Olympics, Here She Comes!

| October 9, 2016

Sam has really been enjoying gymnastics class. She’s about halfway through her 10 lessons and she’s doing great. She does complain every Friday about going because she’s so exhausted from her school week, but when she gets there, she loves it. I try to take photos of her while I am there, so I thought I’d post some of how she is doing. They’re not the greatest pics since they are all from my phone, mostly through plexiglass or from far away, but here she is!

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It’s Party Time!

| October 9, 2016

Sam had her first ever birthday party for friends, instead of just family. She tried very hard to convince me to have a party at Chuckie Cheese (God no). I told her that, #1, I hate that place as does every other adult on the planet and #2, I don’t like parties where the kids don’t even spend any time together because they are all scattered around until it’s time for cake. I offered Busy Bees or Michael’s and she chose Busy Bees. She chose the canvas painting instead of the ceramics, which was a good change of pace I think from what most kids do there. I had told her that we had to wait a few weeks after her birthday to have the party since I wanted to give the parents a few weeks to respond, and school barely got started at the time of her birthday. She wanted to invite all of the girls in her class this year, all the girls from her class last year, plus Julia and Ava, and at the last minute, her new bus friend. Yikes! It turned out to be a lot of kids. I have to admit, I was kind of hoping a lot wouldn’t come. All told, with Samantha and all the kids invited, it was 21 girls! I would have been happy if she had 8-10, but she wound up with 16, including her. Either the invitees just desperately wanted to go to a party, or our child is extremely well liked. I choose to believe she is well liked, of course. 🙂

It was a big party, and even the people at Busy Bees were a bit concerned about keeping that many 6 and 7 year olds focused on painting, but it turned out perfect! The girls were very focused, everyone loved painting, and Sam felt on top of the world that so many friends came to celebrate her birthday.

Here are some of the little goof balls having fun while waiting for the rest of the guests to show up, Lina, Adeline and Corinne.

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There were so many girls, they didn’t even fit in the party room! The canvases were set up outside, and the party room was reserved for cake and presents.

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Sam got to choose the canvas they all painted, and she chose a cat coming out of a pumpkin. At Busy Bees, they lightly sketch the design so you know where to paint, at least for the little kids. I can’t imagine doing it free hand!

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All the little artists hard at work.

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And the finished masterpieces, drying on the easels while it was cake time! Most of them finished products were amazing, I have to say! Good job, girls!

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We got them settled while they all gorged on cheddar goldfish and pretzels. Sam was having the time of her life, as you can see.

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Say cheese!

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Happy Birthday, Samantha! She specifically requested roses. Lots of roses.

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I hope you made a good wish and that it definitely comes true.

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Presents! Ugh. Presents. Lots of presents. It’s going to be like Christmas at our house!

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After the party was done, it was time for something that Samantha was looking forward to. She gets to put her handprint on the wall. Of course, she picked orange.

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When we got home, I made her pause for a moment so I could take her picture. It didn’t take long for her to start ripping into presents. Thankfully, a lot of the moms chose crafty type gifts, rather than toys. Although a few toys are of course, ok, but not 15 of them!

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This one was a favorite, from her bestie, Julia.

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Look at all the loot! Score! Penny and Zach had fun playing in the discarded wrappings. There is the slightest glimpse of Penny if you look hard.

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The birthday girl in her special “Birthday Girl” smock I made her for the occasion. I hope you had a wonderful day, Samantha, a day to remember. You deserved all the attention you received. Happy, Happy Birthday!

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Family Fun Day

| October 2, 2016

Springfield has been great lately about hosting community events like the movies on the hill and the dining on Saxer. The latest and greatest was Family Fun Day! The whole thing took place in the area by the Township building right at the end of our street! How convenient! There were tons of local vendors selling food and other items, a band, horse and pony riding, face painting, etc. Sam was super excited and so were we. It had been so rainy for days, and on Family Fun Day it was sunny and beautiful.

One of the first vendors Samantha stopped at was someone who hand knitted a bunch of things. The usual, like hats and such, but also these cute puppets and cat toys. It didn’t take Sam long to talk Mark into buying her some things. We wound up spending more money than anticipated…Sam later talked me into buying a knitted bear and some dolls clothes from another vendor.

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The firehouse had one of the engines there for the kids to explore. All the tool doors were open and the kids could even climb inside.

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Here’s Sam with a police dog. 😉

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After a long wait, Sam finally got her turn to ride one of the horses! She looks like a natural and wasn’t scared at all at how high up she is.

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We moved on to face painting and Sam chose a pumpkin. Super cute!

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Sam saw lots of friends there from school but she was most excited to see Julia!

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Our last stop before going home was the photo booth. As you can see, we all had a great time!

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