Andrew's 1st Birthday

I had so much fun planning and decorating for Andrew's first birthday!  I think that I get the most excited of anyone over birthdays (not necessarily my own).  I decided to do a Monster theme for his birthday.  I found a lot of inspiration on other blogs (thank you creative people out there). 

I started out by making the birthday banner.  I free handed the letters on small paper plates and used monster clip art to embellish.  Then I punched a hole in each and strung it on a ribbon.  I thought it turned out super cute.

 I found the monster watermelon on a blog and then added a few of my own touches (Dean gave me the idea of saving the top of the pineapple as a hat).  I struggled to get the watermelon out of the mouth so I resorted to cutting off the bottom and scooping it out from there.  Much easier. Everyone loved the watermelon monster.

The hardest part was coming up with a cake.  I saw an adorable three layer cake where each layer was a different size and color and decorated with a monster face.  Then I saw the cute little cupcakes.  I decided that I would do one small cake for Andrew and cupcakes for everyone else.  His little cake was adorable.  The kids loved helping with the cupcakes.  There's nothing like squirting frosting willy-nilly all over a cupcake.  

                                    

Just for fun I made monster masks for the kids to hold as their picture was being taken.



Happy Birthday Andrew!  We all had a great time celebrating you.  This is what Andrew looked like one year ago and what he looks like now.

Pioneer Days 2011

My kids look forward to Pioneer Days every summer.  They love going down to see their cousins, watch the parades, run in the races, ride the carnival rides and ride horses.  We didn't go to Pioneer Days last year because I was three weeks away from having Andrew.  We couldn't miss it this year.  I have many fond memories of Pioneer Days from my childhood and I hope my kids are making the same kind of memories. 

This year I entered the annual Manassa Pioneer Days 5K run.  My sister and I did it together.  We started out running like everyone else but sadly after a block and a half we decided to walk.  We aren't runners but we had  fun walking and talking.  I don't know how long it took us to finish but I do know we didn't break any records or come in last.

The kids don't get to see my family too often so it is such a treat when we go down to visit.  They house hop from one cousin's house to another.  After the celebration was over my parents invited the boys to stay down for a few extra days.  They had sleepovers and went swimming at Splash Land.  (I was really happy to find out that the pool had reopened).  I'm glad they were able to spend time with their grandparents and cousins but I am even more glad to have them back home. 

Andrew's 1st Haircut

Andrew had some long hair!  The way it stood straight up in the back was pretty darn cute but he did need a haircut.  He cried in the before picture as well as in the after.  He wasn't a happy camper while getting trimmed.  Katie did a great job though (giving him squeezable applesauce was a good trick to calm him down).  He looked  handsome and grown up afterwards.  Here are a few pictures.

4th of July 2011

Our 4th of July celebrations were low key this year.  We had a BBQ at our house and made ice cream for dessert.  It was a long, but worth it, wait.  Fireworks were banned so we didn't buy any this year.  I missed setting off our own.  We watched the fireworks after the Sky Sox game instead.  We had to wait quite a while for the game to end.  The show finally started around 11:00 which made getting up for work on Tuesday extra hard. 

Fireworks

I have a lengthy list of craft blogs that I like to follow.  I was on a hunt for a fun 4th of July project for my kids.  In my opinion crafts that are useful are the best kind.  I was looking at the Crafty Crow blog and saw a link to Butterfly Jungle's page.  She showed how to make firework t-shirts.  It was totally my kind of craft.  Not too complicated, not too many steps, not expensive and super kid friendly. 

All you need is a white cotton t-shirt, sharpies in various colors, rubbing alcohol, dropper, cardboard (or a paper sack in my case) and kids.  Check. Check. Check. Check. Check and Check.

Let the fun begin.  Slide the cardboard or sack into the shirt. 
Make dots with the Sharpies in circular designs or other fireworky designs. 

Drop alcohol on each dot and watch the magic happen. 

When the shirt is dry set the ink by covering with a towel and ironing for 3-4 minutes  then finish in a hot dryer for about 15-20 minutes.  So easy and so fun.  The boys wore their shirts out and got many compliments and questions about how to make them.  Pictures of the kids wearing them to come after the 4th.

Will the Real Andrew Crystal Please Stand Up?

This blog serves many purposes for me.  One of them being a baby "scrapbook".  I'm horrible at keeping things like journals and baby books up to date.  So, for the record, on June 23 Andrew pulled himself into a standing position for the first time.  I was giving Katie a bubble bath and Andrew caught a glimpse of the bubbles.  He crawled right over to the tub and in no time he pulled himself up.  Yay!!