Mid-October, In Photos

Right Now :: Party Weekend

Right now... holy cow y'all, right now I'm pooped! An entire day to prep, the majority of a second day to revel and celebrate, and the majority of a third (and perhaps a fourth) to recuperate and put back in order... that was quite a birthday party!

I will say this, though: my girl has done a smashing job with the kids she's chosen to call friends. They are sweethearts, all of them (their parents are great, too)! What fun it will be to continue getting to know these new faces. And right now? Right now I'm loving that.

Weekending :: The Real Reveal

On the way home from school, I told her she had to go clean up her room so it wouldn't be a disaster when her friends came to her party the next day.

I followed her up the stairs as she slunk toward her room... and I got to hear her gasp as she realized all was different.

She loved her table. She loved her desk. She loved her big girl bed and fresh new sheets.

And she loved being in her new space all weekend long.

Hope everyone loved being in their spaces this weekend, too. Happy weekending!

Before and After :: Big Girl Room Update

Drum roll, please!

It took half a day...

It took calling in a few reinforcements (thanks Keri!)...

It took ordering in pizza and working through lunch...

...but folks, we have a Big Girl Room Update! Now featuring properly sized furniture! Functional storage! A real twin-size mattress! A lava lamp!

Wanna see? (Say yes.)

Here's the before:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here's the after:

Is it wrong of me to be thinking about checking Audrey out of school early so she can come home, like, right now and see her new room? Yeah, that probably wouldn't go over well... but I just can't wait for her to walk in to her fresh space and try out her new mattress and sit in her new desk and notice her new lamp and... and...

I guess I'll just go poke my head in for one last look around, then get back to prepping for the party tomorrow. I'm just so satisfied with the little changes that seem to have completely transformed her room... I hope she likes it as much as I do!

Time Flies- Seven Years

Oh, my girl, seven years of you turning in to you, turning me into a Mom, turning us into a Family.

You are such a treasure.

Birthday Prepping

My first baby is about to turn seven years old.

Seven.

*sniff, sniff*

She is quickly becoming her own person with tastes, style, friends, and quirky sense of humor. I'm so proud of her... but I can't stop feeling dizzy with the time whizzing by so fast. She is such a treasure.

This week I've been working on little party things here and there in preparation for her party this Saturday. She declared the theme to be all things mermaid, and so it shall be.

First project: party favors. She had a very specific guest list ready for her party, and there are potentially a lot of kids that could show up... I really wanted to try and think up party favors that weren't full of sugar, so we opted for 'Mermaid Pets' this time around. Hopefully we will have enough for everyone!

There have also been sessions of card-making and wrapping paper-decorating, we have a big box of items waiting to become decorations, and there's a Mama-made mermaid-inspired party dress with a pair of matching pants for Brother waiting in closets for Saturday morning.

It's almost time for the beginning of the food prep- I'm taking shortcuts all around for the lunch, but very special cupcakes are a must so there will still be some more creative effort to put forth... and then there's the cherry on the top of this whole celebration: we're going to do a Big Girl Room update on Friday while the birthday girl is at school! I've been secretly getting things ready and storing them up in the attic, awaiting the school hours when the special girl will be away and Mama and Brother can get to work!

I'm pretty excited about that. Stop by here on Friday for the room reveal!

But seriously, though... seven years old. Sheesh.

*sniff, sniff*

Sunday Drivers

It won't be long before they can't stuff their long legs under these steering wheels, and their body weight becomes too much for these little motors to carry... but I'm happy to say they're making good use of the time they have right now wile their vehicles are the perfect fit.

Heck, it won't be long before they will be slipping behind the wheel of a real car and heading out into the world, right? But there will be time fore chewing that one over later.

For now, don't you just love these happy backyard Sunday drivers?