Haley's 4th Birthday Party

Haley wanted a Hello Kitty Birthday, we didn't have much money to spend on her party but did a lot of DIY stuff and she loved it.

I got a cupcake stand for cheap and glued these jewels on it. I also got some Hello Kitty sugar pieces at Wal-Mart for like $2. I added them to the chocolate cupcakes we made and it almost looked designer.

So you know how at parties have the yummy party mix called "puppy chow"? We just switched it to "Kitten Chow" and it fit right in.

We got a big bog of twizzlers and named it "Kitten Whiskers". Isn't it cute!

Here is the little set up for the present/favor table. I made these flower balls which have gotten lots of use for birthday parties, photoshoots ect. All the girls had pink princess crowns to wear around for birthday.

We also had a fruit tray, hummas and pretzel crisps, a meat and cheese tray and a veggie tray. For the adults we had sodas and juice boxes for the kids.

We made kitty masks out of paper plates and the girls colored and signed a huge paper for Haley to hang up in her room.

Really the only thing that cost the most was Haley's cake. It was a Hello Kitty small round cake surrounded by pink cupcakes with Hello Kitty rings.(I didn't get a chance to get a really good pic of the cake but it was an ordered cake from Albertson's so not too fancy).

Aren't these girls the cutest!

For party favors I  got a pack of pink bags from the dollar store and we filled it with little toys and candy. I drew eyes on the bags, with a kitty nose cut from foam and whiskers cut from construction paper.

The party was a blast and everyone had fun. And the best thing was Haley was thrilled with everything!

Our Halloween 2013

Oops I'm way behind in posting for Halloween! I actually totally forgot about it, I thought I had already posted about it for some reason haha!

A few days before Halloween we went over to our friends Jesse and Stacy's house. They had a birthday party for their daughter MJ that doubled as a Halloween party also. There were a ton of kids but it was a lot of fun.

The Thompson Family

 

The outside was decorated really well. They even had a fog machine.

 Snack table

 

More snacks and MJ's cake.

 

 Our Family Halloween Pic

(I just noticed it looks like I have 3 arms in this pic. Weird!)

 

 

 I did Steven's costume for the most part. I think I did a pretty good job hehe! He looks scary!

 

 This kid was already into the candy.

Haley, Serenity and the Thompson's daughter Luz. They are good friends.

 

 Jesse and my hubby

 

 These 2 are too hilarious for words!

All the kids at the party. Some of them had some awesome costumes. Like Lego man to the left.

 

 Fast forward a few days and Halloween night we took the girls trick-or-treating. We went early so we could come back and give out candy for a little while. (Of course going out early gets you the best candy and people give out more since they aren't close to running out yet. Hehe! Write that down in the book of Halloween knowledge) Plus of course we like to be at our house when its dark. We play loud, creepy Halloween music and dubstep and set out strobe lights. It's super fun scaring little kids!

 Even Chloe got to wear a costume. Look at that face, is it not the cutest!!

I picked this sweater out kind of as a joke, I didn't think Steven would let me dress up the dog so girly. But surprisingly he loved it! He likes to act tough, but I think it's cute how he spoils the dog.

 

Our 4th of July adventures

We had quite an adventure for 4th of July weekend! Some of it was pretty bad, but for the most part it was a great time. We took off for our friends house in San Clemente pretty early in the morning. We had to take two cars of course since we had all the boys and my niece. (4 kids, 3 teens and 2 adults whew!). We stopped for gas and then ran by Walmart so my neice and I could run in and pick a few things up. When we got back out the hubby was laying on the ground in a pool of gas looking under the car. We were kind of freaking out because we thought we had a fuel leak. So we went back home, (keep in mind we were already 30-40 minutes away from the house.) Hubby stopped by Autozone and they figured out it was just a seal that needed replacing and the car should be ok to drive. So we decided to head out again.

The drive went well and we arrived in San Clemente in the early evening. We had a great time hanging out with my husband's buddy and his family. They have 3 kids so it was a full house, but everyone got along so well and it didn't feel crowded at all. We climbed on tanks, cooked hot dogs, played with sparklers and watched the fireworks from the backyard. The adults sat around after the kids went to bed and we had some great conversation and heart-to-hearts.

I love this pic of Josiah, its gritty and cute at the same time.

My hubby is so weird!

 

Next day was surfing! My hubby had been waiting to surf for almost 3 years since we moved to SC. We went to Doheny beach because its a great place for beginning surfers. Haley and Serenity actually loved surfing, I was a little afraid they would be scared. Apparently they have gotten their daddy's love of surfing in their veins as well as the boys!

Beach Babe!

 

Our friend Stacy taking Haley out on the waves.

 Daddy sending Haley off on a swell

Conner

 

Snack time!

 

My niece Abby and I. I didn't get to surf :( It was too cold for me and I didn't have a wetsuit. I did however get a decent tan haha!

 Luz and Serenity

 

This was such a cute moment! Serenity got pulled under by a wave and was a little shaken up. Luz was wiping her tears and singing Bob Marley's "Every little thing is gonna be alright". Marley (in the pink) and Aaron are about the same age, they had fun hanging out together too.

So after a day of surfing Stacy and I took the little ones back home for showers and chill time and Hubby and the older boys went to find some bigger waves. My hunny was so excited to catch some real waves he forgot his keys in his board shorts pocket and they ended up somewhere in the sea. Of course the only locksmith who could come out and make a new key wanted $350. So then we are freaking out wondering what to do and how we are going to get home. We had just enough gas money to make it home so $350 was not an option. Several hours later we eventually were able to borrow some money (I am so grateful to this person, words can't describe). But now we have another loan on top of the loans we have taken out to get the boys for visitations. Ugh. Pretty bad ending to an otherwise great day. At least hubby got some surf time in but baby we are completely and utterly broke haha!

 Brothers and true friends!

 

I am so grateful to have met the Thompsons, they are truly wonderful people. Their family is very similar to ours and we immediately connected although we hadn't really met before. Stacy is an amazing artist and short like me!

Our super crew! Again, I want to just thank you Thompson's for opening your home, feeding our massive troop and being a wonderful moral support through some stressful moments. I can't wait until we get together again!

Whew! What an adventure, but times I will never forget!