Analyse's 3rd Birthday - Part 1 - Preparations for the party

    As I had shared in THIS posting, the party for Analyse's 3rd birthday was to be in Michigan this year. At first I was going to go with this 'theme', then that one. I had come across lots of wonderful ideas on pinterest. The final decision was made, after we had taken the kids to have their picture taken with the Easter Bunny. Immediately afterwords, we went to Red Robin(R) ("yummm" ;-p) for lunch. As we were departing, the hostess gave Analyse a helium filled balloon.
   To say she was thrilled to have said balloon, wouldn't be a strong enough expression of her enthusiasm. Seriously. She dubbed it "her friend". It became her constant companion until she left for mommy's house a couple of days later. 'Okay then' I thought, 'a balloon themed party it shall be!'  
    This posting then, is about the preparations we did, the things we made, ahead of time, for her Balloon Themed 3rd Birthday Party.

   Part #1 - the invites
    Here is a picture of the supplies used -

                                               June 2012 - #119

    This picture is of how the supplies were used, to make the covers of the invites -

                                               #120

    The inside of the invite, listed details about the party. Directions to the party, were printed on the back. I had used the computer and printer for both of those steps, before doing the fronts.

   Part #2 - the Ribbon Wreath
     I had found the idea for it on pinterest (this pin). The pin had originated off of the blog 'Everyday Celebrating' (THIS particular posting).
    When we got to the 'Dollar Store' they didn't have very many curling ribbon packs in stock. 'Okay then, instead of doing it only in the primary color ribbons like I had seen, we'll change it up a bit. Let's see... it is for Analyse, and she does love the color pink...'. I was also able to pick up the swimming noodle to use as the base, at the Dollar Store. However, they didn't carry the metal pins to hold the ribbons in place, but we were able to get them at Hobby Lobby(R). 
     One of the reasons I wanted to make the wreath, was because I felt it was a project Analyse and I could do together. We did.
     Step #1, was to measure the wreath to the size I wanted. See, Brian and I had recently stopped at Kingma's Market(R). While there, I had spotted the wooden cheese crates they had for sale. 'Those would be perfect for storing wreaths in.' We bought one, for under $2.00!  I need to go back and get another 'one', at least o:-D
     The idea to use a swimming noodle as the base, came from this pin. Which had originated from the blog, 'The Art of Doing Stuff' (THIS particular posting).

                                               #217

    Step #2, was to tape the noodle to form a wreath.

                                               #219

    While I was getting the ribbons free of the cardboard they came on (something I highly recommend doing ahead of time, like when the kids are napping), Analyse decided to try the wreath on for size.

                                                    #221
     Silly girl.

                                                    #222
     A look at the various ribbons used.

                                                 #227     
     I put the pins in, she pushed them down.

                                                #230,

                                                 231
and

                                                  232

    The finished wreath.

                                                #247,

                                               248

   Part #3 - the Balloon Wreath
      This one too, was an idea I had found on pinterest (this pin). The pin had originated off of the blog 'The Creative Homemaker' (THIS particular posting). I had ended up needing to pick up the large packages of the balloons at both stores too, due to low supplies were at the first. I used less than half of the amount of balloons the original blogger had used, and about 3/4ths of the swimming noodle.
      Step #1, was to separate the balloons. Having learned my lesson while making the ribbon wreath, I did the first couple of steps during nap time! (:->)

                                                          #250
    Step #2, was to set the balloons up in the order I wanted to use them. (in other words, making sure I'd get a good combination of the colors, without loosing track of what I'd used last, and without having to dig through the bag to look for the color I wanted.) Turned out to be a good plan! 

                                                      #251

    This is a close up of the baggies of balloons.

                                                        #252    Step #3, was to prepare the swimming noodle.

                                                       #254

                                                   255

     I had also thought that sitting the balloons up the way I had, would help teach Analsye working in patterns, working her way down the row, handing me one from each container in progression. Turned out that was still a bit too deep for her to grasp yet. No big deal! Just had to change where I sat.  
     Step #4, Analyse handing me a balloon.

