Since last year, we have chosen to forgo the usual photography studio to get the kids' annual birthday pics. Instead, the lovely Kate Makatura, took these pics for us at Jacobsburg State Park.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Avery's 5th Birthday (Part 3)
The next day was Avery's "family party." But first she was treated to a mani, pedi and shopping with Aunt Brynnie!
Check out the zebra print on the big toes!
Meanwhile, Mommy got busy making the cake!
Lots of birthday posing under the streamers...
Grayson wanted to be a part of it too!
(He consistently has either no shirt or no pants at home! Even when we have guests over.)
She, of course, was showered with great gifts....one of which was this sweet pink guitar from Great Aunt Lisa and Uncle Scott! Goes great with her pink cowboy gear!
And this amazing wedding gown handmade by Noni Jones! Such a special gift that is sure to be passed on for generations to all the little girls in our family!
But, like I said, she is very easy to please! Quite happy with some quarters too!
(She still doesn't quite understand that dollar bills are more valuable than coins!)
Getting ready to blow out candles for the third time this birthday. Look closely, they are zebra print too!
Zebra inside AND outside! One of my favorite (and actually EASIEST) creations yet!
Happy 5th Birthday, Avery Grace! You deserved every bit of celebration! Wish we could do this everyday!
Avery's 5th Birthday (Part 2)
The weekend following Avery's birthday, she had her first "kids" party! She invited a few select friends from school, cousins, and neighbors. It was a blast - for both kids and adults!
Here she is on the big slide...look - no hands!
Mommy and Gray enjoyed it too!
Even Madi is not too old to bounce!
Here's the whole gang...
As you can see, her brother and her cousin Ben are the only two boys in this group of girls!
She asked for a pink zebra cake and this is what she got.
Looking so grown up and sassy in the big blow up chair!
*Cousin Love*
We all had a great time! BounceU really is a win-win - parents get to bounce for free, the kids bounce like crazy for an hour straight, and then everyone is in bed by 7! We had a great day and night!
Avery's 5th Birthday! (Part 1)
I can't believe it's been two months since I've sat down to blog! The combination of having a super busy (and fun!) summer, a 3 year old boy who won't go to sleep if he knows I am sitting in the computer room next to his bedroom, and a slowly dying computer...has led me to become very far behind! But I'm determined to catch back up and stay on track!
So here goes....
It is definitely hard to believe that our little girl just turned five on July 9th! In our house, you get to celebrate for at least a week! This is part 1 of her celebration, which started on her actual birthday.
This is how her day started....Mommy and Daddy taped zebra streamers all across her doorway and left a new "five" shirt for her to wear that day. The kids love these shirts from Old Navy that have their age on them, so they've become a bit of a tradition for us.
She got out of her room (at 5:45 am) with only slightly altering the bottom streamer. When she came into my room to wake me up, I asked her if she liked the streamers and she said "Whoa, I thought there was zebra skin hanging from my door!" Yes, her favorite animal is the zebra and she is obsessed with anything zebra print!
She was lucky enough to get an early morning visit from her Aunt RaRa, who brought pink cowboy books and a pink cowboy hat (which we later realized LIGHTS up!). These were top on her wish list, so this was a thrill! And somehow, she just pulls off this look really well!
Mommy was off from work and Nonna took Grayson for a few hours so that we could have some girly time alone. We went to the mall so that Avery could "build a bear."
She chose a My Little Pony which she named "Shimmer" without hesitation ("because her wings shimmer in the sunlight")!
After that she wanted to just stroll through the mall. Normally, I am the mommy that is always saying "no" to things like this. But on your birthday, I'm a "yes" mom! So we strolled and rode as many rides as I had quarters for!
Then she wanted to go to the Promenade shops so she could run through the fountains - a favorite summertime activity! It was a hot day and the fountains were packed with kids.
Afterwards, we had a quiet lunch at Red Robin. Again, I said "yes" to the chocolate milk and she quite enjoyed it! But she DID NOT want the servers to come sing Happy Birthday to her.
We came home and did a few quiet crafts before Grayson came home.
Big tubs of beads + Grayson = bad combo!
Big tubs of beads + Grayson = bad combo!
Once Daddy came home, we had a pizza dinner (Avery's request), had some cupcakes we picked up from the Fresh Market and then opened her gifts from Mommy and Daddy. We were able to pick up most of her very important items such as green nail polish, new paints, a kite, a hula hoop, and a new journal (zebra, of course!). She loves to keep a "journal" filled with her drawings, artwork and writing.
This little girl is so easy to please!
I truly cannot believe this girl is five! Avery is the most kind, smart, loving, awesome girl I could have ever asked for! She is my sanity when I'm frustrated with her brother. She is full of compliments and excitement and wonder. She's got better dance moves than I could dream of and a smile that could light up the earth!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
Daddy celebrated his 33rd birthday two weeks ago. It marks the kickoff of the Levine birthday season! (Adam in June, Avery in July, Grayson in August....and me in December - what I wouldn't do to have a summer birthday!)
Mommy happened to be off that day and poor Daddy had to go to work. We started off our day by going strawberry picking, one of Mommy's most favorite summertime activities. Avery and Grayson were pretty terrified on the hayride as you can see they are gripping each other's hand for dear life.
I believe Avery picked a total of 4 berries and Grayson picked 1 berry (that actually made it into the basket). But somehow (thanks to Mommy!) we ended up with over 5 lbs. of delicious berries. Of course, they had to try them before we got in the car (and a few in the field too!)
Note: that is not a berry on Avery's face. She sustained a small injury after falling off of a bouncy house at her friends birthday party the weekend prior!
We had the rest of the day to prepare for Daddy's "surprise" birthday party. Here is Avery's drawing on the window with her "crystal window markers" that we only get out for special occasions such as this....
I blew up balloons and Avery taped them all around the table.
She even made decorations that she hung randomly throughout the kitchen....
if any of these decorations look familiar, it may be because I cut out pictures from any card that the kids get throughout the year and then recycle them into future craft projects such as this.
We listened closely for Daddy to pull in the driveway, hid in the dining room and yelled "SURPRISE" when he walked in the door!
Mommy made a special birthday dinner for him and a homemade ice cream cake with his favorite ice cream flavors. There was so much love and thought put into this day. I just don't get why he doesn't love to celebrate himself!
We are so grateful to have the best Daddy and husband around! Even though he really hates birthdays (and especially hated how big I made that #33!) But he'll always be 6 months older than me and I love it!
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