Welcome End of School Year Sleepover (aka sleepover 2.0)

Yes, we decided to do another sleepover.  The girls (ages 10 and 12) were really begging to do an End of School Year Sleepover.  We agreed to it.  However, we did feel there were lessons learned from the first one.  The first one went well, but we felt we could improve on it and save some of our sanity.  Lessons we learned:

1. Have activities planned

During the first version, I had activities planned, but the girls just wanted to hang out.  Ok, I thought.  Maybe they are too old for planned activities.  The only planned thing we did was have them decorate the sleepover cake.

The kids acted like they were not at all interested in the activities I planned for Sleepover 2.0, but trust me, they all were really excited once we got going with the plans and all had a great time!

2. Wear them out!!!

I can’t stress this enough.  You want to wear their little butts out with something active.

3.  Buy throwaway utensils, plates, bowls, cups.

It is so much easier to just go through with a garbage bag and clean up.  No dishes to wash, no fuss, no muss.  JUST LIKE A SLACKER MOM LIKES IT!!!

4. Get tons of great ideas for invitations, activities, and food from PINTEREST!

Invitations from Hoot Designs

I used several of them.

5. Last but definitely not least, do not set up the air mattress until it is bedtime!!

I can’t stress this one enough!  The temptation for it to be a giant trampoline is just too much for 10-12 year old girls.

We sent out invitations for our End of School Year Sleepover.  I got the idea for the invitations from Hoot Designs!  It only took my girls and I about 20 minutes to make.  They came out exactly like the photo! We had so many positive comments on the invitations from the moms!

So, let me tell you about the party!

The girls arrived (each of my daughters had two guests).  We immediately headed out to the pool in our community.  REMEMBER I SAID WEAR THEM OUT!!  We spent 2 1/2 hours at the pool.  We had Papa John’s Pizza delivered at the pool and took a cooler full of drinks with us.  Everyone had a

Spin the bottle (of nail polish that is!)

great time, especially since the community just put in a new slide at the pool.

When the pool closed, yes we milked it for everything it was worth, we went back to the house and the girls got into their pajamas.  They played Spin the Bottle.  Don’t be alarmed!  It was spin the NAIL POLISH bottle.  We bought an assortment of wild colored nail polish.  We even found a pack of glow in the dark nail polish to make it more fun at night!

To start, I picked a funky color nail polish and spun the bottle.  Whomever the bottle pointed at, had to paint one fingernail or toenail with that color.  Then they got to pick the next color and spin the bottle.  We continued this until everyone had their nails painted.

Then we did American Idol.  We have a microphone that you can hook up your Ipod to so you can sing to the music.  Then I used the app for Song Freaks that shows the lyrics to a song as your Ipod is playing them.  We cut two people out of the first round.  Then, we had the people who were voted out, vote for the winner.  My husband and I played the judges making positive comments about each performance.

We had a ice cream sundae bar.  I bought the cutest little sundae glasses from CVS.  They were 4 for $5.99.  Each girl got to take one home as a souvenir.  We bought lots of different toppings and let them make their own.

Worn out puppies!

We had the girls brush their teeth and get their sleeping bags ready.  We set up the air mattress and rented a movie for them to watch.  We stayed up until 1:00 am and most of the girls were asleep.  A couple of them stayed up, but they were quiet.  One of the girls was a super sound sleeper and ended up with a smiley face drawn on her foot with a marker.  I guess if that is the only mischief they got into, we were all good!  Thank goodness, her father got a kick out of it!

In the morning, they got dressed and put away their sleeping bags.  We had them pack up so they would be ready to go when their parents arrived.

We had a breakfast bar set up for them.  We bought the little individual boxes of cereal.  I put donut holes on skewers (with the tips cut off). We had cantaloupe slices and bunches of grapes for them to chow on.  We had an assortment of juices and milk for them to choose from.

When the parents arrived, their little princesses were ready to go.  They each took their sundae glass and their belongings and left with big smiles on their faces.  I heard from a couple of the Moms later in the day saying their daughters had a great time!  What more could you ask for!

Version 2.0 was even better than 1.0.  Thank you Pinterest!

Graduated from elementary school… check

So proud of her certificate!

The Ceremony

Our youngest daughter had her elementary school graduation today. I thought I would cry, but surprised myself. I was not sad at all. I was just proud of all her accomplishments in school. She walked up to get her diploma with the lady-like fashion of a runway model!

One proud Daddy!

Her accomplishments were many. I wish I had that kind of moxie in elementary school! She was the Weather Girl for her school’s television station, student council representative for her class, had her artwork displayed in the School Board office, was in a Math Club and chorus. I could not be prouder of her for her accomplishments!

The Celebration!

Photos with friends!

After the ceremony, we went back to her classroom for celebration.

They had cake, punch, and water.  The kids were given their actual certificates.  They were given time to get photos with their friends and teachers.

Flowers from Daddy!

Daddy’s Surprise!

