Create Create Create

Artists At Work

I broke the party up into stations.

#1 Paint a canvas

#2 Beading necklaces

#3 Fingernail painting

#4 Make a picture frame

#5 Mother's Day craft

#6 Face paint

The girls had lots of fun rotating through, and their artwork turned out to be exceptional!

Here are the artists working on their canvas

Candy Buffet

I believe this was every kids favorite part of the party, and every Dentist's worst nightmare! I sure had fun putting it together, and now there is enough candy left over for Steven's party in a couple of weeks!

Art Party Details

Here are some of my favorite things from Amanda Lily's art party. The super talented, Katy Larson at katylarson.blogspot.com created the printables for this party. Thanks so much Katy for being so fun to work with!

Fun party hats and colorful pom pom's hanging.

Personalized Aprons Nana made for each guest to keep clean while painting.

Cake Pops as a snack before getting things started. Enjoyed by all with "Artist Punch" served in my current obsession, Mason Jars.

The cake had it's own bunting of primary rainbow colors. I thought it was unique. I have to

admit, I was so pleased with how the cake turned out. I surprised Amanda Lily by making the layers all different colors. She loved it.

Art Gallery (noticed it's spelled wrong. LOL! I was in a hurry. Thank goodness my friend noticed and changed it around for me before the party started.) Each child had their own place at the table to display her arts and crafts for parents to see at pick up.

Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas Cruise

Wow-Wee! We had a fabulous time on our vacation with our close friends Dan and Jessica, and we LOVED it! No kiddos this time around, which was an adjustment, but once we got into the groove of things, we had a blast. We both feel that it's important to keep our relationship "hot" separate of the children. It is not lost on us that one day all too soon, they will be gone and it will be just the two of us again. We need to stay connected, and this was the perfect get away.

If any of you are planning on a cruise, this is the one. The ship itself holds over 6000 passengers and 1500 crew members. It also has a Starbucks Coffee on board, along with specialty restaurants for discriminating eaters. We did scuba diving, snorkeling, jet sking, and a couples massage at the spa. My favorite excursion was to a private beach "Malfini beach" in Haiti. The water was gorgeous, and the snorkeling was awesome. We saw jelly fish, sea turtles, a school of thousands of fish, and all kinds of coral. I also loved that I had a little private area on a cliff where I read my Better Homes and Garden mag while the others lazed in the ocean beneath. Another first was having a bartender serve us coconuts from a palm tree, and drinking the milk right out of the fruit! It was a very bland taste, but refreshing. During scuba in Mexico, we saw berracuda, sea turtles, eels, and SHARKS! Good thing Jessica and I were only snorkeling above, because as soon as we saw the sharks, I was O-U-T of the water and back on the boat. The guys enjoyed the Jet Ski's, because the tour guides really let them open it up and get WILD. We were a bit concerned that we would have to move slowly along, but they really let us do pretty much whatever we wanted once we were out in the ocean. In Jamaica, we sailed the ocean in a catamaran. It was a beautiful vessel, but not our favorite snorkeling with a ton of people. Also, not to be missed is Adrian the bar tender at the Latin Bar Boleros. He was amazing and so fun. The adult game show "The Quest" was hilarious. It is a scavenger hunt that involves the audience. It is not corny...it is a must. They say: "What happens during The Quest, stays on the open sea." Lord, I sure hope so, for Danny's sake! It was beyond words fun, and we made so many great memories. These are just a few of my favorite pics of the over 500 that we took.

Amanda Lily's Art Party

I am in the planning stages of our resident artist's birthday party. She is turning the big SEVEN, and the theme this year is A-R-T. She is so excited, and I am having tons of fun with the details. We are planning on using primary colors and having each friend paint their own masterpiece. I'm thinking a candy bar with primary colored candy will be fun for the girls too. Amanda Lily wants to be involved in every aspect, so I let her paint these letters I'll use for decoration. I've enlisted the help of a blogger friend, Katy Larson, with all the party printables. We are gonna have tons of fun with this one, so check back for party photos in the near future.

Happy Easter. Christ is Risen!

Happy Easter everyone. Here are a few fun snaps of the kids painting Easter eggs with Nana. I also did an Easter brunch and egg hunt for Amanda Lily's first grade classroom. Steven's classroom celebration will be held this Monday. We put together "The Jellybean Prayer" for him to share with his friends.It's a quick and easy craft I'll share in my next post. We also made a super easy Spring lunch for both Teacher's wishing them a blessed Easter season.

Lastly, we took the kids to see "The Passion" at Mom and Dad's church. It was a chilling and poignant production. I hope we all remember the sacrifice Christ made for mankind on this special day, and the miracle that he is no longer in the grave, but HE IS RISEN!

Spring Flowers for Nana

Amanda Lily and I stopped to pick flowers for Nana on Sunday after church. We were on our way to her house for a visit when I noticed all the wildflowers (flocks) growing on the side of the road. I was instantly taken back to my childhood. These flowers used to grow in the fields around Mom and Dads, and I used to pick huge bunches for Mom every Spring. It made me sad to think that in a few years these gorgeous little flowers will probably cease to exist. All the construction and building going on in Wildwood will most likely do them in. It seems every time I drive over to Mom and Dads there are new houses and businesses on every corner. Wildwood is far from the little town I grew up in. I don't like it, but that's another post. This post is about the joy it brought my Mom to see my little girl run up to her with a big bunch of wildflowers. And, the joy it brought me to watch her pick them. Driving down the road to Mom's the flowers caught my eye, and the thought of missing the opportunity hit me. What if the flowers aren't here next year? What if Mom and Dad move and she isn't around next year to receive them? I'm so happy that I decided to stop and let Amanda Lily pick them.

I guess my encouragement is that if you are debating on doing something kind for someone, just do it. Don't put it off. You will be glad you did, and so will they. Don't the pictures prove my point?