Homecoming in the Town of Mayberry

Here in Mayberry Trophy Club, if we do one thing well, it is getting together to show some town spirit! Our town high school had their homecoming football game Friday night so naturally the town held a big parade on Wednesday.  I absolutely love the spirit and that everybody is so rallied around the high school. It's just so unlike where I grew up that it almost catches me by surprise. Even in college, I'm sure UNT had a parade or something but I don't remember going to much other than one bonfire. So I am totally embracing our football loving, parade cheering, small town vibe. Eva and I wore our matching orange chevron to the parade so that we would be trendy as we cheered for the Bobcats. The highlights of the parade were the Bobcat Dazzler drill team, the soldier with the American Flag, the Varsity football team, and of course the tons of junior Bobcat cheerleaders and junior Bobcat football players from all of the elementary teams. Not pictured: Eva covering her ears in fear every time a firetruck drove by. 

Naturally after everyone is all pumped up from the parade, you have to throw a town homecoming pep rally! We all headed up to the high school field to watch the cheerleaders and Dazzlers perform and to see the homecoming court nominees. Afterwards they had an awesome fireworks show. This was the best fireworks action shot I could get...next time I think I'll just google "fireworks" and use that instead. Trophy Club sure knows how to have a pep rally! We kept Eva out until almost 10PM which is very unlike us....that is how much I love all this small town excitement.

Friday evening we went to watch the big football game. Ryan was happy for Friday night football. Eva was happy for her special Bobcat blue beads. I was happy that the weather was reasonably cool for it being the first home game of the season. I was also thankful that our friends the Fords were there with their three kids so Eva has plenty to keep her entertained. We made it through the Dazzler's half time show before Eva and I headed home after another late night. PS. I secretly wish I could be a Dazzler.

I don't have any photos, but Saturday night Ryan got to be a chaperone for the homecoming dance. Nothing says classy like young high school students in love shaking their money makers on the dance floor. He was home by midnight so I guess it wasn't too risque :)

Her special day

After her big birthday party day, we still wanted to make Eva feel special on her actual birthday. You might at well celebrate special days, right? That's how we think about it. The things we did weren't huge, but they were super fun for Eva. Starting with....a birthday morning pancake! I saved her Elmo candle and put it on her pancake and then she got to watch her new Veggie Tales movie while she ate. After breakfast we headed off to church to see all her friends. She got a birthday hug from Jesse and got to play with Reece and her other nursery friends. For a girl who loves church and other people, this was perfect! 

Even though it was her birthday, she still had to take a good nap. Even grown ups wish for a birthday nap :) She finally got to wear the new Toms that Aunt Mel gave her. Then we took advantage of her kid's club birthday coupons. She got a free cupcake from the Barnes and Noble Kid's Club and a $3 gift card from Geoffrey the Giraffe to spend at Toy's R Us. We showed her all the choices she could make to spend her $3....I LOVE her face when we show her choices. She gets this huge smile and you can tell she is trying to make up her mind. She ended up choosing a little pink toy mixer that's just like my grownup one. Then we took her to the pet store to look at all the pets. We did not buy any pets. But a nice lady did let her pet her two dogs. Eva loves dogs. 

Sunday night we had a youth party to for the Cowboy's first game. Eva got to play with Duke, the biggest dog ever, watch the game with friends, and dance around on the ottoman during the commercials. No, she doesn't like to be the center of attention. Where would you get that idea?! Haha, okay she loves it. I think people sang Happy Birthday to her 10 times that day and she soaked up every minute of it. Love my little diva!

Party like a TWO year old.

We had Eva's 2nd birthday party on Saturday at a park in Trophy Club. About a minute after her 1st birthday was over I saw on another blog an idea for a You Are My Sunshine themed party. I thought that was so cute and over the months began pinning lots of ideas. I decided that it made perfect sense to have a sunshine party at the park.  Then I began making a guest list. It started with immediate family only, which was about 15 people. I slowly began adding more friends and more family to the list and it quickly became over 40 people. I had many wonderful conversations with my husband about how many people we actually felt like would be a good number - husbands love having conversations like this by the way. Then about a month before her birthday I actually went out looking for a few crafty items for the party....things to make it a cute and creative Sunshine themed party. I saw some cute Elmo stuff....and I thought about how much Eva LOVES Elmo. I thought about how she would definitely be excited for Elmo decorations, and how maybe she wouldn't care as much about my original idea. And I began thinking about what Eva would want for a perfect party for her.....close family, the park, presents, cookies. It was a pretty simple list. SO THEN (after lots more "well, what do you think???" conversations with my husband) I decided that we would keep guest list to just immediate family, and that maybe I would keep the decorations simple, and that we should definitely have an Elmo theme. All because this is what I felt like my little girl would love the most :) I have posted way more photos here than some might want to see, but I don't care. It was my baby's party and I want to share all the fun photos! I am also going to skip most the narration because the photos tell the story best. Here is Eva's Elmo Party!