When we got back to the house, Daddy surprised her with a beautiful bunch of flowers.  She was so excited and Daddy was just beaming that he brought that joy to her face.  (I have to be honest, he got each of us a bunch of flowers, but hers were the flashiest)

Girlie Time!

After that, we had some girlie time.  Her older sister came home from school, she is going into 7th grade!  My youngest’s big gift was getting her ears pierced.  She was really brave… until they started marking her ears.  You can see the change in her expressions as the time got closer for the actual piercing to take place.  She did shed a few tears, but within 15 minutes, she was telling me, “Mom, it doesn’t hurt anymore!”

I am so excited! Is it going to hurt?
Only like a pinch, honey…

How bad is it going to hurt, Mom? Do I really want to do this? Yes, I do, but I am scared!

Mom, that REALLY HURT! Why didn’t you tell me it was going to be like a really hard pinch? It was like getting a shot in the ears!

Our happy little graduate
with beautiful,
sparkly,
pink hearts in her ears!

So, it was a big day for our family.  I am so proud!

Go honey, always follow your heart and follow your passions in life!

Exciting weekend with my daughter’s 12th birthday party sleepover

This weekend is my eldest daughter’s 12th birthday! She wanted to celebrate by having a sleepover.  We had three of her closest friends over.  So, with my daughters, there were five.  They stayed up nearly all night.  My DH and I finally went up to bed at about 1:30am.  He fell asleep at 3am and they were still talking downstairs.  The girls said they finally went to sleep at 5am!  OMGosh!!

My daughter wanted me to make a sleepover cake like one we saw on Pinterest.  Here is our version:

Sleepover Birthday Party Cake from wordpress.com/dustbunniesandfingerprints

Yes, Pinterest, my latest obsession, comes in handy once again!  I am sharing my Pinterest addiction with my daughter! 

We made most of the cake ahead of time.  Here are the instructions for making this deceptively easy cake:
1. Make a regular oblong cake. 
2. Frost the top of the cake in the color that will be the “sheets” of the bed.
3. Put the icing in a decorator bag and use a ribbon type tip to make the dustruffle. You can use a different color that the sheets, but we used the same color.
4. Lay either Tastycakes Butterscotch Krimpets or Little Debbie Swiss Rolls for the bodies of the girls. 
5. Add icing to the top of the snack cakes so the fondant comforter will stick to them.
6. Add a layer of fondant for the comforter.
7. Make balls of fondant for the heads. You can pinch a bit of the circle to make the noses (my 12 year old’s idea and it worked perfectly).
8. Use frosting to make the eyes, mouth, hair, names, and decorate the comforter.
9. Cut rectangles of fondant for the blankets that each girl decorated with icing.

My youngest made her blanket look like her favorite blanket: She is 10 and I was amazed at how great it came out!

Blanket decorated by my 10 year old daughter for the sleepover birthday cake

This week back to working on the powder room, but I must say, this was a nice break.  My daughter was so happy!! It was awesome to see her her thrilled! Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!! I love you!!!

Travelling Woman

I went back home to help Mom and Dad clean out Grandma’s house.  She has been put in a nursing home.  At 94 years young, she broke her pelvis and could not care for herself.  Thank goodness she listened to Dad and let her begrudgingly get her a Medic Alert so she wasn’t laying on the floor for two days before anyone knew anything was wrong this time.  Gram was what we always called a “pack rat” now known as a “hoarder”.

Mom and Dad were up there working for quite some time and filled two 30 yard dumpsters with the results of her hoarding.  We have all dreaded this day for years.  We know someday it would be up to the family to clear out her home.  I offered to go up and help, a couple of days before my departure, Mom and Dad called and said not to come, they had it almost done.  I was truly torn about going or listening to them.  I ended up not going.  A few days later, I found out they just felt bad about me taking vacation time for cleaning my Grandma’s house.  I went the following weekend.

I spent a couple of days in PA with Mom and Dad.  It was nice to spend the time with them with no other distractions, ie: my kids. We went up and finished cleaning, which honestly, was nothing. I got to spend time with my Grandma.  It was so sad to see her in the nursing home.  Dont get me wrong, the nursing home is really nice, the employees were really nice, her roommate seemed friendly enough (though Grandma is not a fan of her).

My heart just sank leaving her there every night. She is in the right place, there is no doubt, she could not care for herself anymore.  However, she has not realized that.  I think that is what makes it extra hard, she does not want to be there.  It is heartbreaking since that is the only option. Mom and Dad tried to get her to move to PA in their neighborhood so they could keep an eye on her, but she didnt want to leave upstate NY.  So, truly this is the only option.  Does not make it any easier. I see how hard it is on my Dad. I cant imagine how he must feel.

My Great Aunt Grace was also put in the same nursing home just weeks after my Grandma.  My Great Aunt was 99 years old.  She was furious about being there.  Just a few days after we visitied with her, she passed away.  I was grateful that God took her home.  She was not happy, in lots of pain, and simply miserable.  Grandma was praying for God to take her home.  I was glad that Grandma took the loss very well.

