Happy Birthday, Madison!

Today was a big day.  It was the first year that Madison could have a little friend birthday party.  Don’t judge, people.  It is intimidating inviting so many of the same age group over – food? cake? party favors? games? activities? I just couldn’t get the gumption to do it in the past, and frankly, she enjoys our family parties a lot.  (And they are a little bit of work, too…) 

But, I told her she could invite a few friends over (3 to be exact).  I let her know that I was not party planning.  That was her job.  If she wanted to have an activity or craft, I would help get things together for her, but I wouldn’t plan it.  So, she did it.  And I think she was a little nervous about how it would all turn out. 

It turned out great. 

Step 1: Gather all the kids in my minivan bus.

Step 2: Ease in by using our dinner time conversation starters to break the ice.

Step 3: Go play in the first snow of the season!  They were outside of almost an hour and had a blast! Just look at this pile of snowsuits and coats I pulled out of the dryer!

Step 4: Eat lunch – pizza, carrots, cheetos, and mandarin oranges.

Step 5: Open gifts.  This is always a weird thing.  I mean, I don’t mind that they brought gifts, but I also want them to know that just hanging out and helping her celebrate is really a pretty cool gift.  They girls were so thoughtful in what they brought.  It was neat to see her open each gift and connect with each giver. 

Step 6: Frost your own cupcake.  Yep, this sounds so trendy and creative.  The truth is I don’t like frosting cupcakes.  Kids do.  So, do it yourself and make it part of the party!

     

Step 7: Get your art on.  They followed the step-by-step of Art for Kids Hub youtube channel.  They each were able to choose a drawing, so that in the end they had four pictures.  This became the party favor when I sent them home in simple frames from Wal-mart that I bought for a couple dollars.  I wish I had a picture of them holding their favorite drawing, but I only have them in their “studio.”  Also, they were going to color them to finalize one, but they ran out of time.

Step 8: Load up and return home in the minivan bus. 

(Ellie had her friend Zayden over so she had someone to play with as well.  She was over the moon to be somewhat included, but have her own special playdate.)

    

Madison is two whole handfuls of fingers this year.  It is hard to believe a decade has past since we were in the hospital trying to figure out how to manage with this new little life in our hands.  She has brought us such joy.  And she has taught us so much.

She loves adventure, laughing, sharing secrets with her sister, playing legos, reading, and creating.  She has surprised me with her most recent career choice – paleontologist.  It will be interesting to see where this science-related career will lead her.  It sounds like it might lead her to a dinosaur fossil dig site out in Wyoming this summer for vacation.

She is caring, quiet, and studious.  She is also boisterous and silly.  It is a good combination. 

I love that she enjoys being with friends, reading on her own, and seeking out new ideas.

Every year, I look at this little desk calendar I made in 2015, and I see the picture of her on her 4th birthday crouched down with a fluffy dress and a birthday crown.  The quote says, “She leave a little sparkle wherever she goes.”  It is one of the truest quotes I could have found to caption her. 

So, here’s to you and your 10th year in roaring 2020!  May you continue to leave a little sparkle wherever you go, dream big, and take on the adventures life brings your way.  We love you!

Time with the Yohs

We had a chance to join our out-of-state family in a few fun activities while they were here. 

Jennifer invited us to join her for aerial yoga again this year on Christmas Eve morning.  I missed out last year because of my pinkie being dislocated.  This year, I got to join the fun.  It was so much fun.  I would love to take a class.  We’ll see if I follow through on that.  We had a fun group this year from order of appearance below: Jennifer, Erin (Jeremy’s cousin), Kristen (Jeremy’s cousin), Megan (Jeremy’s cousin), Ellie, me, Julie (Jeremy’s aunt), Lilli (my niece), and Madison. We started by just swiveling on our silks.  We ended by gently swinging while cocooned inside of them.

                        

After aerial yoga, Jennifer and Arturo had a small project for the girls to work on, so I left them.  They worked on crafting small sailboats from a kit.  Then, they took it out to Kidron Park to sail it in the creek.  (Yep, my kids are underdressed, but having fun!)

    

Jason and Niki invited others to join their family to go see the lights at Stan Hywet Hall.  The theme was comic book heroes.  It was okay as far as a theme went.  The lights were pretty cool.  Here are some pictures from the night.

                         

Jeremy joined Jason, Niki, and the boys for the new Star Wars movie on afternoon.  The girls and I offered to help babysit Zadie instead.  We had fun playing peek-a-boo, going on a hike with Jen and Arturo and Great Aunt Julie, and just hanging out with her. 

               

They family all left on Monday for their respective states.  It is always fun while it lasts, but it is never long enough.

Bricker Family Christmas

The last celebration of the season … before we head into birthdays.  On Thursday, we gathered at Marianne and David’s to have Christmas with Jeremy’s extended family.  We eat ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, creamed chicken, and a variety of other sides people bring.  It is always very good and too much! 

After the meal, I took the kids outside to burn off some energy.  Plus it was unseasonably warm – like 65 or something ridiculous!  We had a lot of fun racing, playing dinosaur hide-and-seek, and screaming.

         

Zadie was inside doing her own cute thing.

    

The aunts and uncles do a gift exchange every year.  They have to purchase a gift that starts with whatever letter of the alphabet they are on.  They were on “V” this year.  There were a number of handheld vacuums; there were also vests, Vera Bradley, and vino (wine).  The cousins usually do an exchange, but it didn’t really happen this year.  We played LCR instead, which is a dice game with money involved.  It was fun to do.  In fact, any game with this group is a fun time. 

The kids played piggyback ride and monkey in the middle at some point in the night, too.

    

We were there til about 8:30, came home, and fell into bed.