Over and out

It’s time to retire the Circus.  It has become less and less fun to sit down and write. When something you used to enjoy starts to feel like a chore, it’s time to stop.  Thanks for checking in.

Bright colors are the bomb!

I love color, especially bright ones. The brighter the better. This play-doh party gave me the outlet I needed to let the bright colors fly…

I set up a long table in the kitchen and lowered to little people size. I covered it with a BRIGHT orange plastic tablecloth and laid out all the play-doh in tons of BRIGHT colors with tools and sets for the kids.

Party favors were BRIGHT balls of play-doh inside a plastic tube with a BRIGHT tag secured with BRIGHT ribbons.

BRIGHT streamers and balloons.  I also believe one can never have enough balloons.

More balloons..

Big. Bright. Balloons.

Play-doh

Sister’s party this year was a Play-doh theme.  Lotsa bright colors. This girl loves play-doh and loves bright colors so it worked out wonderfully.

 

The party favors were my favorite part. Well, at first the cake was my favorite until about 1 hour before party time. Then, the favors became my favorite.  I tend to really like the things that don’t give me any trouble.  I tend to really dislike the things that do give me trouble.

Like I said, at first the cake was my favorite thing about the party..I thought it turned out pretty cute.  The play-doh sign and her name were cut out of sugar sheets that I found in the cake section at Hobby Lobby. you just cut your shape and stick it on the icing. Easy.

Here’s why the cake fell out of my good graces. One hour before the party I look at the cake and nearly had a mild stroke.  Who am I kidding? I had a stroke, heart attack and seizure all at the same time.  The stupid sugar sheet SLID down the cake and pulled all the icing with it! Not sure how long I stood there staring at it, but I eventually got control of myself and began the tedious task of repairing the damage…

This was the best I could do.  The slightest pressure on this stuff and it riiiiiiiiiiips.  I tore that sucker into three huge pieces, and that was being as careful as possible.  Which is amazing in itself since I really wanted to hurl it through the kitchen window. While I was carefully trying to put it all back together I was sweating bullets and could hear my heartbeat  roaring in my ears.  I was also silently saying a gazillion prayers that Sister would not walk in the kitchen and see what had happened.  She had already had a meltdown when I told her the puppy had chewed on her favorite red sparkly shoes….

It’s that time again…

Another birthday weekend has come and gone.  I figured it up.  I have planned and carried out 23 birthday parties.  Yikes.  Sister is now a whole hand.  5 years old. Doesn’t seem possible that five years ago I was sitting in a hospital room in tears because my teeny, tiny baby was in the NICU and I couldn’t hold her. She came outta that place with her feet runnin’ and she hasn’t stopped since!

Kinda neat that this year her actual birthday was also her party day!

Opening gifts before the par-tay…

Bubbie pointing out whats included in the new lego set…

A kitchen for the dollhouse…

A hunting we will go..

Next up in the day’s adventures was a trip to the duck blind, to hunt ducks. That weren’t there…. 

A duck calling lesson. Didn’t help.  Ducks called our bluff.

Sister moving the decoys to lure the ducks to us.  Ducks just laughed at us…

The Bubbies peeking out to see if any ducks were around.  They weren’t.

I think we stayed out there for about 45 minutes maybe.  It was cold.  Ducks were somewhere else all nice, warm and cozy…

Splish Splash

We headed up to Arkansas after New Years.  All the kids got suited up in kid waders to go trompin in the woods, winter style.  In the summer and fall trompin in the woods is different.  There is no water.  In the winter there is a lot.  Sister wasn’t exactly thrilled to be suited up, but she got over it. Eventually.

Christmas with Nana

One last celebration, although I really wasn’t feeling like celebrating.  I struggled.  It was a bad day for me. I had been told that the first Christmas after you lose a loved one is hard but I had no idea how hard it would really be.  At least it is now behind me.

Little Miss Betty Crocker

Sister’s favorite gift from Santa was definately her Easy Baking Oven.

The longest 9 minutes of her life…waiting for the cookies to get done.

They’re ready!!  Come and get it…

The guniea pigs..err, I mean taste testers….

Santa has left the building…

and left a bunch of stuff!!  He certainly enjoyed his snack…

Everyone woke up just fine, unlike school mornings…hmmmmmm.

Checkin out the stash….

Christmas with Bubba

 

Our first Christmas without Sazzy. Hard doesn’t even begin to describe it.  Honestly, I have never in my life been so glad for Christmas to be over…. nevertheless, here are some shots from Christmas Eve.

 

My weather-man wanna be…a digital weather reading thingie…

Is it sad that I was excited over a vacuum cleaner?

Leaving milk and cookies for Santa..