Novie is not a baby anymore...

Novalie turned 2 this pass week and it was such a roller-coaster whirlwind of planning as we prepared to host a "Cookie-Decorating" party for a bunch of toddlers. I woke up that morning to the sweet voice of Novalie saying, "Mommy!" as she does so often ( and extremely close to my face), and realized that she was no longer a 1 year old anymore. No more defineing her age by months! She is officially 2! A toddler! Time is flying by and sifting through my fingers right before my eyes! It's AMAZING how much they learn and change the first two years of there lives!

We had such an adorable birthday party with 4 of Novie's dearest little friends. I had aprons made up for them with their names to decorate. I enjoyed watching their creative minds gear up as they so uniquely displayed their imaginations. We had them wear the aprons to salvage their clothing for the Main Event: Cookie Decorating! They had alot of "work" ahead of them, there were 104 cookies to decorate!

I think I went slightly overboard with all the icing and toppings, but it was SO hard to resist all the fun and yummy options!

Here are just a few of the toppings!

We had alot of hands to help as the cookings, toppings, and icing came flying out of the kitchen into the hands of some very energetic toddlers (and that was BEFORE the cookies and candy)

I think my favorite part was watching them with the sprinkles! Talk about an excessive amount being poured onto each cookie! They did NOT understand, " just a little bit" at all :) I started to wonder what was going to happen when all their taste-testing kicked in after the party was over. I think the same amount of toppings ended up in their mouths (if not more) than on top of the cookies.

Here are some of their very creative cookies

Novie had such a wonderful day decorating her apron, eating and decorating cookies, blowing out her candles, unwrapping and playing with her presents, and being with her friends and family. I'm excited to see what this upcoming year has for my little Novie.

Home made Play-doh

So, I've been debating for weeks if I should get Novie some Play-doh. I would ask around to different moms about ideas for playing with my toddler. I think every single one said play-doh, finger paints, clay etc etc. You know all the messy stuff. I'm not sure how many of you have more than one "baby" at home meaning 2 and under, it's hard enough to find time to clean up the messes that have been made by the kids, so who in their right mind would want to make a mess on purpose!
I remember as a kid making home-made play-doh. So I got the recipe from my mom (thanks Mom!) and Novie and I made our very own play-doh. The cool thing about it is that you can choose what color you want it to be. We went for blue and boy did 2 drops go a long ways!
Here is why I am writing this: Home-made Play-doh did not make a ridiculously big mess! I've seen carpet after a good douse of play-doh and it's not a pretty sight. Home-made play-doh is mainly flour and salt so a damp clothe gets it up and doesn't leave that rough feeling. Also, it cost about 10min of my time and .60 cents to make! The least expensive the toy the better!
So moms, I am suggesting that you play play-doh, today! Novie and I sat at the table yesterday for an hour! Yes, a hour! designing animals, food, people, houses and yes, even a replica of the Statue of Liberty (which I thought turned out pretty good) :)

Well, enough said, here is my mom's recipe for Play-Doh:

1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. water
1 T. Vegetable oil
2-3 drops of your favorite food coloring

Mix together dry ingredients in heavy saucepan. Add oil, water and food coloring. Cook on Med. heat for about 3minutes. Stir constantly. Mixture will thicken quickly. When mixture becomes one large ball, empty dough onto waxed paper. Knead until smooth and cool. Store the play dough in an airtight container.
If play dough gets dry after a couple weeks just add a little water and knead, or make a new batch!

Enjoy this time with your little one and be careful saying, "wow, is that a horse?" when it's really supposed to be you! Thanks Novie.

Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween!

This year is Eden's First Halloween and Novalie's 2nd! What a fun time we had dressing them up first as Elmo and his fish Dorothy.


We headed to Lake Butler's Trunk or Treat where Novalie took a hayride, went "fishing", played games, pet horses and collected ALOT of candy. Which her mommy and daddy will help her eat of course!

I've never been to a trunk or treat but what a cute idea! Each member of the church decorated their vehicle and left the trunk open as the kids walked around the field collecting candy from the members of the different vehicles. There were some great ideas! Santa even showed up at the Christmas Trunk. Novalie did her best telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas, hopefully he understod her :) There was a UF trunk, Mt. Horeb, with Moses, a pumpkin, princess, teddy bear and Noah's Ark Trunk. Novalie had such a fun time oohing and aahhing over each trunk, or should I say, Elmo had a fun time!

Friday night we went to First Baptist of Macclenny's Fall Festival where the girl's got to be a little more girly! Novalie and Eden were decked out in their princess Fairy costumes, complete with wings of course! Novalie and I did a Cake Walk and we won! Yes, we won a dozen cupcakes! Anybody want one? We still have some left!

Novalie had a great time hanging out with her favorite friends, playing games and eating candy. Her little "crush" Joel was a Dalmation Puppy.

Aren't they cute?!

I appreciate the Fall Festival and Trunk or Treats churches have as an alternative to Halloween and all the scary costumes, decorations, and Trick or treating, which gets tricky with little ones at night. We had such a fun time with our friends and especially dressing up our children!

Hopefully next year Eden will stay awake to enjoy it :)