Savannah's birthday is in March, but she wanted to celebrate it while Aunt Camille was in town. It was to be her first "friend" party and she had been planning it for a long time. Since she loves Fancy Nancy, and that lends to the perfect girly birthday theme, we ran with it. With help from Grandma Goldy on the invitation idea, she delivered these to all her friends:
Then, during our snow days, Camille, Savannah, and I assembled the gift bags, which included sunglasses, a boa, a ring pop, a yo-yo, and a fancy feather pen. Savannah decorated them with her Fancy Nancy stickers:
Savannah and Rachel wore their fancy outfits made by Grandma Linton:
I knew I would be happy to have Camille there, but when the day arrived, I realized we couldn't have done it without her! She was such a great help. She and Savannah did most of the decorating:
The party started with coloring:
Once everyone had arrived, we sat down for a fancy lunch of pizza pillows, fruits, veggies, and pink lemonade, all served by our dapper servers, Ashkii and Trevor (such good sports!!):
After lunch, the girls made princess crowns and hair accessories:
And they got their nails painted:
Then it was time for presents -Savannah loved every one, and was so thankful to have her friends come celebrate with her.
Finally, it was time for cake and parfaits (Nancy's family eats ice cream parfaits in the original book):
We have this crazy thing with whip cream, especially on birthdays, and the funny thing is that it scared Savannah when she was little, but now she thinks it is hilarious! Happy Birthday, Savvy!!!
For about six months or so, Savannah has been considering getting her ears pierced. We have left it totally up to her. I think it was November when she first said she was ready. I took her to the mall, she sat in the chair and we started looking at the different earrings she could choose from. Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears, and she said she was way too afraid and better wait until she was six. So away we walked. Then, come January, she decided she REALLY wanted them pierced and promised me she would do it. So we got to the mall, and this time filled out the paperwork and everything before she burst into tears again. I am fairly certain that the employee thought I was forcing this upon her, so I just calmly told Savannah it was up to her. Mind you, I was a bit frustrated at this point, and as we were leaving I told her she could bring Dad next time. That was when she told me she would do it when Aunt Camille came to visit. So, on February 12 (she tells everyone the exact day it happened), Camille and I took her in. This time we got a lady who seemed to know what she was doing and I gave her a heads up while I was filling out the paperwork. Camille tried to keep Savannah's mind off of her fears by looking around the store with her. The employee offered the option of piercing both ears at the same time (brilliant) and when Savannah started to panic in the chair, Camille and I just looked at each other, not sure what to do, because this time they had the earrings ready to go into the ears. Finally, the employee asked Savannah if she wanted her to "numb" her ears. I was confused, and then a little distraught when I realized she was tricking my daughter, but nonetheless I kept my mouth shut when I saw Savannah relax as the woman applied the ear solution to her ears. Still, I had to hold her on my lap, while she held her doll Rebecca, and stared at Camille during the process. As expected, Savannah said it didn't hurt "hardly at all" and she has been giddy about it ever since. And especially after the first six weeks, when she got to start changing the earrings out, she just keeps saying, "I am so happy to have my ears pierced!!" Ashkii was relieved that she did it since I told him he got to take her the next time:).
We have a lot going on right now, but I want to get some pics posted before I completely forget that this really happened. We experienced record snow in February, right after my Dad left, and one day after my sister, Camille flew in from the Pacific NW. We were snowed in for days! It was actually pretty fun, as we were prepared with plenty of food and had a back up generator (which we thankfully didn't need). The kids missed 7 days of school and had a BLAST playing outside. Ashkii couldn't get to work, so he was thrilled to built snow forts and be out with the kids. Rachel liked looking at the snow, but wasn't a big fan of playing in it, which she must get from me. It was beautiful, though. Once the roads were semi-drivable, I took Camille into DC for her conference. The rest of the week was spent playing, indulging in hot chocolate, and enjoying lots of family time. I even got my kids to have a couple of read-a-thons!
My Dad had some time on his hands in January, and so we flew him out here to help with our basement. What a project! We are so grateful for his wealth of construction knowledge and experience, and mostly for his willingness to come and work amongst the chaos that is our house! We all had a great time with him. It was fun to have him here for so long just being a part of our day-to-day lives. He went to gymnastics and piano and school and the kids just loved it. Trevor really got into helping down in the basement. They also added an outdoor storage area. We have lots more to do, but WOW did we get a great start!
One night, Savannah decided to diagnose my Dad. She looked into his mouth and said he had "a bad case of tattle tongue!" Apparently, when the school counselor came into their classroom that week, she read them a story about tattling! I haven't seen my Dad laugh so hard in a long time!
After hearing the news that my Dad was coming, his brother Dwayne asked me if he could surprise him by driving over from KY. So Dwayne showed up on my Dad's birthday and then helped with the basement for a few days, too! AND he brought a plentiful supply of ALE 8 -- a delicious soda they make in KY that we all love and crave!!! It was so great having these two brothers stay with us. Savannah planned all kinds of activities for my Dad's birthday - breakfast in bed, pin the head on the Grandpa, musical chairs, and she even gave him a foot massage! He says he's coming here every year for his birthday:)
Rachel loved all the extra attention and keeps asking about Grandpa, especially when we go down into the basement. Dwayne was also so sweet with the kids, especially Rachel.
After Christmas, we met our neighbors in DC for dinner and the temple lights. All of the kids had a great time running around and choosing their favorite colors of lights. I am so grateful for this beautiful temple and for the Savior's light in our lives. .
Since there are nearly 3 feet of snow on the ground, I feel okay about posting about Christmas in February! For starters, we got a HUGE snowstorm the Saturday before Christmas. So the kids' last three days of school turned into pre-Christmas vacation. Things got crazy. Then we had 5 visitors come into town. Crazyand fun. We had Ashkii's parents in from UT and his sister Daija and her husband Jonathan came with their baby Bridger from Boston. On Christmas Eve, we went ice skating. Trev & Savvy both made vast improvements upon last year's skating experience. I think everyone had a fun time. I love skating outdoors! We also open pjs, and gifts from my Dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve. My kids are so lucky to have so much extended family involved in their lives. They all slept in the same room while our guests were here, which was pretty fun for them on Christmas Eve . . .
Christmas morning was full of fun and we were very surprised at how quickly Rachel picked up on what was going on. Before we knew it, she was opening every present she could find, hers or not. Both girls were very excited about dolls, accessories, crafts and toys, while Trev was thrilled with a bike, sports team gear, and Wii games from the grandparents. We had a very fancy dinner, with Savannah and Daija setting the table very fancy - Savannah has been so excited to use the China and set the table nice! Wii was the big hit while our guests were here. They couldn't wait for the kids to retire for the night so they could get serious about Wii resort! Our kids loved having Bridger to play with and it was fun to see his sweet personality. Gma and Gpa watched the kids one night while Ashkii & I, Daija & Jonathan went swing dancing. Everytime we go we vow to go more! We had a blast! Everyone was worn out by the time they left our house. But we just can't have it any other way:)
Back in November we went to an exhibit in DC called ICE. It was 9 degrees inside the huge tent and they required all guests to wear these large parkas. At first they were a nuisance, but after about 3 minutes of 9 degrees, we were very grateful for the big blue coats! Some great friends joined us - everyone's favorite part of the exhibit was the ice slide. Very fun!
