Up All Night

  With Scott away on business the girls have been a little extra rambunctious at bedtime. I can't put all the blame on them. There has been a lot of excitement with a ballet recital, gymnastics show, and the end of school. After a night of pure frustration I was determined there would not be a repeat.
  Things were going so well. Lights were out, books were read, a last drink of water was obtained, and all by 7.15. Woohoo! After 10 minutes of quiet the giggling and squirreling around began in earnest. Quickly the girls were separated, Kate in my bed Leia in her own. It quickly became clear that Kate was fast asleep and Leia was having a full on circus in her room. After all the yelling last night I decided to just ignore her as long as Kate stayed asleep. This has worked in the past, tonight was not going to be in my favor.
  After the 3rd cup crash in the bathroom I went up to lay down the law. Only to find....Leia in the bathroom covered in nail polish and eyeshadow. Covered. After a quick lecture (and many stifled giggles on my part) I scrubbed the floor, counters, and her face. She had a raccoon mask of silver and black eyeshadow. At this point Leia revealed she had also painted Kate's nails, in her sleep!
  You have GOT to be kidding me! Nope. I turned the lights on a sleeping Kate to see 5 freshly painted fingernails, a streak of pink on her chest, and a mask of eyeshadow on her face. That kid must have been tired! My bed survived unscathed, whew. I can't wait to see her reaction when she wakes up in the morning.
  So yet again it's after 9pm and the little one is just going to sleep. Ugh. Thank goodness for wine!

In 2 days my big kid will be 5. Some days I'm not sure how that is true, other days I am very aware. The only thing she wanted for her birthday was a party. Kid parties are not my thing. I don't like planning to entertain lots of kids or cleaning up after them. And knowing that my youngest is a "tad" feisty, I don't like the constant monitoring to head off her emotional explosions. With that said I have told my girls they will have adventure birthdays. We hiked Candy Mountain when Kate turned 3, and went camping when she turned 4. This year we planned a train ride to watch the Sounders game in Vancouver. My attempts at planning where thwarted by poor train schedules and the overall cost. Did I really want to spend $500 for her birthday, when she's 5? Not to mention she was heartbroken every time I told her we weren't having a party. So in the end I decided to continue crushing her hopes of a party (I'd already laid the foundation) and plan a surprise party.

Who knew within a day of making that decision I would be all consumed with planning how to turn my backyard into a pink and green themed wonderland. Polka Dots and Pinwheels basically planned itself. A few hours of Google searching and wandering through Pinterest and it all came together. Not to mention a good friend volunteering to make the cake as soon as I told her my plans.

Another friend planned a party for the same day and it worked out for Kate and her daddy to attend that while I did set up and greeted the guests. All the kids were a bit young to understand what we were doing but they rallied and made it work. I placed my bet on Kate bursting into tears. I almost cashed in on that. When she came to the door she was confused, then shocked, then pleased, then shocked again. It was adorable. When it finally sunk in she took off and the smile didn't leave her face. Make your own Pinwheel, tattoos, and Balloon Whacking made the afternoon pass quickly. Aided by an endless supply of cookies and lollipops.

Thanks to all the friends who pitched in with decoration help and who kept the party a secret. It was a great afternoon. And my nearly-5-year-old thinks I'm great again, so that's a plus.

Ooh and a big thanks to the husband for enduring 3 hours of someone else's kid's party and THEN another 2 hours at his own kid's. What a trooper.

Surprise Sleepover

What Logan did while his mom and dad were birthing him a brother:

Leia got out bowls and goldfish so they could have a snack picnic together. There were lots of giggles involved.

Then Kate dressed Logan up in snow gear so we could pretend we were going to play in the snow.


We watched a Dinosaur Train episode about becoming a big brother. And one about a volcano.

Then we had cupcakes to celebrate brother's birth. Yay!!!

At some point Logan fell asleep. After serenading everyone with some fabulous songs and speeches.

Breakfast was full of silliness and lots of eggs and fruit. Everyone was happy with that plan.

Thanks Housden's for letting our family be a part of this special event in your lives. And welcome baby Neil!!

Another Salon Adventure

After last week's unexpected meltdown over not being included in getting a haircut I decided to take Leia in and let her have a turn. She was an excellent customer and had a great time. Now she has cute hair for her 3-year photos this weekend.
Loving the shampoo!
Sitting up tall with a huge proud grin plastered on her face.

Yup she's adorable.

She even helped clean up. Look at all that hair!
A big thank you to Rebecca and Janette at Marina Park Salon. They are the best.

Kate's Haircut Adventure

This haircut was only an adventure because it was built up with lots of conversation and countdowns to the last day of screaming tears while Kate's hair was brushed. This morning we started off, with tears, doing one last pig tails with braids. After a rousing hour of tap and ballet and the addition of Kate's friend Hadley we were off to the salon. Kate was soooo excited and kept talking about how her adult friend Rebecca was going to cut her hair. I assumed it would be the water-in-a-spray-bottle wetting and then a quick cut. Instead she got the full shampoo (which she enjoyed), a splendid chat and hair cut, followed by a quick braid for fun. We piled on coats and said goodbye's on our way out the door for ice cream. This is where Leia shocked us all and refused to go and burst into tears saying "I want a haircut too!" She was so forlorn that although I am still capable of cutting her hair (Kate's is a thick mass stylists will love for years) I promised to make her an appointment. She made me promise to ask for Janette (another friend who works at the salon) and I agreed.


Then we headed off for ice cream and did a surprise (to all of us) visit to Scott's office to show off the new haircut. That's a good day.