Happy Birthday Addy.

Has it really been six years? Celebrating her birthday takes me back to the moment we met. As the doctor layed her on my chest and her eyes wide opened looked up into mine and I melted. In that one moment my whole world changed and I became a mother. Her birthday marks six years of struggles, tears, laughs, smiles, and priceless moments as I have learned and continue to learn to be a mother. Motherhood is beautiful and I love you Addison.

Addison Nicole Lovell 10/17/2003

That being said, Addy started planning her birthday months ago. She wanted a carnival birthday party. I have no idea where she got that idea, but I decided I would do my best. So I begged, borrowed, and bargained. Addy was so excited and for less then 50 dollars, I was able to throw her a pretty cool party. We had popcorn ( the dollar store has awesome popcorn bags), pretzels (recipe to follow), and cotton candy ( dollar store variety). We had a (cup) cake walk, a horse race (I got stick ponies from the dollar store), a fishing booth, a tin can toss (food storage cans work great), a bean bag toss (borrowed), a bouncy house (borrowed), snow cone station (borrowed), face painting, and even a photo board ( dollar store foam core poster board). It was a fun-filled Saturday!
Addy and the home made photo board.Bouncy house and snow cone face.
Cute daddy daughter moment. Notice the cute ice cream cone on Ammon's cheek, he was told it was a dragon =)!

Hence this photo of Ammon acting like a dragon. And yes that is snow cone syrup all over Ammon, he is a messy vendor.

* Thank you for all those who came and celebrated with us. I would have posted a bunch more pictures of everyone, but blogger was giving me trouble.

My baby is growing so fast. I can't believe she is already 9 months. She recently got her first two teeth and learned to climb the wooden stairs. She usually only climbs a few steps before she stops, since they can't be to comfortable to crawl on. She loves to wave and say hi and claps all the time, sometimes she will even through in a yea. I feel truly blessed to have her in our lives. She is straight from heaven and such a joy to have around. She's got all five of us wrapped around her little finger. In the words of Emmy "YEAAAA"!

My first refashioning adventure!

So a few days ago I ran across a tutorial on how to make a dress out of a pillowcase. I just had to try it, even though I haven't touched a sewing machine in like 10 years. 

So I borrowed my Mom's sewing machine and took a quick trip to Goodwill (on Thursday, dollar day) and purchased a pillowcase for a dollar.

I forgot to take a before picture, so here it is sideways, you can kind of see that it is a pillowcase. It was really easy, even though it took me 4 hours. It should have taken a lot less, but like I said, I haven't touched a sewing machine in a decade.

Here is the finished product. Addy wanted a ribbon, so we just tied one around it and she even wore it to church. I think it turned out pretty good for my first sewing adventure, but just don't look close up at the stitching =)! I think it is pretty cute for something that cost me a dollar and some change. I will definitely be making more of these in the future.

I am now making plans to turn one of my old skirts into a cute little sundress for Addison.  If you have any cool refashioning ideas, let me know. I think I may have to purchase my own sewing machine in the near future. I may just become a refashionista.

A NO POOP SIGN!

So the other day I was in the kitchen cleaning, while the kids were eating lunch. I looked out the patio doors to see something stuck on the window, I opened the door and I found the picture in the previous post. I instantly thought what the heck, who put that there and what is it? Then I began to peel it off and instantly Addison proclaimed, " NO MOM DON'T! I DON'T WANT POOP IN THE HOUSE!" It was hilarious. It still makes me laugh when I think about it.  I have no idea when she did it, but later I found one on the doggie door as well, so I guess they were meant for the dog.

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I found this oh so funny artwork the other day, can you guess what it is a picture of? It has a pretty funny story behind it and I will tell you it, if you can guess what it is.

Here is a quick update on my little army........

Emily is growing so fast. She is all smiles. Her favorite transportation is still mommy, but she also likes to roll all around and push herself backwards quite a bit. 

Elijah started potty training and is doing great. (I know what you are thinking, but that is chocolate.)

Hannah just celebrated her fourth birthday with daddy. (Daddy turned the ripe old age of 28!)

Addison got glasses and looks so grown up in them. We aren't sure if they are permanent, but for now she will be strutting her glasses around.

"The Glad Game"

So I  realized I have been focusing on the negative a lot lately and decided to follow Pollyanna's principle and play  The Glad Game. I picked 5 things this past month  that I have to be glad about and here they are in no particular order.

1. A healthy baby and the awesome Bumbo(Thanks Kati).

2. Making flower clips for my little ladies.

3. A new kid size picnic table made by my terrific hubby.

4.  A phone to keep in contact and a replacement plan (the hinge and screen don't work, which means no texting, calendar, or contact info).

5. Finding cheap strawberries and making delicious Jam.