So, this year, we had to have the worst Independence Day weather of all time. It literally rained the entiiiiiiire day. The good news is that we spent the day adult-ing. Yes, on our day off from work, we (we meaning Sam, although I did provide periodic laughing, which I'm sure was super helpful)installed our new microwave, since our other one randomly stopped working last week. Thanks, Sam, for your handiwork. xoxo
It's a good thing we had friends and family over on Saturday to meet our mandatory Fourth of July weekend cookout quota! Corrie, Jeremy, Rachel, Mike and his daughters, and Chris came over and we grilled out, played cornhole, and lit sparklers.
When it became pretty clear that the weather was going to stay monsoon status, the sweet Quesenberrys invited us over to hangout at their house and eat together before trying to catch some fireworks. All of the local fireworks were canceled (yes, the weather was that bad), except for the Salem Fair's. Good news for us, since that's the one we usually try to catch.
After hanging out in Salem at the Quesenberrys for a bit, we drove over to Lakeside Baptist to sit in the parking lot and try to see the fireworks. The Cromers and Fertittas met us over there, and hooray, it didn't rain for an hour or so! But, it was still super cloudy. As we were hanging out waiting for the fireworks, some neighbors of the church started letting off some huge ground-to-air fireworks, and the kids were so excited about those. And, I felt like maybe we should tip them since it ended up being to foggy from the rain to see the fair fireworks over the trees. It was nice that our kids didn't know any different since the neighborhood show was so good.
So, there was nothing spectacular about this holiday weekend. Just lots of watermelon, fireworks, friends, and family.
Pizza, cupcakes, balloons. Pizza, cupcakes, balloons. Every time I felt the urge to start eeking toward the full-fledged party, I reminded myself that this little girl will be over-the-top thrilled with just pizza, cupcakes, and balloons. And she was.
Willa had a pretty big party last year, with lots of decorations and lots of people in our not-lots of house. It was a lot. Harper had a low-key third and fourth birthday, so we decided to follow suit with WK. She did say that she wanted a Paw Patrol party, so we decided to do a super basic little get together for her with our closest friends and local family. And it was perfect. My little girl was loved on, celebrated, and made to feel so, so special, but there was very minimal stress or expense. I spent $14 on balloons from the local party store, $4 on dog bowls from the Dollar Tree, $13 on two dozen Paw Patrol cupcakes, $48 on pizza, and $6 on a party game. So, for under a hundred dollars and around an hour of effort, we fed, entertained, and celebrated six kids and fourteen adults.
I set up the kids' party table in the living room, made from our leather ottoman with a piece of plywood on top. I loved how the adults could visit on the other side of the room while still being accessible to the kiddos. And when WK came down from her nap and saw the balloons, dog bowls, and little table settings, she was so excited! And if you can't tell, she was very excited about her Paw Patrol dress. (I didn't include this in the party cost, because she's already worn it three times. I wish I had videoed her opening it up last week because she just couldn't believe it. She'd hug me and squeal, and hug me again in utter appreciation. But, in case you missed that, three times in 10 days. This little dress is earning its keep.)
Somehow Willa has won the birthday weather Powerball because despite her Mid-March birthdate, she has had beautiful, unseasonably warm weather for each of her now three birthdays. The party started at 6, and as friends began to come in, the kiddos went straight outside to swing on the swingset together. It sure made for easy clean up since a lot of the eating was done in the treehouse.
But, before any of that low stress, no stress pizza was served, I asked Sam if he would mind to say a blessing for the food and for the precious little girl we're all here to celebrate when Willa Kate piped up, "I'll pray!" And there in front of her friends, she stood up on her chair and proudly belted, "God our Father..." I didn't get it on video, but hers a peek of her doing it for Kasey earlier in the week.
She prayed, and I cried. All week I've been thanking Him for the precious gift of her life, and here that sweet child is giving praise right back to Him. Oh she makes my heart full. I can't wait to tell the stories of how that darling girl was already praying over the meal for her third birthday.
