5 on Friday

1. Somehow Nick managed to get his keys locked in his car on Saturday.   And I 'lost' my keys so we were unable to unlock the car without the help of a locksmith.   It was an interesting adventure I hope we never have to go through again. (I found my keys left at work the next day.)

2. Sunday night my aunt, sister and her family came over for dinner.   The kids had a great time, and I think the grown-ups did as well.

3. Ellie's Elf on the Shelf arrived on Sunday morning.   I am not sure how much Ellie really understand about Buddy the Elf (or Booty the Elf as she wanted to name him), but she did think it was pretty funny when she found him in a bath of marshmallows in her sink one morning.  She also thought it was funny that he changed our Christmas stockings with our underwear!    Silly Buddy.

4. Ellie and I are having baking day today.  She is beyond excited and has been asking about it all week.   On Wednesday night we picked out what we wanted to bake... which was pretty much every recipe with a picture that she saw.

5. Nick's final bike came in this week!  He ordered it in August.   His bike collection is once again complete.

Mickey Mouse Party Favors

Ellie decided she wanted a Mickey Mouse themed party.   She is also a fan of balloons and party hats.  This is what I came up with for party favors/decorations:

Ellie always wants to wear party hats.  Of course we had to have those!  I saw a picture similar to these and thought they would be pretty easy to make.   The girls had bows (for Minnie) and the boys' were plain.  Ellie liked them so much that she asked for party hats to take to day-care the night before her birthday... I think it took me 2 hours to make 16 hats.  Thank goodness I had enough black cardstock on hand!

 The Dollar Tree has these for $1 each!  We used them for decorations AND party favors!  Ellie loved it when she walked into our bedroom and there for almost 20 balloons on the ceiling!

 I wanted to give a party favor that would be useful.  I saw these Crayon Caddies on a friend's blog and I thought they would be perfect.   They were not that hard to make either!   Directions came from here: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/

 Of course you cannot have Crayons without a coloring book--- so I put one of those together and printed them out.

We made something similar to this at a Card Club gathering I went to.  I thought it would be the perfect idea to top off the party favor (and super easy to make as well)!

The Crayon Caddie served as the weight for the balloon.  I attached the three ideas with the ribbon from the balloon and it was all ready to go!   I used them as table decorations and scattered the remaining ones around the house.   Then at the end of the party the kids got to pick one out to take home.   

Here is the finished product!

Cousins

Trying to get a good picture of these three kiddos is very difficult.   But we try. Love them all!

Bass Pro Shop: Bowling

Once we got back into the house we had to make a trip to Bass Pro Shop to replace a few items.   We decided to make it a little fun for the girls and go bowling after our shopping.   Since my sister and her family live close, we invited them to join us.   I think the kids had a great time!

 Ellie and Liam checking out the bowling balls.

 Ellie is ready to bowl!

Halloween: Trick or Treat

A little behind, but here are a few pictures from trick-or-treat night!

Ellie, Neve and my Aunt Joan.  This is the best photo we got of the girls together.

Neve, Ellie and their friends, Collin and Sophia.

 Ellie ready to hit the streets!

 Neve stayed home and watched the door.

 

We tried to get on of the two girls... it did not work.

Pumpkin Carving!

A few pictures from our annual pumpkin carving night with the Jones' family:

Ellie cleaning out the pumpkin

Surprisingly, she like the pumpkin insides.  I thought it would be too messy for her.

Megan hard at work, while Ellie enjoys a pumpkin pie before bed.

While the guys sit back and watch sports on TV, Megan continues to slave away. 

We know who the real worker was!

The four of us and our two pumpkins

 (because it is far easier doing one pumpkin for each family than one for each person).

And of course our silly picture.

Pumpkin Patch

Megan and I took the kids to a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins before Halloween.   The patch was just a pumpkin field in Ankeny.   Some of the pumpkins were already picked, or you could go pick your own.   You picked your pumpkins and put payment in a box that was by the tractor.  It was really cute, without all the extras that sometimes get overwhelming to small children (like a 6 month old and 1 year old).   And the pumpkins were beautiful and cheap ($3 for a big one!)   I was a fan.