Fortune Telling, Snow Cones, Tattoos & Say Cheese!

The blog is getting more and more challenging to update as time seems to slip away! The girls turned 5 last weekend. It was the final summer weekend before they headed off to Kindergarten, so I thought we'd go big! We did carnival theme, complete with a Tumblebus that you can rent for parties that has tumbling and games inside an air-conditioned converted school bus (my attempt at keeping kids out of my house if it was 100 degrees!). The Uncles and Aunt Maggie (with help from our amazing neighbor) staffed stations to earn tickets that could be traded in for prizes. The stations were Fortune Teller, Tattoo Parlor, Face Painting & Photo Booth. We had snow cones, popcorn, hot dogs, fruit/whipped cream cups & of course cake! Favorite gifts included anything Barbie, "Look-alike" dolls from American Girl, craft supplies/kits, cash registers that 'really' count and games! Thanks to those who helped and celebrated!

 Maybe in my next life I'll bake instead of blog :-)

Lilly is the sweetest most grateful little girl (most of the time) she came up to me half way through the party to thank me and tell me she was having the best day ever!



Addy & her two FAVORITE people--Grandma Linda & Grandma Jody!

 

Jacob & Jack being goofy in the photo booth

 The Harden's make it look easy!

Our favorite Trio: Livvy, Maddy & Harry

Always the life of the party!

*Most* of the kiddo's posed for a pic

A little Daddy orchestrated Red Rover rounded out the night!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

I love birthdays and birthday parties. Sure, they are stressful and 4 year old parties are total chaos, but they are fun and the girls LOVED the day! They had strong opinions of who "needed" to be there, what we would do, where we'd have it and all. I loved the ice cream theme and hosting it at a venue other than our home was an added bonus. We rented a room at "Recreation Unlimited" , a giant warehouse of 15 swing-set structures, trampolines and playhouses. I bought their cute t-shirts, through I Spot You then stocked up on ice cream and all the toppings! Thanks to everyone who made the day special for our girls.

Invites designed by a friend

The only family picture of the day!


Addy, showing off her t-shirt.


I'll huff....and I'll puff....

Addy's choice-strawberry with whipped cream, sprinkes & a couple cherries on top!
Lilly's choice: Chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce and mini M&M's on top

At the bar :-)

Opening presents--so blessed--Barbies, coloring books, craft supplies, books and more.

A few of our favorite friends!

4th Birthday

We are a week post-birthday around here and this mama is still recovering! It was a fun-filled 4 day extravaganza, as we know we don't do much on a small scale. The girls were SO excited for their birthday this year and I felt like they really 'got it'. They were anxious to tell everyone about it and the first thing Addy said when she came in our room that morning, "I got bigger in the night!". We have done the 4-year old check-up at the doctor and they continue to ROCK the charts--94th percentile in height--can we say Butler Basketball scholarships anyone? They are big enough to ride in booster seats, but we'll use the 5-pt harness seats as long as we can. We got their haircut at 'the spa' and they felt so special. We wrapped up our appointments with the dentist today and they didn't even need to hold my hand-such big girls. They had no cavities and told the dentist and doctor about all their good habits (we left out the obsession with the self-serve frozen yogurt places around us).

I wanted to do something on their birthday we hadn't done before, so we headed to a local waterpark. They had a blast with friends and met Daddy for lunch and birthday ice cream. They were exhausted and behavior showed...I was hoping the transition out of the tantrum wielding 3-year old stage would be instantaneous! But, overall it was a fun day I hope they'll remember, if they don't, I have the pictures to prove the fun! I'll do taped interviews with them again sometime soon, they have so much to say. I'll also post birthday party pics this weekend, but for now, here are pictures from the actual birthday-enjoy!

What's a birthday morning without some awesome presents!?
Lilly at the waterpark--always the supermodel! Seriously, if we lived in a bigger city, I'd get this girl an agent!

Addy--harder to catch on camera--I have a lot of pictures of the back of her head

Rainbow Sherbert--best ice cream in town!
Yum! Birthday princesses in their new Disney outfits--loved the dresses--hated the glitter trail they left in my house!

Birthday Party (check!)

