Birthday FUN!

Oh so much to blog and so little time!!! Here are some of the pictures from Amalyssa's mermaid party. I think she and her friends enjoyed it despite the last minute change of plans. It was suppose to be all out on the deck but the wind was blowing down the decorations faster than I could put them up.... and there were A LOT of decorations! lol. I have decided that part was more for me than for her. I have always wanted to throw really cool amazing parties. I am pretty pleased with how this one turned out! Especially since my budget was $20!!

Moving the decor into the living room proved to be a wonderful change. The girls still got to swim outside since the wind had calmed down by then, and when they were cold they got to come into the 'heated ocean'.

Here are some pictures of all the mermaid fun, decorations, cake, and party pals. There are also a few in there of the small family party we had with just the 4 of us. I think Amalyssa enjoyed her b-day quite a lot... and I did too. I couldn't resist putting the fish into the slide show... sorry if they swim in your way! lol

Cake and insanity..... mix quite well acctually.

So most of you know how crazy I have been running this week. Lot's and lots and lots going on. I will blog all about the party's and fun a bit later..... well .... at least I will put pictures up... hopefully I will have a few seconds to add some words. lol.

Oiy... not doing so well with the words tonight.... Maybe because I just watched a long and boring mostly pointless movie... so that is now the mode my brain is stuck in... not sure. At any rate...

I just hopped on to show you a quick picture of the cake I did for Amalyssa's b-day party. This girl is so creative I can hardly keep up! She came up with the idea for the cake all by herself! SERIOUSLY... I didn't offer suggestions... she didn't look at cake pictures... she just invented this in her head and told me what she wanted. I filled as many of her requests as I could. She wanted a 3 tiered round cake. The bottom two layers were to be blue for the ocean and underwater. The top tier was to be an island. She wanted her Polly Pocket dolls used in the cake with frosting mermaid tails (since the whole theme of the party was mermaid's)

I ask you.... what other 6 yr old could concoct such a vision out of thin air?? I think I have a visionary on my hands! At any rate here is what I conjured up to fill her wishes... what do you think!?


On a side note I ate a chicken heart for dinner tonight! Guess what.... It tasted like CHICKEN! haha... that was my birthday dare to myself.

Oh and P.S. since some have asked... yes I am TS-studio. I made the ensignia to go on some of my more profetional pictures that I place up on the web. Just an FYI.

Where have I gone!?

I would like to up-date my blog.... really.... I would. Too bad I have to go draw a sea scape mural on tablecloths right now.

Word to the wise..... Don't put your wedding the same week as your birthday... and then later have a child that same week. It makes for one CRAZY week of celebration! (I think I will be doing my celebrating when it is OVER and life is back to normal!!!)

Alas...... Time is a precious commodity of which there is never enough (ooh... deep.... )

Ok.... enough rambling.... time to go get things ready for the big party tomorow! I am converting my deck into an underwater paradise for mermaids! FUN.... at least I hope it will be... and I hope I am sane enough by then to enjoy it!

The begining of a new era.

Well.... maybe calling it a new era is a bit dramatic. But today does mark some very big changes around our house.

As I stared through the chain link fence at my new first grader I fought the tears that welled in my eyes. Not so much of sadness..... far from it... I am THRILLED to have my oldest in school all day (terrible I know). Tears of pride, of joy, of the knowledge that there is no going back, those are the tears I fought this morning.

My sweet little girl is growing into a beautiful young lady. She is strong, confident, and well mannered. I am not worried about her in school. I know she will be one of the best students in the class at following directions. I know she will make friends, and likely be the most popular girl in first grade, that is her personality. I know she will learn quickly, stay on task, and be on of the top in her class. I don't want to sound braggy.... I don't think any of these things can be attributed to me, or anything I have done. That is just her personality, to be the best and most popular in everything she does. I am so proud of my little girl.

What am I scared of? Public School........ Satan scares me. I know the influence he has in this world... and he is starting young. I hope and pray that I have taught her to listen to the spirit. That she will know when something is not right, that she will listen to the spirit and be strong enough to change the situation. I don't know what hard lessons await her this year... not academically... but lessons of life and righteousness. I pray she will pass these with flying colors! I also pray that I will be in tune enough. In tune with the spirit, and in tune with my daughter. I hope to recognize a teaching moment, and especially recognize when it is needed.

Good Luck Miss A. I know that you will do wonderful, because you are so strong in so many ways. Take care of my precious child... for you can never be replaced. I LOVE YOU!


Next post... next change.....

Potty training.......... oh yeah.....

Since Miss A. is starting first grade there are some other big changes going on around here too. I decided that it would be a good time to get my act together. I have a plan! No really... I DO! I have a written schedule! Each day I have time allotted for specific things. I have exactly 14 more minutes of blog time... then it is off to preschool activities with Braden! Yes I scheduled myself blog time.... lame?? Maybe... but that is something I wanted time for in my day... so I wrote it into my schedule! So look for more updates more often... either on this blog or on my new craft blog.

Another big change has to do with Mr B. (Hey, Miss A. and I can't do all the changing!)

I know that when it comes to potty training opinions are as vast as the sand on the beach.... I debated blogging about potty training at all... in the end I came to this conclusion. This blog is MY journal... no one else's . I want to record this for my future referance.

Here is my disclaimer......
I RESPECT ALL other potty training opinions!! I strongly believe that all children are different, as well as each parent is different. To complicate matters even more each parent child relationship will be different! Potty training has to be INDIVIDUAL because we are all individual. All I ask is that you realize this is my personal approach to potty training Mr B. I don't ask for anyone to agree with it... and I accept that some will not agree with it. All I ask is that if you DON'T agree with it.... please keep it to yourself! lol. I don't mean that snotty at all.... sorry if it comes off that way. I just want to make it clear that I am doing things my way.. and hope for understanding in that.

Enough of the 'legal jargon'

I thought that it would be an opportune time to start Mr B. potty training! Since sis isn't around I have less to demand my attention, what a great time to focus on Mr. B. I had planned on starting today... but Mr B. decided that Saturday would mark the comencement of our potty training! So far he has done GREAT! (I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way!!!)

The action plan-

SHOPPING! To get Mr B. excited about our new adventure together I took HIM out shopping to get our gear together!

New potty seat - $10 at Walmart

New potty chart $3.50 at Walmart

The Potty kit!
Interactive books - 50 cents each at DI
Kit bucket - $2 at Salvation Army
New undies- $7 at Wal-mart
And the SECRET WEAPON...

The SECRET WEAPON-
A suction dart gun - $5 at Walmart!

When we bought all the stuff Mr B. knew that is was for use in the bathroom only! The minute we got home he stripped off his pants and ran for the bathroom! He LOVES to sit on the toilet and shoot his gun! WHO WOULDN'T!?? Even an adult could be entertained for a while with a dart gun! He has had a BLAST shooting the darts in all directions.
His favorites -
Straight up to the ceiling where they stick and mom has to use a hair brush to hit them down.
At the shampoo bottle which knocks off the shelf into the tub
Out the hall into his room... sometimes they even stick on his far bedroom wall!

This little activity gets him to sit on the potty without me forcing him in there! The unexpected perk... while I gather the darts he has to really concentrate on putting potties in the toilet before he gets another round of fire arms.

So far...... We are on day 3 and we have had only 2 accidents!!! He even told me yesterday when he needed to POOP! HALLELUJAH! Now let's just hope that he and I can both keep our hopes up and spirits high!

The one thing I need to add to my potty kit.... a cushion for mom to sit on!!! The hard little bath stool just isn't cutting it for me!