Bring on the Bling!

Right after we'd finished our pizza supper with Nanny & Grampy, we headed to the mall for "dessert". Or so we told the girls. When we got inside, we went directly to Claire's and announced that anyone who was ready to pierce their ears could have it done that night. Lovey was all for it! Honey was fairly keen and Sweetie was in a dither of indecision.

They browsed the selections, of course finding the $64 pairs the most appealing. Considering these are starter earrings that are discarded as soon as they're allowed to change them, we opted for a different category!

Since Lovey was the most keen, she went first and was so excited that she didn't really worry too much about it hurting.  Her face as the earring went through was priceless. I really couldn't remember what it  had felt like but didn't remember it hurting either so told them it was just a quick pinch. Lovey was surprised when it hurt more than she'd expected! Her eyes bugged out but it was over so fast she didn't have time to get upset. Once she got some cleaner put on, it was soothed anyway and she went straight on to the second ear and was done in no time. Sweetie observed quietly and determined that although it had obviously hurt, it didn't see to be tooooo bad...

Honey braved it next and the first one went quickly but she felt it hurt quite a bit and gasped and started to cry. Sweetie didn't like the looks of that ONE bit and quickly stated she was NOT having that done! Honey's ear got cleaned and then she was fine and willing to proceed with the second side.

Then Sweetie's big dilemma.... she hemmed and hawed. She asked the employee if THEY thought she should do it, but based 400 piercings and tattoos SHE had, I quickly interjected that she was not an impartial subject!

The temptation was HUGE but not as big as the fear. She was hoping we'd just sit her down and make her do it so it wouldn't be up to her to decide (aka she'd have someone to rail at if it went horribly awry). We just kept telling her it was her decision. In the end she couldn't bring herself to go through with it and we went for ice cream instead. As we ate our DQ blizzards, she thought she might be ready but we weren't willing to go back in and bother the poor clerk again! We told her that when she was really sure, we would take her one more time and that would be the final opportunity with us. Neither of us wants to make weekly visits to the shop for her to fret and fuss over whether to do it or not! Of course, that night while tucking them in, she grumbled that she wished she'd gotten in done, or that we'd forced her to!

It's been over a couple weeks now and she's still not asking to go back but really wishes hers were done so it's probably not far off for Sweetie!

Choices, choices, choices!

The anticipation!!!

Love this shot, as they debate the "to pierce, or not to pierce??? situation.

Ready, aim, fire!

Done deal!

The final results!

Weazie's Prom

The night before the girls' birthday we were going out for supper and made a pit stop to see my cousin Clara all dressed up for prom! Her mother had managed the amazing feat of making this dress for her when last minute shopping efforts didn't turn up anything. She made this dress in just a few days!!!

Clara had a friend over for the pre prom festivities and Lovey was fascinated with her! or more specifically, her dress. Red, pouffy & sparkly! She graciously and enthusiastically agreed to pose with Lovey for a picture and told her she'd keep the dress for her to borrow for her prom!  Lovey was thrilled!

Party On!

As with most years, you just can't have too many parties! Murray's parents came to visit on birthday eve and brought a few little things with them that were rapidly ripped open and oohed and aahed over appropriately. They loved their new outfits and twirled around in appreciation of the new duds! They hadn't expected you to make it when they heard about Nancy's friend passing away so they were so happy to see you when they got off the bus. Thanks for making the trip in a busy week!

The Party!

Knowing we were getting the pool installed before their birthday, I'd been nudging them to have a backyard party for a long time. Since they didn't know abotu the pool, they weren't sure it'd be much fun. Finally they agreed to it and eventually found out about the pool when it got put in.

Since they're only in 2 different classes this year instead of 3, I thought it would be ok to invite all the girls in each of their classes. That's what the singletons normally do and since we were going to be at home, it wouldn't be much extra expense or trouble right? Except that I forgot that their classes this year have 13 girls in them intstead of the usual EIGHT!!! This didn't dawn on me til I was making the invitations and got them to write down all the names. I had the brilliant idea of making the invites look like marshmallows roasting on a stick since we were doing a bonfire/pool party. Cute right? Yes they were! Well the first few were cute and then it got late and I got tired but had to finish them up because there are lots of girls with June birthdays and I didn't want our invites going out last! As it turned out,  Honey brought home an invite from another girl in her class for the same day as ours! Luckily it was earlier in the day and they were able to attend each other's parties. So by midnight I had a mess on the table, skewers everywhere, chalk dust up to my eyeballs but all invites prepped and ready to go. Unfortunately, when you create and assemble things at midnight, your proofreading skills are not at their peak. I sent in invites with requests to RSVP to a non existent email address. There was also a phone number and I sent a correction the following day but not all of them got to their intended destinations :S

I jumped in the shower to get ready for the party and got out just before the first guests arrived (early!) and then it was a tidal wave from there! They just kept coming!!! I think we ended up with 22 or 23 kids all tolled. They girls invited one boy, the only one that's not immature and always doing gross stuff. His mom said he didn't mind being the only one and he seemed to fit right in no problem!

