Unicorns and Rainbows Birthday Party

We started off the girls birthday with rainbow sprinkle covered donut holes for breakfast. We then spent the morning cleaning and preparing for their birthday bash that evening. We got out of the house around lunch time to indulge in Happy Joe's and run a few last minute errands.

When we began planning the birthday party, Reese said that she would like to have a unicorn theme. I chose rainbows for Gretchen as I felt that the two went well together. I knew that we had the perfect theme when we found rainbow unicorn invitations and thank you cards at Target.

 

I attempted this unicorn cake after finding it on Pinterest. I think that it turned out fairly well!

The birthday girl definitely loved it!

I didn't get a picture of Gretchen's smash cake because she was teething and crabby during the party. It was a rectangular cake that was rainbow colored. I had used sprinkles to make a number 1 on top of the cake. Randy stuck her hand into the cake to get her started and she began sobbing and throwing a fit. I cleaned her up and she was done for the night, refusing to go to anyone other than mommy.

Though the party was held outside on our deck, I decorated the kitchen cabinets with pictures from each year of Reese's life and each month of Gretchen's first year.

 

My mom had purchased an American girl doll for Reese, so I made her and her doll matching shirts with a unicorn and a six on them.

Both girls received so many nice gifts and we enjoyed sharing their special day with all of the friends and family that were there to celebrate with us!~

Aidan loves weddings

I made the mistake of telling the kids at lunch that we were going to be attending a wedding this evening. Of course as soon as we got home, they had to get dressed up for the wedding. Three hours later I am finished getting ready and looking around the house for Aidan. I get Gretchen dressed and help Reese with her hair and still have not seen Aidan. I yell for him and run around finishing up a few other things and he still is nowhere to be seen. Finally, I go outside fully expecting to find him covered in dirt and needing to change clothes for the wedding. To my surprise, I find him sitting in the car, buckled in and ready to go! It was 90 degrees out and he was wearing pants and a long sleeved dress shirt!

We finally get to the wedding and the kids are ecstatic to find a photo booth. They play around with the costumes for awhile and then I finally allow them to go in and have their pictures taken. Aidan brings me his picture strip and I can't help but crack up. His outfit of choice? A pair of red, sparkly devil horns and a matching pitchfork. And in the other hand he is holding a sign that says, "Ready to mingle". That boy is going to break some hearts someday.

Randy and I decide that we are ready to go and begin packing things up and saying our goodbyes. Aidan rushes up to me and says, "Mommy I got to tell ya something!" I lean over so that he can whisper in my ear and he says, "I didn't even get to dance!" He was absolutely heartbroken because he had so been looking forward to dancing with grammy and I. Seeing how heartbroken he was, I immediately promised that we would have a dance party when we got home. And that we did. Everybody changed into pj's and we danced in the living room until bedtime. After our dance party I took 5 minutes to snuggle with both kids while tucking them into bed.

Things have been so hectic lately with the move, school starting, me going back to classes and just life in general being busy. It was so nice to get to take some time out with both of the kids and just focus on them. And I could tell that the kids appreciated the extra attention today as well. They were the most well-behaved all day today that they have been in over a week!

It's what's for dinner

The other night Aidan found the grill smoking as I prepared to start cooking dinner and asked, "So mommy, what are we burning for dinner tonight?"

Side note: It is usually daddy that cooks on the grill, not me, so he was obviously commenting that his father regularly burns dinner on the grill!

Siblings

For the most part, the kids all get along very well. Reese and Aidan are usually smothering Gretchen in kisses and hugs causing her to fuss. While I try to remind them that she needs her space and that they wouldn't want somebody in their face all the time, I am so glad that they are so in love with their little sister!

While they get along well, Aidan and Gretchen really know how to push each other's buttons and Gretchen can hold her own against her older brother! She is intrigued by his cars and always trying to take them from him. Aidan gets mad and will try to take them away from her. Gretchen does not give in easily though! I have seen her take a bite at him or even ram her head at him to thwart his attacks.

Gretchen may be able to fight back against her big brother, but she is no match for her older sister! Whenever Gretchen is getting into something that she should not be or is generally annoying her big sister, Reese picks her up and places her in her bumbo seat. Gretchen is then stuck in the seat until somebody lets her out, but that doesn't stop her from trying to get out on her own!

Daddy's girl

Gretchen has been babbling lots lately, but her preferred sound to make is "Da". Tonight as she was blabbing away, "Dadadadadada!" I said, "Mmmmmmmmmmmma!" She laughed and went right back to "Dadadadadada!" This time I copied her and said, "Mamamamama!" Again she laughed and went back to "Dadada!" I was jealous until I finally, I got her to say "Nnnnnnna". Then as I was snuggling with her, Gretchen leaned over and gave me a big open-mouthed kiss on the lips. Randy happened to be watching and he immediately tried to get her to give him a big kiss and she just pushed his face away. I guess actions really do speak louder than words!

I wanna hold your hand

Last night the kids were helping me to carry branches from the bushes that I trimmed to the backyard to put in the burn pile. As we were returning to the front yard to gather more branches, Aidan stopped and asked, "Can I hold your hand mommy?" I didn't hesitate to grab his outstretched hand as we walked through the backyard, across the driveway and back to the pile of branches in the front yard.  After the next trip, he stopped and grabbed my hand again. Aidan has always been a very tender hearted and sweet little boy and moments like these remind me of the special bond that I share with my little man.

A Day in the Life

Every night during dinner I ask the kids about their day and what they did. Last night Aidan held nothing back, and I was a little surprised!

"We played, and watched tv, had some lunch, got naked and went to bed."

My kids love to be naked and they often strip down as soon as we get home and almost always go to bed naked, so I was not surprised at all that Aidan had stripped down at grammy's before going to bed. I was however, surprised at how nonchalant he was about it and wondered why that little tidbit even made it into his recap of the days events! Gotta love kids and the funny things they say!