Six Candles on the Cake!

Our precious Lily Grace turns 6 today! It's hard to believe that she's already six. I feel like her life in particular...maybe it's because she's the middle girl...goes by at lightening speed. It seems like just yesterday she turned 1 and now...6. Wow.

She's had a fun day...donuts for breakfast followed by gifts, things for her American Girl dolls and a playdate with a special friend. She's off to a sushi lunch with her Aunt Mimi and we'll celebrate tonight with more a dinner out with friends and family. Hopefully she's having a great day!

Lily is truly a gift from God. I couldn't be prouder to call her my daughter. Her smile melts my heart every single day. And that wild, curly hair...I can't get enough of it! I am truly blessed!! Hugs and kisses to you baby girl...I couldn't love you more!

Dear Tooth Fairy

Emma, my 7 year old, has been a little depressed about the fact that she's only lost 3 teeth (all on the bottom). She claims (quite frequently) "I was the only one in my class who didn't lose their top teeth." The dentist assured her the adult teeth were there and it wouldn't be long before she lost them but she's still eager. Also, recently we watched The Tooth Fairy movie. So, the other day she wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy. I really wanted to take a picture of the note but she wouldn't let me and it's now safely under her pillow waiting for the Tooth Fairy to retreieve it. Basically it said this:

Dear Thooth Fairy,
I need more money from you. I would like to be a thooth fairy. I need you to make all of my teeth wiggly.
Love
Emma K Potter

Models!!

A few weeks ago my friend Sara-Anne of Sara-Anne Photography asked if Lily would be interested in doing some modeling for gigiCreations. I've known Sara-Anne for a while...we scrapbook together and her work is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and the clothes from gigiCreations are A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E so I said Yes! She's interested! Plus Paul was away and it gave us something fun to do one evening. Unfortunately the day of the shoot it was very stormy and we were worried that we wouldn't be able to do it. But...thankfully early in the evening the storms subsided and we headed to Burlington to meet up with Sara-Anne and the rest of the girls for the shoot. She asked if she could use Jacob and of course since he's the cutest little boy on the planet (imo) I said sure.

I've been waiting patiently to see the prints - Sara-Anne said there were some cute ones! They debuted yesterday on the gigicreations website! They turned out really cute! There's a really precious one of Jacob climbing on a box with all the girls around. The clothes are precious and the photography is stunning. I wish I could post an imagine here but I don't have them...so you'll just have to click on over to the blog and check them out!!

Also check out Sara-Anne Photography & gigiCreations on Facebook!

Go...what are you waiting for!!

Crafty Birthday

Lily turns 6 in a week. I can hardly believe it! At first she wanted to go to Great Wolf Lodge for her birthday but changed her mind and decided she wanted a party. She insisted that after 3 years of pool parties she wanted to do something different this year (much to my dismay). So I searched for a great party location since I am really over doing them at my house. I'm also over paying a gillion dollars for a party too so this was a challenge. I found out that Michaels did parties and since Lily is my arts and crafty girl I thought this would be a good fit for her. We went up to Michaels about a month ago and she checked it out and decided she'd like her party there. She decided to have the girls make storage boxes, for their silly bandz of course. The only problem (though not so much to me) was that there is a strict limit of 10 kids. So worked hard on her birthday list and sadly there just wasn't room for everyone...of course if people would actually RSVP for parties (see previous post) then perhaps we could have included a few more friends but that's a whole other rant.

The party was last weekend (we had it early due to some beach plans that have since been postponed to July). We had 8 girls total which was perfect! The only issue was that Michaels had some communication mix up and they weren't entirely (or at all) prepared for our party. Once we got that all straightened out we got the girls engaged in their craft. All in all I thought it went well and most importantly Lily had a great time. This was the first non home party she's had and she loved it.

Her actual birthday is June 30 so I am sure we'll have several more birthday celebrations -there can never be too many!

Here are a few pictures:

PSA: RSVP Edition

Today's Public Service Announcement is brought to you by a frustrated parent trying to plan a birthday party.

Did you know that RSVP is from the French and translated means "please respond"? This means when a person receives an invitation to an event and there is a line that says RSVP that means that said person should respond if YES they are attending or NO they are not attending. But the general idea is to please RESPOND. Either way. Coming or not.

If you get an invitation that says Regrets Only this means the hostess will assume you are coming and you should let them know if you are NOT coming.

If there is an RSVP by date then you should follow it.

It is especially important to RSVP for kid birthday parties. You see there is this tiny detail called birthday party favors. The birthday mom goes through a lot of trouble to make favors for all the attendees. Sometimes this involves paint pens, hot glue guns and multiple trips to Walmart, Target and the Dollar Tree. Birthday moms want all attendees to get a favor bag and enjoy the favors. However, when RSVP's are not followed then the birthday mom does not know who is coming to the party. Therefore she doesn't know how many children to provide favors for. It's extremely frustrating. Extremely.

So let's just all vow to RSVP to keep the peace and sanity of birthday moms everywhere...'kay?

Craftapoolza!