Table 1: I made a 8X10 Happy Birthday Eva sign with Elmo in the background. That was about as much crafting as I did for this party. Then I bought 2 balloons, which sadly flew away towards the end of the party. You can't even see how cute the balloons were and Eva didn't get to play with them afterwards....but life goes on.  I decided to do a cookie/brownie dessert tray instead of cake because all of the homemade cakes with Elmo's face looked creepy and had too much red frosting and it wasn't in our budget to do a catered cake - Eva was perfectly happy eating a giant M&M cookie! I did get Sesame Street tablecloths because they were an inexpensive and easy way to add color and Elmo.

{I do want to make it clear that I am in no way against super amazing, creative birthday parties with tons of laughing children. If that's what you feel like doing, then go for it! And invite us!} 

Table 2 had Eva's tickle me Elmo and the rest of the food. About 2 days before the party I even changed the time of the party (which you can do when you only invite 15 people) so that we wouldn't be outdoors during the hottest part of the day....which meant that I also changed up our foods from lunch to more snack foods. I know there are amazing pinterest moms out there shaking their heads at the simplicity of this party set up. That's okay, because it was really so great. Easy food. Easy decoration. Extremely happy toddler. Happy and peaceful mom and dad. No regrets.

We had talked about her party for a few weeks but the morning of the party we didn't mention it. My mom came and stayed with Eva for a little bit while Ryan and I set everything up. When she arrived at the park we yelled "Surprise!" and she took off running for us. It was an incredibly sweet moment. Even though she knew the party was coming she didn't know it was right then and her surprise was so joyful! 

She was excited to see all the Elmo's. And of course she wanted to eat a cookie and open presents immediately. Waiting is so hard for a two year old!

How did she know that we got her a hoola hoop? We wrapped it so well. 

Wait a minute. That looks like a regular old big kid walking down the sidewalk. She is only two, right? 

Giant giggles and hugs for her cousin Mallory. 

 Take a close look at those blonde curls. She may not have much hair, but oh how I love those curls.

Play time! Covered playgrounds are the best thing ever. The whole time we were there we only saw two other kids, so basically we had the entire park and playground for just our family.

All four cousins. These little girls are some of her favorite people. 

Kayden wanted her picture taken like this - what a cheeseball! 

Swinging with both grandfathers. 

Blowing out her Elmo candle on top of her giant cookie! We practiced blowing out candles ahead of time so she did it just right.

 Haha, why do these girls look so worn out? It looks like we are forcing them to eat their treats.

 Time for presents!

A baby doll stroller from Mallory, Aunt Amanda, and Uncle Brian. 

Baby doll bunk beds from Mama and Daddy. I bought these at the TC garage sale in April and have been dying to give them to her since then. I did a good job waiting :) 

Big button toys from Mamy and Grandpa. 

And a Boo doll from Nana and Papa. Good thing this girl loves playing babies. 

 Mallory got right to work putting Elmo to sleep.

Eva pushed Boo all around in her stroller...

 And then Mallory pushed Eva and Boo around in the stroller :)

 All the girls played with Eva's counting bears and balance.

 Kayden showed off her cartwheel skills.....

 And then Ryan showed off his cartwheel skills!

It was a super fun birthday party! At the end when we were all cleaned up I stood in the pavilion and thanked God for such a special morning. We are so blessed by HIS GRACE that we even got to be with our wonderful family, on a slightly cloudy day, in a beautiful park, celebrating the fact that our daughter has been with us for two whole years!  I think Eva was happy to be with all the people who love her most!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Eva!

Dear Eva Kate,
Happy 2nd Birthday! I've been thinking about what to write to you on your second birthday...what words to share with you....what pieces of memories I would want you to read later in your life.

I think I will start by describing your personality. Friendly. Funny. Strong. Fearless. Opinionated. Compassionate. That's pretty much you. You will be friends with anybody, you love laughing with us, you are so strong physically, you are independent and brave in most situations, you know what you want, and you care how people around you feel. That's how God has created you. I love who you are. 

Right now you weigh 22 pounds and stand 32 1/2 inches tall. You are a small two year old but your personality is so big you could never be overlooked. You have been a hungry girl all summer and eat all the time - and then you use all that energy to RUN, RUN, RUN! I know I've read that some kids don't officially run into later on into the preschool age, but I promises you that you run all the time. And you run fast. 

One of the hardest parts of being your mama right now is navigating through your toddler emotions. When you feel things, you feel them strongly. It can be so hard when you are crying over not getting what you want, but I want you to know that I am thankful even in those hard moments. You are helping me learn to be patient. You are teaching me to be humble. And most importantly I am learning more about God's great big love for me - for US - as I see constant parallels. Sometimes you want something that I know isn't best for you, and I have to say no in the moment because I love you. Sometimes I'm waiting for you to calm down so that I can bless you with something even better than what you thought you wanted. And that's just like God. So I wanted to share that with you in your letter so that one day when you read this you will know that I absolutely always loved your toddler-self, even through tantrums, and that one day if you are a mama too, you will hopefully keep that perspective. 