                                                      #258

     Step #5, Align the balloon and start the pin into the swimming noodle. Analyse would then push it the rest of the way in.

                                                        #262,

                                                       272,

                                                      261

    One small section/area done.

                                                 #264,

                                                    265

    Finished.
     From the front -

                                                    #274

    hanging on the front door, where she constantly admired her "pretty decoration!" :-D

                                                      276

  Part #4 - Jelly Bean Bracelet's
      While we didn't want to do large sized "goodie bags" or some such for our guests, I did want to do 'something'. I wanted to have a little something that Analyse couple personally give to her guests, as though she was giving them a present. I had a bag of Brach's(TM) Tiny Jelly Bird Eggs left from Easter, and the idea I had seen for making bracelets out of them kept coming to mind. I figured it would be a simple little project to tackle.
     I couldn't find my original pin for this idea, so I searched for and found said pin. You can see it here. The pin had originated off of the blog ''My Kids Make.. And Yours Can Too' (THIS particular posting).
     Here is a picture of the supplies I used.

                                                   #298

    I had picked up a spool of stretchy thread at Wal-Mart(R). While it worked great in aiding the bracelets onto adult sized arms, it didn't like to stay tied in tight knots. A couple of drops of Super Glue(R) directly on the knot itself worked wonders! :->
    And getting the needle to actually go through the jelly beans, took a bit of trickery and effort! I used a wet wipe to clean the needle off between jelly beans. And I chose to only put a few jelly beans on each individual bracelet.
     Wrapped the finished bracelets in a small piece of tin foil. Taped them closed. At the party I walked Analyse around the group, having her hand them out. She seemed to really enjoy doing so!
     She had passed them out before opening her own gifts. Here she is still wearing hers while opening gifts.

                                                 #435

   Part #5 - Balloon Paddle Ball
      I wanted some type of a game that EVERY-body could participate in. But what kind can you do, besides board games, that both great grand parents as well as three year old's will enjoy playing? I found just such an activity. Yup, yet another wonderful pinterest idea :->. (THIS pin). I can't give credit beyond that, because when I click on the picture itself, a warning comes up, saying that it's trying to redirect me to a site which might have inappropriate contents..... . I choose to go back to pinterest!      
    I used Elmer's(R) glue to attach the wooden paddles onto the cardboard backed paper plates. But it wasn't taking real good. So I pulled out my roll of pink duct tape and applied some of it to each paddle. The next morning, after being allowed to dry overnight, they were connected but good! :->

                                                   #300

    The last "ahead of time preparation" which had to be done, was the cupcakes. I made the cupcakes themselves using the same Chocolate Cake Recipe that I had used for her birthday cupcakes the previous two years. You can find the recipe for both the cake and the chocolate frosting HERE. The 'Balloons' are M+M's(R), laying upside down. And I cheated and used gel tube frosting for their strings.

                                             #301
     This concludes part 1 of Analyse's 3rd Birthday - Preparations for the party.
     Coming soon in a posting on this site -
     part 2 - Decorations at the party
     part 3 - Fun at the party

   { As always, you can see any of the pictures larger by clicking on them }

We seem to have become the 'partying' type -

    For the past month now, we've been 'partying' every weekend.
    But the 'partying' actually started back on April 28th, when our nephew James married his Lauran.

            June 2012 # 047 - (sorry it's a little blurry)

     Dear Boo had passed on May 5th. A short time later, Brent and Kayla adopted "Brain". A cute little puppy who was so fun to watch interact with Elliot!!! Brent named him "Brain", so that when people asked if he had a brain, he could answer 'yes'. :-p!   They had been told by the rescue place they adopted him from, that all of the little bumps on his head were 'puppy acne'. But it kept spreading, over more and more of his body. And the different vet's they called and asked advice from, never once mentioned the possibility of it being mange. Which is what the humane society diagnosed it as, when they took him there. The humane society also wouldn't let them keep the puppy, declaring 'animal cruelty', even though they had been doing ALL of the treatments that the other places had recommended they do. I had so-o been looking forward to Elliot and Brain growing up together...

