Hiatus over - Party recap!

January has been an unexpectedly busy month! Most of the busyness has revolved around the planning and execution of Fiona's 4th birthday party, which I'm pleased to say, was a success! My sister-in-law and I apparently had some poor planning, and had kids within 3 days of each other, so now Fiona and her cousin Bentley share a birthday weekend...which would be fine if they were the same age, gender, or we shared any of the same friends, because then we could just do a double party for both of them.  As it is, Fiona is a 4 year old girl and Bentley is a 1 year old boy and we live on opposite ends of town and have no friends in common, just family. So planning two birthdays for the same weekend can be a bit tricky. We had to reschedule Fiona's party a few times, but in the end it all worked out. Fiona's two cousins - Rubye and Kayleigh - were able to come for a sleepover.

Fiona and her cousins share a special bond because they were the first three grandchildren born in mine and John's family, and they were born almost exactly a month apart each. Kayleigh in November, Rubye in December and Fiona in January. So on top of all the holidays, we've also got 3 birthdays in a row. Actually, 4 now with Bentley's birthday! It's a busy busy time of year for our family!

Anyways, we had a Tinkerbell birthday party/sleepover for Fiona and everyone had a great time. The girls played dress up (multiple costume changes throughout the day), whacked the heck out of a pinata (and went CRAZY over the candy inside) and had numerous balloon fights, where each girl would take turns being the "bad guy" and the other girls would chase her around and they'd beat on each other with balloons. It was lots and lots of silly fun. For dinner the girls couldn't agree on what to eat. Fiona requested hot dogs, Kayleigh requested mac n' cheese, and Rubye requested pizza...so I made all of it! (why not, it's a party!) The evening capped off with a 3-kid bubble bath and 3 sweet little girls snuggled in bed reading stories.

The next day we took them to the Aquarium, and we all had a great time. The girls were particularly excited by the "Nemo fish" and the jellyfish. Unfortunately a few of the exhibits were closed for maintenance or remodeling, but the girls didn't seem to mind. After the Aquarium, we headed out to Kayleigh's house for her little brother Bentley's party. Bounce-house and cupcakes, that's all you need to know! Fiona was in party heaven! Everyone had fun, and Fiona got a few more presents from her grandparents. Rubye stayed one more night with us, and we dropped her off with her mom on Sunday. It was a fun (but long!) weekend, and the house seemed so empty and quiet when it was all over!

John reminded me to get back on track once the party was over - eat better, exercise, BLOG (!) etc. Then unfortunately Fiona and I both came down with a bug and ended up in bed for a day or two. Today I'm up and about and feeling mostly better, so today I'm getting back on track. I have a to-do list written up on the big whiteboard in our kitchen, and blogging is on that list! Crossed off, check, done!