Gracyn's Peter Pan Painting Party

Gracyn had been planning her Peter Pan Painting Party for a year. She wanted a party with her two favorite things--Peter Pan and painting! I'm so happy that everything she envisioned for her party turned out great...and her words was, "ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!" We had planned on doing all kinds of painting and art projects outside and get a bouncy house. We were also having a lady come to do face painting and balloons too. The one BIG snag in our plans was the weather! It was in the low 40s and raining! Boo!! So, we moved the party inside with 18 four and five year olds--and yes, just about everyone showed up! I had a table to paint figurines and do watercolor painting, a play-doh table, a jewelry making table, an ornament making table, big pieces of paper for them to marker on, and the face painter set up shop in the office. We also moved the cars out of the garage for them to do sidewalk chalk and ride on toys. Everything worked out great and everyone had a wonderful time!!

Here were her invitations....

The food table.....

Birthday Girl checking it all out...

For the favors, I put the kids' names on pencil boxes and we filled them with all kinds of fun stuff. 

 

Here are the kids painting their masterpieces...

The Darter girls watercolor painting....

Hudson, Towns and Aunt Am making ornaments.

Piper, Alessandra, Alexia and Annabel making jewelry.

Making posters with markers....

 

The one requirement that Gracyn had for the face painter, was that she had to be able to paint Sleeping Beauty. I think she passed with flying colors. Gracyn was THRILLED with her princess arm!!

Ella loved her unicorn!

The lady was SO good. She could paint anything the kids asked for. Hudson wanted a snake on his arm!

I think HEB did a pretty great job on her Peter Pan cake!

As Gracyn was blowing out her candles, Brier thought he'd blow too....

She's telling on him right here--and he ended up blowing out her last candle. You snooze, you lose around here!!

She got a lot of fun presents. One of her favorites is this Princess Cupcake game. We play it at least once a day! ;)

Her friends know her well...she got a lot of art kits and art supplies.

And....a Minnie Mouse doll and clothes.

Aunt Laurie sent Gracyn a cookie bouquet!

Grandmom and Grandad got Gracyn the American Girl doll that she was wanting. Rebecca is the newest member of the Herron family and she just LOVES her!!

 She was so excited to get the ballet outfit that she was wanting too!!

 

 So thankful that this Peter Pan Painting Party was such a success!! Happy Birthday to the sweetest little five year old I know!!

Gracyn's Birthday

This is what Gracyn found when she woke up the morning of her birthday....she absolutely LOVED having balloons covering her floor!!

She had a few presents to open from us. Hudson got to open one too!

She was THRILLED to see she got her Sleeping Beauty doll!

Hudson was pretty excited about his new HEB big rig too!

She was SO surprised to see her very own Sleeping Beauty DVD!

They both got a kick out of Uncle Ryan and Aunt Virginia's card that meowed "Happy Birthday."

Birthday girl with her new birthday pajamas on and her birthday flower from her party!

Then we got ready and ate breakfast at Magnolia Pancake Haus with Daddy before he went to work. After that, we headed to the mall to see what we could find. Gracyn's birthday money was burning a hole in her pocket! They wanted to park on the top of the parking garage so we could walk across the walk way...so we did. They got such a kick out of it!

They sang "Happy Birthday" to her at the Mickey Store. She was able to find a few things....Prince Phillip to go with Sleeping Beauty and a Sleeping Beauty stuffed doll. (Can you tell who her favorite Princess is?? And, it's because she wears PINK!!)  :)

Then we went to play around at the Lego store.

Hudson is really liking Legos these days!

We grabbed some cookies and headed home. She got her nails painted...purple with pink hearts.....anything for the Birthday Girl!!

She had her 5 year well check that afternoon...she's one healthy little girl!!

After that, we went to pick up Ava to join us for dinner. Gracyn chose to eat at Red Lobster for her birthday dinner. Meme and Pop came too! They let the kids pet the lobsters and they LOVED it!

It was one FULL day of BIRTHDAY FUN!! Sweet dreams Birthday Girl....may they ALL come true!!

Here are a few more pictures of Birthday fun!!

