the.amanda.sewell

This morning we had a Star Wars Birthday party for my sweet little five year old boy (well, he will be on the first). It was fun. I searched around online and found some fun ideas. I discovered my camera is no longer working right before the party, so I had to use my camera phone (apology in advance for the blurriness). FOOD: Galactic Pizza, Yoda Soda (lime sherbert and sprite), Wookiee Cookies, Space Asteroids (Jello Popcorn balls), and Star Wars Cupcakes (complete with characters on them and Yoda green icing). ACTIVITIES: Jedi/Darth Vader (Duck Duck Goose), Jedi vs. Sith (a tag type game), Printed Star Wars Ship Battle Game (Like pin the tail on the donkey), Darth Vader Head Pinata, Coloring posters on the wall to color, Silly string battle against Darth Vader (Daddy dressed up with a light saber and a mask), Decorating your Home Planet (Paper plates colored like a planet with crayons, stickers, etc.)

I finally managed to be a good mommy and get my kids signed up for swim lessons this summer. They will do three months of 8 classes each, and thus complete three swimming categories. (Tadpole, Shrimp and Duck) I am excited for them to learn to swim. Here the children learn about jumping in. E is chosen first and jumps in okay, but hates that she was dunked under water. J is chosen third and has no hesitation jumping in even though he knows he will go under water. It was cute. BTW, the little boy about a meter back is in fact in their class, just a little nervous! lol! (Ignore my poor sons sunburn -- he got that this weekend playing in the sprinklers. I did not think they would be out that long - *bad mommy*) Right after J jumped in. He recovered okay and liked making a splash! Making big splashes with their legs, they played red light, green light.

Last night the kids and I decided that we wanted to make cupcakes for 'daddy' for Fathers Day, so I went on a search online and found some on familyfun.com. They were lawn mowers and since that is what my hubby got this year for Fathers Day, I thought they would be PERFECT!!! I could have put a couple more drops of food coloring to make the grass more green, maybe next time. I could not find black licorice laces at walmart, which is where I went, so I used long sucker sticks (I had them in my crafting stash) for the handles. The lawn mower is made of a dove chocolate and then brown M&M's for the wheels and a red M&M for the engine part. Super easy and I think they turned out cute. Okay, off to go hang out with my sweet husband and these three monkeys that make him a daddy. Hope you all tell your dad or the dad in your life how much you love and appreciate them today! *smiles*

Today while we were out running errands, we picked up a wiggly waterpillar. The kids were so excited to put on their new swimsuits and play. I snapped a couple pictures on my cell phone. So MUCH fun!!!

So last night my sweet husband was super tired and went to bed as soon as we had the kids in bed, but I was not tired yet. I mulled for awhile over what I should do (aka, played FARKLE on Facebook - darn addictive game), and then I thought I would work on this dress I told E that I would make for her. I started working on it last night and finished it this morning. The directions are from a Martha Stewart show I had DVR'd and watched about a week ago. LINK HERE ! The dress was so simple and though it is not PERFECT because it was my first one, it looks well done. Then I remembered these cute curly bows I had seen. I have one for E from Gymboree for the 4th o July. Anyway, I decided to try and make one. I looked on line and found out they are called Korker bows and also found these directions . Anyway, just thought I would share! What projects have you been up to so far this summer??? Hope you're having fun! I need to get crackin' on some stuff I wanted to make before July 4

Last time I was over at Scrapbooks Etc. I came across this Adornit- Carolee's Creations kit with all the wood pieces needed to make this project. So I picked it up and some papers that I thought would work, and yesterday I finally got to work on it. I had so much fun!!! I think it turned out fun, what do you think? Not bad for a Canadian eh? Paper : Classic Red Checks (Die Cuts with a View), Navy with Stars (Paper Pizazz), All American Collection - Dizzy Stars (Adornit - Carolee's Creations), Red Embossed Dots (Bazzill), Sam Stripe - Kids Collection (Making Memories) Accessories : Precision File Set (Basic Grey), Wicker White Folk Art paint (Plaid), USA Vinyl letters and Wood Blocks (Adornit-Carolee's Creations), Assorted ribbons (Manda's ribbon stash), Stars Sm. (Mrs. Grossman's), Clearlits Star (Sizzix), Cuttlebug machine (Provocraft), white gel inkssentials pen (Ranger)

It's been awhile since I updated with a bunch of pictures of the baby, so consider yourself forewarned. I recently dumped all the pictures on my camera phone into photobucket and decided to share some of the random faces I have caught of Baby E!

Can you believe we're a week into June? Seriously, this year is just FLYING by for me. On Sunday, after church, eating lunch and re-planting my new dwarf myrtle shrubs in pots in the front entry . . . we decided to pack up the family in the mini van and go for a drive. I love going driving with the kids because they are strapped in, and they can watch a movie on headsets so they are SUPER QUIET! As we were driving, we got to appreciate nature . . . there was a GORGEOUS sunset (for sure one of my favorite things about living in the desert) and we got to see the moon rising and it looked AMAZING. I am so glad we went driving.

I just love small town life, well as long as you are close enough to a big city to do some serious shopping that is. *wink* Anyway, we heard about this daddy and daughter dance last year but somehow missed signing up, well this year I made sure we were registered nice and early for it and tonight two of my cutie pies went on a date together. E's outfit came from a shopping trip to Gymboree last Monday. I just fell in love with this skirt and the shirt she happened to be wearing that day *also the one she is wearing here* matched perfectly!! She just had to have the matching beads and headband too. Such a diva!!! We curled her hair with my hot curlers. It was so pretty!!! M was sporting one of his new suits and looking pretty smart! I am so glad we went suit shopping for him on our last date night. He needed them and they look so good. Seriously, there is something about men in suits!! Here are some more pictures I took before they left: