She is MY STAR!

A DANCER IS BORN!

Ms. Bree's recital was a few weeks ago and the professional video we purchased on site is not available as of today so we made our own video to share it with all of you.

We are so proud of our little star!  Ms. Bree has been practicing since August 2012, but I had decided that she was NOT going to be part of the recital because I assumed she was going to freeze on stage. 

Bad mommy for thinking such negative thoughts and I should have known better.  My children are completely different and while my son froze on stage during his Pre-K Graduation and I assumed Ms. Bree was going to do the same.  The venue where the recital was held at was 10 times bigger than the School Chapel where my son's Pre-K Graduation was.

HERE IS THE VIDEO:

Unfortunately, the video does not include her first dance, it was a bit chaotic at the beginning.  

I think that they did great for only practicing thirty minutes once a day since last August.  

I hope you guys enjoy it, I know I did and I'm so proud of her! 

        

Royal Birthday Party! PART I

Ms. Bree is turning 4! 

Wow, where does the time go?  

And for her big day I'm doing a lot of things by myself, for example the cake, the food and the party favors.  I have also purchased several items to transform my formal dining room into a "Royal Cafe" and I will be decorating the entrance where all her guests will be stopping to take pictures by a 5 piece Disney Princess Scene Setter.

Ms. Bree is a big fan of Disney Princesses, especially Belle & Cinderella.  Based on her love for the princesses I decided to do a "Princess Tea Party".     

Princess Party Favors:

How to make them:

* Disney Princess Party Cup ($0.99 each)
* Fill the cup with paper crinkle (I used Ms. Bree's favorite color, "Purple") ($2.99 Medium Size Bag)
* Place your favors, we used the following:  

• Clip
• Maze Puzzle
• Prism Viewer
• Wand
• Heart Bracelet
• Bead Necklace
• Box of 4 Crayons
• Mini Princess Pen

* Slip the cup inside a clear bag ($4.99 for 16 bags)
* Tie shut with curling ribbon. (I used the color pink- $1.99)

Simple and perfect, very worthy for the little princesses! 

The Princess Pinata:

I actually bought this from Party City Online.  You can find different styles and sizes at the store but they didn't have this specific style.   What I liked about it was the fact that she can pull the strings to release the candy instead of hitting it with a stick.   Although I did purchased the stick and blindfold.

Price:  I paid $19.99 plus tax and shipping/handling.  But you can also find something similar at Toys R Us as well.

Description:

This Disney Princess Castle Pinata features a sweet pink castle with 3 turrets, a pink tissue roof and the Disney Princesses waiting on the lawn. With a pull string pinata, there is no hitting. Just take turns pulling ribbons on the pinata until one ribbon opens the hidden door and releases its contents. Fill Castle Pinata with candy or favors (sold separately) for a fun party activity or simply use the pinata as decoration. Disney Princess Castle Pinata measures 16in wide x 17in tall.


The Music:

As some of you may know, my daughter loves to sing and dance along and she has most if not all the Disney Princesses Sing Along DVDs! 

Therefore, I thought..why  not make this memory even more enchanted for her by playing all her favorite music in the background??  

This CD can only be purchased online for $9.99 and includes all of her favorite songs like:

1. Reflection
2. Part of Your World
3. Just Around the Riverbend
4. Colors of the Wind
5. Beauty and the Beast
6. A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes
7. Once Upon a Dream
8. So This Is Love
9. Candle on the Water
10. I Won't Say (I'm in Love)

The other 10 tracks are actually just musical version of every song mentioned above and the kids can sing their solo!


The Flowers:

Step 1:

2 Green Floral Foam  ($2.99 for a pack of 2).  You can purchase these at any crafting store and Walmart.  

Step 2: Using construction paper, wrapped around the foam.  Make sure its completely covered.  Don't worry about covering the bottom of it, but if it bothers you that much, you can cover the bottom as well. I use purple and pink paper ($0.99 each sheet)

Step 3:

Draw leaves pattern all over the green construction paper.  You can draw the leaves as big or as small as you'll like. 

Step 4:  Cut the leaves out;

Step 5:  Using your glue gun (or any type of glue) glue the leaves all around the top edge or you can glue them as together or as far from each other as you'll like.

Step 6:   Place the gem stone stickers at the bottom of each leaf. 

Step 7:  Place the stickers of your favorite princess below the leaves.  

Step 8:  Using glitter glue, draw fun patterns within each leaf.  NOTE:  this step should be the last thing you do, the glitter glue takes approximately an hour to dry depending on the amount you use.

THESE ARE THE RESULTS: 

These are just some of the items I have done so far.  As I said before I am doing a lot of the decorations myself as well as the food and the Royal Castle Cake.  

I will be posting the second part of this post hopefully three days after her birthday bash which is set for February 16th! 

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Our Christmas Celebration in Pictures!

2013 is here! Christmas and New Year's have passed and now we are trying to get back into our daily routines.  While my  husband went back to work on the 26th, I had the opportunity to stay home with the kids until January 1st.  

Ms. Bree's first day back to school was January 2nd and Lil Man's first day back to school was January 3rd.  

We were able to do a lot of special things with the kids this year and I am so glad my  husband loves to capture these moments in pictures.

"Making Smores"- more like burning marshmallows!

Who doesn't like to make S'mores?? I think every child does, I personally never had one before and after this I will probably never will!  

My son had the great idea of making some and my husband just went along with it.  

After I had gathered all the necessary ingredients to make the infamous S'mores, the children decided they didn't need any cookies and/or chocolate.  

Okay, so the kids really loved the idea  but EUK! The mess and the taste .. enough said.. lets move on.


"Our Christmas Village"

The assembling of our "Christmas Village" is something I do with my children every year.  

This can be fun but a headache is always guaranteed with this as well.  Every year my husband buys me a house (or two) to add to my village and now I have a total of fourteen building (i.e. Churches, Lighthouse, Fire Station, Grocery Stores, etc.) a Musical Carousel, Trees of all sizes, people and all animals.  


"The Night Before Christmas"

The reading of "The Night Before Christmas" is another tradition that we started a few years ago.  

On this night each child gets to open one present (not a toy, we give the kids new pajamas with matching slippers and a book), we drink hot cocoa and eat cookies.  

   

Little Man is now 6 years old and he knows exactly what kind of present he gets the night before Christmas and always looks forward to it.

"The Presents"

"The Opening of Their Presents"

Or what I like to tall "the aftermath" (in my most dramatic voice). it took them approximately two hours and several "you can play with it later, open the next one"...to open all their gifts and there are no words for the mess afterward.  

"Christmas Dinner"

This year we invited another family over to share Christmas Dinner with us so we set up the table a bit different from previous years.

The adult table:

and the children's table:

"The Outfits"

The girls decided to wear their new "Brave" dresses.  While Ms. A. decided to wear her hair lose adorned by a single flower clip, Ms. Bree wanted two simple buns with a "zig-zag" parting.  Simple right!

The boys ...well, they were too busy playing!

We truly enjoyed staying home with the kids for almost two weeks, but now it's time to get ready for our next big event, "Ms. Bree's 4th Birthday Party"!!

Don't forget to share all your amazing pictures with us!!