Celebrating Remy and Tucker

My good friend Remy is expecting her first little one in about six weeks or so. A few of us got together to throw her a shower to celebrate Tucker’s impending arrival. We all had a great time, and we can’t wait to meet you, Baby Tucker!

I made the little mini cupcakes since it was a morning shower. Turns out, I unwrapped them too early and they were a little dry, but they were still eaten… :)

My other project was to make these bookmarks which served as the “favors”. Each one had a different date to be praying for Remy and Baby Tucker. They were also used as a way to guess the due date, and some people (who shall remain nameless) chose several to increase their odds. Ha!

Our ridiculous attempt at a belly shot. My little person wasn’t really poking out enough to count, but we tried! :)

This photo makes me smile.

Pretty good haul!

We hung the clothes on a line (as many as would fit). Thought that was a cute idea that Rachel came up with!

Thanks for sharing Baby Tucker’s special day with us, Remy! We love you, and can’t wait to meet your sweet little man!!

Muffins with Momma

May 3rd at preschool was Muffins with Mom day. Since I have two kids that have it at the same time, I invited Mom to join me and switch off. It was super sweet and fun to see all the little projects they made for me.

 

 

 

Ellie’s class had a sweet little song about their moms

Then, we were invited to join Ellie’s class for chapel. As we’re walking in to sit down, Ellie and I are asked to hold the Bible during the pledge part. That means Ellie and I go up on stage and hold the Bible up during the Bible pledge. I didn’t realize that Ellie would get to say the prayer, too, but she did. It was THE sweetest thing, because she said “Dear Jesus, Momma has a baby in her tummy and I pray that the baby stays safe and healthy and that we have a good day at school. In Jesus’ name, amen.” Her voice was super quiet at the beginning, so most people missed it, but I was right there and it was really sweet.

Princess Emerson Turns 3

Emerson has been SO excited for her party. Since her actual birthday was on the Saturday before Easter, we decided to delay the party until the following Saturday. Try explaining THAT to a 3 year old! We did a traditional Crouch countdown (where you write the numbers on pieces of toilet paper and let the child pull off one square a day) which helped her understand the difference in her actual birthday and the party day. She talked for days and days about when all her friends would come over. It was super cute. She requested a princess party, so a princess party it was!

Step 1 was the invites. I designed these simple invites that seemed to go over well:

Next, we made our OTC order (love that place) and started working on the castle facade. I also made the girls Pricess Emma and Pricess Ellie shirts for the big day. That turned out to be dramatic as I ruined one of them at 1am the night before the party. After going to bed in tears, King James saved the day by hitting up Walmart first thing the day of the party and I was able to recreate it in time. Whew!

Here’s the pretty birthday princess in her homemade shirt:

With big sister:

 

Our guests arrived to the Wiebe Palace through the following entrance:

James took a fridge box from Lowe’s (for free!) and painted this on. Seriously, didn’t he do the BEST job?! I was SO impressed.

The royal banquet table with jewels strewn about. :)

The princess cake! Several have asked how I did it, so I’ll tell you. I made 3 varying sized layers of round cake (the princess requested strawberry cake) and stacked them with almond buttercream between.  I realized it wasn’t going to be tall enough for Barbie’s legs, so I took one of my cake boards, cut it to size with a hold in the middle for Barbie’s legs to come through. I set that on top of a round cake pan and sewed the little silver skirt from some remnant fabric I had on hand. (First time I’ve combined my sewing and cake decorating hobbies!) Then I cut each layer in half and cut a small hole in the middle to piece around the Barbie. Voila!

The first activity was for the kids to make their own crowns. There were stickers and jewels to put on them. It seemed to be a hit! (Random side note: We were blessed to have two sweet sets of twin girls at our party. Above is Madeline and Mackenzie and below is Kendall and Emery.)

 

After some fruit and cinnamon rolls, the kids played outside in the Royal Court. It was a little damp from the dew and not enough sun, but with some bubbles and balls, the kids had a great time. We then cut the cake the took a little group shot (minus a couple who weren’t into the paparazzi)

Our one prince was intrigued to explore the forbidden wings of the castle. :)

Then we cut the cake! (Does anyone else notice a baby bump in this one?)

And birthday girl opened her presents

Closing her eyes waiting for the big present from Momma and Daddy! Turns out, I didn’t get a photo of her WITH said present. It was a cute pink Scooter. She’s been sharing Ellie’s and she loved it.

Last but not least, we passed out the party favors. I found this cute castle on sale at Hobby Lobby and we got wands for the princesses with swords for the princes and attached some royal themed finger puppets and little bubbles to each with the little tag. I thought they came out cute, and our little guests seemed to enjoy them:

We definitely missed the friends who couldn’t be there, but thanks so much to those of you who could! She had a great morning and loved every minute! Now this tired Momma needs to start thinking about Ellie’s….

Easter Sunday

It’s always a great day to celebrate our risen Lord. He is Risen! (are you saying it in your head?)

Here are a few photos of the day. We had a nice day at church and then had the grandparents over for a yummy roast and Jean’s homemade rolls. SO yum (as if we needed more food this month…)

April Birthday Mania

Amy: Tuesday, April 19th

Emerson: Saturday, April 23rd

James: Monday, April 25th

Ellie: Wondering why everyone gets celebrated in April except her! (It will be good when little bean is here and she won’t be the only one left out.)

April is….insane. As many of you fondly recall, sweet little Emma was due on April 12th and was determined to slide in between our already tight birthdays and be SUPER late. Ah, well. At least we eat well for a good couple of weeks!

We kicked it off with the big 3-4 for me. I’m actually loving my 30s and don’t mind turning a year older at all really. James did a great job making my day special including picking up some clothes for me with the girls and decorating the kitchen a bit. Both girls made me cards, and we were all able to go out to dinner together. It was a nice day for sure!

Emma’s actual birthday was on the Saturday before Easter. We decided to move her party to the following weekend since Easter weekend can be so hectic. Instead, we went to the Easter event at church and then Mom and Dad took us out to celebrate all 3 birthdays at a steak house that night. Here are a few photos from that Saturday:

 

 

This one crack me up – love how intently she’s closing those eyes!

The birthday girl on her birthday night after dinner about to open presents from Cookie and Crouchburger

Stay tuned for a separate post all about her Princess Party!

And then we celebrated James on Monday. I admit that he did better than I did. I had an INSANE day at work that day and barely had time to get him gifts and make him a card. We did some very minor decorating and did make him go on a hot/cold scavenger hunt all over the house to find his gifts. (Was this a sad result of me not having time to wrap them? Maybe, maybe not. I’ll never tell.) We went out for a Chinese buffet dinner,  so I think the birthday boy ended up pretty happy. :)

James and I decided a few years ago that with our birthdays so close that we’d alternate years where one of us is celebrated at a dinner out with friends and the other gets to choose the restaurant for our dinner with Mom and Dad. This year, James chose a steak place with Mom and Dad (Texas Land & Cattle) and he set up a dinner with some friends for me. We did the dinner the weekend after Easter, too, the same night as Emma’s party. It was a long fun day, but we had a lovely time out at Cheesecake Factory with some sweet friends.

While it has indeed been insane, it has also been great celebrating all of our April birthdays! Now on to start planning Ellie’s May party!

Texas Bluebonnets

If you have kids and you live in Texas, it’s practically a rule that you must go take photos each spring in the bluebonnets. It’s just too great of a photo op not to! So, here are our 2011 pics!