Turning Seven: Libby's Owl Paint Party

This weekend we celebrated...big time.

It's no secret I love a good birthday party, and this year was no exception.

After receiving their invites, Lib's friends found their way to a local pottery studio.....

....here's what awaited their arrival:

In the bucket are her goodie bags, filled with gummy worms.

 Lib thought this was really funny seeing as how owls love to munch on worms.

I kept the food simple this year:

In case you're wondering, that's Funfetti cake dip. I'll be back later this week to post the recipe. But for now, I'll just say it was yummy in my tummy.

As a matter of fact, yes, those are owl cupcakes you see there.

Lib's little guests could not get enough of them!

In case you missed it, yesterday I posted about how I made Lib's owl shirt.

The studio was the perfect place with the perfect background.

 Check out this cuteness:

Once all of the guests arrived, each girl chose the owl she liked best:

And then the fun began.

I must say, I was a little hesitant (and sad) about not having the party at home this year,
but once I realized I wouldn't have to assemble the paints, brushes, etc., etc., etc.,

I was more than okay to party elsewhere this year.

Each girl got to select the colors of her liking, and everyone loved letting their artistic side show.

Here's the Libster's masterpiece:

Apparently Lib's owl was very happy....must have been the dip.

Love how these turned out:

The studio will fire and glaze them, and they'll be ready for pick-up on Wednesday.

But painting's not all we did.

We also sang and sent birthday wishes to this little girl:

And thanked each of our guests for coming:

Overall, the party was nothing short of a t-total success.

In fact, I think it's safe to safe that the only thing missing was Lib's front tooth.

Coming up this week:

*Funfetti recipe

*Saying Thanks: Owl Style

*How Hollyn spent Lib's party

*Africa: More Ways to Help

*I Am That Mom: One Year Later

Here's hoping your Monday is off to a great start.

Any party questions?

Leave a comment, and I'll get right on that.

Happy Monday to you and you and you.

Linking to here, here, here, here, here, and here and here..

WHOOO wants to make a super de dooper cute owl shirt?

Yesterday was Lib's owl party that we had to celebrate her seventh birthday,

and while I work on finishing her birthday party post, I thought you might want to see what the party girl wore.

Since it was an owl party, I wanted her to have an owl shirt.

So, here's what I did:

First, I found some owl clip art that I liked, and I drew it the size I wanted it to be on her shirt.

Then I picked out some cute coordinating fabrics. I used scraps from past projects, which is always an added bonus, yes?

Then I traced the different owl parts onto iron-on bonding paper. I found this package at Wal-Mart, but I know they have it at Michael's, etc. Just be sure not to get the thickest one...it will be too thick for you to sew yourself IF you choose to sew it, which you don't have to do.

Next I decided which parts of the owl I wanted to make from each of the fabrics I was using.

I lined up the bonding paper with the fabric and ironed it.

Then I peeled off the back of the bonding paper (all of this in on the directions of the package, by the way),  and got my shirt ready.  TIP: cut out your pieces roughly before you iron and THEN cut them out exactly with the fabric-- otherwise, you'll waste time cutting them out perfectly TWICE, and it's harder to cut the fabric to match the design rather than cutting them both at once.

Then I ironed the owl onto the shirt, one piece at a time.

You could  choose to cut out circles for the eyes, but I had some buttons that I wanted to use.

You could also choose to be done here. If I'm making a holiday shirt that Libby will only wear a few times, I wouldn't bother sewing it. But since I want her to be able to wear this one for a while, I hand-stitched it. It's really easy, and it only took me about thirty minutes. DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED! I promise if I can do it, anyone can do it.

Here's a glimpse at the finished product:

And an up-close-and-personal shot:

And here it is on the birthday girl:

Come back tomorrow to see Lib's party in full force.

And a very big prayer of remembrance goes out to all those who lost family and friends

in the September 11th tragedy ten years ago.

 My thoughts and prayers are with you.

P.S.) Today I'm linking to here, here, here, and here.

Being a Better Mom: Attempt # 16.2 and CALLING ALL MOMS

In case you missed, I'm on a mission to be a better mom.

Recently there was a letter to Libby and stories of hair whipping.

Today there is a letter to Hollyn and last minute party-planning.

My dearest Hollyn,

Twenty- five.

Wow.

That seems like forever away. But I'm sure that after a few blinks and perhaps a yawn or two, it will be staring me in the face.

Seeing as how you're not quite two, it's hard to picture you all big and grown-up, unlike your sister who has, in many ways, seemed grown since birth or shortly thereafter.

You, my wee one, are the joy I never knew was missing from this little life of mine.

You are kind and tender and a nurturer at the heart of you.

For you, my wish is simple:

complete and utter happiness.

It seems only fitting, seeing as how this is what you've brought my way since day numero uno.