Luckily I had lots of helpers on hand and all stations were manned. We divided them up into groups according to who had invited them and then rotated each group through the different stations. Pool/bonfire-s'mores-hotdogs-snacks/slip & slide-water balloon fight/present opening/facepainting. Eventually they'd all been through each section and still had some time left even after we'd had the cake so they ran around the yard chasing the teen helper I'd hired, Katie, or back in for another swim or bouncing on the trampoline. If the noise level was any indication, they were having a good time!

After it was all over, I asked the girls if they'd had fun and they looked at me and exclaimed "Mum, that was the best party EVER!!!"  It was so nice to hear that all the prep and efforts had been appreciated! All week long I'd worried about the weather. We'd had a good stretch of warm weather, had already used the pool lots and then the week of the party, the clouds descended. The forecast was calling for rain on Saturday until about Thursday. I had no idea what I was going to do with all those kids if we had to do the party indoors. Three hours of a potential 27 kids shrieking and running through the house?!?!?! I didn't even know WHAT to do with that concept! I fretted and ate icing until the forecast changed to sun. (but still ate icing!). Unfortunately it didn't warm up the pool much so the swimmers didn't last too long but they were able to get in and splash around for awhile.

When the parents came back 3 hours later, they had a hard time getting the kids rounded up to go so I take that as a good sign!

It was a great day & we are so thankful to all the helpers that got everything ready and made sure the day ran smoothly!!!

The Cake!

When we decided (ie convinced them) to have a backyard pool party, the next topic was "what's the cake going to be???" I turned to my new best friend in all things crafty, Pinterest, and found some great ideas! The winner for me was a cake shaped like a pool. Honey really wanted fondant but the other 2 didn't and this was an easy fix, one section with and one without, perfect!

I started baking the cakes late Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning, Lovey got up and came to the kitchen for breakfast and saw the single layers in the cake container. With obvious disapproval in her face and tone, she asked "is that our CAKE???" Bracing myself for an unpleasant scene I told her it was. "Well, is that it??? It's TOO small!" Honey chimed in about the some fondant/some not idea and that made Lovey even more cross. She hadn't been in the kitchen for 5 minutes and I was ready to lose it! I told her I wasn't finished baking all the layers and that she was making me cranky and better get to work on her breakfast and quit critiquing the cake work!

Despite the harsh criticism, I was excited to put this cake together! The design was simple but with the small decorative touches, it was going to be a fun one. Most years the cake takes SO much time (hello castle cake!) and this one was so straightforward but still looked so neat & festive.

I finished all the baking on Thursday night and started assembly on Friday afternoon. The fondant section got done first, then iced the second "pool" and put them together. Making the little pool accessories didn't take too long and added nice touches to the look. Everything except the slide was done Friday night. I had trouble getting the fondant to hold its shape but left it overnight and by Saturday it had firmed up enough to stand in place.

In the end I got 3 gold stars of approval and had more than enough cake to go around. Just in case Lovey's concerns were justified, I baked a 5th layer to have as extra but didn't end up needing it. Instead I converted it to a Happy Father's Day cake for Rick since he'd missed the party :)

The guests at the party were in awe when I brought it out. Then they found out I had made it myself and jaws dropped as they exclaimed "you MADE the cake?!?!?".  Their astonishment cracked me up. I'm pretty sure I could have saved myself quite a bit of time and trips to the store for extra icing sugar if I'd ordered it from a baker. But it's much more fun and rewarding to make it myself and the girls love watching the process. I'm not sure how long before theme cakes get old but for now it's something I can do for them!

So yes, this was a whole post about a cake. I was so excited & proud of it that I decided to give it a whole post of its own! It's my blog and that's how I roll haha!!!

Making a Splash!

Our first family swim! Everybody went in and after the initial shock of coolness, the water felt great! It was only a little over 20° but we got used to it quickly. We are loving it so far and it is so much roomier than our other one. Murray's already been in this one more than we ever swam in the old one so that's a good sign!

We've had several days to get in, then a streak of rainy weather but the sun's shining this week! On hot days the girls get off the bus and the first thing they ask is if they can go swimming. It will be a nice way to cool off before bed on those hot muggy nights.

Looking forward to lots of water time this summer!