Dino Party

My nephew, Jake, turned 5 this summer. I realize I am only 31 years old. I have MANY years ahead of  me. But there's something about your nephew turning 5 that makes you feel old. My oldest nephew is 8. I remember waiting at the hospital for Dylan to arrive. My sister's youngest, Aaron, is almost 3. And somehow my newest nephew, Sam, is already 4 months old! These kids are getting big and getting big FAST! Someone tell them to slow down!

The birthday boy

Jake is a fan of dinosaurs, for now. Last year it was Thomas the Tank Engine. The year before that was Super Why. It's very important to stay on top of what they are into, or you'll get the wrong present and won't be cool anymore. And let me tell you, I decided years ago that I was going to be the cool/fun aunt. My sister and I have some amazing memories with our Aunt Jane, who has always been fun and a tad crazy (in a good way); always willing to be fun and silly. Well I want my nephews (and hopefully someday, nieces) to think I'm FUN! Haley will probably disagree with them at times, which she should. As her mom, I will not always be fun. I'll be "mean" and "unfair". I accept that role. But Dylan, Jake, Aaron, and now Sam, will hopefully think of me as fun and exciting!

My sister, Christie, did a fantastic job with the decorations and the games. She got a dinosaur "egg" kit. It involves sand and some kind of mix that makes dinosaur eggs with little plastic dinosaurs in it. Then she hid them around the backyard (enough for each kid to find one). They had to use a chisel and hammer to "crack the egg".

Christie explaining the game

On the hunt for a Dinosaur Egg!

Looks like Haley 

found an egg! 

Jake has a lot of people who love him, so in order to maintain some order and not go insane, the party was for immediate family and a few close friends. 

Emmeline, cute as usual

Haley hanging out with Pap

Present time

All the kids biding their time,
waiting to storm the steps and
"help" Jake open presents

Pretty sure Ted was tired, and not disgusted!

Cake can be tricky when you have a lot of kids. Cupcakes are a smart way to go. And that's the way my smart sister went! Apparently she found a really cute kit that could be personalized. That cupcake topper says "Jakeosauraus!" Talk about cool in the eyes of a 5 year old. His mom found a dinosaur named after him! Way to go Mom!

Someone has gotten good
at blowing out the candles!

One thing I love about my life is that despite the fact that I don't see some of my "oldest" friends as often as I like, I am able to catch up with them rather quickly and it's always good to see them, never awkward. We just kind of "pick-up" where we left off. Maybe it's because the past 20 years or so have given us such a good foundation that the few months in-between visits are insignificant in the big picture. I was given the gift of immediate friendship in my brother and sister, Darin and Christie. Then our parents surrounded us with wonderful families who had kids our age; some of which were the Lamberts and the Richwines, among others. My sister married a Lambert, so my friend became my brother-in-law. It's been amazing to watch our group grow up and have kids of our own. I'm hopeful that Haley will have an experience that is as much of a blessing.

Christie and Ted

Linda and some Lambert Littles

Dave and Chris

Joshua, a Lambert Little

Emmeline, the perfect mix of a Leins and a Lambert

My little, with her Pap

Haley is ONE!

Haley Jane had a birthday! (three months ago!)

Haley turned 1 on May 28th, which happened to be on Memorial Day. We also happened to be attending our church's big Memorial Day Picnic at our pastor's farm. It's a beautiful farm house in Kennet Square. Haley got to celebrate her birthday twice. Obviously she didn't realize what was being celebrated, just that there were lots of people who love her...and she got to open some presents!

Happy Birthday baby!

I still can't believe that a year has gone by so quickly. I remember as a child hearing how fast I had grown by my parents' friends, or other adults. Now I understand. Time really does fly. Especially when you are chasing a toddler!

We had a party to celebrate our baby girl's first year. Honestly, Dan and I think that the first birthday party should be about the parents. A celebration of surviving the first year, not killing each other (out of sleep deprivation) or the child (by inexperience and ignorance). The parents should get the presents; after all the kid just wants the box and the tissue paper anyway! 

The week leading up to the party was kind of crazy. We have been working on our basement for over a year, trying to finish it before we outgrow the rest of our house. Those of you with children understand just how much STUFF you have when you have a child. Besides the basics, there are just toys everywhere. Then they outgrow those toys, so new toys/equipment come along. Anyway...our hope was to regain our office (after we made it into Haley's room), and to gain a playroom and extra entertainment space. I was a bit driven to at least have the basement painted and have the carpet laid by Haley's party. We needed a backup in case it rained and we couldn't be outside.

