One Creative Dad

I came down for breakfast the other day and this is what Tia's hair looked like. Yes, that is a bag clip!

Snow in Tokyo

It FINALLY snowed this week in Tokyo, Japan...and it was just enough to make this little guy...

Can you tell how excited the kids are for snow. It's been a fun week!

A NEW hairdo

I actually do my hair now and not just pull it in a ponytail...however, I CAN still get it in a ponytail :) I'm loving it!

Post Office Fun

Last month my friends and I were complaining about not receiving any packages that we'd ordered or that family had sent. We were having a lot of fun complaining about how the post office wasn't getting them to us until my friend Alisha had an idea..."hey, why don't we go help out instead of just complaining about it"...what?! Why should we do that....complaining about it is way more fun!

Well, Alisha called the post office and set up a time for us to go and volunteer. Serious! So off we went on a Saturday morning.

Alisha & I had to empty packages out of the yellow bags on the left and stack them like Legos on the palette. It was fun seeing how high we could get them.

John & Mikal Davids, post office guy, Jeanne, Salinda, Alisha, another post office guy & me in front.

We then had to stack the boxes on the shelves behind us. It was like playing TETRIS. Everything had to fit perfectly. I learned that the Post Office is very organized. I was very impressed!

Let me tell you...volunteering at the post office was a BLAST!!! We had SOOOOOO much fun! Even the people that worked there kept looking at us funny and at one point said..."you guys are having way too much fun"....."most people are volun-told to be here...and you guys actually came on your own."

Needless to say I did not find any packages for my family, but I did see many of my friend's mail and maybe I wrote little notes on each of them :) We will definitely do this again next year! Till next time Post Office friends!

I've waited 3 years for this...

3 years ago my girlfriends and I went out and had pedicures (California girls-do you remember that fun night?). It was a blast sitting and relaxing with each other while being pampered! That night I remember talking about the day our baby girls would be old enough to get pedicures with us. I've patiently waited for Tia to grow up enough so she would be able to sit (for more than 5 minutes) and enjoy a pedicure.

So, in December Tia and I had pedicures for the 1st time together. It was so fun! She absolutely LOVED it! She kept saying..."mom, I whiwee yuv pedikurs". The Japanese ladies in the salon had so much fun with her. They had to stuff a bunch of pillows behind her back & take the cushion out underneath her so her feet could touch the water. They brought her suckers and took tons of pictures of her. Tia sat for an entire hour and loved it! I forgot my camera that day, but a nice lady in the salon said I needed to have a picture of our first pedicure together so she took this and emailed it to me. I'm so glad she did.

Tia had to have BOTH of her favorite colors (she couldn't pick only one), so here are her pink & purple sparkly toe nails.

Tia, thanks for being such a fun little girl to hang out with. I love you so much!

Another Dance Performance

Tia had her 2nd dance performance (back in December) and her teacher said they could dress up for it. I'm too cheap to go out and buy her an outfit so I let her pick out some clothes from the dress up box.

She picked out the BIGGEST and FLUFFIEST things she could find. She was so excited! Thanks Aunt Tera and Grandma for these fun dress up clothes!

Tia's FAVORITE stuffed animal "giraffe".

Ohhhh we love this little girl!

Jayden's STAR WARS Birthday

Jayden turned 5 in December!

(yes, I'm still playing catch-up on my blog)

EVERY little boy needs to have a Star Wars party...right? Jayden has wanted one for months! Sometimes at night I'll sneak in and peak on Shane reading Jayden bedtime stories and that's NOT at all what they are doing....I'll find them sitting on the bed with Shane's laptop watching Star Wars movies in the dark...WHAT!?! In Shane's defense...they DO read books also. I've NEVER been a huge fan of Star Wars, but Shane obviously is and we knew (actually Grandma Atkin knew) that Jayden would be SO EXCITED to have a Star Wars party.

