Peyton turns FIVE.

Two Saturdays ago, my little baby girl turned FIVE years old.

Can you believe it? I certainly can't.

How those five years went so quickly, I'll never know.

I'm sure that if you're reading this, you know of Frozen (the incredibly adorable Disney movie that every little {& big!} girl is obsessed with right now?). Well, of course Ms. Peyton is head over heels in love with anything Frozen or Elsa-related. So, naturally, when I asked her what theme she wanted for her birthday party this year, Frozen it was!

We tried to take care of some party prep well in advance, but being the procrastinator that I am, we didn't really get it done until the day before and the morning of her actual party. We did manage to get her invites written up {that my lovely sister designed!} and handed out to her classmates a few weeks before the big day.

My Momma found the Frozen stickers and we cut up un-used Frozen valentine's to "address" the invites, which worked perfectly!

Before I knew it, those weeks had gone by and it was her big day!

We celebrated by meeting Grammy, Nenna, and GiGi at Cracker Barrel for some yummy breakfast.



After we feasted, everyone dispersed and Peyton & I took a trip to the salon to get her nails painted for the first time! She loved it - (what girl doesn't?)

She got this really pretty blue-sparkly color to go along with the whole Frozen theme, of course.

We went home and snuggled while GiGi and Nenna worked on the finishing touches for her surprise new big girl bedroom reveal. {Because planning a birthday party, Nick finishing up a term for school, working on multiple other house projects, and dealing with our daily busy schedules wasn't enough to handle.} We didn't quite get everything accomplished and soon she was off to her birthday party at her dad's house, which left us with the evening to head to Hobby Lobby & Target for a few last minute room items and party supplies.

The next day, she came home and we were able to finally show her what we had been working on the past week:

{There are a few more things left to do, like paint the desk blue, change out the knobs and hang up a few more coat hooks.}

 Which was quickly followed up with a mad rush to get all of the party prep and decor finished. People started arriving and there were still plenty of things left unfinished. In fact, some ideas {i.e: the mini powdered doughnut snowmen and the hot chocolate bar} were completely thrown out the window. Which ended up being just fine, because we had more than enough to do. It was so, so wonderful having Peyton's classmates there for the party. They really were adorable and were always keeping me on my toes. I felt like I hardly got to interact with anyone but them for the whole party, haha. I was so busy that I hardly took any pictures/video, but thankfully my sister knows how much I love documentation and she went ahead and took some for me!

Here are a few pictures of the decorations, food, etc.:

 

We strung cotton balls on fishing line to create "snowfall" in the living room.
Also, these pictures serve as an unintentional sneak peak of what our new colors are in the house! :)

My momma works part time at Walmart and was lucky enough to nab the Frozen cutouts that they used as displays before they took them to the dumpster. They worked out perfectly to help give the party more decor and a more "Frozen"-feeling AND they saved us money because the cutouts that they sell online are like $35 a pop and ain't no body got time money for that. 

 Kristoff's Ice Cubes were kind of an epic fail. I would have much rather just had scoop-able blue jello than to have to have cut them up into squares like we did. It was a hot mess.

More party decorations:

Once all of the kiddos showed up (and I corralled them all into the kitchen), we started making their individual pizzas by using my grandmother's pizza dome. We had used it before for "pizza parties" at my Grammy's so we thought it would be great for the kids to give it a try and then we would have regular Papa John's pizza for the adults...

Well, these are the creations they came up with:

Celery dipped in ranch alongside apple slices, cheese cubes, and green beans? Needless to say, none of them wanted to eat their creations once they were baked.

After our attempt at eating something else for lunch, we decided to start up with the first game on the agenda! My totally amazing sister created this with 2 pieces of white poster board and some sharpies {& some twine & baby clothespins leftover from Peyton's room redo}:

 The kids loved it!

They all took turns as I held the "blindfold" and they all did pretty darn well, if you ask me!They might have helped each other out, just a little ;)

Next up: Olaf lost his nose in a snowstorm!

aka: the kids get really messy as they try to find a baby carrot in a pie plate full of whipped cream without using their hands. My Momma gets the credit for coming up with this one.

^^ This little girl, Irma, stuck her face in the plate and came back out with the carrot stuck right to her nose - how perfect is that!? ^^

The only little  boy from her class who came to the party was Hunter. And ironically enough, he was the only one who participated that didn't want to dive face first into that. So, he asked for a fork. :P I thought it was also cute that, out of all of the little kids there, he was the only one who actually sat down and watched Frozen when we played it towards the end of the party.

After we cleaned up the whipped cream is when we played "Freeze Dance". Which consisted of me playing the Frozen soundtrack as the little ones danced around the living room; until I hit pause and they were supposed to freeze! until I started it up again. Man oh man, did they love that game!