With this laid back party, I tried to remember-- adults aren't needing to be entertained. It's about the kiddos. So, I gathered the six kids up at the fireplace and read them a Paw Patrol book. And then we played Pin the Badge on Chase. And lastly, we did my little homemade from a free printable on Pinterest game. I printed out 36 badges (6 sets of each of the main six Paw Patrol characters), and hid them around the living room. Each kid got a sheet with the six characters, and as they found the badges, they needed to glue them to the corresponding character. I had out a few glue sticks, but that didn't seem to be enough, so I grabbed a bottle of liquid glue from my never ending craft stash. I was distracted and trying to help the girls get theirs figured out while opening this glue, and as I was squeezing, the top exploded off and glue flew all the way up to the ceiling (literally), and then back down on to me. Never a dull moment. A little got on my hair and the floor, but it was nothing that couldn't be cleaned up. Remember? Easy low stress, no stress party.
Willa got to sit on our special milk can and open her gifts. Each was met with a heartfelt "oh wow" or "oh my goodness!" or "that's amazing!" This child is so appreciative. Since the Fertitta clan hadn't made it to the house yet when we went ahead and prayed for the food, Willa again sang her prayer for them and she got to finish out her night loving on some of her family and playing with her friends. It was a great party for her, and to be honest, maybe my most favorite party we've had.
Though the girls had been celebrating all week, they were still so excited when Halloween finally rolled around. We had big plans to head downtown for a kids' Monster Bash in City Market, and then go to FCC's Salem campus for Trunk or Treat. But, after a week of b-e-a-utiful, unseasonably warm weather, it started raining and cooling down as soon as we got in the car to leave the house. BOO!
Kit Keller, Betty Spaghetti, Dottie Hinson, and Coach Jimmy Dugan
The girls with their "ball bucket" trick or treat 'bags'
Sam's family wanted to get some pictures of all the grandkids together in their Halloween costumes, since it is baby Alston's first Halloween, and we had yet to get a picture of all five of the kiddos (it still feels so strange to type five instead of four!), so we drove over and met everyone at Corrie and Jeremy's house.
We got to Trick or Treat in the rain to a few houses on Corrie and Jeremy's, and then went over to FCC, expecting there to be some indoor activities like in years past. Nope. We were so disappointed! We heard that Lakeside Baptist, a church not far from Sam's family's church and where Easton attends after school care, was hosting an indoor family fun fest. It was so nice to find somewhere warm and dry!
Lakeside had a bouncy house, games, a cake walk, and costume contest. Sam's family all came and we met up with our friends (the Phillips, Quesenberrys, and Goncalveses), so we spent about an hour letting the kids run around. The older ones did the bouncy house, and Willa watched with envy. While we were transitioning from that activity to the next, I lost track of her. I thought she was with Sam or Sue, and they thought she was with me. After panicking for a minute, I look over, and sweet girl had taken her shoes off and was trying to climb up into the bouncy castle. :) She loves those things! Maybe it will be warm enough for her to have one at her birthday. Sydney and Harper both won cupcakes during the cake walk, and to wrap up our time there, we entered the kids in the costume contest. Our sweet little "Kit Keller from the Rockford Peaches" won the 2 and under age group! So cute! Harper lost out to the only boy in her group-- the pilot from Top Gun. He was a cutie, so we didn't disagree. She looked just precious in a sea of Elsas and Annas.
Excited about their cupcakes from winning in the Cake Walk!
"Wait? How come you all got to be Elsa??"
Cousins having fun on Halloween
After the festival, all the friends went to eat at Jersey Lilly's together. Since we had such a big group, they gave us a private room, and it was so fun-- my favorite part of the night. Funny how life changes. The highlight of Halloween involves costumed kiddos running around our room in a steakhouse, and us pretending not to see them. ;)