ALL of our ideas were inspired by these 2 websites (THANK YOU people who share ideas & make others lives easier!):

Tip Junkie

Make and Takes

THE INVITATION:

THE FUN:

My parents came to visit in October and found out how much Jayden loves Star Wars. A couple weeks later Grandma Atkin sent me a surprise package with STAR WARS cookie cutters, lunch box, sandwich cutters, and party supplies. What would I do without my mom??? She made this party happen! Thanks mom!!!

Shane and I bought Jayden this backpack to go with all the fun stuff my mom sent.

He also received some cool Star Wars Legos and outer space toys from Grandma Andrews. I am still so amazed how both Grandmas always know what makes these little kids excited! Thanks Grandma Andrews!

We made Star Wars Ice Cream Sandwiches for Jayden's Pre-School (I forgot to take a picture at the end...ooops). Super cool idea Grandma!

Of course I had to make him a shirt for the big day (I love making shirts). I learned how to make a stencil and paint it on a shirt from I am Momma Hear Me Roar. He was so excited! I think he wears it every other day :)

THE PARTY

Meet our Jedi Knights:

Jayden

Jonah

Noah

Connor

Gio Gio

Tyler

Sol

And here is Princess Leia:

She needed a little help with the light saber from Jedi Master Daddy :)

Tia

What cute little Jedi's!

Ready to PARTY!!!

Shane was in charge of all the games for the party. I gave him a bunch of websites and said good luck. He did awesome! Check them out below...

Game 1:

Pass the Light Saber

Skill: speed & handling ability

Whoever was holding the light sabers when the music stopped were able to practice their light saber skills in the middle of the circle. We definitely had to have rules on this one...the kids were really excited to clobber each other with the light sabers. Luckily no one got hurt :)

GAME 2:

YODA SAYS

Skill: listening

Game 3:

SAVE PRINCESS LEIA

Skill: speed & rescue ability

We timed how long it would take the kids to save Princess Leia (pop her out of a balloon).

Only 12 seconds!

Game 4:

SPECIAL GUEST & ASTROID ATTACK

Skill: throwing

We had a "Special Guest" show up to help the kids practice their "throwing" skills.

Here are the kids when the guest arrived...

What's a Star Wars party without Darth Vader?!

We went out back and the kids "attacked" Darth Vader with Astroids (mini chocolate cup cakes).

It looks like the young Jedi's won!

Shane...you are AWESOME! The games were a BLAST!

DINNER:

Thanks mom for all the plates and napkins!

We had a fun dinner, but I only took 1 picture...bummer!

Here's what we had...

Darth Vader, Yoda, & Storm Trooper Jello Jigglers

Pizza Planets

My friend Alisha makes these fabulous Pizza Rolls (this picture was taken a couple of months ago). The kids loved them!

Yoda Sodas

I found this fun drink & picture at Makeandtakes.com

We also had:

- Light Saber Carrots

- Purple Astroids (grapes)

THE LIGHT SABER CAKE:

We all had a great time! And, best of all...no one was injured :)!

THANK YOU CARDS:

Jayden helped me write his THANK YOU cards this year...it was great and so much better than I would have done! He even drew pictures of each of their gifts.

A Few Fun Facts about Jayden:

1. Loves to ride his 2 wheeled bike and jump off curbs.

2. He's a dare devil.

3. He loves Legos.

4. Super excited about pre-school and learning.

5. Wants to read SO bad.

6. Loves writing anything he can. He pulls out magazines during quiet time and re-writes the words onto paper.

7. Loves and misses his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. He ALWAYS asks when we'll get to see them again.

8. He's a great artist. His "people" now have clothes on, pockets on their pants, hair, facial features, and ears. His favorite thing to draw is family members climbing Mt. Fuji.

9. He's learning that a sister can be a Best Friend.

10. He gives the most heartfelt, detailed prayers ever. He is really starting to understand that he is a child of God and that Heavenly Father hears and answers his prayers.

We love you Jayden and are so proud of the wonderful young man you are becoming!