleep.  She was so excited when she came down on her birthday to find the entire downstairs "Lalaloopied" with giant flowers hanging from the ceiling, bright pom-pom-button garlands, and birthday banners everywhere (you know how I love to get crafty with the graphics).  Here are some of the pictures.

 

 

 

 

I debated forever what to do for a cake (see my last post).  Since she was insisting on strawberry cake mix, I made Neapolitan cupcakes.  They had brownie bottoms, strawberry cake tops, and vanilla buttercream icing.  I used pencil toppers on cookie pop sticks as the decorations, which the girls loved because they could take them home.

 

Pictures of the actual party coming up next...

I'm going lalaloopsy!!!

I'm in the midst of getting ready for a certain little ladybug's 6th birthday party.  I love to put on a party so I've been living in Lalaloopsy Land for a couple of weeks educating myself on all things Lalaloopsy, gathering ideas, making invitations and decorations, and preparing crafts and games.  Last year's surfer girl party left me with a lot to live up to.   Thankfully we cut our invite list in half.  Last year, we invited 20 little girls and they all showed up with their mommies.  It was quite a yard full (outside party).  This year we only invited 10 making things a little easier, especially since this is a sewing party (Lalaloopsy dolls have a lot to do with sewing). Today, I make "Crumb's Pink Lemonade Sugar Cookies" and finish the decorations.  I just can't seem to nail down the cake.  I guess because rather than one of my usual homemade from scratch cakes, my ladybug wants a box of strawberry mix cupcakes.  Hmmmm, you'd think I'd be thrilled to have it so easy but I keep scouring the Internet trying to find a way yum it up.  Party is tomorrow so I have to get back to work.  Pictures will come.

Wrinkled Fingers and Orange Julius Mustaches

Today is the first official day of summer for the whole family.  So what did that mean...hours of backyard swmming and yummy homemade Orange Juliuses.  Let the summer fun begin!!!

Here's what going on in the Potater Patch...

We've been oober busy in the patch with the end of school quickly approaching.  My principal actually asked me if I ever leave the other day.  She and I keep running into each other at after school functions like the Sock Hop, GT/Challenge Architecture Night, 4th Grade Art Show, etc).  Anyway, it's been crazy and we have one week more of it.  So before it starts, I thought I'd post a few picture of the last 10 days.

First, J-man totally blew us away!  I'm so proud of him.  I got a notice the other day that he'd be on announcement for an AR prize.  (AR is a reading program where you read books and then take a computerized test over them for points). I had not idea what prize.  Neither did he until that morning.  I was totally wowed when he won 1st place in 4th grade for the highest number of points.  He had a ridiculous amount thanks to Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and his fantastic memory.

End of Unit:  GT Architecture Night.  They could roam around the gym and build to their hearts content.  Pictured  L to R is one of my students, J-man, Alan, and one of J-man's best buds.

The completed bridge.

Little sisters even got to join in on the fun.

They call themselves The Three Amigos and yes, they even have the greeting down...don't ask me where they learned that.

The 4th Grade Art Show is a big deal at our school.  Our art teacher works with them from the beginning of the year to prepare the art pieces.  This is J's self portrait.  He's trying to make the same face. :)

This is J's favorite, his ceramic guitar.

J's mosaic piece called The Storm.  He also made an amazing mission picture that I'm going to frame.  It's amazing...can't believe I didn't get a picture.

Dream Home

I'm not one that wants a huge house or something incredibly fancy but I would love a craftsman style home.  I found some link this morning and fell in love with this one.  Simple...that's what I like.  The only thing I think I would do is paint the door red.

Whoo-hoo!!!

Only 2 1/2 days of school left and 1 workday.  I have survived the year, a feat I didn't think possible 9 months ago.

Teacher Appreciation Week

 

I found something like this on pinterest (the bank of great ideas) and thought it was brilliant.  As a mom and a teacher, I'm all about a cheap useful gift.  So, as usual, I took it and recreated it with a potater patch flare.  For under 20 dollars, I have a gift for all 3 teachers (J has two) for every day of the week and it's something a teacher would actually like.  I am going to change is the MINT tag.  It sounds kind-of weird.  I'm going to make it say, "I was MINT to have you as my teacher!" or "You were MINT to teach!" But that is for another day. 
Hope you're having a great weekend! 

Lesson of the day:  BEWARE:  Pinterest is really a time machine.  In just a blink of an eye, hours can pass.  "Pin" with caution!!!