               June 2012 - #084

    On May 20th, the partying started up again, when Byron picked the kids back up. Within five minutes of them being here, we headed to the pond.

           A. -  #106   (Grammy has since purchased a larger sized swim suit for our growing girl :-D)

           E. -  #110

    Sadly, two hours later when was Brian injured his Achilles Tendon. He is progressing well. He'd like to be "all better" right now. Then again, he gets to stay at home in front of a fan instead of being at work in this heat.

         #249

    On May 27th, we attended the 80th birthday party for (our legal) Aunt Billie. Here is a picture of her with Grandpa "Honey" at James and Lauran's wedding.

         #033

    June 10th, Cyndi and her family came to MI, to do their own little birthday party for Analyse. Different things we did while waiting for them to arrive -

           #125 headed to the swings with Uncle Benson

        #128 playing with Poppa

        #132 tossing stones into the creek

        #138 learned to fly a kite

     After they arrived, we ate. Then Analyse went swimming with her daddy, mommy and aunts and uncles.

        #139 - Cyndi and Analyse. Grammy hadn't yet got a new suit and the old one was now too small.

        #146 - Auntie's Kayla and Emma

       #147 - Auntie Emma's Steve and Uncle Brent

       #144 Uncle "Bubba"
     While they swam, Elliot took a nap.

       #158
     After swimming, Auntie Jammie said it was cake and presents time.

    

        #161

     Elliot liked the brownie cake too!

           #177

     The party we gave for Analyse, was on Saturday June 16th. I'm going to be doing a whole posting about it later. So for now, I'll just share but one picture. It's of Analyse and Byron during gift opening time.

     #442

     Saturday June 23rd, we helped do the graduation open house for our neighbor Erin.

     June 30th our niece Jenelle married Simon.

       2011 - 06 - 24 - random pictures        (This picture was copied off of Simon's mom's facebook pictures. THANKS Ranita ;->

      I took this picture while we were waiting for other pictures to be taken. I found the shot irresistible ;->.

       June 2012 - #536

   
    This past Friday (July 6th), we helped do the reception for Crystal's wedding. It was 107 degrees. 'Helped' as in, grilling chicken and vegetables and working in a small kitchen baking lasagna, heating sauce for the chicken, etc., then running in and out to keep the buffet filled, etc.. We couldn't keep pouring the water in us, as fast as it was sweating off of us. Right out loud we thanked God when he did send a small breeze our way.
     Sorry, no pictures to share, at least yet. Might need to 'borrow' some from Crystal after she puts them on Facebook. It was a BEAUTIFUL outdoor wedding ceremony (wooden folding chairs out under the trees, facing a custom built arbor), with a custom built (by her father-in-law) greenhouse styled dining tent. Then dancing inside the beautiful wood lodge. Dreamy!

    Next weekend is Elliot's first birthday party. :-D

    After that?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Geesh!