Gracyn got to celebrate her birthday at school!

Since the Tuckers couldn't make it to her party, she got to open their presents early. She was SO excited about the nail art book with nail polish!!

We had to try it out...Graycn got flowers and Hudson wanted snakes. It was a HIT!!

She also got a fashion tracer. She's been designing outfits and coloring like crazy! This little girl loves any kind of art project!!

We've played countless games of Princess Cupcake Party. She adores this game!! I have to admit, it is a fun game to play with her. :)

Birthdays are SO much fun!!

Gracyn {5 Years}

How is it that my sweet baby girl is FIVE years old?!! I know I say this every year.....but I can't believe how quickly they pass!!

Gracyn is growing up more and more each day, and we couldn't be more proud of the little person that she's becoming. She has such a vivid imagination and could keep herself entertained all day. She loves to play dress-up and have tea parties. She plays mostly with her little figurines and her castles and doll houses. She could set them up and play for hours! She is an amazing big sister who loves her brother to pieces (most of the time.) She has a sweet heart and likes to make others feel good-whether it's showering them with compliments or drawing a picture or making a card. She absolutely LOVES doing art. Just give her a pen and a piece of paper and she's a happy camper! Gracyn Kate.....we love you so very much!!

1. What is your favorite color? Pink (That one hasn't changed.)

2. What is your favorite toy? Strawberry Shortcake Hideout

3. What is your favorite fruit? Grapes

4. What is your favorite tv show?  Peppa Pig

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Macaroni & Cheese

6. What is your favorite outfit? Peter Pan shirt

7. What is your favorite game?  Princess Cupcake Party

8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish

9. What is your favorite animal? Pig

10. What is your favorite song? Peter Pan Song, "You Can Fly" and "Wonderful Day"

11. What is your favorite book? Max & Ruby Books

12. Who is your best friend? Piper

13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swing & Draw with sidewalk chalk

15. What is your favorite drink? Milk (That one hasn't changed.)

16. What is your favorite holiday?  Easter

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? MinnieBlankey (That one hasn't changed.)

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Powered donuts

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pasta

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Lifeguard

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY GIRL!!!

 

Rock-n-Roll Marathon

The kids wanted to take their picture with the Geico Gecko at the Expo when we picked up our race packets.  Little cuties!

Here we go....

Well..let me just say that I'm SO glad that it's over with--and I will NEVER do that again!! It was hard--really hard. I was so ready and confident that we'd do well--we'd trained really hard for this and been really dilligent in getting ourselves ready. The twenty miles I ran before wasn't that hard, and I'd averaged under 10 minute miles--I had this!! The weather was the one thing that we couldn't control, and it really did a number on us--and everyone, for that matter. The low that morning was 70 degrees--very humid and it got up to 89 degrees by the end of the marathon. We started out well....but at mile 7, Drew had to stop to walk and told me to keep going. I was hoping he'd catch back up to me, but he didn't. I was doing pretty good until about mile 16 when the sun came out in full force. It was SO hot--and there was NO shade. I would go through water stations and just pour water over my head. I'll admit, I cried several times and wondered why we ever decided to do this?? I was ready to quit at mile 21...but realized I'd come so far and heard a song that really encouraged me to keep going. Drew almost quit at mile 8--but looked up and saw a guy in front of him with a shirt on that said, " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And that gave him the encouragement to keep going. I passed him at mile 18 and was glad to see that he was still going and doing okay. Towards the end, runners were falling all over the place. There were medics and ambulances everywhere because people couldn't deal with the heat. My goal was 4:30, but I realized early on that I wasn't going to make that, so I decided that 5 hours would be my new time to beat. I barely made it!! 4:54:55. I averaged an 11:15 pace. I waited for Drew to finish and was so glad to see him. I'm happy that we did this together, but wished we could've finished together--and with better times. We both agreed that day that we never want to do this again! Now that it's a few days later....Drew is already talking about trying it again--in a different city with cooler temperatures. It will be a hard sell to me--and I can't even believe that I would even consider it?? Didn't I just say that I would NEVER do this again? I know I could do it in 4:30 though.....I guess only time will tell......