Valentine's Day!

John had this spread waiting for us in the morning.  (The Trunchbull cake is for me)

 I had the kids all dressed in their Valentine's attire (I picked out Jeffrey and Charlotte's, Arabelle's was the best I could manage) and all I wanted was a nice, normal, family picture.  The following is what I got instead:

Yes, Charlotte has a marker, and yes she is rubbing it on her neck, but don't judge until you have a strong-willed baby of your own!

Charlotte crawling...she's not doing that anymore...kind of sad

Arabelle was really excited about her heart-shaped box of chocolates.

Unfortunately, the taste didn't measure up to expectations--you can see several chewed and spit out chocolates here.

Arabelle and I decorated the family room with hearts.  This was Arabelle's contribution.

When Jeffrey got home from school, he and Arabelle found all the hearts.

These were Jeffrey's valentines.  There were also ones that said "I'm nuts and bolts for you" and "Download My Heart".  These came in kits that you put together.  You got the basic robot then had to peel and stick both feet, both hands, both elbows, both eyes, the stomach, and the antenna.  Jeffrey had 24 that he needed to do and he was soooo excited in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day to make them.  When it was finally time to make them he made one and then said he was "too tired" to make anymore.  So I was up late making 23 Robot Valentines.  Note to self, next year, let him make a couple each night in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day.

From a Friend's Facebook page--clearly Jeffrey's Valentine's were a hit!

some of the loot from his school party.

Outdated Christmas!

So this is a few months old, but I thought it was time for a new blog post, and I haven't taken many pictures recently.

Jeffrey's Kindergarten Christmas Party

For some unexplained reason, Jeffrey decided to put his Snowman's face on the middle ball.  You can see the girl next to him has made hers more accurately.

Somehow they look alike.

There was TONS of food.  Jeffrey's "Room Mom" is a person that is really into party-planning and treat-making and she tends to go wayyy overboard.  But very fun for the kids.

Eclaires, Christmas tree brownies, "hot-cocoa" cookies, cake pops, and little bears on candy cane sleds (unpictured)

these were a big hit

so proud!

Decorating a Gingerbread House on Christmas Eve:

Arabelle decided she preferred decorating the table.

wearing Gingerbread Boy jammies and eating a Gingerbread Boy Cookie

Arabelle's Minnie Mouse Party

 Delivering the invitations:

 At the Party:

The kids received shopping bags that they decorated and then went "bow shopping".  I didn't get a picture, but I cut tons of bows out of cute paper and had them stuck all over the walls. 

It took Arabelle a really long time to blow out her one candle. As you can see, her technique leaves something to be desired.

 Opening presents:

Love the expression on Arabelle!

Again, love the expression.

The birthday girl was the only one we couldn't coax into the bow to take a picture.

her favorite gift.

Arabelle at 3

Recently,  my Arabelle turned 3 years old.  It is hard to believe she is that old, but then again, I can barely remember life without her.  I remember how peaceful and sleepy she was when she was lying in her "Giraffe Warmer" at the Children's Hospital when she was just a few days old.  However, I'm confident that behavior was an uncharacteristic anomaly caused by lack of oxygen, because ever since then she has just been full to bursting of life and energy--both sweet and mischievous.  I'd always been annoyed by people being described as having "spunk", but now that I've met Arabelle, I realize that there's really no other way to describe her.  She's extremely opinionated and stubborn, but she's also hilarious.  She frustrates me daily, but she also makes me smile and laugh.  She is playful, creative, feminine, and also a tomboy.

(picture chosen so that you can see a typical Arabelle outfit)

She still loves her little stuffed bear, which she affectionately calls "Bear."

She has been insisting on sleeping on a hard board with one blanket over her for the last several weeks.

She is extremely picky about her clothing and is only willing to wear one shirt, 2 pairs of pants, and a few pairs of pajamas.  I am tempted to go buy more similar or identical items, but I know as soon as I do, she will fixate on a different shirt that will be the only one she will be willing to wear.  It has happened numerous times before.

She gets frustrated and screams...a lot.

She loves noodles, any kind of noodles.

She loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Strawberry Shortcake.

Me: What's your favorite color?

Arabelle: ummm...pink!

Me: What's your favorite food?

Arabelle:  ummmm..chwochwat!

She doesn't play much with toys or dolls, she mostly likes just putting small things in bags and carrying them around, then taking them out of bags, stacking them, wrapping them in blankets, things like that.

She's made a lot of giant messes in the past year...including dumping out spices, mixing a whole thing of baking powder into my flour without my knowing, dumping a bowl of spaghetti with sauce into a full bathtub...to name a few.

Our little, stubborn, spunky Arabelle:

Arabelle's 3rd Birthday!

So here are several pics of the Minnie Mouse cake that I made for Arabelle's birthday (of which I am inordinately proud)

 I was planning to just make a silhouette of Minnie, using one round cake for the face and then making the ears out of the other round cake.  I would frost it with the white icing and have a nice smooth Minnie Mouse.  However, though I may be artistic, I have a hard time with many things that need to be done neatly and precisely, so of course when I tried to get the cakes out of the pans, they fell apart. 

 I cobbled together the face and the ears, but as I was trying to frost it, the cake continued to fall apart and pink crumbs were spoiling the effect of the icing.

 So I decided to embrace the crumbs, and the sloppiness with which I tend to create, and I made this Minnie face and bow. The exterior of the cake was more of a brown color and smoothish, while the interior was pink and crumbly.  With two colors and textures, I was able to create different effects.

 The final remainders of the second cake were used to make this bow.

We had planned a family birthday dinner for Arabelle, but Jeffrey invited Claire at school, so she got to come too!  Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Phillip were also in attendance.

In honor of Arabelle we had her favorite dinner:  tortellini.  (She was also allowed to wear whatever she wanted, since it was afterall, her birthday).

Arabelle enjoyed passing out plates with cake to everyone.  She wanted the "bow piece" for herself.

Arabelle put the candles in herself.

I did not get any photos of present-opening (although we did videotape this).  Arabelle got a cool interactive set from Grandma and Grandpa Bailey where you upload a picture of yourself onto a website where it then puts your picture into a story.  You get to print out the story and color it.  Jeffrey even got one too :)

She got a Curious George DVD and ceramic animal mugs set from Memaw and Papa.

Claire brought her a tea set and purse.

Mom and Dad gave her a bright yellow cuckoo clock and a kid karaoke machine.

Rockets, Christmas, and another Doppelganger

Arabelle in her current sleeping arrangement--she insists on sleeping on the bare boards with no mattress. You can see two of her Chrsitmas presents:  her Minnie camera and her Minnie Mouse doll from Uncle Phil.

Jeffrey with his video projector (christmas present from memaw and papa)

"Rockets and Stars"  This easel was a last minute gift for both kids that I grabbed at a thrift store.  They've both actually spent a lot of time on it, they love the white board.

According to Jeffrey, this is a rocket (bottom center) and map of places the map can go.  Destinations include:  the moon, a star, a circle, and a hat.  See if you can match each one.  There are also some equations there that help the rocket get to the moon.

Doppelganger II:

The kids really enjoyed their "Elf on the Shelf" this year.  Jeffrey thought up the name "Elfie" for him, and they had fun looking for him every day and finding him in new locations.  They were sad when Christmas was over and he had to go back to stay with Santa until next year.