{ Valentine's Party ~ 2014 }

Hiya! Lanie here. I cannot believe it's been over a week since we had our Valentine's Day party!  We had such a blast! I so totally loved doing all the decorating.....it seemed to take FOREVER to get all the decorations out and up, but it was SO worth it!!

Look at these super cool garlands that Hope made! We hung them up just before the party started and it was a complete surprise to all of us!  Hope told us that she sewed them all by herself on her sewing machine and that Cindy was a big help holding them cause they got reeeeeally long! They just look SOOO cute hanging up, don't they?  They really made it extra festive!

And look at this super, super cute felt heart centerpiece!  Hope hand made this too!  The little hearts are puffy and Hope says the edges are done in a "blanket stitch".  Hope is super talented isn't she?

In preparation for the party; Cindy, Christina, and I went out to our local grocery store a few days before Valentine's Day and got little boxes of chocolates for everyone. I picked out a soccer ball chocolate box for Trey- when I saw it I knew it was perfect for him! Cindy picked pink rose chocolate boxes for the girls, and Christina made the flower decorations to stick on the candy boxes when we got home.  She used some really pretty Valentine's ribbon and silk flowers she bought at Michael's. Aren't they cute?? I'm not sure where that big chocolate Hershey's Kiss came from or who it's for but I sure wish is was mine!!

 

I even decorated the top of our fridge so that our noisy but awfully pretty parrot could enjoy the party too.  I had to make sure that he couldn't get to the stuff though cause he has a way of shredding everything that comes in contact with his beak!

 

After decorating, I helped with getting the foods prepared and set out. Yum!  I love cookies!  Cindy made us put out the "healthy" foods and says we have to eat some of the veggies before having sweets.  At least I like carrots & cheese cubes.  But celery?  Nope.  Not so much.....I do not like the stringy part at all.  Now, I will confess, I don't mind those pig-in-blankets one bit!  Those are one of my favorite party foods!!  I like them dipped in honey mustard....yummilicious!

Christina put all our handmade valentines into a big basket to pass out.  McKenna was so excited to find out which one was hers, that she immediately offered to help with the task! I cannot wait to see our special little felt Valentine envelopes; Hope has been working on these for months in and around school, homework and youth group.  She made them very similar to the puffy hearts centerpiece; with hand-embroidery and special applique's and buttons - one for each of us!  Golly, I have to admit that I wished I had offered to help cause I really wanted to see mine too!

Christina set the basket of our special Valentine's under the table and told Coconut to guard them with her life!  Coconut happily agreed and stayed right next to the basket, guarding it as if it was full of bones!

Just as I was getting my first cookie, Harper arrived!  She kept apologizing for not dressing up for the party but I assured her that it was fine!  The most important part was that she made it.....and that there was still food left for her! 

After about 4 cookies, I heard Christina call to get everyone's attention so she could start passing out the valentines. Needless to say, she gave McKenna hers first - since she was just DYING to see it - AND she was standing right there next to Christina! 

"Next is Harper's!!" Christina called out.  Harper nearly knocked me over to get next in line behind McKenna, but you can bet that I was right behind her!! 

"Patience, Lanie-bug." Christina smiled, as she handed me my Valentine. Ooh! Oh my golly! It's mine! I cant wait to open it and see who its from!! Maybe I have a secret admirer!!

I couldn't bring myself to open it right away.  I just wanted to sit and admire just how adorable these are! All the work and love that went into each stitch.....what a true gift these were.  Okay, so that moment passed in like, two seconds and I had to open it!   I pulled out my card and it had pretty glitter dots and a heart made of the same glitter.  Inside it read;  

"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue ~ You're Such A Good Friend and I Miss You!"  

Love, Isabelle XOXO

Awwww, that was sooooo sweet!  My Valentine was from Isabelle!  For a few seconds, it like totally made me sad cause it reminded me of how much I really do miss her ~ even though I have had such fun with my special Izzy doll that she sent. 

Right about then, Hope arrived and we all cheered when she walked into the kitchen!  "We love your special garlands!" everybody shouted. 

