Around the World

Whatever I know about creative party planning, I've learned from the Hostess with the Most-est herself, Dorina. We coordinated our birthday plans so that we could each attend the other's party. Today was Meilani's World Travel Birthday Party. Think our Arts & Crafts party followed a theme impressively? Check out this affair! We received the invitation telling us to make our reservation and arrive at the Gilmore International Airport for a party departure of 11:10 am. If we wanted to be First Class, we could wear something from a different country, which explains the lacy white Dutch hat on Ella's head. Upon arrival, we were issued passports.
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The kids then decorated their "luggage."

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And perused the whole house, which was set up to display different cultures-- maps, posters, books, artifacts from their family's travels and even some musical instruments.

In the front yard, the kids took whacks at the globe-shaped pinata, then stuffed their luggage with the treats that came flying out of it.

But as impressive as all these details are, the real star of this party was the huge buffet of international food dishes. My lunch was a smorgasbord of food inspired by the Philippians, India, Israel, Hawaii, Mexico, Armenia and France. Dorina needed a Dutch entree, so we brought stroopwafels. They were served with Italian gelato and pizelle cookies and this cool birthday cake:

Anyone who knows Dorina shouldn't be the least bit surprised that she planned a party to feature fabulous food!



Since today was Ella's actual 5th birthday, I woke up to the sounds of her pulling the scale out in the bathroom. The first thing she had to do upon waking was see if she had grown! Though an overnight growth spurt was not apparent today, Ella's turning 5 did grant her some new bravery! A new milestone was met in Dorina's pool this afternoon when Ella jumped off the diving board for the first time!
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This grand party that had us traveling to all corners of the world to celebrate sweet Meilani ended perfectly-- with some time in the pool. It was the best way I could think of to enjoy Memorial Day, our daughters' birthdays and the gift of party planning that my good friend blesses us all with!

Thank You, Thank You!!

To Grandma and Grandpa:

Auntie Heather:
Anna:
Daddy:

Auntie Karen, Uncle Chris, Calvin, Aidan and Theoren:

Mommy:

Delia (this looks like a wrestling move, but is actually a hug for boxes of dollhouse furniture):

And Uncle Kyle:

As the packages rolled in this week, Ella was beyond excited for her birthday! Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful gifts-- each one perfect and each one loved!

Ella Celebrates FIVE with Art and Friends

This morning we hosted our big Arts and Crafts Birthday Extravaganza for Ella. We know she had a sensational time and think the other girls had fun being crafty too!

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It was a lot of fun to watch how each child approached their art projects. Some were patterned and meticulous (like Ella). Others were adept and skilled at the fine-motor requirements. A few took the fast and abstract approach (like Delia).

When the little artists were dropped off, they started at a purse-making table. Here they could glue sparkly flowers and paint on a colored purse. The fabulous accessories created at this table could rival Fendi!
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Next, we divided the kids up and sent them to other craft stations, supervised by myself, Dave and wonderful-lovely-helpful Dorina. At my table, the kids stitched together felt animal puppets.

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Dorina helped everyone sprinkle colored sand onto peel-off-sticky butterflies, dragonflies and ladybugs. These were then made into magnets.
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Dave's station had each girl stringing beads to make their own bracelet. These ranged everywhere from complicated patterns to 3 beads and done.

After completing the crafts, we dove into that big pile of pink presents. I guess having a themed party gives a clue about what would make a good gift-- Ella received some kind of craft-making kit from everyone!

Present opening ended with a big group "THANK YOU!" hug. From left to right are girlfriends: Bailey, Meilani, Ella, Mikaela, Anika, Helia and Annelies.

We served Ella's lunch of choice: cheese pizza with sides of strawberries and cantaloupe. This table of ravenous artists polished off one whole large pizza all by themselves!

Our grand finale was the painter's pallet cake.

This party was super fun to plan, went off perfectly and made Ella totally happy. The best part for me, though, was that Dorina, Meilani and Giada drove up to attend. I so appreciated Dorina's extra hands with all the girls and flying sand, beads and google eyes! And I so loved that they hung around for a few hours after the party to visit. Ella plays with Meilani like no other friend. There is such a connection between these girls. They love many of the same things and interact hilariously. I've said it 100 times, but here it is once more: I'm so thankful for the Gilmore's presence in our lives!

