A Fairy Birthday Party

This much anticipated day finally came!  I do it to myself really.  I plan a super exciting big birthday bash for Max's birthday and of course, since Lucy's is only 6 weeks later, I am required to do just as much for her.  But who am I kidding...I love it.

While I was planning Max's Jedi birthday party I started to get great ideas for Lucy's party, but had to put them on the back burner so I could focus on the party-at-hand and our trip to Mexico.  As soon as we were home, plans got into full swing.

Lucy is VERY into her Rainbow Magic fairy books right now.  Reading them at lightening speed.  Seriously, like a book every 2 days.  Plus, all her little friends in her class are equally into fairies and so a fairy party was the perfect plan.

The party didn't start until 3:30, which gave me plenty of time to get organized, but just about drove Lucy crazy as she had to wait and wait and wait!

As guests began to arrive, they were directed outside to our fairy boutique, where they got to pick out their own fairy tutu.  I made them by tying tulle onto ribbon in different colours.  It was my great fortune that Fabricland was having their 44th anniversary sale during the month of April and I got all the tulle at 40% off.  $1.50/meter and I was good to go.  9 skirts for $20.  Not too shabby.

After the girls chose their tutu, they got their hair sprayed with glitter (pixie dust).  It was left-over from halloween and died before all the girls got sprayed (dang it!) but fortunately there was enough other fun things to distract.

Then it was inside for them to decorate their fairy party hats and to get their faces painted.

We hired 2 ladies from our branch to come and do the face-painting and they did an AWESOME job.  It was amazing!

Max chose to be a goblin because they are the villains in Lucy's fairy books...and Dad was a good sport and got painted up like Jack Frost!

Logan was unsure at first, but we finally convinced him to get a balloon on one cheek.  Once he saw it in the mirror, he was all for it and then wanted a dinosaur on the other cheek and a car on his arm.  I think he would have kept going all day.  It was beneficial to me too, because it was his nursery teacher doing the face-painting.  Hopefully this will help him love nursery more!

Once all the girls were painted up and decorated, they got to make their own fairy wands.  Seriously, planning activities for 8 7-year-olds is a breeze!  Crafts and glitter and they're happy for hours...literally.  And so quiet too!  Definitely a different atmosphere then a Jedi party.

(Lucy had me take this picture, because it's a more 'fairy-like' pose). 

Once their wands were complete, we took a picture of all the girls together in their fairy glory.

Then it was outside to play fairy freeze tag.  Our Goblin volunteered to go first being it.  Once the girls were tagged they had to freeze and could only be unfrozen by a magic wand.  (You get the idea). They all took turns being it.

Then the girls coordinated a dance show and had a dance party outside while the table was being set for dinner.

After the dance-off it was time for eating.  Fairy-food of course.  I am told that fairies eat strawberries so I got a bunch of those, plus pineapple (because Lucy loves it), and watermelon wands.

We had smiles, and crackers and cheese, and chips and peppers.  Plus pink lemonade to drink.

After dinner, we set out to open presents, but the girls discovered that Jack Frost had stolen all the gifts and left a nasty note (delivered by the goblin).  They had to go on a treasure hunt led by clues from King Oberon and Queen Titania (from the fairy books) to restore the party fun.  They were sent all around the house and finally found the gifts on the front door-step.  Phew!

Lucy had a great time opening her gifts and enjoyed all the home-made cards as much as the gifts themselves. She got lots of crafts and a Fur-Real friend which she is MOST excited about.  Her brothers gave her some accessories for her bike (pink tassels and a bell) that she used on a bike-ride after all her friends had gone home.

We finished with cake decorated like a butterfly - which I hope is obvious, and covered in skittles.  Cake with skittles on it is amazing.  The girls got to take home their tutus, wands, hats, and a loot bag that included a pencil, a butterfly shaped picture frame that they could decorate and some bubbles.  Plus a cup with dirt and flower seeds in it for them to take care of at home.  Because fairies love flowers.

At one point one of the girls said, "This is way more fun than I was expecting it to be." (I chose to take it as a compliment.)

One of the dad's asked Lucy if the party was everything she imagined it would be and she responded (all breathy and wonderful), "No!  It's so much better!"  I love it.  Mission accomplished.

We finished the night with a quick bike-ride to show Grandma the quarry and then it was showers and bedtime stories.  Lucy was heartbroken to have to wash her butterfly off her face so I promised her we would come up with a reason to do face-painting again.  We agreed to have grandma read bedtime stories since she was leaving in the morning, and 1 story turned into 3.  Oh well...it doesn't happen every day.  Lucy told me that she NEEDED grandma to read her that last story.  Well, if she needs it...

