Madelyn's 5th birthday PAW-ty!

Pin It

These puppies are now in loving homes. :)

Madelyn L-O-V-E-S dogs. Any kind of dog...large or small, ferocious or cuddly n' cute. They all bring her joy that cannot be put into words. When she's not torturing loving our big pup, she's pretending to be one herself. So, it came as no surprise that she wanted a puppy party for her birthday.

We celebrated her special day by inviting family and friends over to our house for lunch, cupcakes, and ice cream. The kids decorated paper bags that held their stuffed puppies they named and "adopted," adoption certificates, puppy chow (cocoa puffs), and free puppy coloring pages I found on the internet. I got most of the ideas for this theme off of Pinterest (of course)!

Paw prints: Junior mints and chocolate chips

Sign: scrapbook paper and puppy party printables

 Madelyn’s 5^th Birthday Interview

What is your favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite toy? Alvin & the Chipmunks stuffed animals
What is your favorite fruit? A clementine
What is your favorite tv show? Dora the Explorer
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? grapes
What is your favorite outfit? My Hello Kitty shirt
What is your favorite game? Pet Pals
What is your favorite snack? Trail mix
What is your favorite animal? doggies
What is your favorite part of school? learning
What is your favorite book? Olivia
Who is your best friend? Emma
What is your favorite cereal? Every last one
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play
What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My big doggy
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Every last thing
What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Broccoli
What do you want to be when you grow up? Jasmine (the Disney princess lol)

Dear Madelyn,

You are a teeny, tiny girl with a BIG personality. I think the nurse said you are in the 8th percentile for weight and height. I'm beginning to think you'll never outgrow your 3T clothes, your love for Dora, or your cute chipmunk voice :). Your days are spent playing hard and praying hard. I am glad we are getting over the I-must-sleep-with-every-toy-I-own phase. That wasn't a very fun battle. We both know you had no intention of ever sleeping on those nights. Wherever you are, your big sister is nearby. The two of you share a room, toys, books, an ornery brother, and a special sisterly bond. 

You are adventurous, funny, strong, and bright. You test your boundaries at times, and have the "I'm sorry, feel sorry for me" teary-eyed expression down.  It usually works, especially if you use it on Dad:). 

I hope turning 5 is every bit as special as you thought it would be. You are a beautiful little girl, or I guess I should say BIG girl, right?

There are 5 things that I always want you to remember to do, even when life seems hard...

 Love God, love people, live simply, scatter kindness, and care deeply.

Happy 5th birthday to my small-but-mighty Madelyn!

Love, 

Mom

 

Summer Bingo Part 2

Pin It

Go here for Summer BINGO rules and info.

We are about 2 hours into Summer Bingo and having tons of fun! Samuel and Sarah are really enjoying marking off activities, and really concentrating on them, rather than trying to rush through the card. Right we are on a lunch break. Afterward, they will spend time reading and resting. This afternoon there will be some more time to complete squares on their Bingo cards. My goal is to have them do 5/day in order to complete an entire card at the end of the week.

Hook #1: Bingo cards and rules

Hook #2: Summer reading logs

Hook #3: Stickers, tickets, and pens

I ended up only making cards for Samuel and Sarah. Madelyn can always join in the fun, but she entertains herself during the day quite well.

Rather than getting the tickets from the store like I had originally planned, I just made some on the computer.

This is a card from Sarah’s pack for the week of July 4th. Some of the activities listed are watch fireworks, build something using red, white, and blue Legos only, and make s’mores.

Summer BINGO

Pin It

Okay, I am beyond ecstatic after coming across this SUMMER BINGO idea as a way to keep my kids active this summer without having to run 50 million places and sign them up for 100 costly activties. Even though Samuel still has about 3 weeks left of school, I am already getting started on making my cards. Samuel, Sarah, and Madelyn will each have their own set to complete. While I was typing up the first card, Samuel was eagerly reading everything. He can’t wait to begin! I thought I would share what I’ve accomplished so far.

The dollar store that is by my house will probably have tickets, and we have plenty of stickers to mark the spaces. I will post a card from Sarah and Madelyn’s packs once I get them made up. The activities I chose were a mix of learning, reading, indoor, outdoor, and character improvement(Samuel needs to work on how he treats Sarah).  I printed the rules and BINGO card off on cardstock, then glued them onto scrapbook paper just because I thought it would look cute. Once I have everything printed off, I am going to hole punch the top corners and keep the cards together with a metal ring. Does this sound like fun to you? It does to me!!