   As we have the last couple of years, we got together with our neighbors, Chris and Amy and family, for dinner and fireworks last night. I had said that I would bring dinner this time, but it was at their house seeings how they have central air!
   Sunday afternoon, as Byron started up his van so we could head home from Grandpa 'Honey's' house, the noise his van made, went from "we better look into that", to "pop the hood and let's see if it's even safe to drive this thing home". It was, but it was decided it should be parked upon arrival. Something to do with the fan belt connected to the non working air conditioning unit.
    Tuesday evening, Brent and Byron got together to replace said belt. The idea had been, that once they were done, Byron was going to drive us out for dinner, where we could sit in air conditioning for awhile. A few hours later, I called them. Just the sound of their voices told me things were not going well. It was a few more hours later before Byron came in to clean up and head to work and Brent headed home. There went the idea of Byron taking me grocery shopping early the next morning.
    I already had a lunch date scheduled with Joanna. We didn't linger as long over lunch, but instead headed to the grocery store. (Thanks again Joanna!)
    I still got the menu I had planned on, due to now having a hunger for it. The menu was going to be Country Style Boneless Ribs, slow cooked in a crock-pot with BBQ sauce. My Pasta Salad (made with corkscrew noodles, broccoli, red pepper, colby jack cheese, miracle whip, ranch dressing and milk). And chocolate ice cream pie for dessert. Simple, but yummy.
     I put the noodles on to boil, mixed up my own BBQ sauce, and started to put the country style ribs in the crock-pot. Thing was, I guess I hadn't fully read their package label. While it did say "Country Style", and it was "pork ribs", they weren't the boneless variety. Instead, they were shoulder cut styled. That meant they didn't curve around in my round crock-pot the same. Bother!  Thankfully, the Lord intervened on my behalf and Byron came through the back door and offered to cut the meat into chunks for me, thus removing the bones. (Thanks again Byron!!)
    Got all of the cut up meat into the crock-pot, poured my sauce over it, used my hands to make sure it was mixed together good, plugged it in and went to work on the salad, then the dessert.
    Part way through, Brian came hobbling via one crutch in to the kitchen, pulling a fan behind him, which he plugged in and turned my direction. "That feels amazing! I've looked up at the ceiling fan several times, questioning whether or not it was really working." (Thanks again Brian!!)
   At six o' five, I checked the temp. of the meat. It was up to 105o. We decided to wander on over and just come back to get the food later. We knew that they wouldn't mind waiting a bit. I figured another hour to hour and a half and the meat would surpass 160o. It wouldn't be falling apart tender like it would have been if I'd been able to get it started first thing in the morning, but it should still be juicy and good.
   Their daughters and I came back at seven thirty to get everything. The meat thermometer now read 110o. "What?!?" "Maybe it needs recalibrated." But I couldn't find the other ones. "We'll just take everything over and recheck it with your dad's thermometer." It too read 110o. "Really?!?" I guess that 'new to me' crock-pot I had picked up at a mission store only heated to that temp. Bother!  It will work great for nacho or cheese dips, etc., just not for cooking meat in! (Yes, I'm marking the crock-pot, seeings how I have two identical ones).
   Chris suggested we put half of the meat into a baking pan and in to their oven for a half hour. It worked!  It was just by then we were all r-ea-l-l-y hungry. As soon as we pulled the first pan full out of the oven, we put the rest of the meat in in a different pan. So-o glad they had central air!
    While only half of everybody liked the pasta salad, everybody loved the meat (re-leaf!), as well as the dessert.
    Ya know, I had a bowl full of that salad about a hour and a half ago... I think it's now time for dessert! o:-D

    [ Why do I cook the ribs in the crock-pot instead of grilling them? Because they turn out ever so falling apart on your plate tender, you don't have to try and gnaw them off the bones, and you don't have to sweat in 90 plus temps over a grill. ]

'How hot was it?'

   I have always talked about how hot it was the year our Brent was born. "I never did figure out which was worse, being so huge and hot / miserable while pregnant in that heat, or trying to comfort and nurse a newborn, who was miserable in that heat." 
    I've talked about it sometimes since then, when others were bemoaning how hot of a summer it currently was. I always insisted that the summer Brent was born, it was even hotter.  Often it resulted in rolled eyes from others.
    Last night during our local news, the weatherman said that he hadn't predicted this high of heats, since the summer of __ . The year he mentioned, was the year Brent was born! :-D
    Brent was born on July 1st. Thankfully, that year the days fell so that Brian brought us home from the hospital, at the beginning of a three day weekend for him. Brent attended his first fireworks that weekend. Brian found an empty lot, sort of close to down town and we joined a few strangers whom also had brought along folding chairs and blankets. It wasn't crowded. We had amazing views of the fireworks. We felt the slight evening breeze that night. And to a one, everyone on that lot declared we'd stumbled upon the best spot in the city for fireworks watching!! (By two years later, it was no longer an empty lot :-[ )
    I mentioned being thankful that our arrival home from the hospital, coincided with a three day weekend for Brian. Brent (obviously) was a newborn. Brandon is fifteen (15) months older than Brent. Benson is two and a half (2 1/2) years older than Brandon. Byron is twenty two (22) months older than Benson. It was a record breaking heat filled, ever so busy, summer!!!

