The coolest Star Wars party EVER!

Amy Johnson ALWAYS throws an amazing party.  This year it was a Star Wars party for her son.  I knew it was going to be great.  I had thrown a Star Wars party for my son a couple years before and I had some really great ideas but I knew it was going to pale in comparison to an Amy Johnson party.  I'm not saying this to bag on my own party.  I'm only saying this so y'all know her parties truly are amazing and I take detailed pictures so I can re-visit them and "share" her ideas later!  I adore me some Amy Johnson parties.  It's all in the details and her details are AMAZING!  Thank you Amy J. for inviting us and letting me take detailed pictures!  

When you arrived you had to name a character from the Star Wars book to get your tokens.  (the party was at Chuckee Cheese.....she still decorates and goes all out....I love it!) 

Here is Dash answering his question and winning a blow up light saber!  

She is always so sweet to invite ALL of my kids.  Her son was turning 5 so really it should have just been Juliet or Dash but ALL my kids LOVE her parties.

Princess Leia's Buns!

Yoda cookies

cupcakes

the gift bags.....full of amazing goodies that my kids LOVED! Their favorite were the glow in the dark stars that you put on your ceiling!

Light saber licorice!

Hyperdrive coils!

Ewok snacks!

Red meteors!

C3PO'S Spare parts!

Blow up light saber part favors!

I love the Star Wars fabric table runner!

even her husbands old Star Wars ship was centerpiece!  SO adorable!

The Hairy Dude!

The other day Juliet was playing by herself in her room with her doll house.  She lined up some of her "guys". (that's what we call all small figurines....petshops, star wars guys, princesses, so on.)  She was introducing one guy to all the others and she said this is the say "hi, this is...the deer, and the spider, and the mouse, and the cat and the crab and the puppy and the raccoon and the snail and the strawberry shortcake and (move to the back row with out skipping a beat) the hairy dude and the monster!"  

I love that with out missing a beat she introduced "the hairy DUDE"  and that is exactly what he is....a hairy dude....unless you step on him and I would call him a spikey dude!  NO BUENO!  :)

A picture of all the cast.....you can see C3PO fell down at some point and Tangled made her way back into play too.  I love her imagination and that she can play by herself!  cute girl!

First Day of School 2012! Clear Eyes, Full Hearts........

 CAN'T LOSE!!!!!!
That is what we say every day at drop off.  I say "Clear eyes, full hearts" and the kids say back to me "can't lose"!  It sets us up for the day..... It's like our cheer!

Today is the First day of School.  It is WAAAAAY too early for them to be going back.  LAUSD had to get the whole state on the same schedule though so we had to go back early.  The high school and grade schools were all on different schedules.  Meh.  My kids are excited.  I am sad.  I'm always sad when they go back to school.  I hate that the school has them for more hours in the day than I do.  I hate that the year goes by so very fast and they are one year older.  I hate that life is going by so fast and I vow every year to enjoy it more and forget to do it until the beginning of the school year.  I hate that I question parenting as I send them out the door.  I hate that I cant' protect them.  Are the going to behave?   Are they going to make friends?  Will their teacher understand them and "get" their crazy wonderful personalities?  Will they be good examples?  I hate the new school year!  BUT I have no choice in the matter so I have to turn my frown upside-down and LOVE it!  SO I will bake our traditional COOKIES!  Pumpkin Chock Chips. for after school!  (Normally saved for Sept when school normally starts.....and the temps aren't 107 but hey we do what we gotta do!)  AND we will make some fun back to school packets for the teachers and secretaries...... a little love will help later and service always makes me feel better!  Now for the good part pictures of my babies!
                                                                  BACK TO SCHOOL 2012
                                                CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE!

Look at this smile!  ....... How do you let it go out the door!?    With a great big hug and a high five!

 and "Dueces" for the Second grade!

 and a little sister that will miss him so very much!

 Don't get me started and this beautiful sole!  Lipglossed lips and mascara on her top lashes!  No more little girl fashions.  It was a whole new shopping experience for me this year with her.  So much fun!  So much class and style.  I will miss her and pray for her all day.  Jr. High is brutal and I know she is ready but I am not.

 girlfriends to the end!

 the three amigos!

 The great Max B!  The best laugh in the world.  The sweetest kindest sole ever.  The peacemaker.  Oh how I will miss your spirit and hugs through out the day.  Ms Green is so lucky to get your calming spirit in her class!  Dang it!  Now I'm making myself cry all over again!

