• Flashback Friday: Happy 5th Birthday!

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    Karlie with her Rocket Cake and Brina with her Princess Castle Cake made by Aunt Kristen!

    Today we flashback to February 2010 when the girls turned 5 years old!  It was a fun birthday party at our house.  We did a dual theme for the girls this year which was a lot more work than I initially realized!  Karlie was really into space and rockets while Brina was into princesses.

    Half of the house and party was about Space and the other half was about Princesses.  The nice part about the theme is that it appealed to both the boys and girls who attended the party.  We did a castle out of cardboard in Brina’s room and a rocket out of cardboard for Karlie that was put on the front porch.

    Somehow we didn’t get a picture of Karlie’s room inside the house where we put black trash bags on all the walls, stuck glow in the dark planets and stars on them, and replaced the lights with black lights.  It turned out really well, but it was darker so none of the pictures actually turned out which is a bummer.

    Aunt Kristen made the beautiful and delicious cakes for the girls birthday, which they LOVED!  The girls had a wonderful time celebrating their birthday and we are thankful for our family and friends who helped with the party and came out to make this day extra special for the girls.  Thankful for the blessing of these two girls!

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    Checking out the cool rocket that Daddy, Grandpa Russell, Uncle Lee, and Uncle Josh stayed up after the kids went to bed to build.

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    They had no idea that the guys were building a rocket (and castle, see below) for them!  As they were eating breakfast the guys rang the doorbell and “delivered” their special party props!  They were so excited!

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    Karlie hugging her rocket (notice she is wearing her favorite rocket pjs)!  Too cute!  She was thrilled and kept going back outside to play with her rocket!

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    Had to check everything out!

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    After a few minutes of coming back into the house the back doorbell rang and the guys delivered the other party prop, a giant cardboard castle!  Daddy, Grandpa Russell, Uncle Lee, and Uncle Josh worked on putting this together and painting it after the girls went to bed the night before the party.  They were super excited!

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    The castle was huge!  They are standing on chairs in order to peek through it!  The castle was a big hit in the princess room!

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    Dad and Grandpa Russell putting the finishing touches on the castle!  It had a tower, door, and even a roman numeral “V” flag on it!

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    Time for all the princesses and princes to come to the party!  The castle was a big hit with all the kids!

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    Karlie all smiles as she sits by the easel.  She loved coming outside to check on her rocket which was next to the easel!

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    Hanging out in her rocket as people started arriving.  Very content to stay right there with her special rocket!

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    Brina’s princess cake turned out beautifully – thanks Aunt Kristen!

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    Karlie LOVED her rocket cake!  Thank you Aunt Kristen!

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    Lighting the candles!  Kristen put candles at the back of the rocket so it looked like it was taking off – so cool!

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    Getting something to eat and hanging out with cousins!

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    Grandma Penny and Brina putting a puzzle together!  Super fun!

  • Happy July 4th!

    Fireworks display taken from our family trip to Disney!

    Wishing you a very Happy July 4th!

    Hope your day is full of fun with family and friends!

    In celebration of Independence Day the girls drew a United States Flag on the sidewalk!

  • Game: Wits & Wagers by North Star Games

    In an earlier post I mentioned the Wits and Wagers by North Star Games that we received as a gift.   On the box it says “The Most Award Winning Party Game in History.”   This game quickly became a family favorite.  We have played this game many times since receiving it and have shared it with several other family and friends as well.  The game is based on facts, however, you don’t need to know all the answers in order to enjoy, participate, or even win the game.

    Our family enjoys having games nights and are excited about finding great games we can play together.  If you are looking for a fun family game you should check this one out or better yet come on over and play a round with us.  The rounds go pretty quickly and you will be surprised at how much you’ll learn.  You may just have a little fun along the way! 🙂