Before

After 

We had the carpet installers here two days before the party. I was literally making Haley's cake with a friend while the strange men were in my basement. (they weren't strange as in WEIRD, but strange as in, I had NO idea who they were and they spent a total of 6 1/2 hours in my house.) Thank the Lord the basement is almost done; we just have a  few doors to hang and some baseboards to install. You would not believe (or maybe you would) how much less stress is in this house now that we're basically done. And how much more harmony there is between my husband and I.

Haley's personal cake

Haley's party was a success. No major upsets, except I didn't remember to video her cake eating experience until she was almsot done. But not a big deal. After all, I take a million pictures of everything and hardly ever print them out. 

Haley and Mammy (my grandmother)

Pap, the grilling machine

Haley loves her Aunt Jacki!

Thank you PopPop Marsh and Mimi Eileen.
Haley loves her Wonderwoman

no more presents???

What? You say there's cake? What's that?

hmmm....

I think she likes it!

Yup!

This is what was left when we took it away. 

We had family and close friends here to celebrate our wonderful little girl. I probably would have invited everyone we know, but Dan put the kibosh on that. 

We are so thankful for the blessings God has bestowed on us through our family and friends. Thank you all for loving us and our girl. Thank you for your support in our marriage and in parenting. Thank you for prayers and words of wisdom. And thank you for your Godly example! We love you all, and we are so thrilled to have you as a part of our, and our little girl's, lives. 

The "stash"

Our good friends, Becky and Chris

Memaw and Aaron playing catch

the Proud (and somewhat sick) Papa

Brynn, one of our favorite babysitters and friends!

Haley with Aunt Kathy and Mammy

Aunt Jane with her "gaggle" of kids

Cousin Dylan playing with Haley

Uncle Darin setting up the Elefun!

Look at our Big Girl!

Katie's shower

So I realize I am pretty new to this "blog" thing. I've had it for well over a year now, but with only 6 posts, I can definitely say I am still a novice. I will not tell you how long it took to decide what the background or each individual font or color everything should be. Only that, at last, I like it. And I will probably change my mind about it tomorrow. The reason I started this was not that I'd have a huge following, or that I'd get a book deal out of it. (I watched Julie and Julia last night on E!) I wanted to be able to share a little bit more about myself and my family without sharing it on Facebook. I am not comfortable with posting a bazillion pictures or everything I think there because I know it will start ridiculous debates on my wall. People, Facebook is not the proper setting to have a political debate. I'm not saying you can't voice your opinions, but don't think you can change someone else's opinion in a little 1x4 cm blue box on their wall. (ok..done ranting). Anyway, that is why I created this. I can have my own little world with those who only want to read what I have to say. With no further ado....


I wanted to fill you in a bit more on some of the things, besides my beautiful daughter, that have kept me so busy this past year.

My wonderful brother and sister-in-law, had a handsome little peanut in May. His arrival was 5 weeks early, but thankfully he was big and healthy for a preemie! I was fortunate enough to be able to throw Katie a shower in April, well before the little man made his (very cute) appearance.

Brynn getting things ready

With the help of some pretty amazing friends, I threw a "Ready to POP!" shower for Katie and the little man on the way.

Between the decorations, the cake, and all the "POP" goodies, I had a ball planning and executing this shower.

And all for my wonderful sis-in-law!

Christie and my little girl (shameless bragging)

Here are a few of the goodies we were able to whip up with POP somehow in the name, or closely related:

LolliPOPs,
POPcorn (caramel, chocolate peanut butter, and baby blue)
CakePOPs
RingPOPS

      

My friend, Melody is fantastic at making cakes. And when I say cakes, I mean CAKES! She's taken classes on baking and decorating. It's not something she does professionally, but there's no doubt in my mind that she could.

Anyway, she tried teaching me how to use fondant to decorate Katie's cake. So here is my first attempt. I had grandiose ideas of a fantastic cake, but I decided that for my first attempt, a square kids block would work. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Katie, you are an amazing Mom to your little peanut! I am so thrilled to be able to walk beside you in this journey, and we will face our parenting adventures together! Haley has a wonderful new cousin and we love him so so much! Thanks for being a supportive, loving sister. I'm glad I have you! Love you!

So as you can by how horribly the pictures are spaced, I'm still trying to figure this thing out! Excuse my efforts!