Cinderella's Magical Ball

This past Friday the girls and I, and grandma, went to a princess party. Cinderella's Magical Ball was put on by Once Upon Star--through the local parks and recreation department.

I decided to join the girls by dressing the part. I expected to be (and was) the only adult who dressed up. That is, other than the woman getting paid. Joann was able to borrow this particular princess dress from a coworker. It was NOT flattering. I thought princess dresses would be more flattering. Thanks to McKenna for taking this photo.

Meet Cinderella...

The party started off with some music and instruments.and then some felt stories. The girls were able to participate by guessing when their particular picture needed to be put on the board. Ella clung to me for the first 15 minutes. She likes to take in her surroundings before participating. But, eventually she joined in with the group.

This is Ella--taking in her surroundings first.

Cinderella, shaking her sparkle shaker on her toes (with the girls mimicking her).

Creating a glass slipper with sparkles. All princesses like things to sparkle.

There was face painting and posture practice. Just kidding, it was a game where you balanced a bean bag on your head, shoulder, back, etc...

It keeps on giving

Going to the orchard provided us with many activities throughout the week. First, we painted our gourds with grownup paint (a.k.a acrylic) out side. Then we made apple pie followed by homemade applesauce.

I didn't really think to take pictures of my applesauce, sorry. I had never made applesauce before. I looked through a few recipes and found a slow cooker recipe that intrigued me. So, I gave it a whirl. I will probably always use this recipe. I loved it. The house smelled so wonderful while it was cooking. The aromas of nutmeg, sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar and apple filled the house. I was in Christmas heaven. (Those smells all remind me of Christmas.) Seriously, I wanted to take out the Christmas tree and play Christmas music (Although, I am game for that activity anytime after June!) on the radio. By the way, I plan on posting the recipe later this week.

Spring time fresh

Yes, that's right. My toilet bowls are springtime fresh. Thanks to my mother in law and father in law. They came over tonight and helped me accomplish lots of taxing tasks around the house! We cleaned my kitchen floor, pantry (cleaned and reorganized), oven, dishes, a couple of bathrooms, etc...

It feels great to have these things done. I am thankful that my family is so generous with time and abilities! The Lord has truly blessed me through my family.

Apples, Apples, Apples

This weekend we took our yearly trip to the apple orchard. Visiting an apple orchard is something (one of the few things) I missed out on growing up in Alabama. (Side note: SEC Football is something I miss out on here in Minnesota). We met our good friends, J & K Madison (and Levi) there.

I love visiting the orchard. What a perfect family outing. I have many pictures to share. I know that you all might not enjoy EVERY SINGLE photo the way that I do. However, remember that this blog will serve as a photo album/scrapbook for my children. That is why I include lots of pictures. I fully intend to print this blog in a book form.


The day started with a hayride. There are many varieties of apples to choose from. Generally, I like the sweeter ones. I know that for baking/cooking the cook books suggest a more tart apple. I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old--we went for the sweeter ones. We chose Sweet 16. Normally I would have gone with Honeycrisp but they weren't an option that day.

It's fun to watch the girls as they pick. Ella likes to pick smaller red ones. She doesn't fully exam them BEFORE she picks. I tried, unsuccessfully, explaining that to her. She would pick one and then, if she saw something she didn't like--a speck of dirt, a bug, too big of a stem, a dent, etc...she tossed it. Daddy and I tried to pick up after her but, my goodness. McKenna was more methodical about her apple picking. She had similar criteria but chose large apples rather than small apples. She also learned to examine them BEFORE she picked them. Something that she acquired on this year's trip.

Mmmm......

The pumpkin patch (they have several-pie pumpkins, carving pumpkins, mini pumpkins) is right next to the sweet apples. So, we perused through the pumpkins and took a few photos. Then back on the hayride to go to the playground.

By the playground there is a small petting farm area and a hay mountain to climb. They also have a cow tractor ride that Ella and Levi enjoyed. On the hay mountain, kids like to dig away portions of the hay to make holes or tunnels. McKenna wanted to get in a hole and have me take a picture of her peeking out. She peeked a bit too close to the hay and her eyes were irritated for a while. But all is well.

Notice that we are all in our fall colored T's from Target! I got them each on sale for less than $5.00!! =)

There is also a raspberry patch. McKenna thoroughly enjoys picking the raspberries and Arthur and I thoroughly enjoy eating them.

Library cards

The other day we watched a show called Little Bill. (A Bill Cosby production.) On this particular episode, Little Bill took a trip to the library and got his own card.

Needless to say, we had to follow suit. The girls and I decided to hit our local library. We went straight to the desk and they got their very own library cards.

Book choice: Both girls checked out nonfiction books about cats and kittens and how to care for them.

We have read them several times already.

Ella was not interested in posing!

Happy Birthday Nana!

Happy birthday to a magnificent woman! She's active. She's loving. She's caring. She's creative. She's inspirational (among other things).

Wordless Wednesday

Yum!

Nothin' like a little body art on the weekend!

The girls and the daddy like to torment me by trying to tickle my belly. They have specific noises and the whole works. The other day they decided to draw on my belly, with the belly button being the focal point! This was not pleasant for me, but the girls loved it. So, I returned the favor.

Congratulations Zach and Heather!

There's nothing like a relaxing weekend at home. The girls spent Friday night with Mammy and Pa-pa. I went to a women's brunch and discussed Biblical Womanhood (maybe more to come on that!). It rained, which is fine! We had a brief family outing to Petco and Barnes and Noble. And, some body art! (Definitely, more to come on that!)

What did you do?

Talk about cute...

Wordless Wednesday

Don't miss it!

Remember this post about saving posts as drafts and viewing them chronologically by the date of the posting, etc. Well, I have posted a few things that were saved as drafts. So, make sure that you are scrolling down to see them all!