Mad As A Hatter

Laney turned 6 on October 14th. To say that I am late posting this would be an understatement of epic proportions.

I do have an excuse though. 

Her party wasn't until this last Saturday.

But we did celebrate on her actual birthday with balloons...

made to look like Mickey Mouse ears.

Laney also requested homemade donuts.

We made the classic cinnamon and sugar. 

Then we stepped it up a little, and made maple ones too. 

The maple were a hit.

Her birthday was on Sunday so we didn't open presents until later in the day.

And she was obviously super stoked about her pencils, crayons, and markers that she got.

Then on Monday she got to have her birthday cereal. 

Plain ole Cheerios. 

That's what she picked.

Then this last Saturday is when the real fun began.

We decided on an Alice in Wonderland theme and she got to have a Mad Hatters tea party. 

Laney picked out all the teacups and saucers by herself.

I also made little Alice aprons for all of the girls.

I think they were all feeling very fancy with their hot chocolate in tea cups. 

I also let them decorate their own cookies.

Some people...Canon...decorated their cookie with careless abandon.

Some others...Laney...were meticulous. 

Making sure their sprinkles were placed in such a way to make them into flowers.

Then I had the brilliant idea to let the kids play croquet.

I thought they would enjoy it.

It was an epic fail. It lasted all of 5 minutes.

It could have been the fact that the mallets were the same size as them, or that their hand eye coordination is not quite up to snuff. 

So...we painted fingernails instead and then opened presents.

She loved them all. 

Especially the make-up...cringe...that she got.

Then we had the cake. 

The kids were mostly interested in eating the little tea cups on the top. By the time that I had cut the cake the kids took two bites and were done. 

Not that I hold that against them. After all they had just consumed: hot chocolate, marshmallows  sprinkles, frosting, more sprinkles and some fondant tea cups.

For their parting gift they got the teacups that they had used with some candy and nail polish inside.

Now we just have to get rid of the rest of the Cheshire cat cake that is sitting on our counter smiling at us. Any takers?

Spooky

It may be one of my favorite holidays...well besides, Christmas...and Easter...

No matter. 

I think I love Halloween because of the decorations. But also because of the costumes, and the candy, and the weather...

Anyways.

The decorations are up at our house. 

I got these new doll heads this year. I like them because they are creepy.

I really like them because the kids don't know that they are creepy. 

They just keep asking why there are so many "babies" on the mirror.

These bottles are new this year too. 

I found them at an estate sale. 

I was going to clean them and then I realized that dirt is good.

For Halloween at least.

So I got bottles plus dust, it was a good purchase.

I also thought it would be fun to have a skeleton hang out in our fireplace this year.

Ya know...drinking himself to death.

I would also like to point out that the dollar store is a good place to find Halloween gems. 

I found the black gauze that is hanging above our mantle there. I also found these little tombstones that are surprisingly heavy. 

Thanks dollar store. 

One thing I thought I would never say.

Jackie fixed up this picture for me that I found on Pinterest. So one trip to Costco and a little black spray paint later and it is happily...er...eerily hanging on our wall.

Wanna know what else I made?

Eeep. 

I love it so.

Sure it is a little odd.

It is kind of like a cat with no hair.

Creepy but mesmerizing all at once. 

It is like you can't look away.

OK. You can look away. 

But just so you know...

the plant will be looking at you.

*anyone that can name what movie a plant like this was in will be my best friend. Game on.

Kicking It

At the end of last basketball season Gavin said that he wanted to do soccer instead of playing basketball again. 

I was a little worried for him. He had been playing basketball and was improving. Switching would mean that he would have to learn a new sport and that there would be a lot of kids that had played a lot longer then him. 

No matter. I put my worries aside and signed him up.

Because he is older the game is a lot more structured than...let's say...Canon's soccer games, that are a free for all.

Let me tell you something about Gavin. He is pretty obedient.

On the soccer field, I am sure that is a coach's dream.

He picked it up right away. 

He knows the rules, and where he is suppose to be when he plays a certain position.

One thing we might want to work on?

Maybe, being a little more discreet when someone is losing.

It's like he can't help but gloat.

My question is...What happens when they score 6 goals?

For the other kids, it seems like Gavin's soccer games are a time of reflection.

Of really calming down and 

taking in their surroundings. 

A time to meditate. 

A time to relax.

A time to just let all of their energy go...

and to focus on what is important in their lives.

The important things like improving model poses....

trying to improve your kicks, so you actually kick the ball...

and most of all...

making sure that you always have the upper hand.