Ruby's Elmo Party

Our Ruby turned 3 on Friday. 3! She still loves Elmo. It's kind of funny because none of my other girls really cared for the character but she loves him! Loves him! So when she told me she wanted Elmo cupcakes for her party I headed to Pinterest to find some inspiration.

Elmo is normally more boyish but I wanted bright colors so I started with the invites. I made simple ones in Photoshop and I think that they turned out nice. I want a cricut. I don't have the money for a cricut. It is on my forever growing wishlist.

We borrowed a cupcake stand from a friend and I spray painted it hot pink and glued some ribbon on the edges for a very bright girlie feel. It was the leaning cupcake tower but would you expect anything else at our house? Piper had fallen over it and almost busted it a few days earlier. Left feet run in our family :)



Ruby wanted Elmo cupcakes so Elmo cupcakes were what she got. I have made these before but used icing for the mouth instead of Oreos. I had Oreos and used them this time around. Of course I ate the middles. They were double stuffed after all :)


For the food I did rainbow fruit kabobs, goldfish, pb&j "Dorothy" sandwiches for the kiddos, chicken salad sandwiches for the adults, cheese & crackers, and finally Frito salad. I thought it looked very nice. My girlfriend had the pom poms from her daughter's party a few weeks back and since I was planning on making them asked her if I could have hers when she was done. Less work equals happy Jessie. The banner came from Target and matched perfectly to our theme!


When she first walked in and saw everything decorated she said "Wow". It is then that all the hard work is just worth it. We sang. She blew out her candles perfectly one at a time :)


Then they ate! I warned guests that to have their kiddos wear play clothes because red cupcakes were being served.


Saturday at 3am our area got nailed with a really, really bad hail storm. Not us though, we didn't get any and were only maybe 1-2 miles away. Our home got some earlier in the day but not much. Check out the eastern side of town. This photo was taken by Triple Cross Ranch. That is all hail! WOW!


Then there is the rain to talk about. Forecast was for rain all day. I was stressed. 9 kids in our little house. What were we to do? Didn't have to worry, it ended up cool and sunny in the afternoon. Yay! So we fished. Baby girl was tired can you tell? She was a good sport though.


Guess who was the only one to catch a fish?


Our resident fishing expert Piper. Now that I feel more comfortable with Ruby by the lake I will take them down there more this summer. They loved it! What else is there to do on a cold March day in NC?


What? Yep, almost the whole party of kids jumped in to swim. Not the adults though, we aren't crazy that water is still cold! Marley even got some more water time. We finally let her swim again on Friday. It was a long winter for her :)


It was tiring, a lot of work, but once everyone got here I think it was one of my most favorite parties yet. Little in size but big in fun!

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Project 366 - Week 11

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Whenever our Piperoni sees a dandelion that she could blow she picks it. The other day she was coming down our driveway from the bus and picked 3 dandelions. I was thinking to myself what a sweet girl she wants to share them with her sisters. Ha, fat chance! She blew them before she got in the house and then hid the evidence.

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Spring + New Belgium = Yum! I love sitting outside on our deck at night. Some nights, like this one, our neighbor across the cove hangs outside on his deck playing his guitar. Classic rock. Brings me back to my teens/early 20's again. It's nice :)


Our girls are his groupies. He's only like 15 :)

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I debated posting this one because they are posing but I asked them to "Strike a Pose" and this is what I got. Swim suits, beach wear, and tights. These girls know how to put together fancy dancing outfits :)

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Wednesday was a tough day for me and I thought that I would be homebound on Thursday and Friday so the girls and I headed out to get some things for Ruby's party. When I walked into TJ Maxx and saw this "walking" skirt I knew I had to have it! How stinking cute is this? My girls think it is the fanciest thing I own. They might just be right. Sad.

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Did you know that a 6 pack of Bud or Miller cans is $5.99? Since I don't drink it I couldn't justify spending that kind of money. Thus, Diet Coke butt chickens. I don't drink Diet Coke either but it has a better chance of getting used in our house than Bud or Miller. Matt says I have turned into a beer snob lol :) Perhaps.

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Happy Birthday Ruby!!! Dinner was at Red Robin *eyeroll* My children have been picking Red Robin as their birthday meal of choice since Piper was 3. Now we go for everyone's birthday :) Do you sense my excitement? Or Matt's?

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I got my hair done! I love getting my hair done :) It makes me feel 10 pounds lighter. How I wish that were actually true! A cut and color were due and I am glad I took the time.


Then Martha asked if Matt and I wanted to go out for supper and she would watch the girls! I have a zillion things to do for Ruby's party but a few hours at a grown up restaurant - ok! I had halibut. I love halibut. Especially Dressler's halibut. If I don't go out again until next year I will be satisfied just because of dinner on Saturday night. Plus I got to wear my new (to me) shoes that I got at Goodwill a few weeks back.

And then I looked around and all the girls were wearing wedges lol :)

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Life is funny

Well no it really isn't funny because just when you sort of see a little glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel it closes. I am down and life just keeps on kicking me. Yesterday I made an appointment with the doctor because I was experiencing some things that didn't seem right only to find out that there is still part of the placenta left in my uterus.
*kick*
It sounded like an easy fix as he was explaining the medicine I would need to take. It was a form of the medicine they gave me at the hospital. The side effect is that I would once again experience contractions. "Probably lighter though".
*kick*
The problem with the medicine is that it only works about 50% of the time. What happens the other 50%? They have to do a D&C. Are you kidding me?
*kick*
The medicine did nothing. Not the slightest cramp so next week on my birthday I will get to schedule an operation after they give me the u/s that says the tissue is still there. Why? Because my body has failed me once again. I will now take a moment to feel completely sorry for myself.

