happy birthday, princess olivia!

Last Saturday we celebrated Olivia's 3rd birthday  

with a Woodland Fairy Princess party.

The menu included:

Tomato/Mozzarella "Toadstool" Appetizers

Chips and Dip

"Butterfly" Sandwiches

Mimi's Potato Salad

GG's Peanut Butter Squares

Auntie Crystal's Fruit Wands

Mama's Rice Krispie Wands

"Fairy Berry Juice"

Gramma's Funfetti Fairy Cake 

and Fairy Cupcakes (Liv helped decorate!)

& Neopolitan Ice Cream

oh, and Pixie Stix. :)

Aunt Mary Jane brought pink sugar cookies with sprinkles too.

The party was lots of fun and Olivia received many wonderful gifts from
her royal family and friends.  They, of course, were fit for a queen princess! 
Every time I see her she's wearing a different ensemble.
I think she had three costume changes at the party! :)
And everyone, I mean everyone, enjoyed the fairy wings! teehee!

Happy Birthday, sweet girl! 

You will always be a princess to "Biddy" and me.

happy birthday, dayton!

The first part of September is a very busy time of the year for me. 

The new school year begins.  

( I teach first grade.)  

Sunday School begins,

(I'm the Sunday School Superintendent.)

And my grandson, Dayton celebrates his birthday!

This year he turned 4 on September 3rd !

 The theme of this year's party was

I helped his mom by carving a
watermelon shark...

                                                  and making "sushi" appetizers...(not that tasty, but cute!)

 Sponge Bob and Nemo 

( Dayton's two Grandpas)

made an appearance!

 

And the birthday boy gave it all he had to blow out his candles! ;) 

{Next year somebody remind me that buttercream frosting

melts on the way to the party 

when it's early September and the temperature is 80 degrees !!}

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

I love you all to pieces!

smooch, smooch!

:)

Little Duck

In raincoat of yellow

And rubbers of red,

With rain pouring down on his back,

This fine little fellow

Just lifts up his head

And gives out his happiest "Quack."

~Anonymous

Click to view Our classroom ducklings first swim when I brought them home for the week-end...

Olivia {2 yrs old} kept saying, "I want to ho'd one!"

  

If a child

is to keep his inborn sense of wonder,

he needs the companionship of at least one adult

who can share it,

rediscovering with him

the joy,

excitement

and mystery

of the world we live in.

~Rachel Carson

 {I volunteer!}

Joy in Springtime...

snow friends

It all started a couple of weeks back, when

Crystal"Auntie Extraordinaire" & Dayton

went out to play in the snow.

They came in with

"the best snowball ever!"

according to Dayton. :)

Then they went back out to fill a ziplock bag with snowballs

to save for a snowball fight next summer! :)

Snowballs

became

snowmen...

became

snowangels...

and were the inspiration for the

snowprincesses

that Livi and I made this week...

But, as fun as it was,

We're still...

{thank you for the inspiration, Koralee! }

...and looking forward to

hanging up our winter coats,

delighting in warmer weather and l o n g e r days,

and

admiring the crocuses

as they

come

out

of

hiding.

google images

I'm ready for

basking in the

sunshine...

How about you?

in the pink

Flowers seem the solace of ordinary humanity.

~John Ruskin

There's something

quite appealing about

tulips in the snow...

 and mini cupcakes

frosted to look like

pink roses

for a valentine party...

But the sweetest little flower

I've seen lately is the

most recent addition to our family.

Introducing my 

great niece...

 God bless you, sweet baby.

{i heart children's literature}

On Monday, we're kicking off a Read-a-thon at school!

We've begun inviting  "celebrities" from the community

to read their FAVORITE books to the children.

Of course, this got me

thinking about my FAVORITE children's books.

{There are SO MANY!}

When I was a child it was

partly because

I just loved having my Mom read to me.

 {And she used to call me "Sam-I-am."}

On this particular day,

however,

a sweet little field mouse

named Frederick,

has captured my heart.

Do you have a FAVORITE children's book

that has tugged at your heartstrings?

Book covers~google images

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Frederick by Leo Lionni

What's so amazing

 that keeps us stargazing?

*

And what do we think we might see?

*

Someday we'll find it,

the rainbow connection,

the lovers, the dreamers and me.

 "Rainbow Connection"

written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher 

~originally performed by

Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson)

twinkle STAR of the day...



Sweet Olivia turned 2 on Sunday.





She was fighting a cold...



but she rallied for all the FUN!

She tried to blow the candles out, but instead she kept blowing her bangs up!

She loves to sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star,"
so that became her birthday  party theme...



Opening cards and gifts with her mom...

Grampie and I assembled the dollhouse we gave her 

complete with a doll-size birthday party!

SO CUTE!...

Just like our sweet Livi girl!

Happy Birthday darlin' girl!

family reunion

FAMILY

FRIENDS

FOOD

FUN

FAB!

What a wonderful time we had at the Lane/Smith Family Reunion last Sunday.

I must admit there were sad moments too.

Dad would have loved every minute with these people.

I miss you Dad.

D is for Dinosaur D is for Dayton

I made a dinosaur cake for

Dayton's 3rd birthday.

He was

SO EXCITED

to see

his favorite

dinosaur

(T-Rex)

and mine(Stegasaurus) too!

I know they look like Play-doh, but I made them from fondant so they were edible.

Dayton's expressions and emotions ran the gamut as he sang happy birthday to me,
opened gifts, kissed, hugged and thanked his gazillion friends and relatives (LUCKY DUCK!),
and ate cake, cupcakes, pizza, and whatever else his little heart desired! :)

Auntie Crystal made the party favors

(dinosaur sugar cookies and mini dinos)

What a FUN day!

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

I love Dayton,

I love Dayton,

I love Dayton

I love him all the (time)!

dog days

"Dog Days"

{From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia}
are the hottest, most sultry, days of summer.

In the northern hemisphere,

they usually fall between early July and early September.

in the southern hemisphere,

they are usually between January and early March.

The actual dates vary greatly from region to region,

depending on latitude and climate.

Dog Days can also define a time period or event

that is very hot or stagnant,

or marked by dull lack of progress.

The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius,

also called the Dog Star,

was somehow responsible for the hot weather.
{dig pics: google images}

Around here during the dog days...

we're big on popsicles...

and watermelon !!!

Hope you're enjoying the dog days of summer!

Special thanks to Koralee of Bluebird Notes for your sweet and thoughtful gift!

The post office closed 10 minutes before I got there today!

{Who knew they closed at 4:30?!}

So...I'll be mailing a little something your way tomorrow!

Blessings!