Amanda Lily's Tea Party

Amanda Lily's birthday party ended up being everything she wanted it to be. I also, was so pleased with the way everything turned out. She had 12 of her closest friends join her for tea. On the menu was hibiscus tea, fresh lemonade, grilled cheese, fresh fruit, chocolate covered strawberries, petite fours, and of course birthday cake. Her cake was a doll cake made in the likeness of Dorothy from the wizard of oz. The girls colored tea pots and cups for place mats, and each had their name with rock candy at there place setting. The mom's table had a nice mix of ladies that chatted and watched their girls having fun. We enjoyed quiche, soup, and croissants with our teas. Mom chose the best tea. It was "Southern Belle Peach". The tea glasses had sugar coated rims and fresh mint. It was really yummy. The girls danced to a CD of all girl songs. They were hamming it up in their dresses. Against my better judgement, I allowed her to open her gifts at the party. She did great. I was so happy that she was gracious to all of her friends by saying "thank you" and not screaming "I already have that" or "I don't like that" I hate it when kids do that. It always makes me feel so bad for the child who spent their time and energy picking out a gift. The girls were a little excited, each giving her their gifts after the other. She was kind of rushing to keep up, but it was all good. If helped move things along. George and Steven stopped in for the last 20 minutes of the party when we cut the cake. Steven and Amanda Lily were so sweet together. She was so happy that he came by. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and a big hug when he arrived. At the end of the party, Amanda Lily stood by the door, and passed out favor boxes along with a CD of all girly songs. She thanked her friends for coming and hugged each one. It was such a great day. One that I hope she will always remember. A special thank you to my girlfriend Heather who helped along the way, and showed up early to help me set everything up. (:

These are shots I took of her with her birthday present from Mommy and Daddy. George put this little house together and even made a "pad" for it out of large concrete slabs. She brought her favorite doll and stuffed animals to check it out and make it her own.

Happy Birthday Amanda Lily

My baby is turning 5 years old tomorrow! We will be in the midst of all the hoopla that comes with a birthday, so I wanted to go ahead and do this post. She is so very excited about her party, as am I because it is not at home! She and twelve of her little girl friends are having a tea party at the Mt Dora Garden Gate Tea Room. We have a very special dress, flower for her hair, and a gorgeous pair of ballet shoes that lace up her leg for her to wear. I have had so much fun planning this party. I can't wait to see how everything turns out. I've burned the midnight oil with my Cricut cutting machine that George got me for Christmas, and am just so excited to see it all come together. I'll post some party pictures later. Hope you all have great weekend.

Teacher Appreciation Day

Steven's Teacher is one of my favorite people. Mrs Keyes is one of those Teachers that is once in a lifetime. Steven has been blessed because she moved up from Kindergarten to First grade this year, so he had her two years in a row. When I found out she was moving up, I was sooooooo excited. She is so nice to share the class with a type A mom who likes to plan things. Not to mention how much Steven has learned in her care. He loves her. No, you all don't understand. The child loves her so much that the comment over spring break was "Mommy, I would love for us to trade in our house for this beach house" (St Augustine) then he paused......"but Mrs Keyes wouldn't be my teacher, so forget it!" I am in for a sad sad boy on the last day of school. He is such a tender heart. Anyways, my friend Heather had seen this idea on ETSY, and being that she actually home schools her little girl, she decided that we needed to do it for Mrs Keyes. Good Lord, I love her for it, because it turned out soooooooooo cute. Mrs Keyes is going to flip out when she see's these cupcakes. The little people you see as the toppers are each of the students in our class. I even made a special cupcake carrier out of a large pizza box from the restaurant. I'll post a how to later, but I've gotta run get the party started. We are having pizza, greek salad, and cupcakes in her honor in the class today. I'll also post photos from the party later.........

Constuction Begins...YEA!!!!!

Today, construction has begun on our pool. FINALLY! You all don't know the patience I have learned in the past month. From loans, to permits, it has been a real challenge getting things lined up. A month back, George promised Steven and his close friend Ben that he would allow them to watch as all the heavy equipment worked, so we were able to full fill that promise. I went and checked them both out from school, and the looks on their faces when they saw each other in the office was priceless! Ben came up first, having no idea what was going on. Once he saw that it was me checking him out, he got this huge grin on his face. I said, "Ben, do you know why I am here?" He's like...YEP! Then when Steven arrived and saw Ben and myself standing there, they both started jumping up and down. I had not told them, but they remembered, and they knew I was there to make good on the promise. Once we were at home, the guy driving the bobcat put on a show. I was even impressed. It looked like it would be a lot of fun driving that thing. He was doing wheelies and 360's. Thank you Trish for letting us steal Ben away from school for a few hours. Only the cool moms do stuff like that. (; They were both very sad when I checked them back in, but were glad they got to have the experience.

Sophia's First Birthday Party

Here are the photos from Sophie's first birthday party.

Splash Night at School

This past week, our school held it's annual "Splash Night". It is a celebration of water and all living things in the water. It bring awareness to the children and the community about the importance of conservation and recycling as well as gives them a chance to get up close to fresh water creatures. There were snakes, a crocodile, an alligator, lizards. All things that got Steven excited. My favorite exhibit was on Florida's aquifer. I learned a thing or two! Yia Yia and Papou' got to come, because it was held on Monday night. That was great. Steven's Dual Language class said a poem in both Spanish and English, and that was the highlight of the evening for us. Pause the music at the bottom of my blog to hear the kids in the video. (:

Happy Birthday Aunt Heather!

Ok, so today is my Sister in Law, Heather's birthday! Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Heather, happy birthday to you! She got the best gift ever for her birthday last year, in the way of a little girl, just the day before her own birthday. At first I thought, aww man, that would have been so awesome if Sophie would have been born on the same day as her mom. Then, they could share that day. Then, I rethought it, and now I think it is better that they each have their own special day. Sophie came after 9pm, so she almost had her mom's birthday, but she is a true Kountanis woman in that she came out when she was ready. No one was telling her what to do! LOL

The most recent photo I have is from this past Christmas of the two of us with our girls. Heather is a beautiful mom, and a gal to be celebrated. Happy Birthday Heather! We love you!

Happy Birthday Sophie!

George's Name Day was the first of many special days the Kountanis Family is getting ready to celebrate. The months of April and May are busy around here!

So, today is my only niece's first birthday. Happy Birthday Sophie! We all love you and are so happy you are part of our family. Saturday is her actual party, so I will post some photos from that day next week. But for now, this is one of my recent favorites.

Happy Name Day Daddy!

Today our family is celebrating George. It is his "Name Day". This is a day celebrated in Greek culture. It is treated allot like a birthday, but traditionally, the honoree is who pays for dinner and drinks. Our kids both have their own name days as well. On these days, I make it a point to make something sweet for them to share with our friends and family. This morning, Amanda Lily and I made Daddy a Name Day cake.

Every Greek is named after a Saint and on the day of their baptism, it is official. From that day forward, the person celebrates their Name Day along with all the others who share the same name. If your name happens to be one that doesn't have a specific day, you celebrate on "All Saints Day". Today is St. George's day, being celebrated by many Greeks named George. So, if you happen to know one, tell him "Happy Name Day", or if you really want to make an impression, say "Cronya Pola" which is "many years" in Greek.

Happy Name Day Babe, we love you so much!