Jane turns Fabulous 4!!

Jane had a FABULOUS birthday party just this past Saturday!! We had so many neighbors, friends and even some family come! It was sooooo much fun, even though I still missed my family back home terribly :) Of course, the party was princess themed and I tried to make it as amazing as I could with our budget. I made ALL the decorations and the lunch for the adults and the kids as well as ALL the deserts...whew it was labor intensive to say the least..but I had fun doing it, too!!

The kids got to sit at their very own princess banquet table, complete with their own place settings with stickers and a blow toy at each spot...
Here's Jane's Happy Birthday sign I made...the picture makes it look underwhelming but try to look at it close up...it was super cute!
Overflow seating...:)
Here's my desert display. There were cookie wands with a candy center for the kids as they left, Ring pops (perfect princess accessory), Lemon butter cream cupcakes with Raspberry frosting, and a Cinderella Cake just for Jane :) I made Jean's delicious chocolate cake recipe for everyone else...yum!!
As everyone walked into the party, they were greeted by Jane's box castle...I worked every night for a full WEEK on that thing...but the kids had so much fun in it!!
All the kids were able to decorate a crown or a shield at the craft table :)
Close up of the cupcakes...with crowns on top :)
Try not to look too closely at thjs pic... she looks much better from far away...hehe!!
I had to try over and over again before I got these to turn out...oh well they were darling anyway :)
Pin the kiss on the frog game...it was way too chaotic to play this :( So it didn't even get payed...oh well.
Another shot of my beautiful castle...It is now in ruins, sitting in our garage...sad!!
Here is Jane with her REALLY GOOD friend, Addy eating lunch!
Beckham loved climbing on the castle...
All the kids enjoying the craft...so cute!
MAtthew, Edward and Charlotte...I loved that they could come. It was so nice to have family there :)
Present time...AKA...complete pandemonium!!

Here is Jane admiring her cake and blowing out the candle!!
Courtney and Harry...gotta love naked babies:)!!!
It was so nice to have the park right out back for the kids to play on when they got bored inside...it was a saving grace at many points!!

Jane and cousin charlotte...darling! Jane is wearing her Rapunzel dress that she got that day!!
So, this party was a TON of work (I mean 3 weeks worth of work for me), chaotic and crazy at points, and hectic for me...however, it was the funnest time ever!! I am so grateful that we have so many wonderful friends here already who helped us make this day so special for Jane. We have been VERY blessed :) I can't belive my little gal is 4...Yikes!! Happy Birthday Jane :)

Crazy Fun Weekend and First Day of School!!!

By the time Jane's first day of school came around, she was MORE than ready to get started. She started last week and was so excited!! Her new school is SOOOO darling and Wonderful!! It's called the Little School at Kids' Cottage and we were so thrilled to find a school that was just as magical and wonderful as the one we had in Utah :) The program here is amazing! Jane is really going to learn a lot and have tons of fun, too!
Beckham, of coarse, loves dropping Jane off and picking Jane up from school, too! He loves giving Jane a big hug when we go into her classroom to pick her up :)
Here is a very poor outside shot of Jane's school.
Last week was a CRAZY week for me! On Thursday, Jane, Beckham and I drove out to Maryland to help watch my Brother's darling kids, Charlotte, Edward and new baby Harry!! I was so impressed with myself that I managed to make the two hour drive all by myself without any major blunders...yay me :) My favorite part of the drive (even though it really is ALL a beautiful, scenic drive) is going over the Bay Bridge, a huge bridge that crosses the Chesapeake Bay. It is amazing and so long!

