Ben's birthday and School parties

On Ben's birthday, the girls were so excited to make him some birthday cards. Sorry about Kiersten's chocolate face, I didn't realize she was still a mess from making brownies. 

The girls insisted we set all his gifts up on the counter so he'd see them when he got home from work. 

After dinner, we let him open all of his birthday presents. 

Kara and Kiersten gave him 2 Wii U games. Kara was very concerned, because we don't have a Wii U. So I said, "well, you can play them on the regular wii". And when Ben opened them, he made a big deal about, we can't play these on our wii! they'll have to go back to the store. And of course, I kept blaming Kara, saying that she had told me they could be played on the regular wii. She started to get a little upset, and was denying it like crazy, so I finally had him open his gift from me, which was the Wii u. Kara was really relieved and excited. It was a funny moment.  

Lucky and spoiled birthday boy!

The girls loved helping him blow out his birthday candles. 

Ben had thursday off, so he was able to attend Evie's Christmas party at school. It was pretty cute. All the kids were so excited to have their parents at school. 

Evie got 2 parties at school. Since some of the kids only come one day a week, they did a party each day for the 2 year old class. So Evie got a party on Wednesday and Thursday. 

She was sure excited to see Santa! She ran excitedly to him, and started asking for a princess castle and reminding him that he had been at our house. 

Kiersten's party was only open to a few parents to sign up, so we didn't get to go to hers, but we walked by on our way to Evie's class, and it looked like they were having a pretty fun time. 

Ben is 31 today!!!

As some of you probably already know, I have the bestest husband ever! That makes today a really important day to me. Every year I look forward to Ben's birthday, which ends my month of old lady-hood, as he joins me in my aging. Today he is 31! I think and hope he's enjoyed the past year! I decided to ask the girls what they love about their daddy, and here is what they had to say;
Kara said she loves him because he loves her, he's nice, he goes to work and helps people, he took her to work with him once on the day after Thanksgiving, and he takes her on daddy/daughter dates. 
Kiersten said she loves him because he used to have a car that went really fast, he's kind, he's thankful, he loves her the most, and she loves going with him on daddy/daughter dates. 
I asked Evie why she loves daddy, and she said, "I wuv Mommy!" So after I finally got a yes out of her when I asked if she loved daddy too, I asked her what she loves about him, and she said, " I go with Daddy, and Daddy my fwend, and Daddy pwince!" So make of that what you will :)
I love Ben because he's my best friend, my favorite person to laugh with (or at), he would do anything for the girls and me, he would get out of bed at midnight to cook bacon and eggs for me when I got hungry a few nights ago, he protects us all fiercely, he keeps me calm, sane, and happy. And he has made my life into what I always dreamed it would be. I don't usually have to look things up, when he's around, because he usually just knows. He is honest in pretty much any situation, and has integrity that is astounding to me. He is an amazing example for my girls of the kind of man they should look for one day. 


The girls have been busy making a special birthday treat for Daddy to come home to. 

I wonder what it could be.....

Happy Birthday Benni-boo!

Christmas party

We had a Christmas party at our house on Monday night. The girls helped me get the food ready. Here's Kara finishing up some donut snowmen. 

The dessert bar

We had fun making these Santa cupcakes. We had more cupcakes than strawberries, so some ended up wearing red and white hershey's hugs for their hats. 

The food. Everything turned out so yummy. I was worried about cooking everything, since Ben had to work all day, but everything turned out. And we had Ben's mom, Vicky here helping me, so that was awesome!

We were all surprised when Santa himself showed up at the party!

The naughty/nice detector said that Ben is naughty. Luckily, all the kids were nice, even Kiersten, who ran away upstairs when she saw him, because she was afraid she's been too naughty lately. 

Kara wasn't one bit shy. She kept going back up to sit on his lap, and talk to him more. 

Several of the kids were nervous about him, so he read a story to all of us. most of the kids eventually warmed up to him.

Evie asked Santa for a princess castle. The first thing she said when she walked into the room was, "hey! Santa sitting in Daddy's chair!" she repeated it a couple times, but got over it eventually.

I had to get a picture of this. Poor Kiersten really likes this boy, and he really likes Kara...

We were finally able to convince Kiersten that she wasn't on the naughty list, and she got up the courage to talk to Santa. 

family picture with the big guy!

and one with Grandma. She was lucky enough to get to sit on Santa's lap!

It was a really fun party, and I'm so glad we decided to do it. I'm already thinking of ideas for next year :)

Quick update!

I seem to have NO time these days, but managed to take a few pictures of what we did this week. these chairs have been driving me crazy lately! They used to be in the basement, in a corner, and I didn't care how they looked. but since we moved, we got rid of our old dining set, and have been using this one in the kitchen. so it has made me crazy trying to get the chairs clean. 

So I got this fabric at a great deal at JoAnn's on black friday, to fix them up. I feel so much better now that they are nice and clean looking. I did buy way way too much fabric though. I could probably cover at least 12 more chairs if I wanted to. So I'll have to see if I can come up with another project for the rest of the fabric. 

Sweet Kiersten was jealous of the top I crocheted for Evie. So I had to make her a purple and pink one. Kara wants one too, but I don't know when I'll have time! It will at least be a few weeks.

And finally, after a few weeks of replacing strands, buying more lights, renting ladders, and several times climbing around on the roof, Ben has all the Christmas lights up and working. It looks so fun, but I am already dreading holding the ladder in January and worrying about him up there when we have to take them all down. He is nothing if not dedicated, and I really love the final look!

Ben is picking his mom up from the airport as I type, so we are looking forward to having her here for a few days! and tomorrow we are having a Christmas party, so we are non stop busy right now, as I'm sure is true for most people this month. I'm just trying to make sure I don't forget about anything, especially Ben's birthday next tuesday :0 I noticed that every time I list off all the things we have going on this month to the girls, they have to keep reminding me about that. but I'm sure he won't let me forget.

Star Student

Kara is the star student in her class this week. Today she got to bring in an  "all about me poster". The paper they sent home didn't really have any guidelines, so we just kinda did it how we wanted. She is pretty excited. Tomorrow she gets to bring in her favorite book to read to the class, and on friday, she needs to bring a mystery item that her classmates have to guess what it is. She wanted to bring the remote control, but Ben said no. 

We included lots of out favorite Kara pictures, and wrote a blurb for each one. In the top right corner is a list of her favorite things. She wanted to add this at the last minute, so it was kind of an afterthought. I thought it was weird she said her favorite color is black. 

On the bottom, is a poem I wrote about her. I didn't think we had room to fit it, but she kept talking about another kid's mom having written a poem about him, and she really wanted me to do it. She also wanted it to be funny, so I did my best. "Kara's a really sweet girl. She loves to dance and twirl. She's a really great thinker, but sometimes a stinker... My favorite 6 year old in the world". I know it's kind of lame, but she thought it was funny, so mission accomplished. 

I guess we've been too busy lately, the kids are just conking out on the floor. this was just after dinner a few nights ago. At least she was already in her pajamas. (and tutu...)

Kiersten and Kara went to a 5 hour elves workshop on saturday. They baked cookies, and made gifts for family members. Kiersten was exhausted when we got home. I put her down on the couch, but I guess she must have rolled off. 

Yesterday I wanted Evie to model a bow for my etsy shop, but she said I had to take a picture of her ponies first. She's a funny girl. For weeks she has refused to wear pants, because she wants to be a princess every day. Sometimes I can trick her into wearing leggings if her top is long enough to pass for a short dress, but jeans have been a no-go.  Yesterday out of nowhere, she said, "I not pwicess today, I wear pants, ok?" and of course I was more than happy to oblige.