The Rapunzel Tea Party

Last year, as the summer came to an end, we celebrated with a tea party on our front lawn. My block is quite quiet. And the neighbors that know us, know that that the three of us know how to have fun!

So out came our table from the basement along with a picnic blanket for all of our friends. And at 9 am on a beautiful summer day we dressed in our best for breakfast. Looking back at this day, I don't think one should eat breakfast any other way!

3... 2... 1... BLASTOFF!

I know that summer is almost over (sigh!) and June seems like ages ago (double sigh!)... but our girls still talk about our Father's Day excursion like it was yesterday! It must have been good then...

 So off we went at 10 am on Father's Day to the Center for Science Teaching and Learning (formerly known as Tanglewood Preserve), conveniently located in Rockville Centre. With Julia as my partner in crime and Kirsten as Chris's, we spent the morning building our rockets from the supplied kits. We were given a science lesson about thrust and gravity and how things fly, but really they were more excited to build and (of course) decorate.

The best part of the entire morning was the launch! We marched our rockets over to the open field. We were second on line, which of course was torture! We could not wait to send these babies up into the clouds.

And to the clouds they did travel! It was the perfect overcast day for rocket watching. Lots of clouds, no sun glaring in our eyes. And watch those rockets we did. After a super smokey and noisy takeoff, we watched them ascend into the heavens and then magically begin to return to us, parachute unfurled. Unfortunately, Kirsten's rocket was left precariously hanging from a branch in a large tree and Julia's rocket made its home in some long grass. Although we did not have a rocket to bring home with us, our memories are still fresh and of course there is always video!

Tutus For Everyone

What little girl doesn't love a tutu? And if every little girl needs a tutu, then so does her best friend! Whether that best friend be her doll, her teddy bead, or even her stuffed unicorn... everyone should have a tutu. So a no-sew tutu making day was in order.

By far one of the easiest crafts we have made and the best part... it was one of the cleanest! Just some tulle on a roll (which can be purchased at Michaels in some fabulous colors*), scissors and some elastic. Oh and if you really want to go all out, some skinny ribbon.

* If you truly want this to be a no mess project, I suggest skipping the glitter tulle... who doesn't love glitter? But I must admit after making 8 tutus for the Variety Show with gold glitter tulle, I kept finding that glitter, like pine needles after Christmas, in every crevice, crease, and cushion.

We followed these instructions from Disney Family Fun and in no time, we had some new accessories for our little friends.

Instructions:  Stretch an elastic band around a book. Cut a 12" - 14" length of tulle from each roll (2 contrasting colors works best). Stack the two pieces and tie them onto the elastic band. Then continue until the elastic band is covered.

And if you want to get fancy, which of course was a MUST in my house, add lengths of 1/8" ribbon intermittently.

Bucket List

I really should call it our Dream List... that would sound more positive, right? Well, either way, we were in the car on a family outing when we began spouting out all of the things we wanted to do in the future. Some were things we had never done before. Others we things we had a great time doing and would love to do again. And there it began... pen and paper in hand, I began our original list on a scrap piece of paper I had in the car. Our family bucket list... okay, dream list does sound much better... which we taped right to the backsplash in our kitchen.

Fly a kite... play miniature golf... some old, some new, all sources of family fun! We added to it, crossed things off, and then sadly, ran out of room.

There were so many more possibilities. The ideas were endless... and not just mine. The girls had fantastic ideas too! So that is when the list was expanded.

We needed more room. It needed a home. And I had the perfect empty space inside a cabinet door for it. So here the list stands, inside our pantry waiting for the next family outing or idea that comes to mind!

A Day at the Museum

We decided to take a trip to the Museum of Natural History this weekend. I have been dying to take the girls....

I thought it might be fun for us to have a family movie night the night before and watch Night at the Museum. You know, to help us prepare for the big trip. I will be honest, I had not seen the movie, but I knew it was set at the Museum of Natural History. 