Once we got to their house the madness began. It wasn't too bad really. The girls got along great, Beckham and Edward were super good boys and never complained and baby Harry is a dream baby...so patient!
I even gave all four kids a bath...I know, what was I thinking, right? Once one got in, the whole lot of them wanted to hop in! This worked out great until baby Harry started fussing to be fed and I was frantically running around trying to find jammies for all the kids to get them all dressed. Looking back...I honestly don't really know how I did it all :) However, I am happy to report that everyone is still alive and well :)
That night, Matthew came home with Cafe Rio...hooray! We ate while the kids watched a movie and had popcorn. It was so FUN to hang out with my bro again. He is an amazing dad...I was so impressed with him :) The next day, I took Charlotte and Edward home with me. And baby Harry stayed with the nanny until Matthew came home. We, of coarse, had to make a trip to the amazing "Airplane" park on base.
I quickly learned that you CANNOT let Edward roam around without being two feet behind him...cause he is absolutely fearless. He will try ANYTHING, whether you are around to help or not...Yikes. Again, I am happy to report that everyone is still alive and well :)
The boys loved swinging...and so did I. This required the least amount of running around crazily for me!
By the time Ryan got home I was totally exhausted and so thankful for his help. He is always so helpful to me :) After baths the kids all sat with snacks and watched a movie...so cute!
The boys were completely in heaven1
The next day was Saturday and Matthew came with baby Harry at around noon! He watched the kids for us while we went grocery shopping. Then I made dinner and we all spent the evening together! It was such a blast!
Not gonna lie...I am grateful that I just have my two kids for now :) but we still had a CRAZY, FUN weekend!!

Back to normal life in Delaware:)

We were so thrilled to see that our house was ok after Hurricane Irene, that we unloaded and unpacked everything that same day!! We really wanted to get life back to normal again. No more natural disasters coming our way for awhile would be very nice indeed :) Life could not be put on hold forever, so Ryan went back to work and the kids and I were back to finding fun things to keep us all entertained in the mornings until Jane starts school.

There is a "Tot Skate" at the local skating rink and it is so much fun. We have gone several times. Jane is getting very brave and much better :)
Here she is doing the limbo...kid style.
Beckham couldn't skate, however there were many balls and a basketball hoop that he had alot of fun with.

such a champ...
Jane even got to yell "Ghostbusters..." into the microphone during that song. Beckham got to try too but was far more shy than Jane!!
Ryan got to work a four day week and have a long weekend for Labor Day!! We really made the most of that time. We went to Lewes Beach. It was such an adorable, mild, perfect little beach for kids.
Jane and Beckham LOVED it (they could have spent all day there) and Mama got to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather!!
Beckham was so brave and loved the water. Digging was Jane's favorite thing to do!!
Here are Mama and Beckham's sandy feet...too cute!!
A real old school "Pirate-ish" ship even sailed past us...it was so cool, however Beckham seemed uninterested...don't ya think?!
Jane, on the other hand, loved the cool pirate ship!!
We loved the beach so much that we decided to make a sand box on our back patio out of the lovely sand int he sand bags we had to use during Irene's visit!! It was messy...but fun!
In all the craziness, I forgot to mention that my little baby has grown up...he officially sleeps in a big boy bed!! He is SO not my baby anymore and that is very sad... but he is truly a very sweet, cuddly, boy!
Just today, Ryan and I decided to drive to Maryland to visit my bro and sis-in-law and their DARLING kids...and to go to the CAFE RIO that they just put in...hip hip hooray!! He have some of the BEST of Utah on the east coast now...yay!! Well, it totally delivered and was delicious!!!

Here's Ryan with Jane, Charlotte and Beckham heading into Cafe Rio...I thought this was so sweet...
We were pleasantly surprised when we saw that Cafe Rio was having a promotion this week, where Military members get a free meal!! We totally lucked out and had to pay only pennies for our meal :) The kids were well behaved and had so much fun together and got along sooooo well!!! This was the BEST night ever :)
Throughout the afternoon Edward taught Beckham how to toughen up a little and showed us all how to deliver a PERFECT tackle every time...haha!!
Jane and Charlotte were BEST FRIENDS the whole time. They dressed up as princesses, showed us all their dance moves and were so darling together :)
I am so glad we ended up making the just under two hour drive to Maryland...it was so worth it and soooo much fun!! It is something we will be doing alot more of in the future!! Life in Delaware is pretty darn good right now...we have been really blessed!!