late gifts

I KNOW I promised a menu each week. I didn't post one last week because I had such fun on my girly weekend that things got behind and I never planned a true menu......our little chalkboard only had two meals listed!

And this week......I'm going to the beach. So sorry, friends. I'll bring fabulous menus to you later. Tonight I'm just worried about getting the car packed to leave early enough to enjoy some sun and sand. (It will only be 65 degrees so I won't be swimming) But I don't care. I hear the waves, I see the waves, I read a great book, I drink a great drink, I watch the kids laugh......

Weekly menus be damned.

Crafty will be on top of things for you guys when I return....

sand art

This was such a fun activity to do with my kids. It occupied them for at least 30 minutes and they made something that they can keep on their shelf to display!

You can get colored sand and the tools & containers at any craft store for fairly inexpensive.....especially with coupons and sales! They loved creating the different layers in the fish and triceratops.

I think my neat & tidy husband has no clue about what we do during the day or he would have an anxiety attack! We had a mess EVERYWHERE. My philosophy is if it is creative art you can't worry about making a mess. It really is a good thing that I don't live by myself---I'm pretty certain there would be paint, fabric, and glitter EVERYWHERE.
So I'm go glad I have good helpers! They swept, vacuumed, and scrubbed the kitchen to perfection because they know how their Dad is too. As Zander said, "Daddy is really going to be mad when he sees this mess."

No worries though (just for you, Kara)....the table was soon shining with cleanliness.
And their projects turned out great!!

an adorable tea party

One of my favorite girls in the world, my "niece" Katie, turned 8 this week. I cannot believe it!! I'm glad I got the honor of attending her very special tea party this weekend.

Here are the girls before the party with their dolls.

Being the very sweet and helpful girl she always is....Katie helps the little ones with their jewelry.


Isn't this party a dream come true.......fancy, fancy, fancy!!!

Sue was so creative in her party planning for her little girl. Look at these flowerpots....They are filled with ice cream and oreos (dirt) topped with an artificial rose!
The extremely cute invites and menus....

And the cupcakes. The "roses" are actually fruit roll-ups---I will be stealing some of these ideas when Kaya gets a little older.
Sue also had a wonderful craft table for the girls to go to when they first arrived. Here she is helping one of the guests make a fan for herself and a mini-fan for her doll.
They also decorated tea-cups with paint pens.
And all of the girls looked so fanciful and adorable all dressed up!




When I asked Kaya what her favorite part of the party was she said, "My favorite part was when Katie opened her gift from me and was so happy."

As a mom, that made my heart smile. Sometimes she can show me that she has the kindest soul.

My favorite part was getting hugs from the "little" girls when they got tired and cranky and really had no use for partying anymore!
Camden ran across the room to hug me. I'm not sure if Kaya was up to sharing her mommy though---as you can see---
They finally decided to settle down again and be best friends. Amazingly these two highly energetic girls let me hold them and rock them for almost an hour while Katie and the big girls unwrapped gifts and acted silly. We just sat in the background and watched.





It was a perfect party with perfect friends! Happy Birthday Katie Rose!!! Love, Aunt Korisa

girly weekend

if you wanna stay up late

Once a week my dear husband goes to play in a racquetball at the gym at night. On those nights, Kaya usually goes to bed very easily. Zander does about 30% of the time. Lately, he has it in his head that he can't go to sleep unless Daddy is at home. I don't know why, since he would be in bed and not see him anyway.

So last week he kept getting up. And kept getting up. Usually I just walk him back and say it is bedtime. Go to sleep. Do not get up.

But that night I really wanted to finish cleaning the kitchen. I didn't have time to keep escorting him back to his room. Or time to argue with with him about why it was bedtime.

So I let him stay up late. On one condition---help me clean.

I have to say he is much more thorough at cleaning the floor. Probably because he sits there and wants to get every speck of dirt up. I do it so much that it isn't so exciting for me, I just want to get it done!

He also got a shelf mirror clean in our living room that had looked awful. So bad that we were thinking of replacing it. Now it sparkles!!!

So my agreement with him "If you wanna stay up late, you have to do chores", worked out well for both of us. What chores can I have him do next time?

all about snow

In anticipation of The Blizzard of 2010 here in Georgia, we had some "snow" lessons here at home this week.

The first thing we did was make our own snow inside. To do this you need shaving cream, white paint and a flat cookie sheet or pan. We mixed together the shaving cream and paint (the paint makes it a little thicker that just using the shaving cream) on our sheets. And then we had fun!!

Both of the kids practiced writing the word "snow" in their mixtures. I thought Zan did a pretty good job! And they both know how to spell and recognize the word now!
But they had more fun playing with their animals in the snow!!

The next day we used our magnetic boards to make words. I made cards for them that said snow, ice, cold, and play.
This is an easy activity you could do with your kids anytime. They really enjoy it---Kaya told me it was her favorite part of the day.
And finally the next day we got our actual white stuff. They loved playing in it. Not enough to make a snowman but enough to make footprints----and that seemed to be good enough for these guys!