Getting Pampered!

Ansley and I headed out to the big town of Marble Hill for some pampering last week.  I needed my hair fixed and my mom and dad live only 5 minutes from the shop, so she can meet me to help with Ansley.  My cousin Danielle likes to spoil her just a bit, so Ansley loves going to "Donelle's shop" to get her nails done.  She definitely got the royal treatment...crackled nail polish, rainbow shimmers in her hair, and Danielle straightened all those curls.  I almost couldn't watch!  She loved it all and sat so patiently as her little nails dried and her streamers were put in.           

What is this look?!

Starting to get it straightened.

Who is this girl?! 

I got curls and Ansley lost hers.  She just looks too grown up!  

Dani and Ansley!

Luckily for Jason (he wasn't too hip on his little girl looking older), the curls started showing back up that evening after a combination of some rain we had outside and Ansley running around and sweating. Ha! 

You might also be wondering why Ansley is wearing a band-aid on her nose. Well, she loves to suck her thumb and scratch her nose, so we're trying to heal up a large gash she has created.  We've threatened a trip to Dr. Hoffman's for a shot, but nothing seems to work.  So now we roll around with a strawberry shortcake band-aid all the time.  Fabulous.

Birthday Parties Galore!

Birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays!  I feel like that's all I've talked about lately and I know Ansley is wondering weekly whose birthday we're going to celebrate next.  We love all this partying!  First up, we had little Olivia's birthday and then Evy Kate's.  Wow.  They were both so fun!

Olivia's birthday was at Le Bounce, our local jumphouse.  It was Ansley's second time to go and she really loved it.  At first she was a little hesitant, but with a little nudging from Jason (he physically had to get in with her), she was unstoppable!!

Olivia and her little onlookers as she opened up her treats

How cute is she?! 

Daddy giving a bite and then taking two for himself. :)

Then for the jumping....she started loving it! 

Whoa! 

Thanks Mallory for helping Ansley the WHOLE party!  What a sweet girl!  I'm pretty sure she would not have braved this without her help. 

Love that little profile 

Ansley definitely got her exercise in that day.  She was dripping! 

And now for Evy's birthday.  It was a birthday for some VERY special royal highnesses.  And they were beyond excited with all the activities and food they had the honor of partaking in!  Seriously, it was just too perfect.  Ashley thought of every detail!  

The beautiful cake made by Bridget

The birthday princess herself 

The food table....yummy! 

My princess was happy that we were doing a craft.  Daily she will ask to do one now.  I hope she doesn't have the craft bug like her momma. 

Showing off her beautiful crown 

Sonya and Ellie 

Whit and Brynn 

Could you tell these girls were having fun?!  Sophia is super excited! 

Evy opening her presents with some princess onlookers 

This was our attempt at a group shot minus Isaac.  Ansley looks like she's breaking her neck.  This is her trying to pose? Hilarious. 

Cake time! 

Let them eat lots of cake :) 

Isaac and Kristal

Treat table was so cute too!  

       It was such a great day and I know we'll all look back and think we had some pretty awesome birthday party memories.  What a blast!  

Jansen turns 2!!!

This post is a little late and the picture quality is horrid, but I couldn't leave out that my nephew, Jansen turned 2!  We had a little birthday bash for him at my brother and sister-in-laws new house several weeks ago and he was just the cutest thing!  Laura had fixed broccoli cheddar soup, yummy chicken salad sandwiches, and all kinds of sides to go with it.  It was delicious.  And Jansen was so sweet...he offered every single bite of food to Ansley before he ate it, except for his grapes ;).  It was precious and Ansley took him up on it SEVERAL times...so much so that I thought she had maybe eaten his whole plate!  Also, it was the year for Thomas the Train.  By the end, the house was exploding with little locomotives!  Here are a few pictures of the evening and a video of the kiddos having a blast with Jansen's balloons.  They loved it!

Jansen eyeing those candles!

Bloww them out Jansen!!! 

Ansley chillin in Jansen's highchair....waiting for cake! 

Now for the video....

Please excuse my very high pitched, annoying laugh!

Happy Birthday Jansen!!

Tuesday Treat Day!