We decided after that, that it was time to open presents because some of the family members were getting a little restless. Peyton got so many cute things including a really awesome Frozen fleece blanket that I may or may not enjoy cuddling with as well.

 ^^ This is the only picture I could get of them all together and there's still one little girl missing. They were all having a serious sugar rush and would just not sit still, but what else do you expect from 6 four and five year olds? ^^

My Great Uncle Charlie (who just loves Peyton to pieces) also gifted her this really adorable jewelery armoire. I can't wait until she's old enough to fill it up with some pretty accessories!

As if the sugar high from the sweet treats and the whipped cream wasn't enough,

we had cake & ice cream next!

My momma had this vision and created this wonderful cake all by herself:

 We used blue raspberry cake mix, but it would have been better if we had just used blue dye and vanilla cake. The Olaf and Elsa came from one of Peyton's toys. The snow/ice covered trees were simply waffle cones covered in icing and sprinkles. Lastly, the stairs were made of those strawberry wafer cookies covered in icing and pushed into the cake. It was a really awesome replica of Elsa's ice castle and turned out much better than any store bought cake would have. 

We ended the party with popping in the movie for the kids to watch, especially since I was just plain exhausted from it all. It was nice to just sit and listen to them all interact. Soon enough, guests started to disperse and we were all happy to just be able to relax and reflect on a crazy hectic, but well enjoyed fifth birthday party for our little lady.

The kids (& adults!) had all signed our chalkboard in the kitchen to wish Peyton a Happy Birthday, kind of like one big giant birthday card & I just love the way it looked when it was all said and done:

The weather for the whole day could have been a heck of a lot better. I mean, it was seriously like a torrential downpour for the first couple hours, but then - THEN the coolest thing happened!

It snowed. A Frozen themed party wouldn't have been complete without it!

Thanks, Elsa! {I mean, Peyton} ;)

Overall, it was a great success and we only had a few minor issues: like Peyton crying because another little girl wanted to play with one of her birthday presents. If that's the biggest issue, I'm alright with that! I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to my momma, Jenna, and Nicholas - because without you guys, this party wouldn't have happened or have been even half as wonderful as it was.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

xo,

Sara

Five on Friday

Hallelujah! It's Friday.

This week seemed to go by pretty dang fast, though. Which is always a bonus in my book.

If we could have a five day weekend and a two day workweek {& still get paid for those 5 days}, I would be a happy camper.

Here's five things I am lovin' about this week:

1 - I had the chance to paint my nails! A nice bright coral & gold glitter combo. The best part? I was able to paint them at work! Today was a nice relaxing Friday in the office, so when we had some downtime I would throw a quick coat on them and before I knew it, they were done. Talk about being productive ;)

2 - That painting up there. It was the inspiration for the entire re-do of our downstairs decor. We chose paint colors and pillows and window panels based entirely off of this piece {that Nicholas bought for me for our 4 year anniversary, because he knew how much I loved it! Of course, it's from Pier 1.}  and we've slowly been working on getting this whole level complete and I am loving every bit of it. I can't wait to see the finished product!

3 - Peyton is so beyond excited for her Frozen-inspired fifth birthday party next week! Nearly all of the RSVPs from her classmates were "yes, we're coming!" which will be fantastic. Today, my Momma gave her Elsa's castle to play with and so that we would have it for decoration when it's party time. She's spent the entire time since we got home singing along to the soundtrack and playing with her new toy & I have been so content with just listening to and watching her imagination come to life. I have to come up with our main dish, the rest of the snacks, games/activities, & decor ideas... any suggestions are appreciated! :)

4 - Our Save The Dates arrived today!! As far as I knew, they weren't coming until next week so I was super excited when Nick said he found that little blue box on our doorstep. I wanted to get them out around April 4th {6 months before the big day!} so a head start on addressing them will be wonderful. Once I mail them out, I'll share what they look like.

5 - Yesterday, Nick stayed home because he had a severe headache/neckache that quickly turned into a full on backache and he said that lack of sleep and stress with school just caught up with him. So, he slept away most of the morning and then worked on homework for the rest of the afternoon. Luckily for me, I was able to leave work 2 hours early and when I got home we just snuggled and spent the whole evening together. I love Peyton to death, but sometimes just having some "us time" with my man is really nice. It allows us to connect and catch up, which we really needed lately.

I am looking forward to a weekend full of party planning and crafting; as well as making a new recipe {Spanish Chicken and Potato Roast} and just spending time with my loved ones.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and that these next 2 days don't fly by so quickly for us!

xo,

Sara

Peyton lost her first tooth!

