ONCE UPON A FAIRYTALE

A couple months ago, Christina invited Cora and I to join her and Lauren for an afternoon "high tea" attended by Disney princesses, and complete with little cakes and finger sandwiches. It served to benefit Eagle's Nest Children's Home in Guatemala, so there were photos of children at each table, and I liked that we were enjoying a fun day while also helping some kids in need. The venue was really cool (obviously rented out for weddings and other special events pretty often, considering how well appointed it was) and they had decorated so sweetly for the moms and daughters (and grandmothers). As we were getting dressed this morning, Cora decided to wear her Belle costume, then quickly asked me which costume Lauren was wearing. She was very happy to learn that Lauren also chose her (identical) Belle costume for the party! They loved matching, Lauren seemed to copy many of Cora's moves/mannerisms throughout the event, and they couldn't have been cuter dancing together and smiling with all their favorite princesses (Belle, Elsa, Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White) and even Prince Charming.

We bumped into some of our Vicksburg friends in the parking lot (Sarah and her daughter Autumn, and Angela and her daughter Addison), so we joined their table.

(She was reluctantly sharing her sugar-crusted chocolate scone with me... She stole the last two!)

After meeting all the princesses, Cora changed into her ballet shoes and hit the dance floor with Lauren. And dozens of other little princesses soon followed them!

Taking Lauren's hand. All together now - awwwww!

Princess skirts are for twirling!

There were at least 15 other girls dressed as Belle (she must be a favorite at this age), but only one that had the exact same dress as Cora and Lauren. I caught them comparing.

Cora was very social, talking to lots of other little girls and admiring their dresses.

Not only were there princesses, but there were a dozen ballerinas from a local academy that put on a lovely show for us after tea. Cora was enthralled and sat very still (first on the floor with everyone else, then up on my lap so she could have a better view), then couldn't wait to put her ballet slippers to good use and show them some of her moves. It was as adorable as you can imagine! (Not to mention the 50 or so little girls, all dressed to the hilt and acting as fancy as they knew how - so cute!)

My little ballerina danced up on her toes through most of the dance party...

It was such a fun way to spend my birthday (and a great excuse to get dressed up and take some pictures with my girl)! Thank you for the invitation Christina - we may have to do this again next year!

SHOW AND SELL

James joined the scouts to sell popcorn for a couple hours this afternoon, and learned to make paracord bracelets while he was there. He also came up with his own bit of 6-year-old wisdom while asking people if they wanted to purchase popcorn... "Sometimes people say yes and sometimes they say no, and you just have to say OK and be OK with it."

P.S. Sales are ongoing and he has 13 more days to sell $95 worth to meet his goal! Orders are due (with cash/check in hand) on November 2nd!

2015 HALLOWEEN BASH!

Some scenes from around the house before the guests arrived:

 

 

(Kid Corner. Cheetos that nobody touched - shocked!, treat bags that were coveted, and candy that just one kid indulged in - a bit too much... Too bad I forgot about the caramel apple and popcorn sales forms - I had intended to try to make some sales for James and Cora!)

Haunted Photobooth:

Team Lindsay went as Minecraft characters this year: Jay was a skeleton, I was an Enderman, James was Overworld Steve, and Cora was a Creeper. (Fitting, right?!)

The Masons came as Star Wars characters: Eric as General Grievous, Ashley as a Storm Trooper, Adler as Obi-Wan, and Hazel as the cutest Darth Vader ever. The Burkhalters came as "Germanfest" and they were adorable!

The Kennedys, and Olivia and Grady, came as Avengers: Al as Ironman, Christina as Thor, Will as The Hulk, Lauren as Wasp (NOT a bee), Olivia as Black Widow, and Grady as Vision. Some of the little girls thought Olivia was dressed as Merida (because of the wig, I assume), and she ended up winning "Scariest", but only because she was dressed all in black and her only competitors were Skeleton Jay (kids couldn't be voted for - that's why they all receive treat bags - we don't want any tears over not winning the costume contest!) and myself (and I didn't look like I was dressed as anything when my mask was off). As party hosts, we don't want to compete, but we took the "Highest Creation Effort" award because we overlapped with Popeye and Olive Oil and they already had another award, and then overlapped with "Scariest" as well... Folks must have thought we painted ALL the box heads rather than just Jay's, since our "creation effort" was honestly mostly limited to searching Amazon for costume pieces...) And I suppose Darth Vader just isn't scary anymore?...