Playing Hookie

Because of Grandma's surprise visit, we decided to play hookie from work, school and all other responsibilities today and do something fun...especially since tomorrow is going to be all boring with the fairy birthday party and stuff.

We took a quick drive out to Rockport to go on a boat tour of some of the thousand islands.  The kids were against the idea at first and really didn't want to go.  But we didn't listen to them.  Lucy said, "Dad, this is NOT how I want to remember my seventh birthday!"  I reassured her that he birthday was yesterday and so she could just remember May 4th this way.  Real soothing-like.  I get that my kids can sometimes (read 'always') be nervous and slow to try new things, and I like to tip-toe and be careful to convince them...but sometimes I just want to say, "Too bad!"  and this was one of those times.

And it's a good thing too, because it was all smiles and wonder as soon as the boat left the dock.  It was a beautiful day today, and a perfect day to be on the water.  The boat was fairly full on the 2 upper decks, but the lowest deck was completely empty, so we spent most of our time there.  The kids were able to walk back and forth from one side of the ship to the other and not worry about getting in anyone's way.  Lucy quickly took over the camera, and Max used his dad's phone and they were snapping pictures like crazy.

Logan, who is always up for adventure, had a great time too.

This is a picture of a bridge between two islands.  The larger island is on the Canada side, and the smaller is in the US, so this is the smallest boarder crossing in North America.

This castle is called Boldt Castle on Heart Island and was built by a couple (can't remember their names).  The wife died during construction and the husband couldn't bear to continue building it.  It was finished after his death and is now a tourist spot.

This little house was bought by Boldt for his MIL.  Apparently she couldn't swim and he would take her here in the spring and pick her up in the fall.  The house is called "Just Room Enough".  I hope my kid's spouses treat me a little better.  They should be all soothing-like.

After we were finished our 1-hour tour, we spent a few minutes checking out the general store where the kids each got some souvenirs care of grandma.  Lucy got a stuffed snowy owl (because she doesn't have enough stuffed animals already), Max got a toy snow-mobile and Logan got a toy snow-grater.  They have all been well played with already.  We were home in time for lunch and naps and games with Grandma.  

This evening we did our usual pizza and movie night.  We got the movie "The Tooth Fairy" from the library yesterday and decided it was a perfect movie for the night before a Fairy Birthday Party.  It had moments that were completely hilarious, and moments that were completely groan-worthy.  Perfect Family movie.  Now we just can't WAIT for tomorrow and the fairy party.  I have some cake decorating to do after the kids go to sleep.  I don't know who's more excited...me or Lucy.  But it's close.  I love birthday parties.

Seven

Today, my baby girl turns seven.  I can't believe this angel baby is turning into an angel-girl...and is so close to approaching angel-young lady.  Let's hope the teenage years are still angelic.

The day started off with a surprise visit from Grandma Janielee and got better from there.  Grandma surprised all of us by stopping in Wednesday night after a business trip to Boston.  I was about to go to bed (10:30ish) when Tyler says, "So, I have a surprise for Lucy in the morning, do you want to know what it is?"
Me: "Of course."
Tyler: "Are you sure?"
Me: "Yes."
Tyler: "My mom is on her way right now from Toronto.  She'll be here in about an hour."
Me: "Are you serious!?!?!?!"

Now, I know stereotype would suggest that 1 hours notice for the MIL visit is grounds for some serious dog-house time for the husband...but not in this case (by this case I mean my life, not just because it was Lucy's birthday).  A surprise visit from the MIL is second only to a surprise visit from the mother.  So I sat in anticipation for her arrival.  Fell asleep for a bit, but was still so excited.  She arrived at 12:34am...exactly the time Lucy was born...how weird is that?

We all went to bed right away (even though it was impossible to fall asleep after an 11pm nap).  Grandma slept in the twin bed in Max's room which he was very disappointed to not sleep in that night...not knowing it was because a visitor was coming.  We told Grandma that the kids would sleep in, cuz they're good like that, and we'd let her be the one to wake them up and surprise them.

Lucy woke up at 6:30am and came into my room.  She had to go to the bathroom.  Phew!  She didn't notice the giant suitcase on Max's bedroom floor, OR Grandma's glasses on her bathroom counter.  Then, at 7:30am I heard a very soft, "Grandma!" and a "Good morning Max!"  So Max didn't sleep in like anticipated.  Apparently he sat up in his bed, saw Grandma in the other bed, and then laid right back down.  He sat up again and said, "I thought I was dreaming!"

Grandma crawled into bed beside Lucy and stroked her cheek.  Lucy enjoyed the cuddle and then opened her eyes to discover it was care of GRANDMA!  Awesome way to wake up on your birthday.