 I'm lucky to get to have this sweetie pie at home with me for a couple of years still!  People keep asking me why I don't have her in pre school.  Seriously?  That would just push me over the edge!  ;)  MAYBE next year......We'll see.    Here's to another great school year!!!!  CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mormon Dodger Night

This is part of "Mormon Dodger Night".  Yes, there really is such a thing.  I didn't think there was either.  Anyone can go on that night.  If you do go though expect that there will be a lot of Mormons there. :)  President Uchtdorf threw out the first pitch and someone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang the National Anthem.  It was a really great night!  It was fun to be surrounded by people with our same faith.  I met cute girl sitting behind me and we exchanged phone numbers.  We had a great time!  

It was the Dodgers vs. the Mets.  Brandon kept getting dirty looks and we couldn't figure out why until about half way through the game we realized he was wearing Mets colors.  We don't follow baseball very well.  He was just wearing a Blue and Orange and Grey shirt.  Very generic.  Not if your a Dodger fan though.  

The kids really loved it!  We got Dodger dogs for dinner.

She loved being goofy with daddy!

or did he love being goofy with her?

They all love being goofy together!

We had seats right up against the railing.  That stressed me out a little bit because I didn't want one of my kids to fall over the side.  Brandon says I stress too much.  UNTIL one of Max's flip flops fell over the railing.  The group that it fell on were really good sports though and when I went down to pick it up they all cheered for me.  Note to self:  Railing seats with children are NOT OK!

showing off her ticket.

On Friday's when it's a home game they let you down on the field for the fireworks.  My kids wanted to go down so bad!  We didn't know they did that though.  Next time.  It was a pretty cool sight to see.  How many people get to say that they were on the Dodger field?  I think that is pretty cool.

Ending the night in fireworks with a music show!  It was a great night and I can't wait for next year!

Happy Birthday from Mom and Dad!

My parents gave me and Brandon a picnic table for our birthdays!  I have wanted one for a such a long time and this one is nicer than anything I could ever wish for!  It is redwood and because it is redwood I can choose to finish it or not or paint it or leave it as is.  I love that it has the extra seating at the end.  

 When they came to deliver the table they had this little set on the truck too.  I fell in love with it and luck would have it, I had some birthday cash!  This set was only 100$  I came with a love seat too!  (photo below)  I'm going to paint them red and get some yellow and blue gingham pillows.  So much fun and they are so  comfortable.  I love them.

 The love seat!    We love to eat outside and California weather allows us to do it often.  Thanks mom and dad for such a great birthday gift!  We love love love it!  (if anyone wants the number of the company that makes this stuff give me a call...they have great prices!)  :)

Pirate beach with the Jeffords

This is one of our FAVORITE beaches and parks to go to!  We call it the Pirate Beach.  It is in Oxnard.  It's about 50 minutes away and worth the drive.  The park is adorable (Looks like a pirate ship) and is just a few hundred yards away from the beach.  So you play for a bit at the park then you gather your things and jaunt over to the beach.  WE love it.  I love it because I think it is a hidden secret.  Not a lot of people go to this beach for whatever reason and I like that.  I don't ever have to worry about my kids being taken away by huge crowds.  Very manageable when I am by myself.  This day though we were with family and that is always the funnest!  It was Memorial Day and even though the park was really busy the beach was still it's normal calm self! 

Juliet and Jeremy! 

This is a fun little devise!  It would make me sick.

If you can talk your brother into spinning you then that is even better!

But then his brother ran off and left him to spin himself!

Love this shot!

Uncle Jamie!!!!

That's much better!

Sweet boys!

Cute family picture!

Jamie and I have tons of pictures like this!

Jeremy LOVES Max!  He is always watching what he is doing!  I love it!

They found a lot of sand crabs!

Juliet had to go pee.  We were going to have to go ALL the way back to the park and so like any good parent we told her to go in the ocean.  She didn't understand.  Being the wonderful parents we are we yelled at her NOT to get naked.

SO she peed by her sister.  I love the look on Darby's face.

Then Juliet was mad.

but Darby is great at getting things back on track and having fun.

and rinsing the pee off your legs.  what a great big sister... she makes up where we lack in parenting!  ;)

It really is one of the best beaches around!  The sand is soft and the waves are awesome and there is hardly any people there.  Just watch out for the little bit of pee.  ;)