School Time

Mentally, August has been hard. I have to prepare two kid's birthday parties and deal with the fact that my kids are another year older. On top of that, this year I had to get used to the idea that Finn is going off to school.
I wanted to label his backpack (still a big Batman fan, you see), so I used the Sizzix that my aunt passed on to me to make a cute laminated label. (It looks a lot cuter without the last name letter blacked out--would you believe that in a class of 10 there are TWO Finns?!)I've never done this whole teacher thing before, but I'm no dummy. I know I need to be on her good side. Therefore, I plan on bearing gifts the first day. Something for the hands, probably lotion or sanitizer. Here's the packaging that I've already made up:

Excitement to freaked out ratio: 50-50

Happy Birthday Princess Kiki!

McKinley's birthday isn't until Tuesday, but we had her Princess party today! I can't believe she's already 2!
Here's the birthday girl: Granny and Stephanie:

The birthday girl, again. Playing with toys:

Some of her many presents:

Snacks:

Cinderella cupcake cake:

Her Grumpa feeding her cake (and, yes, all the kids were dyed green afterward):

Party:

Poor girl got a little overwhelmed midway through the festivities. She needed a little break:

GrandPatty, Kiki and Mommy:

Prince Bubba:

Finn, in a better mood:

As soon as she opened these Cinderella pjs, she had to put them on:

Opening presents:

More presents:

We had such a great time! Kiki definitely got the royal treatment!

Something New

I'd been saving this charm pack (Boutique by Chez Moi for Moda) until after my friend's ultrasound. I love the girly-ness of this fabric, so I thought I would use it for something if she was having a girl. However, she is having another boy, so that gave me a good excuse to go fabric shopping for blue and brown! And it also gave me a good excuse to make a new bag for myself!

I based it off this pattern at Moda Bake Shop, but I added a few things to it as well.

Princess Kiki

In prep for my next big birthday party, I've finally finished Kiki's wall hanging. There really is no feeling like finishing a project!

Super Mario Birthday Party

I haven't been posting much lately because we've been getting ready for Finn's big party! He requested a Mario/Bowser birthday, which is kind of hard to get supplies for, so I got a lot of ideas of the internet. Here's the spread: I painted some styrofoam blocks to look like bricks and I got all the mario figurines off of ebay. We served pizza (italian for Mario), chips and sodas.

Mario-kart figurines for decoration:

I got the sign off ebay as well:

We took white balloons, colored in ghost faces and put paper "wings" to look like Boos (I got the idea here):

Bowser pinata (also from ebay). I thought the kids would like giving Bowser a good whack:

Finn said he wanted to dress like Bowser for the party, but it's nearly impossible to find a costume. So, I made him this Bowser turtle shell out of felt. However, he said it was too scratchy to wear at the party:

He got a hat as well:

For an activity, we made up an obstacle course in the backyard. The kids with the fastest time won a prize (we did an over and under 5 set):

I originally was going to get a cake with a race track and then put the Mario-kart figurines on top, but Finn kept asking for a Bowser cake. I knew that would be hard to find, but I printed out a picture of Bowser, colored it in and took it to the store with me. They said they could imprint the image right on the cake!:

Each kid got a Mario hat and mustache. I made the hats from foam and I bought the mustaches from amazon.com:

Finn opening presents with his sister:

We also had a Yoshi egg hunt that I forgot to take pictures of. I bought some white easter eggs (and mixed in a few colored ones too) from amazon.com and then got a green paint pen and drew spots on them. Then I filled them with candy. In a few, I put a gold star, which meant that you won and extra prize (mushroom keychains I bought off of ebay). I also hid a mini-Goomba in the yard (also from ebay) and whoever found it won a prize too.

Here's Finn hitting the pinata:

Finishing it off:Getting the goodies:After the party, Finn decided to impersonate a Chip N Dale dancer:

Playing with new toys:

And, finally, here's a video of the birthday song:

Modesty Makeover

Upon realizing that my current swimsuit was practically thread-bare in the back (I'm not sure when exactly I bought it, but I do know it's older than my first-born), I decided it was time for a new one. I'm not exactly flush with cash at the moment, so I dug out another suit that I had stashed away. I like it a lot, mostly because I found it at Goodwill for $1 last year (unused with the tags still on!). However, I had always avoided wearing it because I felt the bust dipped a little too low: So, I laid out the old suit:

Snipped off the inside layer:

And sewed it in! Good thing I have an affinity for blue suits. I feel much more comfortable in it. Here's hoping my stitches hold in until I have the funds for a new one! (Maybe I should go browse Goodwill again)