The Sleeping Beauty Tea Party

I read in a parent's guide to birthday party book recently that five year old's like as much as say as possible for their birthday parties.  The anticipation and planning is often most of the fun for them.  Needless to say, our five year old had definite ideas about what this party should look like.  We did our best to accommodate.

Presenting...Princess Amalia, age 5.  Sleeping Beauty Dress compliments of Grandpa Gregg & Grandma Sandy.  Coordinating shoes by Grandma Deni.  They aim to please.

Everyone had to wear crowns



Everyone.




The tea party was up first.  We included wardrobe changes for the princesses as needed.



Grandma Deni was also the interior designer of the tea party.

It was kids only in there.  Thankfully, the one boy involved was easy-going about the whole thing.

Grown-ups were allowed to observe.  In crowns.

The royalty

Wonderful presents of books and dresses and mroe.  (Note Brin's outfit change)

Finally..the Sleeping Beauty cake.  Soon after that it turned into a water party.  The Sleeping Beauty Warter Play Tea Party. Fun for all.

Summer Reading Log #1

I still have Mali's Sleeping Beauty/Tea Party pictures to post, but before I forgot, I wanted to blog about our current reading adventures.  Both Mali and Brinn had grown tired of phonics lessons, so we decided to take a break from those for the summer.  We still do regular workbook sessions and read on our normal schedule, but I wanted to challenge their comprehension a little more.  We agreed that I would choose a longer-than-normal chapter book for them every week or two for all of us to work through. They would then be responsible for rating it--one, two, or three stars.  (I had lots more ideas of extensions to do with these books, but honestly, with our summer schedule, it just won't happen). I love everything they are absorbing through the Magic Tree House Collection, but even Jack & Annie need a break sometimes.  Not to mention Junie B. Jones.

Our first choice was Stuart Little.  I hardly remembered it from my childhood, and wanted to expose the girls to older vocabulary.  Brinnly struggled at times with the chapter length, but Mali really enjoyed it after the first chapter.  All of us were a little disappointed with the number of "loose ends" left at the end.  The verdict:  2 stars from Brinnly, 19 from Mali.  Not bad, Stuart.

Five

Five years ago today a brown-haired, blue-eyed beauty made us parents.  She had stretched my belly for 41+ weeks and stretched our patience for 12+ hours in labor but it was all worth it.  For some reason (my size, maybe?) we thought she was a boy. But the minute we pulled back her swaddling blankets and declared "GIRL!" to all of Allegheny General Hospital, we knew we had exactly what we wanted.

She entered the world happy, bold, and strong.  For the most part, those word still describe her.  We often comment on her fearlessness.  Her smiles are accompanied quite often with hands on her hips and a "determined" tone in her voice, but really, she just wants to be in charge of at least a few things in her life.  Namely, her choice of outfits. I can't imagine that will get any easier anytime soon, but at least she's content in most other areas.

This hasn't been the easiest year for Amalia.  Our move was a big change for her.  She missed her school and her Michigan friends and family.  This time, she was old enough to understand exactly what moving away meant.  But she coped well.  She's grown closer sisters in many ways (when she's not bossing them around) and we all learned a lot through reading and cuddling together.  She loves her Pittsburgh friends and being back at the church where she was baptized.   And Kindergarten is only a few months away!

The princess trend hit us hard here this spring and Mali can still be found most days in some form of a princess-fairy-ballerina costume.  After a long run with orange, pink is now the color of choice.  Nothing interferes with her afternoon "screen" time and she's also a big fan of baking, dancing, art, science, and just plain exploring. She'll probably always be a daddy's girl but she and her mama have enough in common in their personalities to keep us close.  

We love you, Amalia June Ward for the precious gift from God that you are to us.  Thanks for training us a parents! 

Grandpa's Girls go Fishing

Trying out the princess-themed fishing pole

Mali caught the first fish!

Brinn's got a pretty good cast herself

A bass!

Proud Girls.  Proud Grandpa

Water Girls

Memorial Day weekend finally brought some warmer weather around here.  Good thing, since we had a party to thorow and houseguests (Aunt Kara & Uncle Josh) to impress.  We showed them the super-cool fountain by PNC Park.  Needless to say, it was a hit.  We ended that weekend with our first visit to our neighborhood pool for a potluck.  We enjoyed it so much that we coughed up the membership fee so we have access to it all summer long.