She opened a few gifts that morning:

Fairy Books from Auntie Sarah - a soccer one and an Olympics one. Auntie Sarah also sent belated birthday gifts for Max and Logan.  Star Wars Lego for Max and a flashlight for Logan.

Grandma Bourne sent Fairy Books in the mail too.  The next set.  Lucy picked up the first book and put it right in her backpack.  She was halfway done the book by the end of the school day.

She also got some room decals from Mom and Dad.  Max and Logan are saving their gift for the party on Saturday.

Then it was off to school.  She dressed fancy and was excited to hear her name on the announcements that morning.  I considered meeting her during her first recess break and taking her to Tim Horton's, but Max's ear was acting up and it was already a high-surprise day, so we decided to take the boys to the library instead.

We met Lucy at the bus-stop with her bike and rode home.  Then it was a BBQ Ribs dinner in a rush (with mashed potatoes of course) before we headed back to the school for the kids Spring Concert.  After a phone call from Grandma Bourne.

As we drove, the school parking lots and all the surrounding streets were already filled with cars.  Grandma said, "How are they going to get everyone in the gym?" and Max innocently responded, "Don't worry, they have a door."

The kids classes each presented songs about Canada.  They finished by singing O Canada, Baby Beluga, and Skin-a-marink.  It was a great concert.

We ended the fabulous birthday day with a phone-call from Papa and skyping with Emma.  It was a fabulous birthday.  

And tomorrow we've decided Lucy should play hookie so we can spend the day with Grandma.

Everybody Gather 'Round

As part of my trip to Canadian Tire on Saturday, I picked up a fire bowl that was on crazy sale.  Today, we broke it out with a plan to use it.  One thing about a fire-bowl in the backyard.  Everyone in the neighbourhood can smell what you're doing...and the kids come running.  Our hot dog dinner for 5 quickly became a neighbourhood event.  With 11 kids in total.

We enjoyed roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over our little fire.  What a great way to spend our summer this year.  Can't wait!

It poured rain last night, so this morning the boys and I went on a worm hunt.  We didn't have to try very hard, but it was fun.

Bees are Buzzing

A week ago Lucy brought a notice home about a JE Horton spelling bee coming up at her school. She was so excited to show it to me that I signed her up for it right away.  That girl is an awesome reader and she can spell pretty good too, so no worries.  The next day I told her I had signed her up and she tells me she didn't actually want to do it.  Well, too late!  I reassured her that it would be fun and not too hard, and no big deal if she didn't win, that wasn't the point.  So Friday morning, Tyler, Logan and I packed up to head to the school and watch.  Logan insisted on bringing his Dora backpack because he was going to school.  He so can't wait!  

All the little grade ones lined up and took turns spelling words.  They started off easy with 3-letter words like, "Dog, Sat, Mat" and then progressively got harder.  Lucy made to round 4 and tripped up on the the word "White".  By that point it had been widdled down to about 12 kids and they went strong for a while.  Misspelling a word wasn't a huge heart-ache anyway, since they were giving out GIANT freezies to everyone when they finished.  Lucy's best friend Jessica made it all the way to 3rd place and then got the word "Shoal" and misspelled it.  I thought she was cheated.  What kid in grade 1 can spell shoal!  Who's even heard of that!  Oh well.  It was fun.  We were so proud of our little Lucy.  So brave!

It has been cool and rainy all week and it's driving me crazy because my yard looks like a hobo has been living it and I just want to attack those weeds.  So Saturday was the day...rain or shine.  Fortunately it wasn't raining...but it was dang cold!  We got rid of all the pesky weeds and cleaned up the yard, and then I headed to Canadian Tire (solo!  Hallelujah what a nice break!) to pick out some planters and flowers for the front doorstep.  Lucy didn't want to make the effort to come with me, but really wanted to Daisies.  I told her if she didn't come then she didn't get a say in the flowers I got.  I ended up getting lots of daisies.  What a sucker.  Plus some Gladiolas and Pansies.  Beautiful!  I also got each of the kids a garden decoration that they got to put in the planters.  A pink butterfly for Lucy, a Humming Bird for Max and a Dragon Fly for Logan.  Now I have 3 beautiful planters that make my house look ready for spring.  We've been pulling them into the house every night because it's still a little cool.  Come on Ontario!  It's the end of April!  I was promised some pretty fantastic weather by this time.  

Can't wait for visitors to come and see my beautiful yard!  Hint Hint!  

the rest of this week is devoted to getting ready for Lucy's birthday party on Saturday.  To say I'm excited is a bit of an understatement.  It's going to be monumental!  Plus the kids have a spring concert on Thursday (Lucy's birthday) that they're nervous/excited for.  I love spring.

