Grace's Birthday Experience

(I haven't re-read this for errors yet - I'm sure my mom will catch any for me.  Right, Mom?)

It's been a full year now since I have thrown a birthday party.  As I have mentioned, I love birthdays, and I love my kids, and I love celebrating my kids…but taking a break from parties - even the small ones we have - has been wonderful.

Jeff and I have been planning Grace's birthday experience for awhile, and with lots of discussion, unbeknownst to Grace.  All she knew is that we had something planned for her at some point, and she'd like it.  We had some help:  Mom entertained Benjamin for us, and Jonathan's neighbor buddy and his parents entertained Jonathan for us, and each boy thought he had a better day than anybody.  Huge thanks for the help, everyone!!!  Jeff and I had thought we'd take Grace to the American Girl store, maybe have a special meal at the little restaurant, and choose a little something for her Bitty Twin, Maddie.

When this year's Girl of the Year came out in January, we were conflicted.  We had coached Grace to expect that she would need to save up to have a historical American Girl doll, and that she wouldn't be old enough to get one until she was seven or eight years old.  But, the Girl of the Year - that would only be available for 2015 - was named Grace!  She looked like our girl, and she had a good backstory…what should we do?

Well, after getting lots of advice from parents that we respect, we decided that she could have the Grace doll this year.  So, we made a secret plan to make that happen for her birthday experience.  It was an over-the-top gift and experience, and it was really special to be able to do this for her.  While Gracie was sleeping on Friday night, Maddie changed into an AG shirt.  (These things go on sale for $2-$3 online.  Don't be surprised if there's a shirt like this tucked into your daughter's birthday gift this year.)  When Grace got up the next morning, Maddie's shirt and our explanation broke the news that we  would be making the drive to the American Girl store for a special meal and to pick out a little something for Maddie.  We had a matching shirt for Grace, too.

Grace was so excited, and all giggles!  She asked if she could bring her jar of "save" money to pick out something.  She knew about the existence of the Grace doll (even though I had hidden all the AG catalogs that had come in the mail!) and said she would check and see if it was $28.  Here are some pictures of excitement we took before we left.  I wish we had gotten some pictures of the three of us at the AG store, but she was pretty exhausted at the end, so we didn't.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

 Super excited for the trip with Maddie...

and, a little more composed.

Calmly waiting to get there.  She did quite a bit of reading on the way - she brought one Addy book and one Kit book.

And, just to prove that I was actually there:  a picture from Jeff's phone of Grace and me walking toward the AG store.

Finally here!

We decided to spend some time looking around at everything before our lunch.  Here, she's admiring Bon Bon, the Grace doll's little dog.

And this is when we told her we would be giving her the Grace doll for her birthday.  

She was overwhelmed.

Grace and Grace...

and Maddie with her new, big-sister doll.

This was a kid-sized bistro set that is supposed to be just like what the doll Grace has.  You can see it in the next picture, where our Grace is admiring Bon Bon again.

And, of course, she was admiring the books.  I happen to know that book #2 - the one that did not come with the doll - is in one of her gifts from someone else that she'll open on Monday.

I love this picture of Jeff and Grace.  She was so thankful for her doll.

After we bought the Grace doll, we had time to look around a little more.  There's so much to see and touch...

even doll binoculars.

Such a fun place!  Our server gave us the opportunity to do a deluxe birthday meal package for Grace, and we saw mini-parades of little girls walking in and out of the special birthday party room for catered parties, but we opted for "just" a regular meal.  It was super special, and an amazing experience for us.

The napkin rings are ponytail holders for dolls or girls.

Each table has a box full of little conversation starters.

Here's one of the menus, in case you wondered what's on it...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Gracie from this day.

And, here's the regular menu.

Jeff is a big softie, so he started us out with a milkshake to share three ways.  By this point, the napkin-ring-ponytail-holders were on Grace and the dolls.  Grace's hair didn't quite reach, as you'll see.

Then we tried the "fondue," which was actually yogurt instead of cheese.

Much to Grace's surprise, Grandma Doreen had sent a gift card with us...

and Uncle Todd, Aunt Corinne, and Charlotte had, too.  (Grace had a mouthful of something yummy at this point.)

A discussion about one of the aforementioned conversation starters.

Her doll was thirsty.  She got to take home a cup and plate for each doll.

Crowns for each of them.  The server had given crowns to the dolls, and Grace was concerned about not having one of her own, so she asked for one.  It was even better than she expected.  I am thankful to say that this was the only time during the day that she was asking for something she didn't have.  Jeff and I were hoping she'd have a thankful attitude during the experience, and we were happy to find that she did.  Look how excited she was to get that crown!

More conversation starters!

Again, we were offered an actual birthday cake with candles, but we opted for the standard girl and doll cupcake to decorate, and we were so glad we did.  Grace had fun squeezing out the frosting.

and then sucking on it.

Um…there was plenty of frosting.  And plenty to laugh about.

