Letter I

It was our turn to host Letter Group again and we had the letter I. It was a surprisingly difficult letter to do.

First we sang songs. Then we got our the ABC train and matched the letters we had done so far. Uppercase and lower case.

Then it was time to make some ice cream. I put pictures of the I words on the back: Insect, Ice cream, Ice Cube, Investigate, and Instrument.

Then we played I spy for some Insects around the house.

Then we made Imprints of the Insects in play doh. 

And attempted to make the letters out of the doh. 

Then we had to break open some Ice using Insruments to get out the Insects. 

Then we made some Igloo's.

And some Iguana's. It was a fun letter group!

Friday Fun

I have decided to bring back the Friday Fun Posts. I never meant for them to stop but life has a way of being a bother. So here is our Friday Fun Post for this week!

Monday:

I once again put paint in Ziploc baggies and decided to let the kids goof around with it. They liked it for about 10 seconds and then Duke was trying to rip it apart. This is our second attempt at this craft and it has bombed both times.

Tuesday:

It was a BIG fort day!! We grabbed just about every blanket in the house and had  them covering the table and all the chairs and then we made a nice little bed inside. We grabbed our lanterns, stories and puzzles and had an afternoon in another little world.

Wednesday:

We spent the afternoon jumping on the mattresses! This is the greatest activity EVER especially if I want to get a few things done while they just play!

Thursday:

I had the harsh realization the other day that I really do not craft with Duke at all. He is more than capable I just don't ever think about doing crafty things with him. That is mine and E's thing, SO I brought out Q-tip painting which was awesome when E was his age! 

 He loved it!! And it was SOOO cute watching him just paint away!

Friday:

For some reason the kids {love} playing with my carpet in the living room. They will roll it up, climb under it, have one lay under and the other will jump on top of them, ya know, kid stuff. As long as they are happy and playing together I'm calling it a win and I don't interfere.

Busy Board for Boys

I usually have a list of things I need done around the house for my Dad when he comes to visit. I call it my Daddy-Do List. He is the handiest man I know and can fix just about anything. I usually like to have a project on the go too so I figured I'd put Daddy in charge of a busy board full of locks and latches for Duke. Normally we would just hunt through the garage for odds and ends that would work but since we had just moved we had nothing we went on the hunt at Home Depot and Lowes. He was like a kid in a candy store. He was bubbling with ideas and it was the cutest thing. 

Then it was time to map out our plan. 

Then it was time for me to paint.

While I did that Opa was busy rewiring a light and hooking it up to a switch. Then the face plate was too big so he cut that down with an xacto knife. Don't worry, he still had all of his fingers after this project. 

Finished painting and now it's time to start assembling!

Mom was working hard too!

And she's done!

 I can't even tell you how in love with it I am!

 Two lights. The penguin is a simple push light and the top light is connected to the switch. Nice work Daddy! All of that soldering worked!

 And the door that opens.

I think we need to put a picture behind here or maybe a mirror? I am so in love with it! I can't wait to give it to him for his birthday!

Elmo's World Birthday

Are you ready for a serious picture overload? Don't judge. I have accepted the fact that I am that crazy Mom that I always made fun of at kids birthdays. I went over the top and I loved every bit of it! For the last 2 months I have been crafting like crazy getting all of the details worked out for E's party. It was TOTALLY worth it! I was so pleased with the final out come. Now onto the pictures! 

I thought it was super awesome that the lights outside of our apartment looked SO similar to the light on Sesame Street. So I made a little sign.

I made a few boxes with arrows to direct people to our place and a special sign that said Ethnie St. 

Welcome to Ethnie's World.

 

At first I hadn't planned any activities for the kids but I am SO glad that I did. They were able to play all of the games by themselves which was so nice. The kids played while the adults socialized. The first station was coloring with Elmo. I got most of my inspiration for these games here.

 Next was Super Grovers First Flight. Jakob made the sling shot last year for our Angry Birds game for Blue & Gold so all I had to do was paint a few balls. I loved how they turned out. This was a game for the older kids. They needed a challenge.

Next up, Blowing Bubbles with Big Bird. This was hands down the most popular activity! The kids loved blowing bubbles. So simple!

Next was Oscars Trash Toss. The kids really weren't into this one as much but it was super simple to throw together. 

