Taylor Turn's Seven!

Taylor turned seven on August 21st and we celebrated by having a 'Baking Bash.' We invited seven of her newest friends here in Texas and had a really fun party!

the invitation

I found this cute digital scrapbook kit called 'Make a Wish' On www.scrapgirls.com and love it!

I made the invite, and the take home bags with my new fun kit

Peyton- getting ready for the party (7 1/2 months)

Since I've been on a sewing kick, I was so excited about Taylor's Party... Taylor picked out this adorable fabric and we made aprons for all the girls as their party favor. They are reversible, the girls loved them, and couldn't believe they got to keep them.

With the extra fabric I had, I made a runner for the table.

The take home party bag: the girls got; an English Cracker; lip gloss; candy; a homemade playdough recipe with their own homemade playdough that they made at the party, their game prizes and their apron

This was Taylor's special birthday girl chair to sit in and special birthday girl apron

They first baked their own pizzas

And then made their own playdough

We played games between our baking; This was hot potato, except the potato was cold from being in the fridge.. so I guess it was 'cold potato'

Another game we played in preparation of decorating our own cakes, was to "Ice the Cupcake" with Silly String... it was just like the real thing, very fun and very messy

Mimi and Taylor with their 'iced cupcakes'

They were having so much fun!

Each girl had their own mini cake that they got to decorate.

Happy Birthday Banner that I made on my mother in laws new Cricut... it's amazing and I think I need one now

Taylor making her crazy face

This is 'the birthday picture' that me and all my siblings have at our birthday parties when we were little. This same end of the table, same kitchen, with the birthday girl on the end and everyone around her.

The girls all wanted to take home their cakes to show their families, so we ate the cupcakes

Jumping for Joy

This is Whitney... my adorable Sister in Law- Whitney Gillis who took these great pictures

She is super talented and has started a new business designing birth announcements, invites, etc. check her out www.whitneygillisdesign.blogspot.com

A few more Capes

So I'm loving trying to learn to sew.  And my mom is so great to let me leave her dining room in shambles to fuel my creativity.  I hope I can be that laid back as a mom... wait I am a mom and I don't think I am... note to self... be more laid back, just like my mom.  

My adorable nieces in Australia are going to be Super Big Sisters... Mandy has almost a month left in her pregnancy.. we can't wait... So I was so excited to make them super capes and send them to them.  Now that they have got them and I won't ruin the surprise, I can post my pictures of how the capes turned out.  

This is Hailee's

and Grace has a slightly different yet the same one.  

Mandy is so cute and dresses them alike, so it's very fitting for them to have similar capes.  

Fruity Facial

We found a new book from Barnes and Noble called the Spa Princess Cookbook.  It gave us the inspiration for Taylor's 7th Birthday Baking Party.  To test out and have a little fun, we did the Hawaiian Fruity Facial.  Taylor is a great Diva and loved every minute of it!

she's so cute... she's loving every minute of it

Here's the recipe if you fellow Divas would like to try it at home

1/2 ripe chilled papaya, peeled, sliced, and seeded

1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple, chilled

1/2 cup fresh brewed green tea, chilled

1/4 cup honey

(Do NOT Eat)

Place Papaya and pineapple in a blender and blend until pureed.

Pour into a small bowl and stir in green tea and honey.  

Apply to face with fingertips or cotton pad.  Sit back and relax for 10 min.  Rinse completely with warm water and pat face dry.  Apply your regular face moisturizer.    Store covered in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Family Night and a little music

Growing up, Family Night always, (well mostly) began with singing songs with my mom playing the piano. And now since we are here at her house I can relive that memory with my own kids. ... love it!

(This is why I shouldn't have quit piano lessons in the seventh grade when I made the cheer squad... because what good can a herky do me now...if I could even still do one)

So our family night started just as I remembered with us around the piano singing and to jazz it up a little, we added instruments. Eric is a master at the castanets. :) It was so much fun... the kids loved it!

Watch out Osmonds... here come the Gillis'  :)  

I love this picture of Eric... he's so handsome

Mom is such a great pianist... and she wanted to opt out of the picture... 

Taylor is going to town on the harmonica!

Pretty Peyton

Peyton has hit a few milestones lately and I have to make a record of them:  Two weeks ago she got her bottom two teeth.  (the Hygienist in me would call them her lower central incisors) :)  Then last week her top left front tooth broke through and her top right one is just behind it.  She's had a tough few weeks but has been a trooper through her teething.  

She is sitting up completely on her own and is quite stable.  She loves to sit in the middle of the room and play with toys.  She'll travel across the entire room by rolling both directions until she ends up under a chair or trying to roll past a wall and then she'll cry from frustration.  - so cute!  

We love our little Peyton, she is such a JOY!

Here are a few pictures of a little photo shoot I did of her in the back yard.  Since it's summer in Houston, it's really humid and the bugs are out.  So I had to hurry, because for the few minutes we were out there, we got eaten alive by the mosquitoes.  They love us for some reason.  -maybe it's cause we're sweet :)  

Taylor and I made a bunch of 'flower' bows this past week

they turned out so cute!

This is one of my first tutu's that I made, my sister in law, Summer taught me how (she's amazing)  

love those rolly arms

love that smile! 

She's not sure about the itchy grass, and itchy tutu  

Go Astros!

We decided to all go to an Astros game on Saturday night.  There were some cheap tickets available and the Astros were doing great, and that night they were playing the Mets.  We had so much fun taking the kids to the game with Grandma Marilyn, Mimmie, Poppie and Curt and Whitney.   Growing up I have fond memories of going to the Astros games at the Astro Dome- back in the day.  Now they have a new field, Minute Maid Park (was Enron Field, but of course that had to change) (Minute Maid's headquarters are in Houston)  The best part for the kids was the huge train that choo chooed across the back of left field when ever there was a run; and the Cotton-Candy and Hot Dogs.  Too bad we didn't see more of the train moving... the Astros lost like 3-10.  But it was fun anyway.  Go -Stros!!

Watching a little batting-practice

Brent posing with his cute Grandma's

the newly-weds

Brad and his two wives... j/k

You can't go to a baseball game without getting cotton-candy!

Brent all sugared up from the cotton candy- being silly

Can you see the remains of the hot dog on his shirt... it's always good to take a little home with you

Our row... my mom is to the right of Taylor but opted to be out of the picture...come on mom!

the Fam

Such a sad face Tay...  As we were standing up to leave, Brent pushed Taylor and she almost fell down the steep bleachers.  It really scared her, and she was exhausted so it took her a little while to get over it...  like the entire walk to the car and half way home, until she fell asleep.  You can see that Brent is sooo remorseful

Jumpin Joeys

I am always searching for fun things for us to do to keep ourselves busy this summer.  We have hit the movies, the children's museum, the pool, the mall, the library, the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory, we've done water fun in the back yard, etc. etc.  I just love the indoor inflatable playgrounds that seem to be popping up everywhere.  In California they had Pump-It-Up and Jumpin Jammin, this one locally is called Jumpin Joey's and it's perfect for a hot summer afternoon of fun without having to worry about suncreen.  They kids had so much fun!  They even had a story time and craft time.  

 

This is the end of an inflatable train that they can run through and play in.... not to be gross but it looks like a hippo is giving birth to my daughter.. I know I'm sorry... yuck 

Brent's making a visor while listening to the story

Peyton waits so patiently in the stroller

They have so much fun together

beautiful Tay