Friday, July 24, 2015

Projects

Well Matt has really done it this time.   Wow!  I've always appreciated his talent, but this wall is amazing and on a different level.  I love it so much.  And him too!
We bought an old window, ordered our name in vinyl lettering, and put our Mr. and Mrs. knobs on it.  

I got a barn door!  No idea what I will end up doing with it, but for right now I am enjoying looking at it every day.  

Surprise visit

Best surprise visit from Libby and Lexi.  It's been a while since we've been able to see them, so she just came down on her day off.  And brought gifts!  What a blast!  

More Ava

Thanks, Auntie Heidi and Uncle Brent, for the dress and necklace!
Thank you, Grandma and Grandaddy, for my beautiful dress!  And all of the other fun things!
And thank you to everyone else for the toys, dolls, crafts, and even a pink controller for the wiiu!  I don't have pictures of her playing with all of it, but she is!
Ava used some of her birthday money to ride this puppy in the mall.  She steered pretty well and had fun.  The go pedal did have a glitch and didn't stop when she took her foot off all of the time, so she did have a crash or two.  
Happy birthday, Cate!  Cate has been visiting here for a month, and she and Ava have gotten to play together a few times.  She came to Ava's birthday party, and it turned out, her birthday was on the 23rd.  So we got to celebrate with her too.  Here they are making silly faces. 

Ava's Fairy Garden 5th Birthday Party

What a perfect day!  One of my favorite parties we have done.  I loved every second of it; and of course, it was over too quickly.  It's been on my mind and in my Pinterest Parties Board for about a year since Ava told me last year that she wanted a Pirate Fairy birthday this year.  For those of you who don't know, The Pirate Fairy is a Disney cartoon movie, and there's not a lot out there for parties.  So I tweaked it a little and made it a fairy garden party with pirates and Neverland references.  And I bought her the Pirate Fairy dress, so she was happy.  
I want to say thank you to all of my family who did so much.  Thanks, Dad, for helping with the setup of the tables and chairs and canopy and for clipping our dead stuff in the flowers - yes, I guess it's a little comical that we had a fairy garden party when we aren't yard people, but it worked out - and for digging under the gate so it opened all of the way.  Thanks, Bek, for all of the extra decorative materials that you brought and for toiling in the hot sun!  The fabric was perfect, and I still think one of my favorite parts was the stone path that of course I didn't get a picture of.  Thanks, Nancy, for all of your hard work on the canopy with the fabric and the flowers and the garland and everything else also in the hot sun!  Thanks, Mom, for all you did with the food and your special gifts for all of us that you brought.  I still can't believe how much you did!  Thank you, Betty and Heidi, for the food you brought.  Delicious!!  It added so much.  Thank you to some non-family members also - MaryAnn who painted pirate and fairy faces on the kids, and Marjorie who made the beautiful cake and cupcakes.  They were the star of the show! And were delicious!  Also the Hoffmans for the tree rounds and pieces that I used for the food and decor, and my friend Shannon for her tree stumps that the cupcakes are on.  Thanks, Matt, for the setup, the pictures, the overseeing of everything and for not being too mad at me when I didn't want to repeat myself.  Thank you, Jack, for helping in the flower garden and with the treasure chest.  And most of all, thank you, Ava, for being 5 and giving us an excuse to do this!  We loved it, and we love you!  I hope you know how much you're loved and how special you are.   I will read this to you so you know!  
We had 29 people total, and 11 of them were kids.  We did a pirate scavenger hunt, had a treasure chest to dig for treasures, swords and fairy wings with tutus and fairy headbands to give out, and also pirate and fairy face painting.  It was hot, but it could have been worse!  Once I slowed down and sat in the shade, it actually was kind of nice.  Wow I feel like I'm writing a book or something with all of these people to thank, but I really was overwhelmed at the way everyone just pitched in and helped make it so perfect.  And all of our guests made it even better, and Ava got so many nice things.  But the best part, and I know she will learn this someday, is the love that is shown through it all - the work, the decorations, the food and beautiful cake and cupcakes, the gifts, and all of the family and friends around.  I don't think she will forget it soon.  I hope not anyway, since I'm not sure I will be up to another one for another 5 years.  HA!  But hey, you're only 5 once!