Otherwise known as Girl Scout Day Camp. This is where my darling 2 Girl Scouts are hanging out this week. Honestly some of the best money I ever spent ($85 for mostly full day camp!) The only drawbacks are a: it's on the other side of planet so we've spent a ton of time in the car this week and b: I'm still packing lunches..but not tomorrow (yay!). The girls are having a most fabulous time despite the ridiculous (for June) heat & humidity..the camp is all outdoors...God Bless those leaders.

The craft making is unreal. And let me again thank God there are people willing to do such great crafts with my kids as it's not really my game (don't judge - not all stay at home moms love crafts. I mean I'll break out a rainy day or seasonal craft but consistently - not so much). So far this week they've come home with: bookends, magic wands, bookmarks, slime, sidewalk chalk (which I didn't even know was do-it-yourself), crowns, picture frames and journals. I think there are even some crafts that they've yet to bring home. Needless to say it's a little overwhelming but they are so proud of them and happy about making them. I'm thrilled they are having a great time. Emma keeps asking when she can go again. So cute and I'm hoping that all the crafting will hold them over until Girl Scouts starts again.

Snow White: Dance Version

The older girls finally had their dance recitals over the weekend. The dance center put on a production of Snow White. This was our first year taking dance (other than ballet at the Y when Emma was 3) so I had no idea what to expect. My first clue that this was a big deal was the fact that they had a big "reveal" to announce the production. Then it was a huge deal to see the costumes. Another clue that this was a pretty big deal was the book and I do mean book of information we received with detailed charts about all the recital information...dress rehearsal, make up, hair, tights, etc. It was a bit overwhelming honestly.

Needless to say Emma has been pretty excited about the recital and has been constantly practicing her dance. Her hip hop class was cast as a "Storm" and her costume was rather interesting but very fitting for the number. Lily on the other hand, has just been asking how much longer does she have to do dance. Her class was cast as "Featherdusters" and were doing a tap routine. She never once practiced her dance at home. Her costume was cute as could be and the dance was to the song "Shake Your Tailfeather."

Unfortunately the girls weren't assigned to dance in the same recital (there were a total of 5 productions) so Emma did hers on Saturday night and Lily on Sunday night. Considering the cost of tickets and our babysitting options we decided to split up the family - half would go on Sat. and half on Sun. Auntie Erin came down to visit (oh so kind of her) and got to go twice to the show. She was a real saint to sit through that twice! Don't get me wrong, it was good but 6 hours of Snow White in 2 days is a little much for anyone!

Finally the big days arrived. Both girls looked ADORABLE in their costumes. ADORABLE!! The show was really, really good. I was super impressed with the choreography and the dancers. I couldn't believe how many dancers were in multiple numbers! Clearly a lot of hard work and effort went into making this show. It was very professional and the kids were just so cute!! One of the cutest acts were these little girls (probably 3-4) as chipmunks tapping to "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Alvin & the Chipmunks. Could. Not. Have. Been. Cuter! Of course the girls were fabulous. Best in their class by a mile. And I am not biased. At all. I didn't get to see Em's performance but I heard she rocked it. Lily was smiling the whole time and waved to us. She did an awesome job - remembering every part of the dance and remembering to smile the whole time. So freakin cute! When Lily came out for the curtain call she waved to us and had the hugest smile on her face. They both seemed to really enjoy themselves. They thought being backstage was superfun. Now Emma wants to take jazz so likely we'll be doing all this again next year! Lily says she's done with dance for now but who knows...you know how kids change their minds..I caught her teaching Emma her dance today!

Summer Vacation: Extended Edition

School's out for the summer! Yay! Or should I say Yay for now!! My girls have had such a great year - it's a little bittersweet to have ended the school year. We got the girls report cards yesterday and I couldn't be more proud of both of them. Emma had a great year, loved her teacher and worked really hard to challenge herself. Lily also had a fabulous year. She started the year with one teacher and then ended with a different one. It didn't phase her one bit - she excelled and worked really hard. Again...so, so proud and happy for them that they had great years. Most importantly I'm thrilled that they liked school and tried hard.

We actually are getting an extra long summer this year because we switched tracks (or school schedules for you non-year round folks). Instead of the usual 4 weeks off we'll get 7 this year! We'll go back Aug. 2nd. I may be pulling my hair out by then but it sure does seem nice not to have to pack snacks or lunches for 7 weeks! It was a really tough decision to change tracks...especially for Emma - she has a lot of great friends on her current schedule. However, considering the new schedule will be closer to the preschool schedule (which we'll also be on..for the next 5 years.) and a majority of our neighbors are on this schedule we felt like it made sense. So now we'll have breaks in Oct, Jan, April and July. We'll sure miss our track 1 friends though! Not sure what we'll do with our extra 3 weeks though I'm sure the kids are thinking pool, pool and more pool.

