DIY to Personalize a Party

My daughter Skylr is having a princess party for her fifth birthday this May. This year we have decided to do  a lot more DIY projects then years past, to save money, have more at the party and to have more fun! We chose a dragon for the pinata because there will be boys at the party too and each kid will have a chance to 'slay the dragon'. I will be making a sword out of cardboard that I will share later.

 This pinata is made from cereal boxes that have been cut to shape and then taped (multiple times) together.

 The pinata is decorated with tissue paper that has been layered onto the card board then slit. The dragon is breathing 'fire' (which is just spiral ribbon). The cost of this pinata was about $1. I had the cereal boxes (we eat cereal for breakfast daily), as well as the tape. I did have to buy the tissue paper and ribbon, which was 97 cents per color, but I only used one sheet of purple tissue paper and three sheets of green, then only used an eighth of the ribbon. So although the grand total to purchase everything was $5 I have so much left over for other projects.

 These bags are for the pinata treats. My daughter won a note pad booklet at a bean bag toss, and we glued a paper to the front of the bag to label each kids treat bag.

Each kid will also receive a hand make crown made of felt. I made a fold in my felt the thickness I wanted the crown and then cut the crown spikes according to the pattern I had made. Each crown was sewn around the top and sides to connect the felt together. When there is two layers of felt, the felt is stiffer and hold better. At the back of each crown there is a small (one to three inch) piece of elastic to make for a better fit. 

There are still more DIY projects to conquer for Skylr's party, but I will share as they are accomplished and I will take more pictures of how they finished produced was achieved. 

What an Update

Zoey is seven and a half months old and is so happy! She makes us smile and laugh all day. Zoey is still very much a mama's girl, but has loosened the reins and will play on the floor. Which means I am able to get more done. :) Zoey has started eating solids and LOVES any fruit, but will only eat carrots (no other vegetables). She has been nursing up to this point, but is being transitioned to formula. Zoey loves to hold her own bottle and to watch her brother and sister while she eats.

Gavin is growing so quickly right before my eyes. He wants to go to school with Skylr so bad, so we have applied for a free preschool program in town. He doesn't become of age for it until four months after the program starts, but are fingers are crossed. Gavin has been battling viral asthma and is doing well with an inhaler (that he uses when he gets sick), but he are thankful for the early catch and that it is doing well and not getting worse. Gavin was also going to have surgery on his other thumb for trigger thumb, but we are happy to announce that it has gone away on its own and he will not need surgery.

Skylr will be five next month and has been tentitivly planning her own birthday party for weeks. She has decided to have a princess party and wants a pinata. I have obliged and have been putting my DIY skills to good use. I have make her a pinata, invitations, a banner, crowns for her and her guests, party bags, and will be making her a Rapunzel (tangled) dress this week. I can not believe that amount of savings have been able to accomplish by making all of these fun things myself. I have been doing a little bit of trial and error, but have gotten some good skill out of it. Skylr is also winding down her first year of school and will be registering for kindergarten nest week. She is so excited to go to school each day and is really not looking forward to summer break. She is excited for some vacations, but would still like to go to school. Her dad and I on the other hand are ready for summer break! :) Skylr will be starting swimming lessons after her birthday and then soccer in the spring. We can't wait.

I am very excited for the nice weather and the fun volunteer opportunities that I have become involved with. I will be helping a woman in our ward 'clean' up her life by cleaning up her yards and house this summer, and I have also been able to find a volunteer pays with credit of the store, at a second hand kids store in our town. I am looking forward to these activities that I can do by myself.

Tim is wrapping up his first year at Washington State University!! Whoop whoop! He has been working so hard and has achieved so much. While studying and reading book after book Tim was able to find time and energy to join two soccer teams this passed year and had lots of fun.

We are approaching the one year mark since we moved out of our house in Caldwell and have really enjoyed every minute of the move. We have lots of summer options, but have narrowed some of our desired vacations and oppratunities. We have planned a ten to fourteen day trip to Seattle in June/July, a seven day trip to Sand Point directly followed by a seven day trip through Glacier to Canada in July. We are so excited to experience these things together.  

Exploring

The weather started to turn and we decided to go for a walk around our apartment complex. During our walk we discovered a park just up the hill and around the corner from our apartment.  

Skylr is a monkey on the monkey bars!!

Do you see all of the stairs behind them that we just went down?

 Feb. we went to Spokane for a Dr. appointment to check out Gavin's other thumb. He had surgery on is right thumb this summer and has developed trigger thumb in the other thumb.

During our drive to Spokane we saw a HUGE wind farm

They were so close

This beautiful picture is in Spokane

The kids enjoyed the walk around Spokane

The weather felt so nice. It was a whopping 45 degrees and wonderful!!

TIKI time

queso!!

Skylr & Gavin were in such aw

Zoey took the picture

Walking to the truck

Spokane temple

 On our way to Cour d'alane we stopped to see the temple. This is the smallest temple we have ever seen. But still beautiful!

Cour d'alane

The kids found a moose

a little moose

 Tim was so excited when i finished his blanket. I decided to make a quilt/blanket for each school he attends/graduates from. He received his BSU blanket Dec. 2011 just before graduation. And now he gets his WSU blanket just before the half way point of his masters degree.

I really enjoyed making this blanket and can't wait to start on the next one.

Tim found a Raiders shirt for the kids

One of  Daddy's Princess'

Tim is doing very well in school and although he has been extra busy this semester we have enjoyed a lot of time together exploring some of the towns around us.

