Live Christmas Nativity

assignment3

Alice in Wonderland Party!

I am entering the CSI Project.com's weekly contest. The theme is Party Ideas.

For my daughter's 7th birthday we had a Very Merry Unbirthday Party!

As the girls arrived they were given a Koolaid 'squeeze it' labeled "DRINK ME" which allowed them to shrink and travel down the rabbit hole. My husband put together the rabbit hole from tv and refrigerator boxes we found behind a furniture store. We added some graffiti with fluorescent spray paint. The rabbit hole led them to the queen's rose garden where an army of styrofoam and pvc cards were painting the roses red.

The girls played a round of croquet with the queen herself. We decorated a plastic croquet set with feathers and googly eyes to resemble the birds which the queen used from the movie. My very talented 15 year old daughter drew the Queen, the White Rabbit, and the Cheshire cat onto refrigerator boxes and I painted them and cut them out and attached them to sticks for standing.The tree that the cat sat in was left over from last years halloween booth that my husband had set up for work.The girls then decorated $ store party hats with stickers, tulle, and silk flowers and enjoyed a Mad Hatter Tea Party. We decorated our back deck with tissue paper flowers copied from Martha Stewart, paper lanterns we already had, and a garland I made from decks of playing cards (I had several decks that were missing 2 or 3 cards each so they were useless for playing cards).

My daughter helped me make flowers from plastic water bottles. We cut the bottoms off. Then we cut and bent the sides to look like flower petals and painted them all different colors. For larger flowers, we used 2 liter bottles and even milk jugs. They added alot of whimsy and color and they were FREE!! (I found this idea floating around the blog world, but can not tell you exactly where I saw it.)To finish off I made a Topsy Turvy Birthday Cake. The girls then played and jumped rope and had some NONSENSE FUN together. When it came time to leave they received a cookie with a tag that said "EAT ME" so they could return to their normal sized selves. It was so much fun.

People thought I spent a ton on this party but with everything including food I spent under $50 which I think is very reasonable for a birthday party for 10 girls. I put together a video of Anna Banana's Big Day which you can view Anna Banana's Birthday Video HERE

Not what you want!

For those of you waitng for my brother's wedding pics- TOO BAD! I have spent 2 days getting my kids ready for school and decided this morning to celebrate the last day of summer by having a SOAK'N GOOD TIME at the waterpark! Wedding pics will be posted soon though!

Summer Attire

After a very busy and very stressful May, this Arroyo family has officially decided to take it easy all summer loooong! So if you come for a visit of an hour or the entire week, please remember the following:

Swim suit & Towel

Goggles

Flip flops

All other clothing is optional!

Want to feel pain?

Try wearing a corset! (Elizabeth Swan:Pirates of the Carribean)

The Gold and Green Ball is tonight. The dress is semi-formal/formal. Who would have guessed Addison would dig deep and pull out her inner princess for the occasion. Isn't she gorgeous?

All Sweet

And Sassy! (Hey a girl has to be able to dance!)

Of coarse Anna Banana had to get on her favorite beloved ball gown. (Her Belle dress that she has had for 5 years now is the most loved of all dress up clothes) She did her own make-up and then cried and cried when she found out she could not go to the ball. A true Cinderella moment. But her day will come, a little too quickly if you ask me.

(And just so everyone knows Tanner had no desire to get dressed up or to have his picture made.)

Open for SUMMER!

Our pool is now open for business. And Anna Reese performed the ceremonial first cannonball of the 2010 season. We give her a 6 for form & technique and a 10 for excitement and enthusiasm!

Home of the FREE because of the BRAVE

My heart is saddened today for a fallen soldier and his family today. Spc. Anthony Blount of Petal, MS died in Iraq serving our country in the U.S Army. His wife is a few years older than my son Jonathan. They are members of our church here in Oak Grove. They have been married for a year and a half and are expecting their first child, a daughter, next month. I don't think I fully appreciate the sacrifice of our military and their families for our country and our freedoms. Yet I am grateful for the many Americans who give time and life to preserve this great nation. And so today I honor those great men and women and my prayers go out for this grieving family here in our little part of the world. May God bless them and God Bless the USA.

These are members of the Patriot guard who escort every American Military Procession as a shield between the family and protestors. They are impressive. There was about 100 here today.