From One Simon To Another

Simon was named after one of our best friends from college. Simon Elmore was/is quite a character. He was hilarious and silly and so much fun, but he was also extremely smart and hard working and talented. Perfect combination. He and his wife Amy, although we haven't seen them in years and don't talk very often, are considered among our dearest friends.

Today in the mail, this arrived from them. Very sweet, I thought. A Simon name plaque with hangers. Cute, lovely, so thoughtful of them. Then I turned it over and found this note attached (click to enlarge):

Of course, much emotional Mama bawling ensued. What a wonderful gift. I feel so blessed to have such amazing people in my/our life. It's wonderful to have a legacy of awesomeness, if you will, for my little guy. Thank you, Elmores. I know we'll always treasure it.

We had Simon's birthday bash last night because it's supposed to rain like crazy this afternoon (it had better!) :). Pictures to come of that and of my little big guy...

Happy First Birthday To Simon

I interrupt this blogging break to wish my baby boy a happy birthday! I can hardly believe Simon is 1. I don't think I could ever adequately express how special this guy is. He is the baby that changed me into a "real" Mom. I have enjoyed every moment, even the tough ones, of his babyhood. And somehow, because of him, I have enjoyed my "big" sweet kids so much more, too. He most definitely feels like he just belongs with us.

Today I am grateful for him, for his sweet and independent nature, for his funny personality and infectious laugh. I'm grateful for his patience, with me, with siblings that want to smother him...with it all. I'm grateful for his snuggles and smooches. He's such a blessing.

I am so grateful to be a mother. I never knew it would be this good.

Happy birthday, Simon! We all love you SO very much.

BRB

The ol' blog seems to have been relegated to back burner status as I try to get through the rest of October. I'm sure I'll be popping by with pumpkin patch and/or 1st birthday pics...eventually. See you real soon!

Day Out With Thomas

Last week was the much-anticipated trip to Day Out With Thomas. It definitely exceeded our expectations. The kids had SO much fun.

You should have heard Mason squeal when he first saw "the real" Thomas. He was SO excited. It was adorable.

Because I'm too lazy to scan it, here's a picture of the picture we bought. Because it's a major family moment. We had to buy the picture.

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Although the train ride ended up being "a little bit boring", and both big kids were majorly in need of the potty the entire time, it was definitely an important part of the overall experience.

Me & my girl.

Giddy! I've never seen this guy so excited!

I love Maya because even if it's not "her thing", she always manages to get excited about whatever we're doing. She was definitely the most enthusiastic 6 year old girl at Day Out With Thomas.

He squealed big time for Sir Topham Hatt, too.

Which "embarrassed" Maya "so much!". "He laughed right in his face! How embarrassing!"

Maya kept it real with the director of the Narrow Gauge Railway. No laughing in his face, no sir.

Maya of course volunteered to help out the magician, "The Phat Clown". She laid an egg. She was pretty stoked about it. As she should be.

We made the rounds...giant slide, petting zoo, hay bale "amaze", Thomas Legos, Wooden Thomas, "glass" (plastic) Thomas, tattoos, coloring, stamping, and of course, THE STORE. All told, it was a really fun event. Cheap, no. But really fun.

This guy, with his squealing and squeaking and major enthusiasm made it all worth while.

And this guy, of course, was an amazing good sport. Daddy was behind the camera, but he had a blast, too.

Serious fun times! These are my favorite sorts of memories with my little fam'!

Things I Want Week: Anthropologie

{Bouquet of Roses Heels - Clustered Camellia Tee}

Things I Want Week: Boden

{Rainbow Coat - Portobello Jacket}

Littlest Party Guest

My plan was to have Simon nap during the party, but that was just plain silly of me, wasn't it? This kid loooooves to party and couldn't bear to be in his room while we were all having so much fun.

He even found a fan and some lipstick to call his own!

Seriously, Mom? Nap while I could be partying?!

I'm sure you're all partied out, as am I, so I thank you for your patience and indulgence. I definitely recommend the fancy tea party. It was one of my favorite themes yet, right up there with Hello Kitty Luau. Good times!

I'll Take Care Of Those Leftovers For Ya...

Mason proves himself once again to be Really Useful when he finishes off the birthday cake.

And he does it with such gusto! He's definitely my kid, bless him!

Flower Crowns

Instead of party hats, I decided to make flower crowns for the girls. I will admit - they are slightly a little bit of a pain to make. Not difficult, just a little tedious. I did them while I watched TV, not a biggie.

All you do is make a circle with floral wire and attach flowers using floral tape.

The girls seemed to like their fancy crowns!

Fancy Fans

I usually like to have at least a small craft project going on at birthday parties. It gives the girls something to do if there's a lull, plus all kids just love to make stuff.

Being that I'm not a super crafty girl, I like to keep it pretty simple. For the tea party, we did decorate your own fans, which I bought from Oriental Trading. I labeled each fan with the girls' names, set out some markers, and that was pretty much it.

Easy peasy, and the girls seemed to enjoy it!

What's A Party Without Cake + Gifts?

This was my first attempt at making my own cake. I've did my own cupcakes last year, but this is my first "real" cake. It's not too shabby as long as you don't look too close! :)

The girls loved it, though. I will admit to being slightly delighted at their awestruck reaction. Little girls are pretty awesome.

Tea set up top and tea cups alla round. Remedial piping. Uneven layers. Like I said, not too shabby!

I guess it's pretty much par for the course that Maya started asking to open her gifts about 5 seconds after the party started! She was very gracious this year, full of enthusiasm for all of the fabulous gifts she received. The trend in birthday gifts seems to be "project" gifts. Paint your own bobblehead dogs. Design your own messenger bag. Write your own fairy tale book. Make your own scrapbook. Paint your own jewelry box. Etc. etc. Which is all riiiiight up Maya's alley and she's already been going nuts with it all. Such fun!

The China Shop

We gathered up all the girls at the party and played a rousing game of "Pass the Teapot" (Hot Potato-ish...but the opposite, I guess) to the jazziest version of "I'm A Little Teapot" you ever did hear. If the music stopped and you were left holding the teapot, you got your ticket to visit the....

China Shop! Here you picked out your favorite cup + saucer, for use at the party AND to take home and treasure forever and ever, I'm sure.

This is the fruit of my labor...millions and millions of trips to Goodwill and Savers. I got rather addicted, because I found some amazing toys almost every time I went. There's a bit of a rush associated with a good thrift store find. Perfect condition stack of classic Little Golden Books (some never opened)! Practically new bristle blocks, just like the ones we have! Eeboo lacing cards for 69 cents! Yep, I'm addicted, I tell ya.

Here's a few more shots of the tea cups...

Chris actually took individual shots of each tea cup...AND individual shots of each girl with their tea cup...

...but I won't torture you with those photos.

After the tea party, my saintly helpers washed all the tea cups, added the favors inside (ring pop, lip gloss and candy necklace) and wrapped them up in cellophane for the girls to take home.