Hearts a-flutter and other bird-like things

The other day, Lucy kept chatting away and singing, like she usually does.  She was chatting about needing to write her song, and I didn't pay much attention to it, because she's usually chatting about writing something, or drawing something that she's got in her imagination, and she usually takes to it pretty quickly.  She gets paper out of the printer and set to drawing pictures or writing stories of fairies or family or cats.  And she hems and haws over it, trying to get it just right.  And after she goes to bed I usually find such drawings or stories lying around the house in random places where she has deemed to drop them for the evening. But they are precious, not garbage or recycling...so we end up with piles of these little papers all over, until months later I can file them in the big blue bin and she won't notice.

On this particular night, after she went to bed, I discovered her latest creation on her craft table and stopped to take a look.  The writing is so neat for grade one, but it was the subject that caused me to smile.  Lucy's first song.  I quickly posted it on Facebook because I knew Dad and Grandma's would love to see it.  Someone asked me who the song was about, and suddenly I was shaken and realized that this song could ACTUALLY be about SOMEONE.  Oh, not my little 6-year-old.

The next day I asked her about it, and she gave a shy smile and said, 'No, it's not about anyone.  Just a song I wrote." and she left it at that.  So I left it at that...and I hope it stays like that for a long time.  At least 12 more years.

This morning, the boys and I headed to the library to return some things and get new things.  I love the library.  I love that we can read and play games and watch movies for free.  Love it.  Plus, my kids love it too and that's awesome.  Our movie night last week was watching Treasure Planet, which we got. from the library.  for free.  That and some Hot N Ready pizzas and it was a pretty cheap and fun night.

Today we were 5 minutes early to the library and had to stand around waiting for it to open.  So we decided to walk instead of stand around.  The library by our house is just off a dog walk and some paths that lead down to the lake.  So we went.

The lake-shore was swarming with little bugs which are driving me crazy this time of year, but there was also some Canada Geese and ducks and this beautiful gem.

Yup, that's a Blue Heron!  Amazing!  There was actually two of them, but this is a close as I could get with the zoom on my camera phone without scaring them away.  Amazing!

We also found a giant replica of Eeyore's house, and so of course the boys had to venture inside.  All this, plus a trip to the library, a bike ride, and playing at the park and it was a pretty awesome morning.  Go mom!

Do you think Logan loves his dad?  I'd say from the look on his face, the answer would be yes.  

Back to Life

Well, after having pictures to post and things to talk about everyday for 2 weeks, being home seems like a bit of a let down.  It really has been a hard adjustment getting back into life again after vacation.  My kids were kinda grumpy for a few days...and I"m not gonna lie, so was I.  I missed the heat and the sun and nothing to do except have fun.  Laundry, dishes, cooking...it's all pretty boring.  But, we've been home for 2 weeks now, and we're getting back in the swing.

We decided to take a break from Taekwondo for this semester, signing our kids up for soccer at the end of May instead.  We're also hoping to do swimming lessons if I can get my butt in gear and figure out the details, and Lucy started piano lessons (with me) last week.  I figured that was enough on our plates for now.

So, we've been spending most of our after-school time at the park, or in the backyard with friends.  The weather is cold and lousy this week - we actually had SNOW on the ground this morning! yuck.  Feels more like Alberta than Ontario!  So we'll have to find some indoor things to do with all this rain.

We went out last week to get Lucy her new bike because she just couldn't wait...and who can blame her.  Every day, Max and Logan would ride their bikes to the park, and then Lucy would hop on to Max's bike as soon as we got there and barely left it in time for him to ride it home.

Being the older sister of two brothers, we tried to convince her that a generic bike would be best, so she could pass it down.  It stinks that she has to do that so often and when she saw a beautiful purple bike I almost caved and said, what the heck...But then we found this silver bike with yellow trim and stars on it and figured it was a happy compromise.  She still got the hot pink helmet and her brothers are getting her some tassels and a bell for her birthday to make it extra girlie.

Max is loving his bike too, and is gaining more confidence.  He's loving making skid-marks on the pavement.  This is his first one, so we had to take a picture.

Tyler has been away twice in the two weeks we've been home...Winnepeg last week and now to Halifax. I'm getting pretty used to this 'wife of a business-traveller' role and don't really miss a beat anymore.  It's just lonely at night after the kids go to sleep to have no one to talk to.  So I watch my PVR'd programs that he has no interest in.

I have got the reading bug back with a vengeance.  I finished the Hunger Games Trilogy, and the boys and I headed to the library last week to get some more books, Wii games and a DVD for movie night.  Now I'm reading a book called Prince Ravenscar and am really enjoying it.  I also signed out The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo...so we'll see how that one goes.  I forgot how much I love to read.  Vacations are awesome that way.

Well, that's enough blogging.  Need to get back to my book and American Idol.