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Project 366 - Week 10

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My new indoor grill. I love it! I grilled some tomatoes with parmesan the other night. It is a grill and griddle all in one. Love!

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Through the network of mamas I managed to find a toddler bed and crib mattress for free. We decided to give Ruby her own space in hopes of her moving into Piper's room eventually. There is a twin in there waiting for her but for now she sleeps next to us on her little bed. It is adorable! Seriously :)

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I can't believe that she will be 3 next week. Where has that time gone? In this picture she was actually looking at a penny. She walks around with that penny in her hand all the time. I told her to put it down but she was afraid it was going to vanish or something so I could barely get her to look at me. Silly girl.

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Piper wrote me 2 separate letters asking me to take her out by herself on a "date". Wednesday the kids had a half day so I arranged for the others to go to a friend's house and I took Piper to Pizza Hut, the Dollar Tree, and Belk. I am not sure it was the best day ever for her like she thought but we had a nice time just her and I.

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All I see is little girl. *sniff sniff* Thankfully I still catch glimpses of baby here and there.

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Another supper shot. I was trying to make my husband jealous because he ate out on Thursday so I grilled a steak for my supper on Friday. Violet ate half of it so I had to make a bigger salad.

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Went to the big city for the St. Patty's Day parade this year. I never would have ventured there alone but my friend Martha asked if we wanted to go so we piled in the van. It was H.O.T! The sun thankfully went behind a building about half way through the parade or I am not sure we would have made it. Now I can't wait for next year!

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Wordful Wednesday - Thrifting Goodness

My name is Jessie and I love Goodwill. Usually I stop in once a week. You just never know what you will find there. The hunt is so much fun! I am not much of a retail shopper anymore because I know what I can buy for a few dollars and can't justify spending so much more because it is new. Ruby went crazy when I pulled out her new purple dress from the rack. Is it an Easter dress? Nope. A birthday dress? Nope. What is it then? It is a dress she can wear everyday if she wants to because it was $3. My Ruby and Violet love to wear fancy dresses and I let them. The fancier the better.

This is Ruby's "look cute" face. Where she learns this stuff I don't know. She does look pretty cute though. And fancy. That position would give her mama a stiff neck and an appointment with the chiropractor :) To be young.

In addition to that gorgeous dress I also got an almost new pair of Keen sandals ($2.50), a pair of Born ballet flats for Piper ($2.50), a pair of Flowers by Zoe lounge pants for P ($3), a brand new tee shirt for P ($2), 2 swimsuits ($2 each), and 4 Rainbow Magic fairy books for P ($.50 each). We had just bought 1 of those at a book fair for $5. I NEVER buy new books but Daddy was with us so he let her. Not a bad haul right? Goodwill rocks!

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Project 366 - Week 9

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I painted their nails. Ruby's nails were dry before I let her get up but she was so protective of them so that they wouldn't get ruined. I laughed at her all day!

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What she chooses as pajamas. Tonight it was a frilly black skirt. Picking my battles I allowed her to fall asleep in it but took it off her when she was soundly out. I like the skirt too much to let her maybe ruin it in a night of tossing and turning :)

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The cold hit us again. Everyone was sort of getting used to the warm weather and *bam* we woke up to 30 degrees. What?

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Baby girl and the catfish. Both smiling pretty for the camera.

Almost got a full week of Ruby but I only took a few pictures on Thursday so here is my 68/366

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Sigh. Can you almost smell the sweet toddler goodness. I thanked God today, again, for my children. It was just the baby and I running errands on Friday. We got dog food and spent some time checking out the ferrets, guinea pigs, and birds. Then we went and got a pretzel. I turned around at a stop sign and Ruby looked up at me eating her pretzel and gave me the sweetest smile and said "Love you mama". My heart sang and broke all at the same time. I will hold these moments close. Next year she will go off to preschool and it will just be me. That makes me very sad.

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*sniff sniff*

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Be Still

I believe asking her to that is impossible. Violet can't just be still. Unless she is sleeping. I was making dinner on a gloriously warm North Carolina day enjoying the quiet. Ruby was sleeping on the living room floor and Piper was at the kitchen table finishing up the last bit of her homework. Then through our screen door I heard giggles. I looked out back and saw Violet just rocking and giggling. We all know that the giggles of a 5 year old are contagious so I couldn't help but smile. Quickly Piper was out there and then it was full on teetering back and forth. Seldom do we have stillness in this zoo.

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I heart faces - Black & White

Can you tell that she doesn't want the camera in front of her face anymore? Stick a fork in her because baby girl was D.O.N.E. My fault, it was about 32 degrees and I had her outside trying to take her picture. Even more pathetic was her attempt to smile for mama - I'll share that one for my 366 project :)

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Project 366 - Week 8

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Everyone went to bed but Ruby and I. We were able to watch about 15 minutes of the Oscars before it was evident she wasn't going to sleep until I did. I caved.

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Dinner. Crock pot pork chops. Not bad, not bad at all.

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My girls are gamers. There are a few free games that we have loaded on the iPod and also the Fire. It is nice to have options to keep them busy. And they are learning too right?

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A seldom seen member of the zoo. I could go on and on why but then I will hear about it from my husband who loves his black cat.

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Piperoni brought home pea plants from school. The weather was pretty nice a few days this week so we went ahead and planted some more pea seeds in pots out back. Of course the girls are in charge of them. Should be a fun project around here.

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Baby girl. Loves to drink out of straws. The size of the straw was about 2 1/2 times the size of the cup. Accident just waiting to happen. Just water though :)

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Friends over on Saturday night. Way better than just hanging out by ourselves. And they get to eat a bunch of junk food that I normally don't buy.

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