The American Idol birthday party!

Oh. You're getting the details.
I think this was one of the most fun themes to run with for a party...so I went for it!
First, le cake. I loved making this cake and, if I may toot my own horn, it is cuter than any online! I used two mini-loaf pans to create the handle, and a smallish white corning casserole dish for the top. It was a better shape than a true circle, no? The green button, crisscrosses on top, and American Idol logo (printed and laminated) finished it off. Easy, but a nice look. Abby set up her room as the "wardrobe" room for the Idol singers

Basically dress-ups, plus my shoes, and Grandma (or great-grandma, depending on who you are) Koski's fashion jewelry. (Andrew's keeping an eye on the new fish.)

This has to be the favorite. Some AI decorations have silhouettes of singers on them, so Daniel rounded up some butcher paper from his coworker and I traced/cut these out. I think I may leave them up forever. My babies at play! Do you love the mic's? Daniel added those and they make it magic!

When the guests arrived, we traced their silhouettes on the wall (on a piece of white butcher paper). The girls got all dressed up for their performances, then we had french toast pizza and strawberries for dinner.

Next we played American Idol. We had a few girls really singin' it! Abby included! ;) Some of the funniest moments were the judges. We hammed it up with the judge's personalities. Even Abby's friend knew just how to impersonate both Kara and Randy--it was too funny!

Occasionally the judges get into it and dance.

Next we designed our own Idol outfits with sequins and such. (I printed faces of Idol contestants/judges and glued them on card stock. Kids added bodies.)

Next was cake!

And presents! One friend brought an AI card! She also got two musical cards which brought as much excitement as the gifts!

Abby S. and Abby L. : friends forever!

Abby's birthday morning

This little one has been counting down the days for a LONG time! Six, at last!! She was more excited than words can tell.

For a long time Abby has wanted gold fish. Months ago I told her we weren't allowed to have pets (at least without a huge deposit) and sort of left it at that. Well, I checked, and fish don't count. So we picked up a bowl, the necessities, and fish knowing she would be incredibly happy. And she was. She is SO proud to have REAL pets!

Watch this little video to find out their names!

gymnastics

All three kiddos were in a gymnastics class with the Germantown Rec. Department this spring. They had a blast and didn't want it to end. Sadly, today was the last day. Here's a little peek into their classes:

Eliza met this cutie-and-a-half, Elli. A new friend!

They were SO proud to get these certificates (that they were not expecting). You should have seen Eliza.

my Mother's Day

Boy, did I get the royal treatment! Here's the morning...

The kids were of course trying to keep this a secret. Saturday afternoon Eliza says to me in a VERY excited, semi-hushed tone, with BIG eyes, "Mom. Have you ever had breakfast in bed!?"

"Umm, I don't think so." "How about tomorrow, on Mother's Day!" Big smile, gleaming excitement. She almost made it.

Debra sent me this completely adorable apron she'd made...(It wraps around and ties in the back--looks almost like a skirt since it matches my sweater so well!)

I got to talk to my Mom in the Azores. Love you Mom!

Daniel made us broccoli/mushroom fettuccine for dinner. Yum yum.

And most fun was watching home videos that Daniel had transferred from cassettes to DVDs. We have hours of entertainment that everyone enjoys! It is so fun to see the personalities of the kids and how they've grown. Thanks Daniel!

What Andrew's up to...

He and Daniel built this cool birdhouse for a cub scout requirement...
We've also put out seed (and watched it disappear) on the deck, gone on a bird walk, and the kids are studying bird identification books.

Yesterday in the car we were playing 20 questions. Abby was thinking of a bird...it was narrowing down...it had red on its neck...after a couple seconds pause, Andrew bursts "RUBY THROATED HUMMING BIRD!" Mis-match day at school brought some good ol' fun.

A hike/walk I went on with the scouts.

Andrew's in Little League this season. Man, he is cute out there! He loves it and is pretty good! The teams sure score a lot as fielding is not their specialty! :)
Check out our first video of Andrew in action...(he's up to bat) and yes, there is some action we didn't expect.

Idol Girl

Most of you probably know by now that Abby was on American Idol! She is in the video montage of Danny Gokey's visit to Milwaukee! You can get a couple second peek at her with this link. You'll see Abby roughly 1 min. 50 seconds into it after the running girl in plaid pants tries to catch up to Danny's limo. Poor thing.

Enjoy!

It was pretty hilarious right after the clip aired. I had 4 friends call me within thirty seconds--bam. bam. bam. bam. I was dying of laughter. I hadn't even seen it yet--we were just getting pjs on and were going to start it (was recording) in a few minutes. Then I got a call from Utahans who saw it the next hour, then Washingtonians who called us at 11:30pm they were so excited! Abby had loads of friends and teachers telling her "I saw you last night!!" the next day at school. Too much fun.

It's been a fun 2 seconds of fame for the whole family! (Does that mean she has 14:58 minutes left? Sweet.)

At school with Abby

Friday was "Family Appreciation Day" in Abby's kindergarten class. With Mother's Day and Father's day around the corner, they invited any family members to come see the classroom and pick up a gift from their child. We were lucky to have Daniel squeeze it into his work-day!

Abby with the class The fam (minus Andrew who was in his own classroom)