Tangled

Sydney loves the latest Disney movie, Tangled. She talks constantly about drawing the floating lanterns on the wall just like Rapunzel does. A while back we painted easel paper blue for the night sky and were going to paint yellow lanterns on it, but when the blue paint dried, it cracked the paper so much we had to throw it away. This time I put clean easel paper on her wall in her bedroom and then put a star border around the paper. Sydney used crayons this time to draw Rapunzel, her loooong hair, lanterns, fireworks, etc. She had a blast doing it!

Painting at the Easel

Today I drew a large egg on easel paper for Sydney and Maddie to paint. They each had a turn to paint their own egg. This was Maddie's first time painting at the easel, we usually paint at the dining table, and she LOVED it. After she was done painting I helped her wash her hands. When I took her picture into the kitchen to dry she went back to the easel and started painting the board! I quickly put a sheet of white paper and let her have at it. I didn't think I could leave her to get the camera but I'm so glad I did!!

Sydney's is left, Maddie's is right

Maddie and her "phone"

I have a $3 calculator from Staples that Maddie has adopted as her personal cell phone. Here is a video of her chatting away...

Valentine's Day Party

Sydney, Maddie and I hosted a Valentine's Day party at our house. Sydney was really excited to have her friends over! She picked her outfit and helped with decorations and goody bags. I had a small Valentine craft for the kids (paper hearts that they decorated with stickers and markers). As the kids arrived, Sydney invited her friends to the dining table to make Valentines with her.
For lunch I made Tomato-Basil Pizza Squares, Butternut Squash Soup, Macaroni and Cheese, Heart Shaped Rice Krispies Treats (for the goody bags) and bought chocolate and strawberry ice cream cups. It was a potluck so we also had veggies, cornbread, cupcakes, brownies and more to enjoy. We had eight families attend so needless to say it was quite an exciting party! It was great to spend time with my friends and Sydney had a blast with her friends as well!!

 Rice Krispies Hearts - very easy to make!

Kyle, TJ and Colton

 Mark enjoying lunch :)

Sydney having a great time at her party!!

 She had quite a busy day!!

Birthday Party and Baby Shower

Sydney's friend, Cason, turned four years old today and had a Star Wars themed party at the Community Center on base. The party was a blast. The kids made their own personal pizzas and then decorated cupcakes with icing and sprinkles. Then the kids played "Pin the Light Saber on Yoda" and hit a homemade Death Star pinata for the goodies inside it. Weston and Melony made the pinata and it looked amazing. It took just enough hits that the last child broke it. Inside was one goody bag per child. The kids had so much fun and it was so great to see Melony, Weston, Frasher and Cason!

 The kids eating their pizzas. Sydney is on the left and Cason is next to her on the right.

Yum!!

Sydney pinning her light saber on Yoda...she missed the picture a bit, but good try!!

Hitting the Pinata.

Goody bags.

Great Party!! Happy Birthday Cason!!

In the afternoon we were also invited to a baby shower/family potluck for the Hoffman family who are expecting a baby boy in March. This is their third boy of three and they are very excited!! Here is a video of TJ, Kyle and Sydney playing the game Elefun in the playroom. It was great having the baby shower as a potluck. No baby games, just great food and great friends!!

More Snow...

 Pics from today's snowfall, about another 5-8 inches...

Sydney on top of our 7 foot high snow hill. She is next to the top of our tree. We are seriously running out of places to put it all.

Maddie is still not sure about all of this cold, white stuff. She is getting better at moving around in her snow gear, so I let her hang around in the garage while I shoveled the driveway.

Stuck in the snow :)

Maddie looking at Sydney on the snow hill.

 Ready to head in for some hot cocoa :)

Playing with Snow

Sydney and Maddie are playing with snow in a plastic bin. I hid toys inside and sprinkled red cupcake sprinkles on top to make it pink. They sat and played for a long time!