I hope at twenty-five you are still as laid back and tender-hearted as you are now. I hope you still get eaten up with excitement when you see your family. I hope you still like spending time with me and your daddy-o and that you are still brave enough and strong enough to tell Libby 'no' when she needs to hear it.

I hope you still love to dance, for you are quite the dancer, little one. I hope you still find joy in simple things and that you are still as concerned with everything being in order as you are now.

As for what I think about your future:

College: not only do I think you'll go, but I think you'll do great. I hope college will be the time for you when you'll truly see who you hope to one day become. I hope you don't go too far from home, but in the same breath, I hope college helps you establish your independence.

Career: It's hard to say what you'll do when you grow up, seeing as how you haven't even started school yet. But I'm betting you'll do something that requires patience and organization. You are quite the nurturer, so possibly something that allows you to be organized while taking care of others will be right up your alley.

At twenty-five I'm thinking you will be well-grounded, well-established,

and well on your well to something great.

You, my precious girl, are one of the greatest blessings I have ever been given, and I cannot wait to see the girl you will grow to be.

Love you forever and ever and always,

Mom

Also. I've been tossing around the idea of bringing back my "I Am That Mom" series for round two here at Lee, Me,and the Girls. Thoughts on this? Would you be interested in posting this year? If so, shoot me an e-mail at mccallald@yahoo.com or leave a comment. I had MANY, MANY people read the post from last year, and I now have more than a hundred and fifty new followers, so it'd be a great way to promote your blog (or business) while also sharing your thoughts on motherhood. Hope to hear from you soon. :)

Also, today I'm linking here and here. Maybe you should too..... :)

Seven is the Magic Number

Today was Libby's big day; as of this evening, she is officially SEVEN years old.

If you happen to know how it is possible that my little bitty baby is now a big seven year old girl, please let me know.

Rain boots and pizza and cupcakes at school made for a great day.

Lib- Here's hoping this next year will be the bomb.com.

You are so wonderful in so many ways.

Happy birthday to the girl who made me a mom.

Love you mucho grande, Libster.

AND in case there was any question, this one is doing A-OKAY after yesterday's tubes......

....even though you'd never know it by looking at this picture.

Happy Wednesday to you and you and you.

WHOOOOO Wants to Come to Her Party?

Tomorrow is the Libster's seventh birthday.

And you know I LOVE birthdays at my house.

And I must admit, I was a little bit nervous about trying to top last year's party,

which was nothing short of amazing.

However, it was also a ton of work. And with going back to work, having a sick baby, and being in and out of the hospital with my liver (which is 100% better now, btw), time has been in short supply and high demand in my house lately.

So, this year we are doing something easy.

By that I mean I'm letting someone else do most of the work.

This year we are having Lib's party at the paint your own pottery place here in town.

Each of her friends will be given a little owl to paint, seeing as how Libby LOVES owls.

They will do the set up, the clean up, and take care of all materials. I just have to bring the food, the favors, and take care of the invitations.

So take care of the invitations I did.

See for yourself:

Cute, yes?

And might I add that since getting our new computer I have not yet hooked up my Silhouette, so I made these TOTALLY BY HAND.

I bought the precut cards from Michael's in packs of eight for a $1.

Then I drew a little owl on card stock, cut him into pieces, traced each piece, did a little cutting, a little gluing, and voila. I did take a little extra time to sew the tulle onto each owl's 'skirt', but it took longer to thread the needle on this one than it did to sew it.

The inside (which contains too much personal info. to post on the web like phone numbers and whatnot), says:

WHOOOOO is turning seven?

Libby, that's who!

And she wants to paint, giggle and celebrate with YOU!

Now if only coming to terms with her turning seven were as easy as making the invites.....

Come back this weekend to see her super cute favors, get the low down on the party, and check out the par-tay food, which is sure to be delish.

And thanks to everyone who sent prayers and happy thoughts our way this morning; Hollyn's tubes went in without a hitch. Here's hoping for no more ear trouble!

Happy Tuesday to you and you and you.

Over the River and Through the Woods

See this precious face?

She'll be getting tubes in her ears first thing in the morning tomorrow.

 Send happy thoughts our way? We'd be forever appreciative.

Saturday morning we just couldn't resist a little road trip,

and now that my grandmother is living only thirty minutes away, I knew exactly where I wanted to go.

Libby did a bit of this:

While Hollyn did a whole lot of this:

And if there were a hide-and-seek portion of the Olympics, my kid would be bringing home the gold.

Here's hoping your Labor Day is t-totally fabulous. Seven years ago today was my last day being preggers with the Libster. Her birthday is on Wednesday this year, and tomorrow I'll be giving a peek (or three) at her homemade party invitations (assuming all goes well with H's ears, which I'm confident it will).

Happy non-working Monday to you and you and you.