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... a year makes! I walked into the big girls' room today and found Sierra playing with a doll by herself in the cradle. I told her not to move and that I had to run and grab my camera. Good thing she's not old enough to understand and disobey :) Truly, I was quite surprised that by the time I came back she was still there... and willing to smile! I just had to pair the pictures with those of her when she was the "doll" in the crib!
Already, Sierra is emerging into a little girl I've never seen before. I don't remember my other girls being quite so into dolls. I think it is so sweet! Today I was getting my hair cut, and Sierra was super fussy on my lap. My friend who was cutting my hair brought her a baby doll, and she cuddled it and went to sleep on my lap. It was precious! I am so in love with this Sierra doll of mine...
Yes! We actually had an ice cream party on the coldest, darkest, rainiest December night. But, the bright colors made it feel quite cozy. So here it is... the party details! The table cloth, (along with many other ice cream items), were purchased at the end of August. I didn't foresee many ice cream items available in December, nor did I want to birthday shop this time of year. 
I decided to make this "Natalie" banner at the last-minute with my Cricut. The letters were on top of ice cream cones, but you can't really tell... bummer! I ended up hanging some balloons at the ends, too.
What's an ice cream party without sweets? I have seen ice cream cupcakes a few different times, but I found a cool tutorial over at House of Hepworths on how to make your own pan to bake them. (Basically, you just cut circles out of a lasagna pan from the dollar store!) You can get the tutorial here.
I had purchased an ice cream cookie cutter, again back in August, so of course we had to make sugar cookies. (I also did green frosting with mini chocolate chips, but didn't get a picture!)
I made so much cake batter, I decided to do these cupcakes last-minute, as well. I got the idea from "Be Different, Act Normal." Theirs are WAY cuter, but I was in a rush, and just used my Christmas mint M&M's for the "ice cream."
The bowls were for each kid to take-home as part of their "goody bag." They were from Oriental Trading Co. and I bought them on Cyber Monday when they had free shipping with no minimum purchase. I believe I will be checking them out every Cyber Monday for Natalie's birthdays!
More favors: lip gloss and stamps from Michael's dollar section over the summer.
For most of our parties, we start with themed coloring and activity pages as the kids come in. It's nice to have something to do while waiting for all the guests to arrive. I found lots of ice cream coloring pages, word searches, connect-the-dots, etc. on line. I also had some ice cream stickers.
The birthday girl:
Our second craft was ice cream magnets... another purchase from Oriental Trading Co. 
Our first game was an ice cream obstacle course. I just threw pillows on the ground and had the kids run around them while holding a stack of 8 scoops of plastic ice cream. (Luckily the plastic ice cream was already in the girls' kitchen, and not something extra to purchase.)
Next we did "Cold Ice Cream," (a.k.a. "Hot Potato").
And, the most loved game of the night... catch the ice cream cone! One kid got to throw the ice cream, (balloon), and the other kid had to catch it in his cone. Not super easy, but not overly difficult. They really had fun with this one!
Dinner break: pizza, veggies and fruit! After dinner, we asked Natalie if she wanted to do dessert or presents first. She chose presents.
Such wonderful gifts... she especially liked this black dress!
You already saw the sweets we had... but we couldn't help but have an ice cream bar, as well. Peanut butter, chocolate chocolate chip, mint chip, and vanilla along with toppings, or on a cone. Yummy!
Last, but not least, came the pinata. Yes, I decided to make one... starting the day before... while Daniel was at work, and I was alone with the girls... What was I thinking? Due to our rainy weather, the paper mache didn't dry until the day of the party. So, after I baked I began to do the rest of the pinata. I still can't believe it got done. Phew...
For some reason, that was the one thing Natalie really wanted. Due to the weather, Daniel had to hold it on a mop handle. But, it worked!
I was SO surprised it lasted through one round of everybody whacking it. Quite pleased, actually!
Not sure who had more fun... Daniel or the kids!
Finally, here is our annual shot of the parents with the birthday girl...
...For a while, anyway! We had our last cooking class a week ago today. Looking back, it was a gorgeous day. It feels like it was months ago, as we've had non-stop dark, rainy weather ever since!
We promised the girls we would ride the train to Claremont on the last day of class. So, that is what we did!
Sierra wasn't sure what to think, but was very happy not to be strapped down in a car seat!
We let Natalie join the class once again, as she heard they were making Holiday cheese balls and, more importantly, candy: peppermint bark, caramels, and oreo bark. Needless-to-say, the girls thoroughly enjoyed their last class!
Claremont also has an art studio as well as a kids science lab in the same building as the cooking academy. We will be back!!
The house is quiet. I'm guessing he's asleep. My husband, that is. The one who is sitting in the red chair waiting for Allison to fall asleep. The one who was up with her several times last night and early this morning. The one who took all 3 girls to Knott's Berry Farm today so that their mom could recharge her battery. (Yes, I am blessed!)
It's still hard. But, I have a peace. I needed to be recharged today! The hardest part for me is to admit, as a mom, that I am drowning. I felt so guilty about my day off, that it took me a while to wake-up out of my fog!
Soon after Daniel and the girls left this morning, there was a knock at our door. It was a dear friend dropping off a Christmas gift. She had no idea she would be greeted by an exhausted mess! But, it was a divine appointment for us this morning. We prayed for each other, and felt refreshed. As she left, I was praising God once again for the friends in my life.... Even now I can think of so many friends that have the heart of God, and are so willing to pray.
The Bible tells us where 2 or more are gathered, He is there with us. Today, amidst the busyness of the season, we experienced Emmanuel, God with us! Yes, I am BLESSED!
Yesterday, I took the girls for their first experience with a real theater playhouse. They have always been excited about the ballet, and I have wanted to see the Nutcracker again ever since I last saw it which was when I was Allison's age!
We went with our dear friends, and it was absolutely wonderful. The girls were so excited, they could hardly wait until it was time to start. I warned them ahead of time that there were no words, so we read through a short version of the story about 6 times that morning so that they could try to follow along. I was SO glad I had. They would each turn to me at different times, and ask, "Is this the part where...?"
I brought coloring for the waiting part, and lollipops for when they got wiggly... both came in handy!
Afterwards, we were able to meet and take pictures with some of the dancers. I was surprised how excited the girls were to meet them!
The lady pictured below in the blue dress was my favoite dancer. She was the Snow Queen, and did an amazing job.
The beautiful Bridges Auditorium in Claremont:
The whole gang:
Once outside, the wiggles came out, and the girls danced and twirled away. It was adorable!
The End.
... a year makes! I walked into the big girls' room today and found Sierra playing with a doll by herself in the cradle. I told her not to move and that I had to run and grab my camera. Good thing she's not old enough to understand and disobey :) Truly, I was quite surprised that by the time I came back she was still there... and willing to smile! I just had to pair the pictures with those of her when she was the "doll" in the crib! 