Two weeks ago, my little baby love reached a big milestone.

She lost her very first tooth!

I couldn't believe it.

How is she even old enough to have that happen?!

Wasn't she just having those teeth pop though her little baby gums just last week?

Oy vey. She's growing up so fast.

It all started about a month or so ago when we were brushing her teeth one night. I normally floss and brush her teeth for her because I need to make sure that they get a good cleaning every time. As I started brushing, she winced and said "Ow, Momma! My tooth hurts!" and of course I investigated and, much to my surprise, her bottom front tooth wiggled when I prodded it! There may have been tears on my part. 

Of course, I had been watching it like a hawk {or an Eagle ;)} for the past month and hoping {with my fingers & toes crossed} that it would happen to fall out when she was with me! I just wanted so bad to share in that moment with her. Well, on the morning of Thursday, March 6th we went in to brush her teeth and of course, started with the flossing. I flossed around the loose tooth and it seemed super extra loose. I asked her if she minded if I wiggled it around a bit and thankfully she replied with "Go ahead, Momma." We wiggled and it bled a bit so I tore off some toilet paper to clean her up and something told me "just see what happens if you give it a little pull. Just do it!"

One little tug and poof!

No more loose tooth!

We cried and laughed and squealed and hugged and jumped for probably a good five minutes together.
I don't think that I'll ever, ever forget that moment. She was SO beyond excited for the Tooth Fairy to finally be making a visit to our home. We finished getting ready and were able to snap some quick pictures.

Afterwards, she immediately wanted to tuck the tooth in a safe place (a small ziploc bag) and put it in under her pillow! Unfortunately, that night she was spending the night at her Grandma's house so she had to wait until the following day to see what the Tooth Fairy left her under her pillow... Which was actually kinda nice because it gave the Tooth Fairy some extra prep time! ;)

She could not have been more thrilled to come home & find her hidden treasures. She even wanted to keep the "golden coins" out on her shelf instead of in her piggy bank so that she could show anyone who came over what the Tooth Fairy gave her! As for the lip gloss, I think that has already gone missing. How that girl loses things so quickly is a mystery to me. Then again, I am known for doing the same thing so maybe it is a little understandable, haha.

All in all, this was a wonderfully fun milestone for her to reach and I am so happy to have been able to be such a big part of it. I love being her Momma and having the opportunity to watch her grow up.

Did I mention she's going to be FIVE next week?!

Good gracious.

xo,

Sara

Throwback Thursday: Preschool Holiday Party Edition

Peyton is absolutely loving every second of being in preschool.

Seriously, she was born to make friends.

Before we had even enrolled her in preschool, she was constantly making friends with kids anywhere we went. The little boy at Target who was probably 2 years old? Yeah, he was invited to our house for a "sleepover". The 6 year old girl sitting at the table across from us at dinner? She also received an invite. The older boy behind us on the plane ride home from vacation? He got one too. They even held hands walking off the plane!

Needless to say, Peyton was more than ready for some kid-to-kid interaction and I am so glad we made the decision to start preschool last year! {We should have even done it sooner!}

Unfortunately for me, with the way my work schedule is, I don't get to take her to preschool in the mornings or pick her up afterwards. This is a big deal for me and I really hope that some day we'll be blessed enough that I will be able to be a stay-at-home mom and be able to take her to and from school. It's a dream of mine. Some people might think it's a silly dream, but it would really mean a lot to me.

However, with that being said, I don't get to have any sort of interaction with the other children's parents at drop-off or pick-up because it's either my Mom or her other Grandmother who takes her. So, when I found out that she would be having a Halloween and Christmas party (that the parent's could attend, too!) on two Friday evening's, I was ecstatic! (As was she, of course.)

I never blogged about the Halloween one and it's even a little late for the Christmas one, but hey! It's "Throwback Thursday", darn it.

For the Halloween party, they were allowed to dress up in costumes and we brought a delicious rice krispie treat concoction: Homemade rice krispies done in three layers on top of each other. The bottom was white, the middle was yellow, and the top was orange - just like candy corn! Then it had the candy corn M&Ms, brown sprinkles, and actual candy corn pieces sprinkled on top. Very sugary. Very much worth every calorie.

Anyways, she told me that she wanted to go as Merida, the Brave princess. We had already bought a green princess dress from Cracker Barrel for every day dress-up fun, so I figured all we had to do was get the wig of red, crazy hair to match. Well, those darn wigs are expensive! And a can of hair spray-paint is half the price and won't result in an overpriced tangled mess on the floor after the night was over (like the wig would). This is what we ended up with:

Trying to get her to look at the camera and give a genuine smile, on command, is darn near impossible these days. But isn't she just so friggen adorable!? She made for the prettiest little Merida I ever did see. Though, her two classmates (and BFFs of course) Isla and Natalie, both dressed up as Merida, too! I think they not-so-secretly planned that one! ;) 

Peyton & her BFF, Natalie - both dressed as Merida.
Peyton brought a little teddy bear to pretend it was one of her "little brothers", like in the movie.

