Charis' Carnival Celebration

We had Charis' party the weekend before her 6th birthday. My friend Melissa, whose twin girls' birthday is a few days before Charis' birthday, asked us to celebrate Charis' big day with them, too, since they always do a big bash (the dad's birthday is the same day as Charis', too).


But before the party, the girls had to have a game of Twister.








Melissa took care of the majority of the planning and preparations for the carnival-style party. I took care of the cakes. All four of them.

Brenna asked for chocolate cake with vanilla icing. The cakes are 1/4 sheets (9x13) and the princesses are color flow.

Alexis wanted chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

Charis wanted strawberry cake with strawberry icing.

Randy's cake was vanilla cake with chocolate icing. We all joked I should have made a princess to go on his, too! (Carol finished up the border on this one for me while I went to do the million things I needed to accomplish!)

At the party there were balloons, a popcorn machine, games ...

And caricature drawings ...

Charis waits patiently as Emily has her caricature drawn.

And face painting ...

Esther went subtle with a flower on the cheek. All the other children did full-face images.

We laughed that Zoë's butterfly looked more like a voodoo mask.

There was a ring toss game ...

And potato sack races ...

Alexis, Charis, Brenna and Autumn prepare for the big race.

Esther "won" the potato sack race for the group of girls who wanted to participate. I say "won" because she got to the line first, but didn't know to cross it!

Can't forget the photo banner!

I think we'll join the circus after the kids go to college.

And cake ... lots and lots of cake ...

Charis, Brenna and Alexis -- all turning 6 -- blow out the candles on their cakes.

Our caricatures:

Charis' caricature.

Esther's picture.

I think Zoë's picture really captured her sassitude.

Mark's parents, Wendell and Carol.

Ours. One of the partygoers said mine makes me look like Felicity Huffman. I guess I have a new doppelgänger for Facebook!

Roller Derby and VBS

Last Saturday we went to a few yard sales and found some skates for Esther and Zoë, and a helmet for Zoë.

Zoë had a hard time with the Little Tike Inline Trainers. Charis does better with these. But Zoë can skate nearly solo with the 4-wheel kind she slips over her shoes.

Esther is doing really well on her skates. They are the adjustable-size kind, and she's at the end of them, but hey, for $3, they'll last her the summer!

Charis was rolling along on a pair of traditional skates a friend gave us.

Tuesday after Mark got home from work he worked with Zoë on riding Charis' two-wheeler. She's doing great without training wheels, except she doesn't know how to stop. And I've noticed her cranking the handlebars to the side when she wants to stop.

Well, apparently she did this when Mark was right behind her, and they both flipped over the bike. Mark banged up his wrist pretty badly, and Zoë jammed her thumb. It wasn't until the next day that we noticed she scratched up her face pretty good, too.

Maybe we'll put the training wheels on until she figures out how to stop!

************************

I love our Colorado sky.

And how much growth my dwarf blue spruce has had already this year!

And I've never seen bumble bees here until this year.

**********************

This week, the girls took part in Vacation Bible School at the church we're now attending. They had a great time at the Saddle Ridge Ranch!

Thursday was "hat day" at VBS, but I made them wear their western hats again so I could get a picture with my good camera (I did get a picture of them on "western day" with my phone).

Friday was "crazy hair day" at VBS. Since I don't have time this weekend to wash out coloring and redo hair (Charis' birthday party is Saturday), we put curled pipe cleaners and put them in the girls' hair.

Friday night was the parents' performance for VBS. Each grade sang a song (or two) that they all learned during the week.

I'm so proud of Zoë! She got up on stage with all the other kindergarteners and performed two songs (after running back and forth on the stage to find a place to stand). And she is NOT the smallest one up there! :)

Zoë (far left) is turned around watching herself on the big screen!

Charis and her friend, Mary, who also had the same K teacher at school (but in the afternoon class).

Charis' class did their number in the aisles since there were too many kids to put on the stage (combined first- and second-grader number).


Then it was Esther's turn with the other third-graders.

Esther did really well with her song and choreography. All the girls really enjoyed VBS and are making more friends at our new church.

Craft Day

Today the girls painted birdhouses, boxes and wooden necklaces (and the table and the floor and themselves) while I finished their French memo boards.


Intensity.


(notice the blue paint on Zoë's lip?)

(Doesn't the pink on Charis' nose accentuate her eyes? Not to mention her lunch under her nose?)

While they were busy, I finished the memo boards. I think the project took me about four-to-five hours -- not counting the time I spent fiddling with my staple gun that wouldn't work, running to Joann's for a new staple gun, the time nursing a smashed finger and endlessly bleeding cuticle, and time to exchange ribbon to appease an indecisive child :)

For the memo boards, I bought cheap plastic-framed cork boards, thin batting and fabric (yes, I used my 50% coupon!). I wrapped the boards with the batting and fabric, and stapled them to the back. I then wrapped the ribbon around the board, stapling on the back.

I then used upholstery tacks on the ribbons. But I was afraid the upholstery tacks weren't going to stay in the cork board (and yes, some of them pushed through the back of the cork board), so I pulled them out and coated the peg with super glue. Hopefully that will help. I taped down the staples and excess fabric on the back of the board with clear duct tape (just to give a smooth surface).

(The picture of Mark, Esther and me was taken June 7, 2007 -- the week we met Esther).

I used the same bright, whimsical fabric for each board, but changed the ribbon for each girl (I bought two rolls of ribbon for each board). I also used some puffy, glittery stickers to further personalize each board.

The picture to the right of Zoë was taken June 7, 2007 -- the day we met her.

Blooming, Blossoming and Bugging

I love my columbine.

And my irises.

And my girls.

And the fuzzy ribbon wrapped around my neighbor's tree?

How cool is that?!?!

And Now for Something Completely Different ...

Esther got her hair cut today. Her very first one. Ever.

She needed it. Her ends were dead and very uneven -- very evident when I braided it. So she lost a good 1 1/2 inches off the length (which will make it interesting when it coils up tight against her head again).

The stylist said the best way to get an even cut is to flat iron it first. She also said the straightened look could last a few weeks if she stays away from water/steam. Yeah. Good luck with that.

It took Stylist Leena 90 minutes to flat iron Esther's hair. She said that if she had her own equipment with her, it wouldn't have taken as long. So next time, we'll give Leena a call when before we come in so she can have her own flat iron.

The cut itself didn't take long at all, and what a difference it made in the look of her hair.

Zoë played stylist with Charis, who had her hair trimmed earlier in the day. We didn't do Zoë's hair today, since I didn't know how long it would take for Esther (two hours).

The trimmed, flattened back.

I put a little curl on the ends when we got home.

Zoë said Esther looks like me now! Heeheeheee

What a difference a different style can make ...