Your favorite things to do right now are to play outside, "cook" with your kitchen toys, take care of your baby doll, and use crayons or paint to make art. You are so cute when you are playing with your little toys. You also love to make a pallet and watch a movie. Your favorite movie right now is Monster's Inc. and you are a big fan of Elmo. 

You get excited and run to the playroom door when you see Daddy coming home from work. You like to knock on the door and then run around to the front door to greet him. Then you run away from him before he can tackle you with hugs and kisses. You and Daddy have such a beautiful relationship and he loves to make you laugh. We both know that Daddy is the funny one :) 

You recently moved out of your highchair and sit at the table in a booster seat. You made the move because you insisted on sitting in a chair right next to your daddy. You are becoming a bit more picky with your food....you would eat fruit all day if you could. Vegetables? Not so much. You do an okay job of at least trying to eat what we eat for meals. And since you eat all day long I'm sure you are getting plenty of good stuff in your tummy.

You are still a pretty good sleeper. Most nights you are down by 8PM and sleep until 8AM or so. You will take a nap for between 1 1/2 - 3 hours (if I'm lucky!) around 1PM each day.  You are doing a great job sleeping in your toddler bed, although lately you prefer to sleep on the floor sometimes. I laugh when I'm watching the monitor and I see you throw your pillow on the ground. As long as your sleeping, I don't care where it is.

Your vocabulary is exploding! Mostly you say 1 or 2 words together, but you talk to us all the time! If we don't understand what you are saying you just keep repeating it over and over (and over...) again until we figure it out. Some of my favorite words that you say are "come on," "smoothie," "birthday," and "monsters." You like reading and reading along with me. You also have started "singing" your own songs to yourself sometimes.

The day you were born seems like so long ago, and yet your first birthday only feels a few months away. Time has a funny way of passing. Each day I am truly thankful to have you in our lives. Being your mama is the best! You are my favorite little girl in the whole world.
love,
Mama

Ready to FALL

 Photo Credit

Normally I would be posting photos from our Labor Day weekend fun. We did have fun - swimming, movies, friends, etc. - but I didn't get any awesome pictures, so instead I'm going to write about....FALL! Who else is ready for fall? Since it is September 3rd, and the day after Labor Day, I am officially over summer and ready for fall. (Also since my husband informed me today that he is done with the pool for this year....we shall see.)

You know who doesn't agree with me? The weather. It is still super hot here - pushing 100*. Yuck. But rather than complain I am going to share all the things I am looking forward to about fall! Starting with fall weather. I am ready to be able to walk outside past 10 AM and not sweat. I am ready for the leaves to change. I will gladly pretend that our daily walks will look like this, even if we may not get quite the same color scheme. I'm ready for the crispness of fall mornings and afternoons that make going outdoors comfortable enough for adventure.

 Photo Credit

Like many people, I am ready for my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season. I honestly prefer the frappuccino version of this drink, but whatever. I liked the burlap background and whipped topping in this photo. I think I will treat myself to my first one this weekend.

I am ready to shop for Eva's Halloween costume. I was thinking either a duck or a cow. I will most likely visit the new Kid to Kid in Grapevine and choose from their selection. I'm not too picky, I just want her to be some cute animal that she can make the sound to go along with her costume. I'm betting that she will really enjoy trick-or-treating this year :)

I'm looking forward to doing some fall learning activities with Eva. She likes things with felt so I'm planning on making these leaves and she can practice putting them on a string. Here are some other fun fall activities for toddlers. 

Photo Credit

I am looking forward to fall decorating! Bring on the orange, the yellow, the pumpkins, the burlap, the chevron, and the leaves! I'm making myself wait for the first cool day in September before I get the my decoration box out. I know it will happen.

I'm ready for fall fashion. I've been missing my boots all summer long! I love these two looks on my Pintrest board. I pretty much have the pieces for the look on the left and think I should be on the search for some yellow tights like the photo on the right. I'm even excited for some fall toddler fashion. Spoiler alert: I got Eva some brown boots for her birthday!!!! I can't wait for her to wear them when I wear mine.

Naturally the highlight of fall will be my 30th birthday. Only 2 1/2 more months. This is an old birthday photo but I like the joy in it. And the chocolate. 

And finally today we started our fall "school" activities. Eva was so happy to get to "do school." We read and sang about cows, did a cow nursery rhyme, and made a cow out of black and white squares. She loves to do "awwtt" as she calls it (art). We are putting everything for the week on our "school board" which is really just made from fabric pieces that I had leftover from making placemats.

Okay, that's my list. I'm ready. Come on fall!