Janna's Big 4th Birthday

Princess Janna has had a wonderful 36-hour birthday that has now (I believe) come to a close. She's happily watching Sleeping Beauty (which, I believe, is the new favorite princess). What a great way to end a great celebration.

It started Thursday evening, when I walked the pink cupcakes through the POURING rain into daycare. I wanted to save Jeff the hassle in the morning. Janna and her friends were SO excited for the coming day.

I put Janna to bed, telling her to "go to sleep so your birthday can come." She was out like a light. Jeff came home from football, and we put streamers on her door for her to wake up to.

Now, you need to know that I had planned on putting Janna's birthday off to Saturday. Jeff normally has football Friday nights. Rather than have him cancel, we just decided to postpone cake and gifts until Saturday. Well, it turns out that Jeff didn't have a game scheduled. We debated on having it on Saturday anyway (so we weren't tired from the work week). However, that decision was quickly made for us when Janna burst into tears Friday morning upon being told that we would open gifts on Saturday.

Darn. I thought we'd have one more year before she became wise to birthdays. Nope. Apparently, she gets it.

So, the plan was to rush home after work on Friday and bake cupcakes. Nope again, JR ran a fever at school. Plan B. RUSH home after the doctor's appointment (JR's fine, just viral) and make cupcakes. I got them done, cooled, and frosted just it time to meet Dad at our favorite pizza place. Knowing how much the owner loves kids, I new it would be the perfect place to take Janna. She picked out her outfit: fancy pink dress, crown, and white shoes.

I have no idea what she is excited about here.
Because, after all, I do have another child.
Yummy pizza.
The whole restaurant sang happy birthday to her - she LOVED it!

Janna doesn't "do" cake. Just frosting.
Opening gifts. Love the excitement on her face.
Kissing her new dolly in bed in her new cradle.
Night - night baby.
Now, we all know what the REAL birthday even was - the Bippity Boppity Boutique in Orland, Florida. It's a Disney thing where the dress the little girl up as a princess. For her birthday - I bought the whole shebang - the "mondo" frilly package. Hair, nails, makeup, dress, crown, wand, and shoes.

Before, waiting patiently.
In the dressing room, trying on the costume.
Being led to the chair. See Ariel next to her?

Now, the rest of the time the poor kid was overwhelmed. She leads a pretty quiet life, and I think the activity and fuss was a bit much for her. And, while princesses are cool, I think all the frills, jewels, and make up on her was just too much stuff.
We did the "Disney Diva" hair.
One of the few smiles in the whole process.
THIS is my Janna. Squishing her face on the hair spray protector.


The make up was her favorite part.


Pixie dust time.
The crown.
Waiting to be shown her "new look."

You can't tell here, but she is HORRIFIED. I don't think she recognized herself. She was able to pull it together for some pictures. I think she got used to the dress here.

Back at home, modeling for a few more pictures. Immediately after, she asked her dad to wash all the goo out of her hair. However, she assures me she is excited for Halloween to wear the dress again.
That's my Janna - in the stroller, shoes off, bright-eyed, and full of life.

We also went to lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe. I thought I got pictures of it - but it must have just been some video. Afterwards, we went shopping for a picture frame for Janna. I wanted a "Sleeping Beauty" picture frame so she could always remember the day she was made into a princess.

I know I'm biased - but I think she's prettier than Aurora anyway.

The "Museum"

So, I had a brain storm the other morning.

"What if..." I thought, "I were to clothes pin the kids' artwork to ribbon? Would that work as a place to display their school projects."

I turns out, I'm a genius.

In all seriousness, I had NO place to put all this stuff. Even if I could put it on my fridge, it's only so big - and it turns out stainless steel holds jack. This was taken on the morning that I hung it up, we've since added a whole multitude of special things. I actually REALLY like the way that it looks. I feared it would be tacky, but it sort of reminds me of a Pottery Barn catalog.

First Professional Football Game

The district offered everyone free tickets to today's Jacksonville Jaguar game. The first 100 to respond had seats - seeing as how I love anything free - I jumped on it. The kids adore football (no surprise, as their Uncle said, they've grown up on it). So, we made it a family trip. We met some friends and went up with them, tailgated, and made it through the first half. The kids were starting to tucker out, so we went back to our car. We were actually happy to be leaving when it was so simple to get out!


Pre Game Festivities:
Now, I have to tell you - my car has this great little "extra" called tail-gating seats. Basically, the back bench flips down, allowing you to sit facing out the back. As you can see, Jeff is a fan:
Or he's a fan of the beer. One of the two.
The kids loved it too.
Now onto the game:


Dad, I think they should run the ball instead of passing. What do you think?

What I like best about Alltel Stadium is how pretty it is around the area.

Wait...is that FALL I see?



On our way out, I snapped some pictures of the bridges in the area. I guess it's the Portlander in me, but I just love bridges.


I think Jeff and I have decided that we need to follow the Jaguars more carefully. I can't ever see myself rooting for the Gators, Seminoles, or any of the rest of them - but I can see myself watching the Jags. Besides, they're easier to get than any of our other teams. Sadly, though, the Buffs were in Jacksonville yesterday playing FSU. Somehow, Jeff missed this (and he calls himself a fan).

Anyhow, we agreed that the beloved Vikings will still be our "primary" team - but the Jags "aren't so bad..."

This is a pretty flower in our backyard. More accurately, it's a flower that grows in the lot behind our house. It randomly sprouts up, amongst the weeds, once or twice a year. I have no idea where it came from - but I look forward to its annual arrival.

Fun night at the indoor playrgound.

Note: It is NOT smart to be a photography-crazed mommy at the bottom of a quick slide.

Thankfully, I still have my front teeth.

Although, you should have seen the look on his face the first time JR went down. He seriously had the "holy shit, what did I just do..." look.