Kelsey's Rapunzel Birthday

Kelsey's birthday started out with Ethan's first soccer game.

 It was pretty cute to watch.  We were so proud every time Ethan kicked the ball.

The Party

Almost every idea I got from the party is from this

www.supermommoments.com/2011/01/tangled-party-decor-food/

First:  Decorations

The cake

This braid was more complicated to make than it would appear.

A very tangled mess.

I loved this banner

When Rapunzel is locked in the tower she is bored so she paints everything.  I set up paints so the kids could paint the walls at the party.

The food.

Second:  The Fun

The painting was a hit.  Everyone loved it.

Pin the frying pan on Flynn Rider.

Don't even think about laughing at my drawing.  I am not a perfessional.  Ok, go ahead and laugh.  I know it is funny.

Third:  The Happy Birthday Song

Fourth:  The presents

Last:  The Lanterns

These things were more complicated than they appear.

We bought six, one for each year of Kelsey's life.

on the package it says we are responsible for any damage they do or fire they cause, so I followed the advise of supermom and tied a string to each one so we could control where they go. (There are a lot of trees in Virginia!)

So we only ended up doing four of them but I thought they were really cool.

It was the perfect end to the party.

Month of Firsts

I am quite a bit late posting the first day of school pics.

But, better late than never, as they always say.

Kelsey is a very flashy girl

 Is it just me, or is it weird that this school has to advertise that they are fully accredited?

I am wondering if there was a time when they were NOT accredited.  Are there other elementary schools in the area that are not fully accredited?  Just wondering.

This picture was taken after school.  She had a fun day.

This pic was added just to show you her cute backpack that she picked out.

Ethan's first day of Pre-School

I love his funny smile.

This is where Ethan goes to school.  It is at a Methodist Church.

He loves his teacher.  She is really great and has been teaching pre-school for over twenty years!

I only know this because I heard one of the dads say that his brother had her for his pre-school teacher and he is twenty four now.

After school pic.

Ethan finally got to start soccer.  Today was his first practice.  His excitement level was at a 10.

And here he is with all the other teammates.  One boy on his team is in his preschool class, so they were both excited to see each other tonight.

And Matt is the coach.  Matt says it was a lot of fun and he loved it because the kids are so cute and he likes how everyone called him "coach".

Ethan's first game is this saturday so we are excited to see how it goes.

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of

This weekend I discovered a place that tops my list of all time favorite cities.

"These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, now you're in

New York"

 We stayed in this condo that we rented in the Bronx.  It was actually quite lovely and I will never forget Leon who rented it out to us, but that is a whole story that I will not publish here.

We were there for the anniversary of Sept. 11 and there were some heavy and solemn moments that day.  I cannot describe the feeling in the whole city that day.

One of the best things we did was purchase tour tickets on this double decker bus.  $50 dollars for 48 hours and it drove all over the city allowing you to get on and off as you pleased and a tour guide on each bus would talk the entire ride and point out amazing city landmarks and architecture.

There were three loops the bus would take: uptown, downtown, and Brooklyn.

This pic was taken on day #2 of the tour bus.

I found out that there ARE indeed crazy people all over New York

Times Square.  Incredible.

Central Park.  I was trying to remember the words to the song in Enchanted while we were there.

I could not pass up an opportunity to buy a hot dog at a vender booth in Central Park.

This place was my very favorite dining experience in New York.

It was right on Broadway and the waiters and waitresses would sing to you the whole time.

They were actually quite good and would get up close and personal.

Besides the Chrysler building, this was my favorite building in New York.

It is the largest church in the country.  It is as big as two football fields.

I took this pic because it was exactly the way you think New York would look like on a monday morning.

The temple is right there in Manhattan.  I giggled when the tour guide mis-pronounced angel Moroni.

An unforgetable moment here.  We purchased breakfast from a vendor cart and ate on the steps of a large office building on Wall Street on monday morning.  I enjoyed watching all of the people in business suits and my sister and I were trying to pick out who were tourists and who were locals.  Its a fun game.

hours before I boarded a plane to come home, we went on a ferry that boated around this famous landmark.

Afterward I tried New York style pizza.  Yummy.

One final experience that was a first for me was...

riding the subway.  Not glamorous, but an experience none-the-less.

Lets hear it for New York, New York, New York!!!