I'm going to hopefully get in a new blogging groove with a new little series of weekly posts! Most weeks seem so mundane around here and a lot of times I don't feel like there's much to write about, but I've started something new with Ansley that I thought would be easy to blog about.  We are calling it Tuesday Treat Day and it's basically just that....Tuesdays we have started doing 1 really fun and different thing on Tuesday of every week.  It doesn't have to be anything extravagant or over the top, just something fun that I know Ansley will enjoy.  A treat for her.  So to start us off....we began this Tuesday at the Riverside Library in Jackson.  Our Parents as Teachers friend, Amanda gave us a schedule of fun events they put on as a way of reaching out to Jackson community of parents and children that are in the PAT program. I couldn't believe ALL the fun things they had for the kids to do!  There were stations set up all over the room and they started things by reading a story to the kids and building a snowman throughout the story.  Each kid got a glove, an eye, nose, or other part of the snowman.  It was so cute to see the kiddos bring their piece of the snowman puzzle as Amanda read the story!

So we started out at the food table (she's just like her momma, always goes for the food first!).  We put together a snowman with a powdered donut, chocolate chips, and a piece of candy corn.       

Ansley got a little excited about the donut part and enjoyed a bite of her treat before we had even started.  Oops. 

  

I could barely get a picture before she had devoured the whole thing!  Excuse the powered sugar teeth.

And lips.... 

Then it was time for sensory fun!  They had snow, sand, flour, sugar...all kinds of mediums for the kiddos to play in! Ansley's favorite was the snow, she probably spent 20 minutes burying animals in it (and she wouldn't let the little deer that she called "reindeer" out of her sight)! 

On to the glue-like substance where she made acorn and pine needle imprints.  She loved this too! 

The the pink squishy jello bags were fun too. 

Then it was time for a Valentine craft with paint and gluing.  She was most interested in painting her hands herself, which proved for an interesting situation with a 2 year old who thinks she needs no help with anything!  Let's just say she wanted to include her whole arm in the painting process and I had to get a little stern with her. :) She was definitely showing signs of a much needed nap, so after the craft we bolted for the door before Tuesday Treat Day was a disaster. Ha!   

We really had a great morning diving into lots of activities.  We will definitely be going back for more PAT events like these!  

My Little Chica!

Ansley and I had a lunch date Tuesday at Chick-fil-a and she was in rare form.  I think the thought of getting apple juice kicked her in high gear (she doesn't get it all that often)!  She began by telling me that she didn't want the Polynesian sauce ("mommy, not dat wed sauce") and proceeded to remind me that ketchup was the sauce of choice.  Who doesn't want to dip their nuggets with that yummy Polynesian sauce?!  Apparently Ansley. 

This is her telling me a big story about the Chick-fil-a cow.  It was just too cute.   

And then she got a little exercise going up and down the slide over and over again.  She loves it there! 

It was family time there on Tuesday and Ansley got to make a craft.  It was a picture frame made out of popsicle sticks and little puff balls.  I didn't get any pictures, but I want to remember what she said when she picked the frame up and stared at it so intensely.  It went a little like this....."miwo, miwo on da wall.  Who's the faiwest of them all?"  And that's my confirmation....we've maybe watched Snow White one too many times! :)

Isaac's Birthday Party!

One of Ansley's little friends, Isaac had a big birthday this week.  He is 2!  Kristal did such a great job on the decorations and made it so fun for the kiddos.  It was a rainbow color scheme and so adorable! She had balloons everywhere in every color and little canvases with crayons for the kiddos to make.  They loved it, except for little Ellie (she wasn't real thrilled about making her canvas, yet she thought it was so pretty).  It was so fun and Krystal had all kinds of yummy food too (tailgate sandwiches are my fave and the rainbow cupcakes were so good!). Happy Birthday little Isaac!

Her colorful balloon mantel. 

The foyer was filled balloons on the ceiling and the table had little pictures of Isaac 

The train table upstairs was a big hit 

And the craft was so fun! 

They all played really well together 

Krystal brought a bowl of crackers up and the kids swarmed the table!  It was as if they hadn't eaten in days! 

A blurry pic of Isaac blowing out his candles, but cute none the less!   

Happy Birthday Isaac!