bluebirds of happiness

My friend Rachel (who says she isn't very crafty but is NOT fooling anyone...) knitted this ridiculously cute bluebird and gave it to me at Hazel's birthday party. It is filled with split peas so it has a nice weight to it and sits nicely in my kitchen window.


Yes. Those are Christmas lights on our deck railing. But we have now taken to calling them "party lights" and are embracing their ongoing presence fully.


And- bonus! It looks lovely with the glass Bluebird of Happiness I was given by my friend Shannon at Christmas. Now I have a little reminder of each of them there in my window to greet me every day.

birthday party à la wonderland

I'm late! I'm late! This post should have happened several days ago, but The Sick has been here in addition to plenty of routine craziness, so here they are at long last.

Hazel's birthday party fell on the opening night of the new Alice in Wonderland movie, so naturally she wanted us to take the party to the theater so she could see it with her friends! The kids had the idea to dress up as characters in the movie, and as always, amazed us with their creativity and willingness to have fun and dress up in public!


Even though Hazel had just invited girls (for the sleepover), most of her friends also had little brothers who wanted to attend the movie with us. Some of them even got into the masquerade aspect of it and donned a costume as well. It was so much fun to see them all dressed up!


Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee



The Mad Hatter and Alice



2 White Rabbits!



The March Hare and another Mad Hatter



And one more Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat (OMG! The tail!!)



And of course our beloved (if somewhat unwilling to be photographed) Megan in her fabulous chinese dress. Is she the Red Queen? Or maybe a Dark Alice? I think a little of both.



After pictures it was off to the theater to collect our 3D glasses and find a seat. It is hard to take pictures inside movie theaters without flash (see above). So I waited until the end credits were rolling to snap one of the older girls who had not yet run off (below). Hopefully I did not blind anyone!




They attracted a lot of attention at the theater, just like they like it. And I love that they are willing to do such fun stuff.


I mean, how often do you see a gang of tutu-clad delinquents running around town? You can't help but smile.


The noise level was very high on the way home. VERY high. CRAZY high. But what can you say when the little darlings are belting out a rousing chorus of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat" on the way home from this movie?! Nothing.

Hazel got some very sweet gifts from her friends after we got back home, and then it was time for cake and ice cream. Jason always does such a nice job with the photos while I bring out the cake. One of the only times I am consistently in pictures is at birthday cake time!






Once it started to get good and late, we gathered our supplies for our "tea party", which was Hazel-style all the way. Hot chocolate with all the fancy fixings, just like at Borders. Whipped Cream in a can, chocolate shavings, marshmallows, chocolate and caramel syrup, chocolate sticks and Twix bars. It was so much fun and the girls created some beautifully artful cups of yummy chocolate goodness!




They then proceeded to go crazy with the whipped cream. Like I didn't see that coming. (What's a hot chocolate bar without all the whipped cream you can eat?)














There was lots of dancing late into the night and- surprise, surprise! They managed to end up like this not long after 5 am. Or so I heard tell. I took this photo at 8 am. If you look closely you'll notice the TV was still on, and so were Hazel's glasses. Ouch.




We sent the girls each home with a tiny tea-party charm tied on a ribbon as a keepsake.  An amazing time was had by all! Thank you to all our wonderful friends for making this a party Hazel will never forget.

flashback.4

A very random assortment of old photos.


[tiny toddler feet outside]


[Daisy with an ivy crown]


[YEEE HAAWWW]


[Grace & Hazel milking a very large cow]


[Cold. And UNHAPPY.]


[Sassy Stella]


[Daisy Superior]


[I just love this picture so much.]

flashback.2

A few photos with our friends, India & Grace. This was at the skating rink on January 10, 2008- just a few weeks after we met them. They all look so little! 2 years can make such a difference when you are a kid.

wax lips

We brought a little bit of leftover Halloween joy to Shannon & Michael tonight. You know you're dealing with a seasoned and laid-back mama when she will let you put wax lips on her baby. Hee hee!




And, the picture we forgot to take at the birth (whoops!):

spooooooky

Our second annual Halloween Masquerade was Saturday night and we had a blast! It was a lot of work but the girls and I really got into the decorating this year and now that it is over we just want to share all the details:


The Costumes

We actually got a photo of all of us together this year! Daisy made the coolest skirt from tulle netting, using a pattern we found on Etsy. She added a cute hat and a pair of fishnet tights and had a really cool costume! Hazel came up with her alien costume idea with her 2 best friends, and I made her dress to her specifications. She painted polka dots on her tights and added a wig, glasses, and antennae to complete her look. I couldn't locate my camera when we had the 3 aliens together, so I'll have to snag that photo from Sarah when she gets it uploaded, because they looked GREAT together! Stella wanted to be a Native American and I was able to sew her costume very quickly from one of the easy patterns they put out for Halloween costumes. She had a great pair of hand-me-down boots to complete her look (thanks, Hubbards!!) Jason was sporting the thrifted scrubs we picked up at the Goodwill and looked great as a nurse. The hair net that I had kept from my only hospital birth was the perfect accessory to complete his outfit too! Lyle has had a fascination with Super Why lately, and he was so thrilled that I was able to come up with a costume for him. I got the green shirt and pants on clearance at Target and then added the logo and cape and mask for his transformation into Super Why. He looked so cute! Lastly, I was very excited to find a formal gown at the Goodwill that fit me perfectly, and had a lot of fun wearing it since I never EVER dress like that! I added some pale makeup, gigantic false eyelashes, and a spider web shawl to make it a little bit creepy.

And just look at the fabulous costumes our guests came up with!















The Pumpkins

Daisy did everything for hers this year- the cutting and all, and made our first ever puking pumpkin. :) Lyle's is the "mean" one on the right, Hazel's is he one with the little fang, and Stella designed the big smiley one. We also invite our friends to bring their pumpkins to display during the party, so we have an even larger group out on the porch. They looked great together!



The Decorations
We are starting to accumulate a few more items here and there, and had a lot of fun putting our displays together. More candles than last year, and some branches and dead flowers again, as well as a few new ideas.


Stella helped me make this ghost garland out of freezer paper, and it looks so great on our black walls in the entry way! We also tucked a piece of fabric around the light fixture to give a nice orange glow to the front hall.


A piece of sparkly fabric draped over the mirror made a really nice effect too. Hooray for buying fabric on clearance during the off season for $1 per yard! That really helped me bulk up on draping material this year.










The vase above was something that was in the house when we bought it, only I updated it a bit :) It was all white so I took some acrylic paint to it and made it into a beautifully spooky Halloween vase. I added some silk flowers and I just love it!




And lastly, our mantel was the biggest project and got lots of ooohs and aaahs at the party. Our display of creepy specimen jars:


We scoured the internet for tips and picked up creepy items from dollar stores, craft and toy stores to put these together. We got jars and bottles from the Goodwill, and Jason even scored us some authentic laboratory glassware from work. Water colored with neon food coloring made all the stuff look even creepier, and candles placed behind lit it all up so everyone could see them well.




This is turning into a long post, so I'll just throw in a few photos of the fun quickly so I can get off the computer and start packing all the spooky stuff away until next year. Thank you to all of our friends who helped us celebrate- we had such a great time and can't wait for next year!














More photos at Flickr. Hope you had a Happy Halloween!!

Update: the 3 Crazaliens! Gracie, Hazel, and India. Thanks for the photo, Sarah!