Then there was the I Spy game. 

The sign on the door.

The Favors. Goldfish crackers with some crayons. 

The Living Room.

A few years ago I went to a birthday party and the Mom had made tons of cardboard cut outs. I fell in love with the idea and rocked some out. I loved how they turned out. They took me approximately 2 hours each to complete from start to finish.

Ethnie loved Elmo so much that she would kiss him good night. That right there makes it all worth it. :)

I tried my hand at tissue paper garlands. I really love how they turned out. They added a lot of color to the room. And of course we couldn't have an Elmo party without Dorothy the Fish. She was a door prize and Stu & Cortney took Dorothy home. 

Tissue paper pom poms. These were a piece of cake to make and really filled up those empty spaces. I have learned that 13 pieces for tissue is the magic number. you can get away with 6-8 for the small ones.

A few highlights from Ethnie's year.

The food Table sans food. We had a taco bar. The streamer wall wasn't as epic as last year but I still loved how it turned out. I took regular balloons and taped them to the ceiling instead of paying for helium. It really finished off the wall and it only took me 3 1/2 hours instead of the 6 hour that canopy took. :)

Oh the Elmo pinata. I was happy with the final result but I wish his eyes and nose were smoother. He did his job though and Ethnie liked him and that is all that matters.

The cake. *Insert choir of angels here* Seriously.... the best cake ever! Everything about this makes my heart happy. We got our inspiration for him from several places but here is a link to my Pinterest board with them all if you are interested.

Duke needed a shot of energy before the crowds came. :)

Playing with the bubbles.

Let's take a moment to give a shout out to Pa!! He was so wonderful and played with the kids outside for the ENTIRE party! He was everyone's Pa and I am so thankful for him!

There's our Birthday Girl!!!!

Trying to get Grover into the bucket. It was tricky!

The cutest little man!

We had a special guest! Elmo came from Sesame Street to meet Ethnie!!! 

At first E was terrified. She didn't even want to be outside where he was. Don't worry, Pa protected her. 

Duke one the other hand really wanted to get in there! He really liked playing with his fur!

Bella the clown was INCREDIBLE as per usual! I work with the most amazing people. Bella and Elmo made everyone feel so loved and special. Words cannot do my love and gratitude for them justice! They started off with some birthday magic!

Then they did some dancing.

All the while E was safe with Grampa!

Once the started to play the Elmo slide she really warmed up and started to dance with Pa. She was good as long as Elmo kept a safe distance. 

Duke was fearless.

 Family Photo. 

 Pa, Elmo, Ethnie & Duke. :)

The children then did a treasure hunt. I love how Uncle Duke and Cortney stole some suckers. They make me happy. 

It was then time for little man's nap which is why he is not in any of the pictures after this.

E was finally brave enough to get close to Elmo all on her own. She was so cute in her little chair. 

I made her her own Abby Cadabby wand. She thought it was pretty neat. 

Sprinkles!!! 

Putting in her Birthday Magic!

Ta Da! It turned into a yummy cupcake! She had lots of helpers help her take a bite :).

Ethnie loved Bella. She jumped up into her arms and didn't want Bella or Elmo to go when it was all over. It was so cute!

Tickles from Elmo.

Time for Cake.

Ethnie was so cute petting Elmo and grabbing his nose. 

Bye Elmo & Bella Thank you so much for coming to E's party! It was perfect and Ethnie was so happy!

The group! We have amazing friends!

Time to break the pinata!!!

 

E was so spoiled with all of her presents!

I think my favorite was a bum cover from Gramma. It was the perfect way to finish off her little dress. Thank you Gramma!!! Another thank you to Gramma for taking all of the pictures and helping with the cake and food!!! I don't know what I would have done without you! Thank you to all who came!!! You made E's day perfect. 

I think my favorite part had to be while putting E to bed. Our conversation went like this:

Mama: Did you have a good day?
E:Ya!
Mama: Did you see all of your friends?
E: Ya. Ma! I taw E-mo!! Ma! E-mo tame!!! (I saw Elmo, Elmo came.)
Mama: That's right baby, Elmo came.
E: Ma! N Pa tame oo!!!! (And Pa came too.)

The happiest girl Ever with Elmo and her Pa!