New Year’s Eve

My New Year’s Eve pictures got lost in the shuffle. So here they are…a little late.

New Year’s Eve was also our 3rd Christmas! This time with Noni, Papa, and Mama.

We headed over there as soon as T got off work. Noni made us a delicious dinner and then the girls got changed into their new Frozen pajamas so they could open presents!

First they had to pass them all out to us.

Peanut wanted to help too.

They were excited to open them!

Mama got all three of them new Play Doh and tights.

Uncle J and Aunt H got them books, puzzles, and a big Pluto (stuffed animal) for Peanut…it goes great with her Minnie!

Aunt N and Uncle M got them Frozen puzzles.

Aunt J and Uncle K got them Friends Legos, coloring books, and markers.

Aunt Karen made them a beautiful photo book of them when they were flowers girls. She also gave them adorable aprons that her friend made. They have their names on them and are SO cute!

Auntie K and Uncle A got them a bunch of bath things.

Noni and Papa gave them a fun drawing game for the PS3 and coupons to spend two different nights (each) and have a special day where they get to pick the activity! K had one of her turns last week and she picked Chuck E. Cheese. She and Noni had an awesome day shopping, and enjoying the one on one time.

Mama’s TV was going bad so T (he drew her name) bought one that Papa had found a great deal on. It was a little over the limit :) but she was so happy and surprised that it was worth it! Every time I talk to her…weeks later…she still says thank you for her new tv. :)

Mama and her girls.

After the girls went to bed we spent the rest of the evening playing games and talking, and we made it to midnight!

What a great New Year’s!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday!

After we dropped off Noni and Peanut we drove home, and ran inside so the girls could get ready for dance. K was up first and then Boo. Miss L had a birthday skirt and sash for her to wear. She was so happy! They also played a dance game and I brought little applesauce pouches for a snack.

T got home from work and we headed out to pick up Boo.

We drove to Arby’s and ordered several bags of sandwiches and curly fries and then drove on to Noni and Papa’s where Grandma and Grandpa had already arrived.

I had sent the cake and decorations with Noni and she put it together. So cute!

Boo insisted on this store-bought cake and then T and K found the little figures.

She was SO excited! T also found the Frozen glow stick crowns and wand.

Happy Birthday to Boo! Happy Birthday to Boo!

Me and my birthday girl serving the cake!

Presents were up next!

I love how excited K gets when someone is opening a present from her. Sweet girl! She and Noni found a mini unicorn and some Barbie sized shopping baskets that are actually meant for decoration but will work perfectly for play!

Aunt Karen sent TONS of fun art supplies, stickers, and coloring books!

“DADDY! IT’S MIIIIIN-IONNN!”

We bought her (to share with her sisters) an inflatable pool and several hundred plastic balls to make a ball pit out of in our newly finished basement!

Noni made her a fuzzy, fleece pillow case for the body pillow Boo stole from our bed and has been sleeping with. Haha :)

Noni and Papa also bought her a Frozen umbrella! She LOVES it!

Mama got her (and her sisters too!) drawing pads and new markers!

Grandma and Grandpa got her Frozen fruit snacks and a new swing…for the basement! Doesn’t everyone have a swing in their basement?? :)

Aunt J and Uncle K got her some of that moldable sand stuff! A perfect reminder of our time with them at the beach!

She also got more birthday money from Grandma V and Grandpa J.

Our last present to her was the new Frozen Lego set.

She and K built it as soon as she got home from preschool the next day. It was a big hit!

We got home late and tossed the big birthday girl in bed! What a big, busy day for our newly turned 5 year old! Thanks everyone for making it so special!!!

A Scientific Birthday

The birthday girl’s big day last week was BUSY! We woke up, got dressed, and let her open her card from Pawpaw and Nana and her present from her cousins S&E.

She got a little baking set and is excited to use it. Pawpaw and Nana sent birthday money and of course she is VERY excited to go shopping…one of her favorite activities! :)

She had requested “monkey bread” from Carl’s Jr. so that was our first stop.

Then we picked up Noni and headed to the Science Center. We had never been there before. It was really neat! They had a tarantula, walking sticks, some snakes, lizards, and turtles.

The turtles were so funny! Especially one, which was swimming all over the place and seemed to have quite a personality!

Then we started checking out all the different experiments.

Peanut LOVED this one! It was a wind machine and she pressed the button over and over to make it go! The girls cut various shapes out of the cones and tested which ones flew the best.

The Science center was very interesting because it was all about discovery and exploration. There was very little instruction and NO expected outcome. The girls liked it and had a great time exploring!

I think one’s enjoyment is probably dependent on one’s learning style. I am very Type A, list and task oriented so I didn’t like not having a specific outcome! I much prefer guided learning and knowing exactly what I’m doing, and what scientific principles apply, etc.

Here’s K discovering what happens when you hold a spinning wheel in a rotating chair.

Pretty cool!

They had the same experiment we tried with Noni during her “Light” lesson. K is really good at it! It was SO hard for me!

Rebuilding the lungs and heart.

This was a favorite! SO cool! The only instructions were to put a straw on the bar, gently bite down, and stick your fingers in your ears. We were amazed to discover that you could hear music! Through your teeth! So cool.

I helped A do it and when I stuck my fingers in her ears I could feel the music’s vibration through her ears and back of her head, but I couldn’t hear anything.

Peanut was SO funny because she wouldn’t let go! She stayed like this for about five minutes!

This was really neat…a magnetic wall with removable pieces. You could make your own little path and then crank the balls up to the top and see if your connections all worked to get it to the bottom. If they didn’t you could change them around until they did!

Sound room.

I forgot to mention that we had the only kids in the entire place! It was nice to not have to wait our turn at anything, and have free run of the place!

One of the volunteers brought out a neat experiment for the girls to do.

She had dry ice, which she poured boiling water over. Then she capped it with a funnel connected to a tube and dipped in a bubble solution.

The pressure would blow a bubble and then fill it with the gas from the dry ice. SO cool! The girls LOVED it!

The she took it a step further and let them dip their hands in the soapy water so they could catch the bubbles!

Peanut kept saying, “I POP!”

What an amazing place! We had so much fun!

After three hours we walked down the street to our favorite little pizza place and had lunch with Noni. Then we headed towards home, dropping Noni off at her car. Peanut went with her to try to get a nap while we headed home. The rest of our activities tomorrow!