Time with Mom and Dad was good. We laughed a lot, talked a lot, and got to put our arms around each other.  We need to make more time for that.

One on one time with my eldest – 1/5/2013

I just love spending one-on-one time with my daughters.  It usually gets spent doing something good and running errands.  On Saturday the 5th of January, my eldest and I did one-on-one time.  Our afternoon was spent:

Going to Joanne Fabric and buying craft stuff.

Getting lunch

Going to Robersons and turning in her rental trumpet, since she got her own for Christmas.  Signing her up for private trumpet lessons

Picking up the pottery we painted, the pieces we did turned out great!

Getting Froyo to take back to my youngest

Going to the grocery store

We had a great time just laughing and people watching. One-on-one time is the BEST!

Locks of Love 12/26/2012

My youngest daughter decided two years ago that she wanted to grow her hair to donate to Locks of Love.  For two years she would not let me so much as get her hair trimmed.  We measured her hair every month for the past six months to see if her hair was long enough.  Two days before Christmas, we measured and finally the time was right.  She was so tired of the tangles and maintenance of her long hair.  We made an appointment for the day after Christmas.  I told her that because she was so sweet, I was treating her to golden highlights in her hair too.  She was so happy that her hair was going to help someone who was sick and didnt have any hair.

I am so proud of my little honey who is so caring and thoughtful.  Here are some pics from before, during, and after her haircut!

BEFORE PICS

AFTER!

Happy 2013

Well, let’s see… I tried to get everyone to take down the Christmas decorations, but hubby said the trash pickup will not come on time, so we need to wait. Our trash is totally overflowing at this point. I guess the downside of on-line Christmas shopping is the overflow of recycling from all the boxes.

We did get the house relatively clean, dustbunnies and fingerprints are still in tact though. To me, clean is everything picked up. My expectations are very low. I did get the scrapbook room cleaned. Even managed to put away some eyelets I bought at a craft resale.

I wanted to make the calendars, so I started consolidating all the pics from all the computers. There has to be a better way. If anyone knows of a better way to keep multiple copies of your pics so you dont lose them should there be an issue with your computer/network. And still maintain the ability to add new pics, please let me know. It took me over 8 hours yesterday consolidating photos. I am not done yet! Oh no, more consolidating today.

Never did make the wonderful dinner, we had leftover ham sandwiches. Never made the key lime ball, nor the seafood dip. Hoping to make the dip today for everyone to enjoy. We did play games together, clean together, eat our sandwiches together, enjoy ringing in 2013 together! It was all good.

Am I a slacker or maybe I set my expectations of myself too high, so it seems like I am slacking when really I accomplished quite a bit yesterday? HMMM… something to ponder as I scrapbook today!

About

Picture this: I am flying through the air, holding a Starbucks Venti Skim No Whip Mocha, my cape is fluttering behind me as things are dropping along the way. I am a Mom, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a boss, a coworker, and a scrapbooker. I commute for about three hours a day. I have to be honest, things do get dropped along the way, usually cooking and cleaning. I figure the dust bunnies and fingerprints can wait, doing things with my kids will not. So, I just hope the important stuff gets accomplished.

This blog is a jounal of my life journey. Things I do, things I like, accomplishments of my kids. I love to scrapbook, so I see this as an extension of a passion I already have. Thanks for reading!

About.

Les Mis and RGIII

I’m having the best day of vacation so far! The day started out going to see Les Mis. Michelle and I shed quite a few tears at the movie. Sandi and Javier mostly kept theirs contained. At 10 and 11, I was surprised the girls understood the movie as well as they did!

Tonight was the highlight of Javier’s entire decade (For his sports fanatic side anyway). After 13 years of being a loyal Redskins fan, they beat the dreaded Cowboys! Off to the playoffs they go! Congratulations honey!!!!

Yesterday, Javier took Tessa home and built her desk for her. While he was gone, the girls and I went to Pots and Palettes in old town to paint some pottery. The girls made statues of fairies and I made a pencil holder. It was a lot of fun. The girls and I ended our girls day out with dinner at Vinnys on Route 17. Misha said the chicken parm was the best she ever had.

It was not long after we got home that Javier returned home too. We all played Blokus. It was a good time!

Sandi is 7

Monday, March 24, 2008 – I am copying this from another blog I started and never kept up with… Yes, slacker!!
Hard to believe, Sandi is 7 today. We had a great time this weekend.

Teresa was here
Celebrated Sandi’s birthday party at Ricky’s Candy, Cones, and Chaos
Had our Easter Egg Hunt
Made bunny cakes
Fixed Easter dinner
Sandi opened her birthday presents
Michelle helped me make pasta salad for Easter Dinner
Both girls put on a show for us – Michelle did ballet and Sandi did a magic act!
ENJOYED BEING A FAMILY TOGETHER
Slacker Moment – We didn’t color the Easter Eggs.