Emily's New Bed!

 Emily found a picture on Pinterest earlier this year of a cottage loft bed.  She loved that the bed part was on top and the bottom part was a little playhouse.  She showed it to Tim and asked if he would make it for her.  He agreed but told her that it would take a while--something like this isn't built in a weekend.  He worked on it all summer and we put it up a few weeks ago!  Emily loves it!
She picked out the color scheme (cotton candy for outside walls, garden green for inside walls) and helped me select the flowers for the window boxes.  She even helped us paint and arrange the flowers in florist foam.  

 Tim installed LED lighting around the roof of her playhouse.  It has a remote that can change the the colors from 15 different choices, including fade, dim, and rainbow options.  Right now, she has it on white for playing "school" but she likes the dim options as a nightlight.

 So, yes, those are 15 baby dolls all enjoying a session of school in the playhouse!  We bought her a giant white board that came with markers, magnets, and an eraser at Costco.  Em absolutely LOVES it!  

 The original bed plans called for a staircase up the side, but it would have just taken up too much room.  So we did a ladder instead.  Now her bookcase fits right next to the bed for bedtime reading.

We had to find a new spot for the tension rod that acts as a closet rod for Em's doll clothes.  In a pinch, I used the inside door frame of her own closet.  Now the baby's clothes are super organized too!

Emily's 7th Birthday!

 Emily kept it simple this year for her birthday plans--from Day 1 she has said she wants to invite one friend (Evelyn) to the American Girl store so that she can pick out her own Bitty baby.  So we made plans for 5 of us to head up to Tyson's Corner for lunch and shopping (plans were then changed to 6 because who knew that Jason would be so ticked off to not be included?!).  

Our journey to Northern VA was not without its bumps--Jason had a headache, was pissed that everyone in the car wouldn't give him "peace and quiet", then promptly threw up 2x (luckily, my sick bag from my gallbladder surgery was still in new condition and stored in this glove compartment!).  Tim's back was acting up because of his accident earlier this week and it made it difficult to sit in the car for 2 hours.  But no traffic and excited girls couldn't kill the fun!  

 This place thinks of everything!  Paper crowns for the dolls, doll seats, tiny plastic mugs and plates for the dolls, the list goes on and on.  Caroline enjoyed her tiny serving of artichoke dip and people watching the NoVa moms in their Burberry scarves and high heeled boots order the staff around.  

He really is happy in this pic, I promise.  :)

 Jay recovered fully from the car puke incident and enjoyed the soft pretzel bites with cheese dipping sauce!

My delicious lunch--cheddar bacon burger and fries.  The dolls may be small but the food wasn't!  

heart shaped fruit kabobs!

heart shaped cheese cutout on the mac and cheese!  could it get more precious?!

Caroline wanted a pic with this doll set.  It was her secret wish to have the Julie bed when she was younger.  She loved the hanging beads on it!  Did I ever know about this wish?  Well, no.  But it's not like I would have bought the $150 bed anyway :)

 Back at home, we had strawberry cake with Shopkins gummies on top (and cool spiral candles!).  Emily made a wish ( you can see her Bitty baby beside her--she named her Maya and not only got the doll, but also 2 outfits, a set of 2 bottles, and a wrapping blanket.  Cammy and Carrie were very generous with a gift card to American Girl so Emily really got to treat herself!  :)

 On to the other presents!  Emily also got some "My Life" doll accessories--she's been eyeing this ice cream and blender set from Walmart!  She also got a "dream hair" Barbie that has color-changing hair and a mini-shopping cart for her dolls!  In addition to those, Emily hit up the Walmart with her gift card from Evelyn and got the face-painting Baby Alive and the My Life doll who has a hoodie snoozie suit (I think it's the slumber party doll?).  Notice a doll theme?? She's obsessed!