Now that my 3-year olds totally believe that birthdays can span a month, I think we are done! We hosted their party at a Splash Park this weekend and it worked out great because it had to be nearing 100 degrees outside! The kids had a blast while most of the grown-ups sweat. We ordered invitations from Cards with Care, sandwiches from Jimmy John's, cakes from Pat-A-Cake's Bakery and mom celebrated after bedtime with wine from Tasteful Times (opening this week--more on that to come!).

Pretty cute theme for twins if I do say so myself...

Not much decorating at a splash park (bonus)

Birthday girl Lilly--this was the first year we sang to them each individually and they were both hams!

Goofy Addy, never quite as easy to photograph!

They are getting pretty brave with the fountains

Always fearless Addy!

We love celebrating with friends--thanks to everyone who came!

We also like to flirt...

Grandma Linda & Grandma Jody helped a ton--thank you!

We hung out with Uncle's Jon's girlfriend, Maggie--who A & L ADORE!

Mommy and Addy

Family picture--bring on year 3!

Third Birthday

It was around this time 3 years ago that I was wheeled out of recovery and into the NICU to meet my baby girls. Girls who had given me quite a scare earlier in the day, delivered via emergency c-section, just 1 minute apart. Girls that couldn't wait to past 33 1/2 weeks to live outside my body. Girls, who in an instant, taught me that I loved more than I ever thought possible. Happy 3rd birthday to the girls who will always be my babies. (Addy, left & Lilly, right-below)

They woke up to me singing Happy Birthday to them, they wore their princess crowns, scooted on their new princess scooters and joined the cul-de-sac's first day of school doughnut party, thinking it was all for them :-)

When asked what they wanted to do, Lilly wanted to "hang out with the elephants", so we headed to the zoo. Addy loved the zebras...


The girls were especially affectionate to each other today, which was nice as it seems fighting is more the norm around here. They were quick to tell each other Happy Birthday and give a hug or a kiss.
We ran into a few of our favorite friends. They later recounted the day to Aunt Cat, telling her about the dolphin show, the lemurs who were too hot, the rhin-o-srosis, the giraffes and the super-fast cheeeee----tahs.


Dad took a break from the office and met up with us, the girls thought that was such fun. He took us to lunch and made sure they knew how special they are!




Addy had said she wanted to swim after afternoon naps, but the thunderstorms had other plans for us. We gathered some family & friends and headed out to dinner. They got some special surprises......and of course some sweets. Tuckered out, they were both quick to tell me that they had a great day and reminded me "mommy's birthday is next". We've got another month, but at least they've started the countdown to when they can have cake next! They haven't totally figured it out yet, but their party is coming up this weekend and yes, there will be cake :-)

Happy Birthday Addy & Lilly!

Happy Birthday!

I tried all day yesterday to post this, but couldn't until I was back with high-speed internet today. We are having so much fun up at the lake and the girls had a hell of a birthday! I'll post more pictures and stories later, but couldn't resist trying to get this up.

Our Cupcakes Turn 2!

Addy & Lilly turn 2 next week and I'll spare you all the "I can't believe it's been 2 years since they've been in my belly" talk and get on with the good stuff! We moved the party up because they will be making their flower girl debut next week and Daddy's birthday is this week, so we'll be spending 10 days starting Thursday at the Lake! So, 9 days early it was.
We decided to do a party in the park because they both LOVE being outside and honestly, I wasn't sure I was up for 14 kids wrecking havoc in my house. The park worked out great with only a few bumps in the plans. Weather was BEAUTIFUL and we were surrounded by all our family and friends who LOVE our kiddos! Who can ask for more?

Cast & Crew of the Cupcake Party (top to bottom, left to right): Max L., Jack W., Jacob D., Jaxson J., Audrey S., Chase E., Mallory C., Cooper E., Tyson J., Ben S., Dakota J. & Evan S.

Complete with Cupcake invitations, cupcake outfits, cupcake cakes and cupcake bags as favors (I love a good theme and this one was fun!), we had a great time. Of course, the stars of the show were Addy & Lilly:
I had to include a rare picture of my girlfriends and our munchkins! Love you girls!