Channeling My Inner Martha

I feel like I'm always in search of teacher gifts...between Christmas, Teacher Appreciation and the End of Year it seems a teacher gift giving occasion is always upon us. I have a lot of kids and therefore a lot of teachers. Between elementary school, preschool, church, AWANA, Girl Scouts and Dance it's a lot of people so I'm often looking for economical yet cute things. I know teachers love gift cards but sometimes that too can add up and just isn't economical enough. I've turned to etsy.com to most of my teacher shopping. Cute! Homemade! Affordable!

Often as I'm looking on etsy I think "I can make that." Then I think about the effort required and I decide it's easier to just buy it. Sometimes though I think "I can really do that." And then I tell Paul. And he rolls his eyes. But I persevere proceed to actually get the supplies and make it. As with this year's Teacher End of Year Gift. And with that I present The Gift:

Chalkboard Flower Pot. This one was for the AWANA leaders. The card read: Thank you for planting the seeds of faith and love. Love, Emma & Lily Potter. This craft was surprising cheap & easy to make. And I now have enough chalkboard paint to do lots of other crafty things. A big bonus was that the kids could help paint and decorate the pots. I loved that they were part of what they were giving to their teachers. I know it's probably not as good as a giftcard but I hope the teachers will enjoy them and know that they were made with love!

Kindergarten Celebration

My second baby is finishing Kindergarten tomorrow *sniff* *sniff*. Lily has had a great year overall. We started the year with Emma's teacher from last year (who we loved, loved, loved) but then she had to go and have a baby and decide to be a stay at home mom (the nerve..leaving my baby in the middle of the year! Totally kidding. Maybe.). Thankfully she had a most wonderful replacement and the transistion was seamless. Or at least it appeared to be.

Today they had a Kindergarten Celebration (not an official graduation) to celebrate the year. The kids did a cute ABC poem..Lily was "I" is for Imagination used at every turn. Then they had some awards - Lily got an attendance award for May/June and her class award was "The Little Ms. Barnwell/Ms. Cockerill Award." This would be the same award her sister got last year for the many hours she logged practicing being a teacher. I think this is their nice way of saying she's bossy and told the kids all year long what they should be doing but it sure sounds nicer this way! Then the kids sang a cute song about going to First Grade. It was a nice event and we were all glad Mrs Barwnwell came back to celebrate with us and she brought the baby for us to see. I brought Jacob & Julia so I was more tied up than I had hoped to be but that baby was cute!

Lily has learned so much this year - she's reading all the time now and her handwriting is really coming along. It's been a great day! It's so hard to believe she's almost in first grade! Two down..two to go!

Potter Zoo

There's a monkey in my house and his name is Jacob. He's 20 months old and incredibly cute however, I am fearful that his monkey antics are going to land us in the ER. Soon. One morning this week I found him sitting on the bathroom counter with his feet in the sink. He had the water running and was letting the water run over his feet. And today I caught him on top of his changing table pulling baby wipes out and throwing them on the floor. Sigh. Almost daily I either catch him climbing or I find him on top of the kitchen table. And one of his favorite places to play is either on top of the little table in the toy room or in the play kitchen sink. This kind will climb anything.

People often ask me if I can tell a big difference between girls and boys. The answer? A resounding YES!! They are so, so different. Now we've only experienced a boy for 20 months but so far one of the biggest differences I see is that girls challenge you out emotionally where as with boys it's more physical. Girl drama starts early..way too early. And for boys it's physical...they seem to push every physical boundary they can as early as they can.

Wish us luck with this monkey. And safety.

Safety First!

This morning a cup of water got spilled which is pretty much a daily occurrence at our house. Lily & Julia both told me about the spill so I told them if they found it then they should clean it up. They know where the dish towels are and are plenty capable of cleaning up some water. They grumbled a little but did the work. Next thing I know Lily is getting paper and pen and making a sign. She posted the following sign by the spill:

Bless her heart...making sure we all stay safe.

Museum + Locopops = Big Fun!

Our great friends invited Jacob, Julia & I to go to the Museum of Life & Science today. They are members so we got in free (bonus!) so of course I was in. Now that preschool is out I want to do some fun things with my littlest ones while the big girls are still in school. Erin & I loaded up all the kids and strollers and headed to the museum. The MLS is a great museum...lots of activities to fit any age group. We especially love the outside activities and since it wasn't too hot this morning and overcast we headed straight outside to start our adventure. I hadn't been to the MLS since they added the Dinosaur Trail which was a really neat addition. It was a little too wet for fossil digging but that will definitely be something we do next time. Jacob did awesome riding in the stroller with his girlfriend Quinn while the bigger kids got lots of energy out running ahead and checking out all the animals. We had a nice lunch (thanks to my uber prepared friend) and hit the playground before heading out. Jacob, of course, was everywhere when he was out of the stroller...eating sand and generally running everywhere. Our friend Riley (5) summed him up perfectly: "He's little but he's fast." Um..yeah..tell me about it!

Erin and her kids hadn't been to Locopops so we decided Popsicle treats were definitely on the agenda after a sticky morning outside. We surprised ourselves and found Locopops fairly easily and enjoyed some yummy Popsicles before heading home for naps.

A super fun summer day! I'm so thankful that several of our friends have memberships to the MLS..we can't wait to go again!