Since McKenna helped with the Valentines, I wanted to be the helper for handing out the boxes of chocolates.  I grabbed Hope's and handed it to her and told her that I admired her terribly.  "You are so talented, Hope. I wish I could be more like you!" I exclaimed.  "Oh Lanie, you are still young and learning but you already have a wonderful talent - you make us all smile each and every day and not everybody can do that!"  Hope replied.

"Thank you Hope.  I hope you'll always know that I love you like a sister!"  ♥  Then we hugged and posed for this photo. 

Just then, we heard a semi-familiar voice......"Hellooooo!  Hellooooo!  Is anybody home???"  I turned to Hope and asked her who that could be?  It sounded familiar but I couldn't quite figure it out.  Hope agreed, "Maybe it's Cindy's bff, Lily?"

Then we heard the voice again and this time, I was pretty sure I knew who it was!!!!!  We turned towards the direction that the voice was coming from to see if we could figure it out.....the voice was getting louder and louder......closer and closer!  By this time, everybody at the party had stopped talking because they were curious too.  We were all looking towards the door......

OH. GOOD. GOLLY.  I could NOT believe my eyes!!!!  It was Isabelle!  My little heart felt like it would just burst out of my chest and fly away!  I squealed with glee SO loudly that I startled poor Hope so badly, I think she might have peed her pants!

Can you believe it?!?!?  Isabelle was right there in front of us!  We all cheered cause we were all so happy to see her.....and then we all rushed towards her like a flash HUG!

This was the best Valentine's Day party we have ever, ever, ever had!!!!  Good golly, I am still walking on sunshine and it's been ten days. ☺

{♥ My Valentine's Project ♥}

Hiya! It's me, Hope. Happy Valentine's Day to you all!!  We are planning on throwing a big party to celebrate! BUT, we're not having our party until Saturday evening. If we'd known it was going to snow a foot or more - which cancelled school - we could have had it on the actual day, but oh well!

I've had this Valentine's Day decoration idea in my mind for quite sometime; to make a really cool garland of felt hearts using my sewing machine! Since the "big snow" had been predicted for several days, I figured we'd probably get the day off from school yesterday.  So, I went by our local craft store a couple days ago and picked up some different colors of felt.  I wanted to be prepared!

When I got up yesterday morning and looked out the window, I knew that I'd have the whole day to work on my special project! After getting dressed, I set about gathering my supplies on the kitchen table. To start off...I needed my good scissors - not the kind I use to cut paper but my special ones that I only use for fabric. I also got out my sewing machine, the measuring tape, and some spools of thread. Since sewing is hard work, I poured myself some pink lemonade and got a bowl of gummy bears for snacking on... nothing like a little sugar for energy, right?!?!

First, I cut lots & lots & LOTS of little hearts out of all 5 colors of felt; dark red, light red, hot pink, light pink, and white. I made the sizes different so it would be a little more interesting, too!

Next, I sat down and began to line up the hearts to sew together. My plan was to sew two long garlands; each long enough to reach across the whole kitchen and criss-cross in the middle.  Just as I was about to start sewing, Cindy came in and asked me what I was doing. I told her my project idea, and she asked if she could help.  My reply?  "TOTS!"

I thought to myself; "Well, here goes!!"  I slowly pushed my foot on the foot peddle and my machine started to hum.  Oh how I love that sound! 

As I kept placing one heart after another, after another, after another, I realized my garland was starting to get really long.  It was long enough to almost touch the floor! Fortunately Cindy rushed around the table to pick up the end so it wouldn't get tangled up in itself.  I was really happy that she was there to help me!
 

With Cindy's help, I kept adding more and more of my colorful felt hearts - it made me so happy to see it almost finished!

After 30 minutes, we were starting to make a LOT of progress! My Valentine's Day garland idea was coming to life right before my very eyes and it was just as I had imagined it would be!    

  

When we had finished the last garland, Cindy was so sweet.....she told me what a great idea it was and that she admired me for my creativity.  I felt so proud!