One of the many perks:  cheap swim lessons for the older girls.  They are becoming so comfortable in the water.  I love it!

We also love the grills and tables there which make picnic dinners easy as pie.

 Carrigan's not quite old enough for lessons yet.  So she puts on her suit, grabs all of the pool toys, and plays in the kiddie pool with her daddy.  When she woke up from her nap the other day, she asked to call him to say "Daddy!  Swimming!  Water!"

Speaking of water, we also spent a lovely weekend at the Ryan family's lake house in West Virginia so far this summer.  Lots of good pictures of that here. Kellie and I went for a morning run, leaving behind the dads and fully dressed, dry kid near the beach.  I came back to this showcase of wet pink pants. Supposedly Carrigan led the crew in tumbling in. I should have known water was going to be a theme for the summer.

First Glimpse

We had an ultrasound on Friday to find out a little more info on Baby Ward #4.  At my first appointment the week before, the midwife thought I was measuring big so she wanted to determine the exact due date.  Not to mention, rule out the possibility of twins!  (Two of our friends in Michigan had twins for babies #4 & 5 so it's always been in the back of our mind).  But the scan showed one healthy baby, due right around December 23 as expected.  It was actually difficult for the tech to take a measurement since the baby was wiggling around so much--perfect for us to see.  We're all thrilled.  Mali wants a girl, Brinnly wants a boy.  Carrigan just wants someone to partner with when the big girls leave her out.  They were also pretty excited to open bins of maternity clothes today--those three can turn anything into a fashion show.

Any suggestions for names starting with D?

One thing is missing from this picture...

It's Baby Ward #4!  We are looking forward to meeting him or her right around Christmas!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Five on Friday

1) How is it already the middle of May?  I just posted our Easter pictures and that was two holidays ago.  Right after Easter, we celebrated Jonathan turing the big 3-3.  By his request, we had a quiet (yeah, right.  How quiet is it ever here?) night in and the girls and I made shrimp cobb salad, egg rolls, and a grasshopper cheesecake for him.  It was fun to spoil him for a change.

2) For Mother's Day last Sunday, my girls made me a crown of fresh flowers which was beyond sweet.  They prepared a scavenger hunt of gifts for me the night before, but didn't manage to let Jonathan in on the surprise, so it took a little longer than expected. But I was also spoiled with several lovely girly-gifts.  My family knows how to please.

3) Spring, or should I say, summer arrived this week.  We've been outside soaking up sun as much as possible. I think Pittsburgh has the best parks of any city around.

4) The time we've been spending indoors for the past three months or so (seriously!) has been made easier by the delightful series of books "The Magic Tree House Collection" by Mary Pope Osborne. My girls are hooked on these chapter books and I love that they are being introduced to so many time periods and cultures.  And a huge shout-out goes to their audiobooks which make naptime a breeze for the older two.

5) It's decision time around here.  We've lived in our current home now for three whole months. Our GR house has been rented to four college students whom we hope have great housekeeping skills and mow the lawn regularly.  (If you live anywhere near GR, please free free to drive past there and give us regular updates).  We've been looking at housing options for the past two and a half months, or so.  But, settling down sounds good to us right now.  We're going to stay put here, in our rented Blackridge colonial, and start fixing up a few things and putting our colors on the walls.  Come visit us and check out our avocado-colored family room, covered side porch,  and quaint neighborhood.  It's starting to feel like home. 

Our Easter in Pictures

Quotes from yesterday...

"I know!  We can just take a secret passageway to Berrien Springs!"--Amalia

"Mommy, don't put Carrigan in that green seat.  Hata and Hoshish are sitting there"--Brinnly

"Poop! Potty!" --Carrigan  (even better, she was right--diaper free house, here we come!)

Carnegie Mellon Carnival 2011

Jack and Mali check out the Harold & the Purple Crayon booth

Racing cars

Carrigan is always impressed by stairs

Jack kept pushing his mama's hand away so he could hold onto a "Ward-Girl"

Toy Story never fails to impress

Carrigan's favorite character

Mali loved the fact that Barbie's tub was filled with cotton balls

I still think they are too young to know who Barbie is

First Ride--the Carousel!

Next up, the Ferris Wheel.
"We can see all of Oakland!"--Mali

And of course, motorcyles.  Here's Brinn and Gail.





Baby's First Ride.  She loved it!