Unicorn Party!

We hosted a unicorn party for Avery on Saturday afternoon. It was so much fun! Avery LOVED it! 

Decorating her cake:

I ordered an awesome party pack from Amazon complete with everything I needed to host a party, including the tableware, cake decorations, invitations, favor boxes & candles!

I ordered some unicorn themed  party favors including these stamps. 

Here's a look at the party boxes & we filled them all a little bit with candy before the piñata time. 

The unicorn banner came in the party pack. I bought the "pin the horn on the unicorn" from Target. It came with a felt eye mask & sticker horns. 

The cake topper was part of the party pack. 

Avery had an identical set of hanging decorations for past birthdays but they didn't last much longer than 2 birthdays. So I ordered a new set but didn't want to hang them from the ceiling at church, so I taped them on butcher paper and hung it up over a children's church poster. 

In the empty spaces I filled in pieces of a quick impromptu birthday interview which I'll post below. 

After "pin the horn on the unicorn".... this was a blast! Every kid played (young & old!) And even one of my friends!

We also bought a piñata at Target and filled it with assorted chocolate & candies. The younger kids got to hit the piñata three times per turn and the older kids got to hit once per turn. Everyone loved this!

Three kiddos were super sweaty & pumped after the party! 

Avery's birthday interview:

***

Avery is 5 years old!

What makes you laugh: Popping a balloon.

If you had one wish, what would it be? To see a real unicorn. 

What's the best time of day? Wednesday. 

What do you like to learn about? Math. 

Favorite food: Applesauce & broccoli. 

Where do you like to go? McDonald's (I was thinking more like "the beach" but to each their own, I guess. P.S. I can count on one hand the number of times we have been to McDonald's in the last 2 years. )

Favorite thing to do: Have a birthday!

What's your favorite book? My Little Pony

What do you do really well? Play with horses. 

What do you want to be when you grow up? A ballerina.

 

***

I hope you enjoyed this little peek at her special day!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Mid-June Recap

Our summer pace hasn't slowed down much.  We've stayed pretty busy after the boys returned from the beach. 

We stopped by Bass Pro shops to check out the fish and the stuffed bear. 

The boys have recently discovered a love of wiffle-ball when their cousins came down for a few days. 

On Monday night we had tiny ice cream cups for dessert! A summer treat for sure!

On Tuesday we went to the library for a petting zoo which turned out to be three or four fenced areas all attached, so not much of a zoo or petting for that matter.  All the animals were set on eating, so it was kind of dangerous to actually try petting them. Overall, it was a bust. 

However, the morning was redeemed with a trip inside the library!

That evening, we went fishing at a nearby pond to catch some brim.  I was amazed at how much Avery and my 4 year old nephew wanted to touch the worms!

Today we hung around the house.  After everyone finished dinner, we made some s'mores outside at the fire pit. 

I'm so trying to enjoy these days and treasure the moments! I love summer with them so much. 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Crab Apples & Banana Spiders

Michael the Creative came up with some themed snacks to have this last week. I had some gala apples & bananas on hand, so all I needed to grab from the store was pretzel sticks & we were ready to make his snacks!

First up were the crab apples. We used a wooden chopstick to poke holes in the apples, then we stuck some pretzel sticks in the holes. Each kid could make their own holes, so each crab looked a little different.

Michael gave his the standard 8 legs & added in two chopstick holes for eyes.   

Avery was very proud of hers. 

Noah was very particular about how his crab looked. He added 8 legs, then 2 antennae, and 4 chopstick hole eyes. 

Next up were banana spiders.  This time, the kids were easily able to poke in the pretzel sticks directly into the banana-- no chopstick needed.  

Here's the artist behind the idea!

Noah is very technical with his creature creations, but chose not to be in the picture himself this time. 

Avery had a blast doing the same activity as her big brothers! 

Super easy & fun! They loved making these and we'll definitely do it again!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Summer Park

One evening, my parents came with us to take the kids to a local park attached to a peach shop and ice cream store.  After eating some ice cream outside, we ventured up the hill to the playground.  It was very nice weather and we ended our adventure right before the rain came tumbling in!  These summer evenings are so fun and I'm glad we are able to spend time together. 