I thought this was a great picture of Jeff!

Cheers!  Gracie gave me the doll cupcake "since the dolls can't REALLY eat it."

Now, I mentioned that we did not purchase the birthday experience, but our server *still* gave Grace a birthday gift as we left.  Inside, there was a "celebrate" shirt for her doll, a doll-sized gift bag, an activity book, some stickers, a doll-sized pretend balloon on a string…we couldn't believe it.  Very sweet.

There aren't pictures of this part, but after lunch, we looked around some more.  Jeff and I had decided to let Gracie get her doll's ears pierced as the final part of her gift.  We did that, and then worked on deciding how to use the gifts from Doreen and Todd and Corinne.  Now, if you've never been to the store, I should tell you it's a little overwhelming in the same way that a large Disney store or Lego store can be.  There are so many wonderful things to choose from.  Grace doesn't have many opportunities to choose whatever she wants, even within reason, from a store!  In the end, she chose the pajamas and dog that were specially made for the Grace doll, and she was just thrilled with those choices.

One last picture at the store as we checked out with our treasures.  As I mentioned, we didn't get a picture of the three of us, although I wish we had.  She was exhausted with happiness, and we didn't want to push her beyond her limit.  So, we called it a day…and what a great day it was!  And, three hours at the store was plenty!

On the way home, Grace spent some quality time with her new doll - in the new pajamas - with her new dog, Bon Bon.  And, what else?  The new book, of course!!!

It was a great day.  (That's water, not iced coffee, just in case you wondered!)

When we got home, we were all happy to be together as a family again.  And, after an appearance at a birthday party, and a late supper, Grace and Bon Bon got snuggled into little sister Maddie's bed and had a good night's sleep.

Project in Progress

I have been working on turning some of my dad's shirts into dresses for Grace, Mary Ann, Darcy, and Charlotte.  Here are the first four I have made.  I'll edit this post later to elaborate, but for now, I'll just post the link I used for the pattern/tutorial for the dresses:  Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom.  Visit back later for more details!

2015 Almond Blossom Pictures

On February 20, everything worked out right:  the almonds were blooming, the weather was nice, and for the first time in all of our almond blossom pictures, Jeff came home from work early and could be a part of the process.  So, I got the kids dressed, and while we were waiting for Jeff to get home…

Benjamin found the Resurrection eggs.  Not my first choice for him - unsupervised, anyway - and I'm not sure we will find all the pieces again.  He enjoyed it, though.

Grace worked on finishing her book.  I'm sure Jonathan was reading, too, but he's harder to catch on camera!

And, we went to take pictures.  I'm including this one with the fence for those of you who remember our fence pictures in years past.  Now, here are the rest of the photos.  (Bear in mind that I took 92 of the kids.  I am not including all of them!)

They are growing up.

And, since Jeff was home - he had just returned from yet another business trip - we got some pictures of him with the kids.

Jeff asked Jonathan to take some pictures of us.  I'm posting these for my mom, who thought there should be some pictures of me.

Jeff wanted a dipping picture.  Oh, my!

And, here's a dose of reality, after running through the White Way of Delight:  emptying shoes of debris from the orchard.  It was a really fun time!

 And, for those who want to take a stroll down memory lane, here's a link to almond blossom pictures in years past.

Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt

We did it again this year!  It was after Valentine's Day, since we were having adventures with our friends on the actual day, but we did do the hunt the Monday after Valentine's Day.  No surprises here…just the same old hunt with the same old clues, and a book for each kiddo at the end of the hunt.  They don't look like they minded, do they?

I love finding photos like this in my Photo Stream...

Crayons and Crafty Stuff

Not too long ago, the moms group that Benjamin and I attend had a fundraiser for the local foster care agency.  We worked for months to make whatever crafty things we could come up with, then sold them at a special event that we hosted for the community.  We raised just over $4,000 for the children and families this agency helps, which was really exciting.

I sewed some things, and made some Lego guy candies, but what sold the fastest were something the kids and I made from almost nothing:  Lego and snowflake crayons.  I say almost nothing because they at least didn't cost us anything.  We used old crayons from friends, broke them up, and melted them into new shapes in silicone candy molds and muffin molds.  Here are the kids helping with the paper peeling, which took a lot of time, but we started early and did it little by little.

Grace started after she had been really angry about something - I forget what - and she later told me, "It took the madness out of me."  Apparently a little bit of tearing paper diffuses her anger.  Noted!!!

These are just iPod pictures, so they are not very clear, but you can see that I stacked up different colors of each shape and sold them as a crayon set.  They were a hit…but all that paper peeling was time consuming.  Anybody who found themselves at my kitchen island had a chance to help.  I'm happy that we took something discarded and made money for an important cause and important people.

And, it will take me a few years to forget how much time this took, and then I'm sure I'll try it again.  Last time I made repurposed crayons, it was for a party favor for Grace's birthday party (hearts, I think?) which was really fun…at least, from what I remember!