Then, she had a great idea - we should hold the garland up to be double-double sure that it was going to be long enough.  We didn't want to start decorating right before the party and find out that it was too short.....that would be such a bummer.  So we each grabbed hold of an end and started to stretch it out across the kitchen. 

I think it is going to be perfect, Cindy!  Don't you think?

"Yes, it's the perfect length, Hope.  You did a great job measuring it out!"  I was soooooo excited.   I just know the other girls are going to L.O.V.E. the two garlands when I pull them out on Saturday.  I can't wait!

So, we put the first garland away in my sewing box and then I heard a snarfing noise.  I looked down and OH NO!  Coconut was playing in the other garland.  I started to fuss at her but then I realized that Coconut probably only wanted to "help".  Even so, I didn't want to her to break it after all my hard work and planning!! 

So, I took a deep breath and got down on the floor to take it away from her.  Sweet little Coconut, I could tell by her eyes that she was only trying to help.  And, she really was holding it very gently!  It's almost like she knew how special it was!  I thanked her for her "help" and gave her a little bit of Valentine's love. 

Looking back, I swear this was her way of asking, "Will you be my Valentine?"  Just look at her cute little face!  Who can resist a face like that? I know I sure can't!

18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Hope's butterfly jeans and top: eBay find

Cindy's Snowflake Sweater and grey leggings by American Girl®

Cindy's "snowman" socks; eBay find

Hope's Sewing Machine and accessories;  Our Generation® Sewing Collection

{ Lego Time! }

Sup peeps! Trey here. I've been looking forward to Saturday all week long! I love weekends because I don't have to spend my whole evening doing homework. My plan for today was to take Meatloaf and ride my skateboard out to the caboose to hang out with Alden for the day. Unfortunately, its below 0° outside today.....and I didn't want to fight Meatloaf puttin' on his booties.  He hates those things....I swear he must think it makes him look girly cause it is impossible to get them on without sitting on top of him!  No worries, I decided to chill with my Lego homies! 

Here they all are displayed up on the fireplace mantel. I like to keep them here but the girls are always getting on me about it.  They like my Legos BUT would rather see more of their "pretty" (aka girlie!) things up there.  Hey, what's not pretty about this super cool scientist Lego girl?? 

So, I set them all down on the floor, got comfy and picked up my sax playin' Jazz Dude. In school, my teacher told us that President Clinton was a sax player....I was like, whoa, who knew?  I sure didn't!   

Here's little jazz dude and his sax up-close.  He has the coolest shades on and his Fedora SA-weet!  I bet President Clinton didn't look this swag!  

Sometimes I like to just sit and make up wild stories about them or make them fight each other....like below; Scarecrow knocked Yeti over with his pitchfork!  Yep, just a lightweight old pitchfork!  I guess Yeti hadn't eaten his Wheaties that morning!  Silly Yeti, he should know better - you should always eat a good breakfast!

Then all of a sudden, Tiki Warrior sprang out of nowhere and totally freaked Sad Clown out!  I mean, hey, that spear is sharp and Sad Clown probably wee'd himself.....which tots made him even sadder - and waaaay embarrassed!  Poor guy!

After Tiki Warrior and Sad Clown made up, Boo decided to come see what all the commotion was about.  He almost jumped right in the middle of them all but I was able to stop him just in time to avoid a massive loss of heads and arms and legs and, well, you get the picture. ☺   

 So, I introduced Boo to all my Lego peeps and we had a fun time just hanging out and making up more silly stories.  And I specifically told Boo that he is not allowed to steal the bone away from Tiki Warrior or else he might get poked with a long spear just like what almost happened with Sad Clown... lol! 

18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Trey's carpenter jeans Minipparel ~ Etsy 

Trey's plaid shirt from Butterfly Kisses Doll Clothes Store ~ eBay®   

Trey's grey shirt from the 1999 "Drawstrings Cargo & Plaid Shirt Set" by American Girl®

Trey's shoes are 2003 Grey Sneakers by American Girl®