We began our adventure at a decommissioned tractor.  Noah LOVES some good imaginative play!

After ice cream, we tried out the slides that exit from this barn, then Noah attempted to ride the tire horse. 

Michael loves to venture up to the fountain and make a wish with some coins. 

Avery is shaping up to be a pretty good playground car driver!

Grampa Bill handed out more coins, so we made more wishes. 

If a playground car only has two seats, then a third child might have to ride in front! :) 

It was such a nice evening and a good break from our typical evening at home activities.  The kids always love going here and it makes for good memories!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Valentine's Day

This year for Valentine's Day, I started collecting items in late December so that I'd be prepared and wouldn't feel rushed as the date got closer.  This was beneficial, but also led to me over-buying since I'd forget that I already had a treat prepared and I'd see something else great and buy it.  So this year, my kids lucked out and received a little box of chocolates, a book, and a toy (usually it's just candy & either a book or a toy but not both).

In December, Aaron and I had to go to Costco for a tire rotation, and Costco has such an awesome book selection at super low prices.  Michael was eagerly waiting for the release of a new book spin-off series from one of his favorite authors, and I saw the book that day and loved the fact that it was nearly half of what I'd spend at Target!  I grabbed it and held onto it because Christmas was just the week prior and I didn't want to just give it to him out of the blue.  I didn't necessarily intend for it to sit on Aaron's bookshelf until nearly Valentine's Day, but it did.... so I quickly found two other books (one for Noah, one for Avery) at Publix one random Saturday.  

When browsing the aisles of Target, I saw a little box of chocolates with a unicorn on the cover which sealed the deal that I'd get that one for Avery.  I picked up a dinosaur one and a space shuttle one for the boys.  Everyone was pleased with these when they woke up on Valentine's Day!

I wanted to get Avery a "Bo Peep" doll from Toy Story 4 after she so loved playing with her cousin's doll in the fall.  I found this one on Amazon and ordered it in late January.  

The boys love to watch this one particular YouTube family, and this family has become so popular that they periodically release a new toy here and there.  The boys have been singing this silly ditty about an elevator and when I saw on the Target app that this YouTube family released a toy about this ditty, I grabbed two for a "drive up" order.  The Target associate who picked the order was phenomenal and chose a blue one and a green one which is so perfect so that my boys know whose is whose.  These toys both have a music box and glow sticks, which is so fun!

I took this photo around 9:30 the night before Valentine's Day because that's how long it took my kids to fall asleep that night! The felt hearts were a Target Dollar Spot find years ago (before I even knew we'd have a girl one day!). 

All three kids loved their gifts!  The chocolates were gone almost immediately.  The books are getting lots of mileage on them and the toys have been played with daily.  This was a successful holiday and it was so fun to gather up exciting things as I found them and not feel rushed.  

 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba 

Waiting Room Fun Bag

 I saw this idea on Andrea's blog a couple weeks ago when she was talking about Valentine's Day gift for kids. I already had my Valentine's gifts ready, but I thought this idea of a "waiting room" bag was super smart! I added it to my Amazon cart and planned to stick it in the "save for later" section, but Aaron ended up making some Amazon purchases that day & this was in the cart so it was included (accidentally) with the purchases!

As soon as it arrived, I filled it with some fun things that would be sure to entertain kiddos the next time we had to go to a waiting room or car ride. I grabbed a few pencils and a spare notepad, a deck of cards, some plus-plus blocks, and a few fidget items. I immediately stuck it in the glove box of the car because I knew we'd be heading to a city for Michael's endocrinology appointment shortly after this arrived.  

Monday of last week was that day, and Michael was so surprised by having something new & different to play with while waiting for the doctor. (In fact, the doctor played with the plus-plus blocks too when he entered the room!) It's so funny to me how kids latch on to something different than they're used to, even if they've seen all the things before. I used to bring a big bag of toys with me when babysitting. The kids I'd babysit for loved this "bag of tricks" and it's so fun to see my own kids react similarly. :)

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba