Let the Parties Begin!!!

We had a birthday dinner with some of family for the girls to celebrate turning 7! Lots of hype & excitement leading up to this event :))) I'm not sure how many hours were involved in this year's cake, probably better if I don't add them all up, but 4-5 on assembly alone! I had pre-made all the little wrapped candies, gumdrops & lollipops on top. All that remained on the day of the party was to put the fondant on the cakes and make the twisty candy cane ropes and then stick on all the bits.

It didn't leave much time to clean the house, do a grocery run and shower & change in time for dinner! I made it though, but just barely!

The girls were very excited to get off the bus & see the cake! They had already seen the parts I had made before. I was talking to Honey about them one night.

Me: I wish my lollipops had turned out better.

Honey: I think they're awesome Mum!

Me: but the picture looks so much better....

Honey: that's ok, nothing hardly ever looks like the picture anyways.

Ain't that the truth???? Words of wisdom from my brand new 7 yr old :)))

They were thrilled with the finished product and didn't see any of the flaws but I hid the picture just in case :)
Lots of family were able to join us for dinner and we had a feast of chicken & noodles. Even Lovey ate her fill. I'd been planning a bbq and then Honey suggested this meal instead because she knew Lovey could eat it and everyone would be able to enjoy supper. Lovey enjoyed it SO much that she came in to eat again when Uncle Dale got here after he got off work! Sweetie had 4-5 plates herself. This is one of the few meals that they ask for seconds of.

After we cleaned up, (thanks Mumma!) it was time to go down and start opening presents in the nice cool basement. They did pretty well and even remembered to read most of their cards.

We love having our grandparents visit for special events and were delighted that Shirley was able to come to the party too! Honey phoned her up to invite her and suggest that she stay afterwards for the bonfire because it was going to be "a blast!!!" So she did!
During the "blast" of a bonfire, the girls had some sparklers and Honey touched the hot end after it went out and got a little burn on her finger. Can't have a festive event without some tears and drama. After convincing her that staying inside for the rest of her life really wouldn't be much fun, she came back to the bonfire.

After bedtime, Sweetie saw me in the hallway & waved me in to talk. I went in to see what she wanted and she leaned in and whispered:

Sweetie: Mum, I don't mean to be mean.... buuut you said if I be'd good, I could have the Tangled Barbie for my birthday! well, I didn't get it!!! So I be'd good for NOTHING!!!!

Me: but your birthday isn't actually til tomorrow so just wait and see!!

Birthday Surprise #1!

All haircuts had been done by yours truly (or by their own hand when the mood struck) and Murray suggested that they might like going to a hairdresser sometime. I thought it would be a fun birthday treat and booked appointments for them. Initially I'd hoped to do it the day of their birthday and then realized THAT would be CRAZY to try and fit in. Then I thought the day before their birthday would be good and then it would still look good at their party. Then I realized 7 year olds ARE NOT going to keep their hair in good condition and there was no point in making my last day to prepare for the birthday any busier!

So we went today! We went out for errands and then I took them into the salon and they figured out what was going on. Lovey was excited, Sweetie was cowering in fear, muttering "I don't want to cut my hair" under her breath and Honey looked to be near tears and wasn't having any of this haircut business either! So much for a special surprise! We went in anyway and once I explained it could be just a trim and didn't have to be anything major, the other 2 relaxed a bit and started to enjoy it. Once they got in the chairs for a shampoo, they were sold! I wish I'd booked a shampoo for me since I was there and all!

Lovey decided to go shorter and was grinning ear to ear through the whole thing and was thrilled with the whole thing.

Sweetie & Honey wanted to stay with their long hair so just got trims. Once she was satisfied that she wasn't going to be shorn, Sweetie was quite pleased at the pampering and got her hair straightened at the end and has been walking around very carefully every since! Honey never really got into it although she says she was smiling when I wasn't looking. I have my doubts however, especially after she opened her fist after we got out into the lobby at the end. Clutched in her little palm was one snip of the hair that had been cut. all 3/4 inches of it. She wanted something to remember her "long" hair by and is keeping it in a little jar by her bed! Honey was "too busy" reading when I asked her to come out for a picture but there's very little change so you'll have to use your imagination or come see it for yourself :)))

Honey's New PB :)))

She & Murray went for a quick run before supper and Lovey decided she'd like to try the 1km too so she joined them. Honey blasted right off and soon left Lovey behind. Honey got a new PB of 6:03 (she got 6:11 yesterday) and was pretty excited!

We went back to meet Lovey who had gotten a pain in her side and had to slow down. She didn't realize how long 1km really was and had thought it would be much easier. She bolted out of the driveway thinking she'd show Honey how it was done. I think Murray will be working on pacing with her! She's worried she doesn't have enough time to train and get ready but we're pretty sure she can work her way up to it by race day. :))) She can do anything else once she sets her mind to it, so this should be a snap!

Play Ball!!!

Ball season has begun! Lovey & Honey were all gung ho to get to the field. They recognized a few friends from school when they got there & were off & running. The coaches this year seem more able to handle large quantities of clueless elementary school kids and had lots of drills going & kept them better occupied than last year. This year it's a few dads, whereas last year they were highschool/univ aged boys who didn't seem to grasp that a lot of the 6 year olds were beginners who had never played before. They played catch, threw the balls at targets, batted and ran bases. It was a busy hour and they loved every bit of it!

In true Sweetie style, she boycotted all the sign ups she could (we are "making" her play soccer though). She wasn't having anything to do with this Tball business and brought along Bunny, her DS and was NOT interested in playing with her sisters. Five minutes after her sisters went on the field, a little voice floated up to my ears with those 2 sweet little words every mom loves to hear "I'm bored." Her sisters weren't using their gloves at that particular time so I suggested she & I play catch. "Ok!!!!" she said. I almost fell over! Not wanting to lose the moment, I grabbed the gloves and we moved off to play. and play. and play. Twenty minutes LATER, I suggested that Daddy might like to play catch with her. and so he did. for ANOTHER 2o minutes! She was actually able to trap the ball in the glove most of the time if we lobbed it softly (which is more than I can do with a kid sized glove!) and she was quite thrilled with being so talented!

On the way home we talked about how much fun they'd had and who they'd seen there etc. I commented that Sweetie had done pretty well for a girl who didn't want to play! She happily agreed.

Me: so do you think you'd like to sign up then?

S: Someday!

Me: Someday like next week?

S: No.

so glad she didn't deviate from form!!!! LOL

P.S.- 2 more days til their birthday dinner, 3 more days til their party with their friends. Just in case you needed an update, I've gotten about 20 of them today :)))

Countdown's On!

The birthday frenzy is upon us! I'm running around while they're at school picking up supplies, cake stuff, loot bag stuff, party stuff and it's hectic! The girls are asking 100 times a day how much longer til their birthday?!?!?!? how may days til the party?!?!?!? Today after school I let them help me prep the loot bags. Holy chaos Batman. They were sooooo excited to do it, Lovey ran around filling a bag before I'd divided anything up or explained what needed to go in!

I made separate piles and they walked/ran around the table, supposedly taking one from each pile for the bag. At the end, the bags were gone but some piles had run out and some still had things left. We had to go back through the bags a few times to sort it all out. I tried to keep track as they went but had to give up when my OCD got my heart rate up too high. I just let them go to it and everything fixed afterwards.

Earlier in the day I'd been cleaning out Sweetie's closet and rearranging the Christmas decor that I'd jammed in there haphazardly after the holidays. She found the Santa hats & thought they'd be perfect for this little helper job!