birthday party

11 and 13.

June 8, 2014 August Fields

we have recently celebrated our two oldest daughters as they turned 11 and 13.

the birthday box. dancy has been completely on board with our de-cluttering and simplifying from the get go, so eliminating individual gifts and requesting money in cards was the way we went.

everyone dropped their cards or cards w/ money into the birthday box as they came in. when it was time for gifts she unwrapped the birthday box and opened each card individually.

She ended up with almost enough money for an iPod. after some seriously hard earned money from work around the house she had enough and has since purchased an iPod with her own money.

chichi blew out her candle for her 🙂

this being her 11th birthday i “swept her away” to chicago for 1 night and 2 days! Her older sister was “swept away” on her 11th birthday as well.

this is a very special time for just the two of us… we laugh, talk, share, listen and have FUN!

i was able to snag 2 seats at the girl & the goat! this is extremely rare and partly due to the fact that it was like -20 degrees outside… brrrrr…… the food. is. fabulous. hands down amazing.

yes, those are green beans. salty, savory, eat the whole dish good green beans!

because it was SOOOO cold, we had the city of chicago practically to ourselves. the aquarium, the stores, the restaurants.

since this was a very special weekend, daddy picked us up from the train station and took us out to dinner where he gave dancy a very special necklace. a reminder of how much God loves her, how much we love her.

drumroll please…… we have a teenager in the house!! and. i. LOVE. it!! we celebrated with cousins, aunts and nana at an art institute, ate a delicious lunch at a local restaurant.

these two sisters are best friends. they’re honest, funny, each unique and very helpful! I pray that they will continue to be giving, confident, happy, God fearing, and feel loved.

deanie received 13 gifts for her 13th birthday. some of the 13 gifts were:
1. crossbody purse
2. shorts
3. eyelash curler
4. bb cream (a tinted moisturizer)
5. lulu zippy
6. sunglasses….

for her “cake” we ordered cupcakes from a local cupcakery 🙂 she also has recently had braces put on her teeth …. and her smile is as big as ever. i love that!! i have loved all the stages and ages my children have gone through and i thought i might be ‘sad’ that deanie was growing up or getting older but i truly am so excited for her and really love spending time with her. 🙂

this is the oldest picture on my computer that i have of deanie (with my mom) 12 years ago!

dancy’s 10th birthday party. confetti.

March 18, 2013 August Fields

so i totally forgot to post dancy’s birthday party last month! not only that, but i really didn’t even take very many pictures. you’d think i have a new baby or something 🙂 🙂

dancy is very outgoing, endlessly loving to others, artistic, loves to dance and sing, and for the past year her joys have included gymnastics.

she asked for a colorful birthday party and wanted confetti. to which i had to explain that unfortunately there was no way i was going to have fistfuls of actual confetti be thrown around the house to celebrate.

*side note* when i was little MY mom and dad actually let my sisters and i cut up newspaper into a bazillion pieces and throw it all over the family room on new years eve. my mom found newspaper pieces in the registers and stuck into crevices for months! i’m too chicken.

we decorated with a confetti motif instead. we found colorful cupcake holders, big round sprinkles and from etsy, some fun printables.

her big gift was an ipod nano that we’ve been filling up with some of her favorite tunes.

francesca battistelli, casting crowns, jamie grace, kari jobe, mandisa, toby mac and yes, a little one direction. 🙂

i love you dance. your heart is full of love for the Lord and creativity. you are determined and steadfast. you fill our home with music and laughter, singing and awesome art. your little brothers and big sisters all love to be where you are.

i pray that i can continue to be the best mom i can be to you and continue to encourage you in the ways that you need it most. i am so glad that God gave me you.

star wars birthday party.

November 8, 2012 August Fields

jedis, lightsabers and costumes oh my!

we recently had a star wars birthday party for the three oldest boys and we had FUN!

i found some fun ideas from pinterest (check out my parties board)

here they are. the birthday boys. i downloaded star wars music and had that playing during the party.

i was princess leia and mr. daddy was darth vader.

apparently i don’t know anything about anything relationshipwise in star wars….i just wanted to kiss darth 🙂 the boys yelled… “NO MOM! He’s BAD!”

Oh…okay…

some of the gifts they received: new toolboxes! these are from sears and are around $25.00. the real deal. the goal is to fill them up with “real” tools.

lightsabers and legos for sure. always legos.

the party was also open to any costume other than star wars. so our family had a pirate and a crazy disco dancer. little A did not dress up… 🙂

death star cake and light saber cake pops that i did NOT make. it turned out AWESOME!

these cookies i did make though. i found super cute cookie cutters at williams sonoma and just colored my dough instead of icing the cookies.

i love love celebrating my children and the gift that they are! i like making a big deal out of their birthdays and creating memories that hopefully will be remembered.

happy 11th birthday deanie.

May 15, 2012 August Fields

deanie turned 11 in april and i forgot to publish this post!

for her birthday party she decided to do black and white (for piano keys) and a little hot pink.

instead of a cake she wanted this lemon and orange zest olive oil cake i had recently made at a cooking class. i was a little sad that she didn’t want a dolled up cake but on the other hand am extremely grateful for the young lady she is growing up to be!

plus i really like this dessert!

the goodie bags were stamped with music notes and filled with a slap bracelet, some stickers, a small journal notebook and a few pieces of candy. we tied music note ribbon to each one.

her favorites….strawberry licorice (NOT cherry!), strawberries, fresh pepper slices and cheeseburgers.

deanie is so content and continuously happy. she can write a creative story or play like non other. her determination in her piano, tennis and school work are extremely admirable to say the least….. she is a tender sister to her little brothers and helps immensely around the house. her jokes are truly funny and she loves to go for walks in the woods. she is smart and kind and generous. best of all, she loves the Lord and she loves others.

the next morning we surprised her with the nook simple touch. the perfect gift for an avid reader.

to keep the surprises coming….that weekend, daddy drove the whole family to the train station to send the two of us off. deanie knew i was “sweeping her away” but had no idea where we were going or how we were getting there.

off to chicago we went for the weekend!! this was her first train ride.

and her first cab ride!

we stayed at the whitehall hotel. very quaint but nice. perfect for the two of us 🙂

the price is right and the location is great. caddy corner from the hancock building and water tower place.

we mostly stayed around the water tower place to shop.

and of course the american girl store. she was so sweet and wanted to make sure to buy a little something for each of her siblings with her own money. treasures for the boys were found at the candy store and a little treasure for dancy was purchased at american girl.

the original pancake house is a MUST go to place for breakfast in chicago! if you go at 8 you shouldn’t have to wait. if you sleep in and go at 9 you’ll have to wait. it is delish!

the tulips were in full bloom, unusually early, due to an early heat wave. perfect for us because they were beautiful!

we ate dinner at the cheesecake factory. she really wanted to go and i wanted to be the one to take her! it was delicious…the portions were so huge that we both laughed a good laugh when we were served. 🙂