The party was wonderful and they had pizza and yummy snacks for everyone to munch on. The kids had plenty of fun crafts to do, like make ghosts out of lollipops and tissues or make spiders out of black Styrofoam balls with googly eyes and brightly colored pipe cleaners.

Fast forward a few months and drop the temperature by like 20 degrees, and it was time for the Christmas/Holiday party!

There was, again, pizza and yummy snacks for everyone.

As well as fun crafts for all of the kids and us adults were able to mingle. It was so. much. fun!

Peyton with her classmates Irma and Weylin, making candy cane ornaments out of pipe cleaners and beads.

The best OOTD picture I have of her from that evening, ha.

Cheeseface & Irma taking a break from all of the running around they were doing to eat a quick slice of pepperoni.

Best of all, SANTA CLAUS even made a visit to the party! AND Peyton even willingly sat in his lap, told him exactly what she wanted (a big fluffy horse), and smiled for a few pictures!

I am so grateful that she is adjusting so well to the school environment and that she is blessed with her ability to make friends so easily. It sure does make the idea of kindergarten this fall (AH!) a little less worrisome. I can't believe I'll have a five year old by the end of March. Where did the time go!?

xo,

Sara

Christmas Candylane

On Friday, December 13th we went to Hersheypark's Christmas Candylane to walk around and get hyped up on some holiday spirit... and for the delicious Hershey's hot chocolate and our most favorite Kettle Corn!

Baby girl is FINALLY a Reese's! No more "Miniature's" status for her.

Next up, we decided to grab our bag of Kettle Corn early because we've learned that when the park is closing, the line is the longest. Plus, that way we had the deliciousness that is that heavenly bag of golden kernels to munch on throughout the park.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. You can see the Kissing Tower in the upper left-hand corner, the Carrousel, Santa and his reindeer climbing on the Comet in the distance and then, of course, the statue of Milton S. Hershey there in the fountain. 

Our first ride {and the only ride really available for adults since it's so cold there this time of year} was the Carrousel. 

We ended up with a horse that was stationary {aka: didn't go up and down like the others} but we still had a blast, of course!

Next up, PEYTON RODE A RIDE ALL BY HERSELF! You guys, this is a BIG deal considering the last time we tried to get her to ride something at Hersheypark by herself, this was the result:

Photo: circa Summer of 2011

This time, she rode the Hot Air Balloons and she had a blast! I didn't get a great picture of it, but trust me, it was awesome :)

After that, she wanted to ride everything!

Right next door was the Starship! Nick rode with her for this one and it was so cool. 

{They're in the ship that is in the upper right-hand corner.}

We did some walking because we wanted to make sure we saw Santa's reindeer before it was time to go.

These lights were throughout the trees in one section of the park, so pretty!

Again, you can spy the Kissing Tower in the distance.

We soon reached the REAL, LIVE reindeer!

Peyton, of course, wanted to know why Rudolph's nose wasn't actually red...

Momma didn't have a good answer for that one.

She wasn't too impressed.

In the same little area was a {new} ice-skating rink and a hot chocolate station.

Peyton wanted to give the ice-skating a try, and she did surprisingly well for it being her first time and for barely holding on to my hands. She LOVED it!

After we chugged our hot chocolates and played in the rink enough to validate the skate rental fee, we asked her if she was ready to go see Santa. {Mind you, she had sat on Santa's lap probably 3 times at this point this season}. Her response?: "Nah, can we go ride on the slides now, Daddy Nick?!"

So, ride the slides they did.

At this point, it was getting later and we knew the park would be closing soon.

So, we trekked to the Dry Gulch Railroad for our "last hoorah of the evening".

It was nice to just sit and relax and huddle together for warmth while enjoying all of the lights along the train tracks.

We checked out these fancy heaters while walking back out towards the gate.

I wish we could have one for our back patio - so fancy!

It wasn't long after that that we said "goodbye" to the park and headed home for the evening.

Plus, Peyton was exhausted...

So exhausted, in fact, that she passed out on the walk to the car {which luckily wasn't too far away}.

All in all, we had a wonderful time - despite the cold temps. Unfortunately, I waited too long to grab our traditional box of Hershey fudge {something my family has always done ever since I was a little kid}. It felt like a sin to walk out of there without said fudgey-deliciousness, but I'm sure I'll make up for it the next time we visit. ;)

xo,

Sara