Turkey Day Festivities

 We had quite the busy week last week with the younger two!  First, Jason had a special Thanksgiving lunch at school on Wednesday.  My principal is awesome and had no problem with me running over to the preschool to hang out with Jason for his lunch.  It was scheduled during the time I usually don't see classes (I don't really have a planning period because teachers send kids to the library all the time, but I'm not likely to see kids during 5th period because that is when the English teachers have planning).  Turns out that Timmy was able to come along with me since he needed a couple of days at home after someone rear-ended him on his way home from work two days earlier.  Long story short, Tim stopped for a school bus with flashing red lights and a stop sign but the girl behind him wasn't paying attention (probably on her phone--that's my theory) and smashed into the back of his work van.  The van is unusable (back doors can't open) and Tim's back is now flared up and angry.
The plus side of being home on medical leave is getting to run up to your kid's lunch when it's 5 minutes away  :)  We had all the expected food:  mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken (not turkey), green beans, peas, stuffing, and giant pies from Costco.  
Jason's turkey hat had 3 feathers for what he was thankful for.  Here are his answers:  my dog, my kitty, and my brother!  Tim and I didn't even make the top 3!  :)

 Then on Friday I left work early to see Emily in her Thanksgiving play.  Her class did the "Thanksgiving alphabet" and Emily was the last one:  the letter Z.  Her part was something like "Z is for zestful, we've had so much fun.   Now our Thanksgiving holiday has already begun!"  It was so cute to see all the kids in Native American and pilgrim costumes, and one kid dressed as Abraham Lincoln (?!) and another as a turkey!  Then Emily's teacher showed up a video she made of what the kids were thankful for.  Most of the kids said things like "I'm thankful for my mom because she gives me kisses" and stuff like that.  What did Emily say?  "I'm thankful for my baby dolls".  Of course!

Camm's 70th Birthday Party

 Camm made it clear by summertime that she was having a party for her 70th birthday party.  Tim and I made hotel reservations early because we knew that (1) Carrie was flying into town and needed to stay at Camm's house and (2) we were bringing 6 people with us and just wouldn't fit for an overnight visit.  Kids LOVED the idea of a hotel at the oceanfront with an indoor pool and I loved the cheap off-season price!  We headed into Virginia Beach after I finished my morning string of 6 VIP Kid classes and it was smooth sailing down Rt. 17.  We arrived in time to grab Caroline and Garrett from a softball tournament they were attending near Dam Neck.  Camm's party started at noon and we got to hang out with Aunt Jilp, the cousins, the cousins' husband/boyfriend and kids!  Camm's teacher friends showed up as well.  We had some delicious BBQ and crab dip (of course).  Camm had set up a St. Jude's fundraiser on FB for her birthday gifts, so Carrie and I both donated to the cause in place of shopping.  A win win! 

 I took this pic after we checked into our hotel on Saturday night.  It wasn't that late (maybe 6:30 PM) but the boardwalk was empty.  The cold temps probably didn't help!  We stayed right off of 22nd street and opening that balcony door and breathing in salty air is like therapy for me  :)  

 Yup, couldn't escape a dip in the indoor pool!  Luckily for us, the pool was empty.  Our loud and excited children didn't bother anyone with their water play :)  It was nice to see that they hadn't lost all of their swimming skills from the summer!

 After our continental breakfast in the morning, we headed out to see the ocean.  It was much warmer Sunday morning than it had been the day before.  The kids enjoyed writing their names in the sand and watching the sea gulls.

Emily's Pumpkin Patch Field Trip!

 First grade has been so awesome to Emily.  She's really doing independent work now, reading chapter books, and growing by leaps and bounds.  I signed up for the pumpkin patch field trip and had a great time!  We hit the old Belvedere Farms and we were one of.....seventeen other school buses.  Along with school vans and just regular patrons.  The place was PACKED.  We were shuffled through the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, picked some small lightweight pumpkins to haul back, visited the outside classroom to learn about pumpkin germination, then headed to the petting zoo.  After that we swung by the pedal car racetrack and the huge tube slide.  The whole class finished off the trip with a visit to the hay barn, complete with ropes so that kids could swing and fall into the piles of hay.  My sinuses were a disaster for the next couple of days, but it was fun!