The Best Thing I Ever Did:

A single "I do" that led to 11 years of blessings far exceeding my greatest expectations!

School Birthday

Today begins Ella's 5th birthday celebration! It was her special day at preschool and though parents are not invited, our cameras are, so here are some pictures she came home with:

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On a child's birthday, quite a bit of class time is dedicated to singing to them and telling their story. Ella got to stand in front of the class for one of the birthday songs. In it she had to count out her 5 years. We are also told to send pictures of our child through the years, so she can show her friends and teachers how she's grown.

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Other activities to make Ella feel special include handing out a fun birthday snack and a little present for everyone. Ella decided she wanted to share her very favorite treat with the class-- Puppy Chow. Yesterday we melted chocolate and peanut butter, poured it over the Crispex and shook it in the bag with some powdered sugar. We also stuffed jungle animal goodie bags with safari stickers, animal stamps and pads of paper.

She had a hard time falling asleep last night and was up with an early-rising, running Daddy this morning. Ella was so excited for her school birthday!

Preparations Underway

Since 5 is a significant milestone, we're celebrating Ella's birthday with a special party this year. I took one of her favorite things, arts and crafts, and turned it into the party's theme. We'll have 4 stations of crafts that the kids will make their way around. After an hour or so creating, they should all go home with a purse, bracelet, butterfly magnet and animal puppet. We're trying a new big-girl style of party where parents drop their daughters off. Ella got to pick the 5 girlfriends she wanted and the menu. This party is happening on Saturday and Ella's school birthday celebration in on Thursday. Though her real birthday isn't until Monday, the 31st, this week is shaping up to be the Big Birthday Week!

Life in Play

Perhaps it's because she's a girl, or maybe just because she's my girl, there's a pattern in the way Ella plays. She sets up, which is exactly what I did with Heather when I was younger. We made everything from libraries to travel agencies. Every day Ella uses her imagination to create a new world and a new scenario. And since Dave and I intentionally invest a lot of time and money in life experiences, we take great delight in seeing how recent experiences affect that play. Ella is practicing for her preschool program/graduation, so every night before bed we have to sit on the couch and watch her version of a performance. Our VBS has a "High Seas Expedition" theme, so the music we've been listening to and the work we've been doing has inspired a lot of play on ships with pirates lately.

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The trip to Gilroy Gardens is still something that is remembered and discussed every day. Ella set up this roller coaster and then took Delia on many pantomime rides through each drop and twist.

The girls have always loved playing doctor, but now no check-up is complete without getting the IV. Ella pieced this whole set-up together and has even given her play group friends "a drink in the arm."

It's so fun to watch this creativity blossom. From my own experience, I know the pretend adventure that awaits her and Delia!

"And That Is All the People Need to Know"

Dad may be the only one who gets my title. Dave knows there is no more surefire way to elicit giggles and squeals from the girls than to play "THE CLAW", a game Grandpa played with him. He raises his hand high in the air, attempts to hold it back with his other hand and then sends it clawing out and crashing down on the girls to claim its tickles.

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So, what fun it was today to watch a real live claw in action! We called our special garbage truck to pick up all our old carpet rolls from the curb. This was the same truck that came to get our hot tub. It's so fascinating that we all stand glued to the window in our jammies, watching the garbage man maneuver the giant claw around with a joy stick, scoop up our piles of junk and then lift and dump the huge loads into the truck. He must think we're pretty funny as he waves at us. Unfortunately, I do believe we're now out of big things to throw away in our house!

What to Do...

In a crowded house on a quiet Sunday afternoon when Delia is napping in her bedroom, Mommy is doing VBS and nursery work in the study and Daddy is recovering some sleep from a weekend camping trip with his Young Adult group:

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Grab a rest under the dining room table, of course.

Preschool Open House

Last night we welcomed the opportunity to take a break from new-carpet-home-recovery to attend a preschool open house. The point was for Ella to show us her classroom and projects. Delia was invited too, as a student next year, to see again what preschool is all about. We looked through all of Ella's books, met Scamp and Scurry the guinea pigs and saw Ella's "Favorites" sign hanging on the bulletin board. We had to laugh at some of her answers. Miss Debbie told us she was the only kid who said "The Mall" was her favorite place to visit! Dave said, "We're in trouble already." It's not on the sign either, but apparently the "Enchilada Restaurant" that is Ella's favorite is in Mexico. She must have gone without us at some point.

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One of Ella's proudest achievements this year is mastering the 12 monkey bars. She proudly showed us several times how she can swing across with her "strong muscles." I'm most proud of her grasp of early phonics. Just today, I found her staring at some words, working very hard on her letter sounds. She was able to actually decode some of them! The word "sun" will be the very first word she read totally on her own! Ella leaves these 2 years of preschool so enriched and blessed by her experience. We are so thankful for her teachers and the phenomenal job they do instructing and encouraging our kids. We'll see what they make of Delia now... :)

Jen's Tip for Spring Cleaning

There was a time in our lives when we moved every year. An annual cleaning of the place we lived in was a given. Now I am embarrassed to say that there are places in my house that haven't been touched for almost 7 years. Today I stumbled on the perfect solution to getting your ENTIRE house thoroughly cleaned: have new carpet installed! To prepare for the carpet guys this morning, we started moving stuff out on Tuesday. For 2 days we lived in a completely empty house. This meant I could wash walls, ceiling fan blades, the china, the heating ducts and vents. Every single piece of furniture was moved out and thus dusted, every closet purged, every couch vacuumed front to back. Take my advice and order your new carpet today-- your home will never be cleaner! :)

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Besides the luxurious new carpeting, you can also enjoy:

Playing soccer in the empty rooms.

Eating meals "picnic style" on the old carpeting and not worrying about spilling a thing.

Finding a new reading spot in the jumble of furniture on the patio.

And rolling around making carpet angels in the plush new shag.

And if you don't think you can afford my spring cleaning tip, do what we did: make your major credit card one that gives you points for purchases. Forget that it does this for about 10 years, then rejoice when you realize you can redeem your gazillion points for Lowe's gift cards!
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Kidding aside, the house is close to being put back together and I couldn't be happier. The new carpet is just perfect. I'm about to fill up our calendar with people visiting because I can't wait to show it off!

Snow and Cloud Mist Makes It More Beautiful (Right?)

Last week we started talking with Dave's cousin Jodi, who lives in LA and who was hosting her mom, Dave's Auntie Carol. They expressed interest in visiting Yosemite, which was a substantial drive for them. We invited them to break up the drive, stay with us and take The VM Tour of our favorite National Park. We were SO excited when these plans worked out! Auntie Carol and Jodi arrived and visited with us Sunday evening. We ate dinner, showed them the church, observed the girls go absolutely nuts over them (Jodi is young and super cool-- a nanny by profession and a kid magnet!) and then watched the Amazing Race finale. Auntie Carol and Dave's mom used to get together every Sunday night to watch our family's #1 show, it was a blast to finish the season with Auntie Carol's company. If only those entertaining Cowboys could have won! On Monday, we took off for Yosemite...

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Though we had read scary weather reports, the first view of the valley was clear. Jodi and Auntie Carol were amazed at Yosemite's beauty. We've been there so many times, it's fun to take new people and remember that awe we first felt too. However, the sights never get old, no matter how many times you've seen them.

Most of what we saw were the waterfalls, which were the most robust we've ever witnessed. After a winter of mega-precipitation (that is still going into MAY), we had a feeling they'd be pretty incredible!

Upper Yosemite Falls (above) and Lower Yosemite Falls (below)



Bridalveil Falls

The falls are always incredible to see and we ate a nice picnic lunch, but the longer we stayed, the more our gloom-and-doom weather reports came true. A light mist turned to a full down-pour. Our plans to hike to Vernal Falls fell apart and our last stop at Tunnel View was really minus the view. (To remind yourself what it usually looks like, click here.) We said our goodbyes shivering and under the umbrella. As we climbed up out of the valley, the rain turned to snow and we felt okay about our decision to call it a day.

This was a wonderful little visit, though. We love everything about Auntie Carol and Jodi and were nothing but impressed as we reconnected and shared some laughs with them. Ella is already plotting a way to reunite with her 2 new favorite people!