Lawrence and Christine came as Popeye and Olive Oil (winning "Best Theme"), while Heather and Nathan came as the White Rabbit and 'Smarty Pants'. Nathan won "Most Obscure" again this year. However, I heard more than one person refer to him as "Smartass", even though there was no candy attached to his backside...

 

 The Hancocks arrived as a couple of unicorns (Dawn and Emma, who did NOT want to pose for a photo - life is not all rainbows and unicorns, apparently), a Pokemon character (I'm sorry Coltin, I can't remember his name!), and the only boo-hiss, non-costumed party attendee (Stirlin). He was flogged. With words, at least. The Rices arrived as an 80s chick (Sarah), an out of shape Tony Horton (Blake - we personally LOVED this costume!), Elsa (Autumn), Superman (Asher), and a cowboy (Abram, our littlest party guest this year).

Keri and Rohan came as Dr. Ellie Sattler and a dinosaur from the original Jurassic Park, Chantel and Willow came as a witch and Elissabat from Monster High (yes, I had to look that up). 

Amy, Lee, and Francine came as Pink Ladies and a T-Bird. The McKennas came as an elderly Harry Potter (Grandpa), a viking (Jason), and the Snapshot Skylanders character (James), and Susan was a devil (I think... could have been a vampire or Little Red Riding hood though...)

The Jungs arrived as a pair a bees (Mike and Cari), a crash test dummy (Jacob), a Hobbit (Bridger), a ghost ninja (Hayden), and a Storm Trooper (Jase).

The Rowes arrived as Star Wars characters, including Darth Vader (Philip), a Storm Trooper (Elizabeth), and a pair of Jedis (Cara and Alex).

And some scenes from around the party (I'm bummed I didn't take more candid photos!)

Right before I took this picture of Hazel, Cora, and Willow, they'd come tearing around the corner, baby dolls skidding to the ground in toppled buggies... I told them they were adorable, but not being very good mamas. Hazel put her hands on her hips and told me "We are NOT mamas! We are TEENAGERS!" The other two immediately put their hands on THEIR hips and chimed in "Yeah, we're being TEENAGERS!" Lord help us all... 5 and 6, going on 15...

Taking a breather from our Enderman and Storm Trooper masks

I couldn't compete with Thor's hair, so I put my mask back on

I'm pretty sure this is what she ate for dinner... Plus a cupcake...

Rohan was not shy this year, but still one of the youngest in attendance

10:30pm, last party guest gone, pajamas on, and immediately crashed on the couch

10:45pm and he finally gave in too (though he insisted on sleeping in his costume because "these are comfy pants!")

SOCCER STREAK

Big boys don't do celebratory tunnels at the end of their games... they shake hands and/or give high fives

James was thrilled to get a goal this game, and to win again (they had a rough game last week, but won 7-6 this week, giving them a 5:1 win ratio so far this season, with two games to go). That happy/proud smile makes the late night practices (for which he had two this week - he was invited to attend the Cannon Soccer Club practice on Wednesday) and early morning games more than worth it. I have a feeling the traveling, competitive soccer team is in our future...

PROMOTED!

There's been some big news around here lately that Jay's been shy of my sharing, but since it's no longer a secret to anyone locally, I'm posting it - because I am SO PROUD of him! In the past month, Jay has been promoted to DB-04 (which comes with a lot of additional responsibility... and a nice raise), graduated LDP 2 (the second, competitive year of ERDC's Leadership Development Program), planned and executed an EL-wide conference (along with his four fellow EL LDP 2 members), and been hired to a Branch Chief Detail (temporary assignment) over at CHL (today marks the end of his first week over there, and I definitely miss having him just down the hall from me!). He has worked extremely hard (and been very busy), and has taken the initiative to put himself into a very good position career-wise. There will be more big things to come for him as the years progress, there is no doubt. Congratulations to Jay!

Running the technical side of things during the EL conference presentations

Jay's new corner office over at CHL

5 LITTLE PUMPKINS SITTING ON A GATE

James, Me, Cora, Me, Jay (I missed the goop removal, so I was responsible for carving two. I think I got the high end of the deal!)

(We lined the little side deck rail with carved pumpkins this year as part of our party decor. We loved how it turned out!) 

NIGHT RIDERS

Helmets and headlamps = James' favorite way to spend a solo evening with me

PILLOW EAR

Ever heard of pillow ear? Us either until this week. 

Apparently it's pretty common, especially in floppy-eared dogs.

Surgery to repair it is kinda ugly. And more than kinda expensive.

The good news is that this is very unlikely to happen again. On this ear, anyway...

3 OF A KIND...