Then it came to me... Wouldn't it be fun to send the girls on a scavenger hunt to find the characters in the movie?

So I pulled out these awesome chipboard books that I had purchased at Michaels for just $1.50 (I knew I would eventually find something to do with them). Printed some pictures from the museum's website... And voila, their very own, Day at the Museum scavenger hunt books! I included Rexie, Dexter, the Easter Island Head (which Julia calls Gum Gum and Kirsten calls Dum Dum), the non-wooly mammoth, Alaska moose, African elephants, African lions, and the ostrich.

As they found each character, they checked it off. And of course they then got to take a picture with that character!

We had so much fun!

Fence Painting

So we really didn't paint our fence... we just painted some beautiful murals on paper that was taped to our fence. Either way, the girls had a blast!

Six Birthday Wishes

lunch

cake batter pancakes

my new hairdo

rainbow nails

my new bear

a birthday dinner

Unfortunately, her ??????? had to be postponed until the rain stops!  Hopefully tonight will be the night....

Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

The title of my blog is a tribute to Kirsten, my older daughter, who happens to be celebrating her 6th birthday today. Six years already.... where does the time go?

Kirsten is the sweetest and most affectionate child I know. And the best thing about her is the smile she continuously wears! Her carefree spirit shines. Life is really all rainbows and unicorns when she is around.

Happy 6th birthday to my little girl with the smile that lights up the room!

Kirsten's 6th Birthday - "Sew" Much Fun

The Theme

What do you say when your soon-to-be 6 year old daughter tells you that she has the perfect 'thoom' (theme) for her 6th birthday? A Lalaloopsy Party!  You take a deep breathe and say, "That sounds awesome!" Then quickly being to figure out how to spin this so it can be done.

I am not sure how I survived before the Internet or Pinterest... but count my blessings that both exist. So with a few clicks and some time browsing, we were able to pull off some fabulous fun!

The Invitation

Since Lalaloopsy is "Sew Magical! Sew Cute!" I searched for some inspiration for Lalaloopsy & sewing parties. We started with an invitation that we created from scratch in Photoshop after finding this idea on Etsy. I wanted to cut and hand sew paper and button invitations, but I figured mailing would be a nightmare... so printed invitations it was.

A Banner

Since I didn't sew for the invitations, I decided to create a bunting-type banner for the party.

Some paper, fabric scraps, buttons, a needle & thread... & voilà..... a nifty little banner (if I do say so myself)!

Kirsten's Dress

And by now, you may have noticed Kirsten's dress, which I wish I could take credit for making! Thanks to Lea of Old World Handworks we had a handmade dress with ribbons, buttons and a fabulous embroidered trim.

I am not a cook. But desserts & baking are my thing! Well, at least they are the place I am not afraid to test my luck. So on to the cake...

Dessert

I am sure by now we have all seen the Martha Stewart masterpiece, Rainbow Cake (which I wanted to make last year for Kirsten's Rainbows & Unicorns 5th Birthday Party but choose tie-dye cupcakes instead). It really didn't have anything to do with our 'thoom', but I knew it would be a show stopper.

I must admit... I did not make the cake from scratch (which I usually have no problem attempting)!  And I was glad I didn't since this cake was a bit time consuming. I did make my favorite buttercream recipe though (big Martha Stewart fan). All the work was well worth the pure joy in Kirsten's eyes when we cut into her cake!

I also have to plug my most recent go to dessert because they are not only the most delicious things in the world, but also the easiest dessert to make... No Bake Peanut Butter Bars! Once again they were a crowd pleaser.

And finally with some help from some nonpareils & cupcake liners, we fancied up some mini ice cream sandwiches for another finger licking treat.

The Favors

If you know me well, you know I can make bows with my eyes closed!  Actually it is just that I have had a lot of practice making them for the flip flops & hair clips that I make.  So naturally, the girls' favors were hair bows and clips.

The boys' favors (compliments of Michaels) didn't quite match our theme, so we just tied it all together with a simple favor tag.