 Skylr has also been doing very well in school. We attended our first parent teacher conference (as the parents not the students :D) and we were told that Skylr is a great student. Skylr can write her name as well as spell some other works, count past 20, recognize and write just about anything you put in front of her and we is also very social, but is a great listener. Skylr is the best little student!! 

Gavin has become very eager to start school now too. He was upset to see Sky go to school and not him, so he has deemed his nursery at church to be his school. Gavin now willingly goes to nursery (which is such a relief from the crying match he had before) and has a GREAT time. He tells us about all the things he learns and even says he is learning things that Sky learns during the school week.

Zoey is now 5 months old and can roll from belly to back, has one tooth and another coming in. She has found her voice and likes to use it. She is a sweet heart, we just wish she would sleep through the night...maybe some day!

The Holiday"s

 We got all ready for Christmas and the kids were so excited and helpful decorating our little apartment.

 We did lots of little projects together. Snowmen (paper and stickers) and red and green chains to decorate the tree and to make a countdown. This year our count down had little suggestions of ways to get into the Christmas spirit. We watched movies, colored pictures, donated books to the Library and got new toys for kids in need. The kids really liked knowing that we were helping others and would say in their evening prayers "Bless that we will know that Christmas is about helping people" we were very happy that the kids were less concerned about toys and more about being Christ like.

 Mama love'n on her beautiful kiddos!

 I also took a stab at making fleece hats for the kids, it was harder than I thought it would be.

 Our stake had Nativity around the world that we enjoyed. There were nativities from all over in the gym and through out the classrooms there were other nativity inspired activities to participate in. The kids did coloring pages and crafts and then we participated in a live nativity.

 We made a real gingerbread house that we baked...we took notes of how to do it better next year!

 Our apartment complex had a bowling party and the kids had a blast...Gavin was our big winner.

 Tub Time

 Mama and Zoey

 Gavin making silly faces

 Mama in love with her kiddos and new camera, I just can't stop taking pictures!

 My beautiful Zoey at three months

 A visit to Santa, Skylr convinced Gavin to come over for the picture, Sky is such a loving big sister holding his hand to comfort him.

 Although Gavin looks mad he had a good time.

 Skylr walking to the stage with her pre-school class

During our drive we saw a deer in someones yard.

 This Christmas was our first in Pullman, but we got the opportunity to visit family in Idaho for the week. We stayed with my mom and visited all of our friends and family while we were there.

Gavin(Batman), Logan(Spider man), Skylr(Iron man)

 Our super heroes...I bet you didn't know we had such powerful and courageous kids in our family!

This was probably there last bath together

Watching frosty the snowman in there cool chairs

 While we were in Idaho Skylr and I had a girls afternoon and got our hair cut together from my cousin.

 Skylr cut about 4 inches off and has really enjoyed her new look.

Skylr is such a good girl and sat so still for Marissa.

 I was after Skylr and I cut off 10 inches to donate to locks of love for the 3rd time. Later that week I decided to have Marissa cut of an additional 3-4 inches, Skylr and I LOVE our hair cuts!

Skylr's hair

Making Santa's cookies

Skylr was so good at this game and very patient to wait for her turn!

 While Christmas Eve dinner was being made the kiddos and daddies played the flour game (were you take turns cutting the flour and try not to make the coin fall)

The kids and their Christmas Eve PJ's 

The Lucore's Christmas take away.

 Since we were visiting Idaho we didn't bring all of our presents in fear we might leave, lose, or struggle sharing the toys. When we got home the kids were able to open the rest of their presents.

Can you see the ice cycles?

 When we got home this is what we saw out our bedroom window.

Mom's new short hair do and Zoey's earrings

 Mom and Zoey showing off our new looks.

During our visit Zoey got her ears pierced. The same age Skylr and I were when our ears were pierced.

Santa stopped us at Walmart for a picture

The kids were so helpful to unwrap the caramels and took the job so serious.

 Making caramel brownies for the family the fine football watching weekend

Our little Zoey letting her grandparents and great grandparents know that she loves them so much!

Skylr is doing so well in pre-school and can now write her name and recognize letters and numbers, knows the days of the week and has learned lots of new songs. She is very helpful and her teachers adore her. Skylr has also started attending CTR 4.

Gavin can't wait to go to school next year and asks to go every time we drop Skylr off. Gavin is learning to count and can get to 6 independently. He LOVES Toy Story (Buzz and Woody) and Cars (he calls it "My cartoons") he was thrilled to get anything cars and toy story this year.

Zoey is growing lots. She likes to laugh and coo and is trying to roll over. She will be 4 months old on the 13th and has us all wrapped around her little finger. She refused to sleep anywhere but MOM's arms or her swing, until recently she has started sleeping in her pack 'n' play as long as her soft blanket is covering her mattress. Zoey is a pretty happy baby most of the time and is a great eater (she is still only nursing). She still wakes up in the night, so I get about 4 hour of consecutive sleep. After 4 months (not to mention the last 3 months of horrible sleep during the pregnancy) I am one pretty tired mama most days, but everyone is very helpful and happy most days.

Tim is not starting his second semester at WSU and was happy to end his last semester with a GPA of 3.4, he has liked all of the classes he has been taking and teaching. We are now a quarter of the way done and have about 16 months until we are done with this adventure (degree) and off to the next. Tim is already looking at PHD programs that he would like to attend.