Missing them -

    I recently posted the following, as my 'status update' on Facebook - "Missing watching Elliot fall asleep in my arms and hearing Analyse sing some of the songs with me, while I rock them to sleep at night. Missing his oh so excited to see me in the morning grins. Eating my dry Cheerios by myself is boring. And my ears still wait for the "Gammy I awake" call sounding down the staircase. I'm glad their mother (Cyndi) loves them too, but I miss them so-o much when they aren't here ..."

   The missing them has increased. And then late last night I downloaded all of the pictures off of our camera onto our computer. After looking through what all had been on there, I came to two conclusions. Number on,e was that I often look a lot heavier than I think I do. Good thing I've already begun the dropping weight process! Number two, was reconfirmation that I truly have been blessed with adorable grandchildren (whom I'm missing even more now).

    My friend Maxine says that she really misses all of the tales I use to share about them. She also reminded me that part of the reason I was sharing them, was so I could print them off and put them in the kids books, to go over with them when they are much older.
    Here then are a couple of silly tales from the last couple of times the kids were here, mixed in with some pictures of my precious grand kids.

                                    June 2012 #178
     a picture of the two of them - Analyse had just turned three, Elliot was eleven months.

    One evening I had gone upstairs to get something.. don't remember 'what' and that part doesn't matter.  On my way back down, as I tried to step over the expandable wooden gate at the bottom of the staircase, the cuff of my pajama pants got caught on the metal bracket of the gate. Bother! I tried sort of yanking my leg a bit. The situation got worse. And oh did my vertigo step in. So I stood there on one leg, clutching my bundle of stuff, leaning against the end post, calling "Help!". Brian asked what was wrong. I think it was Benson who had gotten up and started towards me. As I start to answer, Miss Analyse pipes up with "What is your problem" in a very accusational tone of voice. At first i was blown away. Then it cracked me up and I started laughing so hard it affected my balance worse. So I repeated the "Come help me". Analyse walked over to where a couple of our sons were now attempting to take my bundle from me, hold me steady, get my pant leg unstuck, put her hands on those cute little hips and repeated (with even more accusation in her voice) "WHAT is your problem?!?!"
     We were all laughing ever so hard as Brian stated "She's definitely heard that someplace before."
    Once I had been completely free and assisted to a chair to regain my balance, she kept inquiring if I was okay.

                               June 2012 #236

    One morning, knowing that Byron had worked till after 2 am, I had gotten up with Mr. Elliot when I heard him around seven. For whatever reason, my brain was really fuzzy that morning. I brought him down stairs, changed his very wet diaper and left him playing with a couple of toys ever so contently in front of a couch while I headed into the bathroom. I kept expecting to hear his giggling accompanied thunder crawl across the kitchen floor, seeings how I had not closed the gate between the dining room and kitchen. But he didn't come. Fine, I thought.
    But when I reentered the living room, he wasn't in there either. Hummm.... then I heard his happy giggle. turned out that I hadn't thought to put the gate up at the bottom of the staircase, and he had crawled all the way up to the landing, where he was happily looking out the open window and pounding on the screen.
    As I headed up to retrieve him, I thanked the Lord that he'd kept Elliot from falling down as he climbed up!
    From then on, the majority of the times that I headed up to rock them to sleep, I let Elliot crawl up ahead of me. Not sure who was more excited that he could do so, Elliot or Analyse. She was so proud of her little brothers accomplishment!

                              June 2012 # 356