Grace and Juliet's 9th Birthday!!

For Grace and Juliet's 9th birthday, we returned to Chuck E Cheese!  It was the first time we had been back since before covid!  We had to delay it for a few weeks after their actual day, because April was a busy time for us!  So it was late April when we finally got to celebrate our girls!

We were able to use the art that the Helterbrands had already made up, and turned it into a birthday invitation postcard!

When I went out to find Hello Kitty & Ariel cake toppers, I was disappointed to find that they were just paper, I couldn't find any rings or figures like I was after, and they were quite expensive!

So, I relied on my old standby, buy some books and cut them up!

Once I cut out the image, I measured it to some scrap cardstock.

Then, glued it down with a toothpick between the two layers.

Then, cut around the figure one more time!

The picks had different sizes, but it wasn't too terrible.  It took me about 3 hours, but saved over $20, for something we were just going to throw away!  I was very pleased with the outcome.

The main topper had two sides: ariel on one and hello kitty on the reverse. = ) It also had 2 picks to keep it steady!

Kennedy very sweetly sat at the end of the table (next to the slightly creepy animatronics) because Juliet didn't want to. 

They were able to celebrate with so many of their favorite people!  Happy birthday to my babies!!!

Juliet used her shirt to catch some of the tickets, so she caught many more than Grace.  One of the benefits of going second, I suppose!

It was a fun day of games and cake and friends and food!  We're thankful to all those who came out to celebrate with us! = )

later days

you can see pictures of their party from last year here.

edit: written 6-17-23 backdated for continuity.

January 26th, Billy's "Party" at Chuck E Cheese

Today's expected high was 35F.  I think it might have gotten a smidge warmer, but it was quite cold.  We had a rainy mix of snow and water all day.

All the weekend days following Billy's birthday have included reports of treacherous roads. So, we had to postpone his birthday "party" at Chuck E Cheese, in spite of all of his gift cards. = (  Today after church at JLC, we picked up William, Grace and Juliet from Avia's church and headed to celebrate. The kids didn't seem to mind. ; )

I kept all of the bands from the twins' birthday last year, so they have fancy ones, and the other three have some stretchy ones to use.  They only charge $1.50 for the bands, but it is just enough x5 that it is worth it to me to store the bands and bring them each time.  = )

Grace and Juliet spent a lot of time in the photo booth.  Since I recycle the originals, I'm posting pictures here.

They talked me into a picture too. = )

Alice saw the pile, and this was her contribution:

The booth ran out of paper before William and Emily could join in the fun. The kids earned almost 3000 tickets during their two hours, which gave them 585 apiece to spend!

For dinner we had some leftover Chinese, but no one was terribly hungry.

later days

Grace and Juliet 5th Birthday Party

This year, the twins agreed to have their party at Chuck E Cheese.*  I'm pretty sure that I picked out the Doc McStuffins theme for them, but they didn't complain. = )

Most of the pictures are mine, but some of them were sent to me by my mom or party goers!

The cake was from Kroger, and it didn't disappoint.  Marble with whipped icing. Yum!

Earlier in the week, Emily helped me cut out stickers and make up goodie bags for the party.  We used the rest of the book pages that we didn't use to make the invitations.  They worked out really well.  They were big enough to hold tickets/prizes for the guests.

I don't know who likes Chuck E Cheese more: Billy or the kids.

Alice is very much at home in the midst of the arcade.

Grace, Jolene and Micah.  I don't know if I trust these three to drive around...

It makes my heart so full, seeing a table full of people that love our girls!

Our host was awesome!

There were 3 other parties going on with ours, and two of them were also celebrating 5 year olds! It's a good year to turn 5. = )

Dancing.

They were feeling a little shy around Chuck E.

The twins each got to do the ticket blaster twice, and could bring one person with them.  Grace picked Emily.

Juliet picked William.

And then they picked each other. <3

It was crazy busy at the restaurant, so we opened gifts at home.  They loved everything!  For anyone that I asked, I told them that we were trying to do a fiver party.**   So they opened a few gifts from people who enjoyed shopping for them, and lots of awesome cards from their friends!  They haven't yet decided what they want to spend it on, but I know they will be very happy once they do.

I am so thankful for all the people who love our girls near & far.  They had an awesome day!

later days

You can check out pictures from their 4th Birthday Party here.

*Should they ever stop agreeing, we will have to come up with some sort of compromise. = )
**Everyone brings $5, and then the birthday girls can spend it on something big that they really want.

Emily turns 8!

At the beginning of the month, we celebrated our newest 8 year old. = )

She went to bed as a seven year old...

And woke up as an 8 year old.

We had more cake.  Everyone around here is a fan of birthdays!

Bill and Brenda sent money earmarked for a birthday trip to chuck e cheese.  It was a nice 2nd birthday party outing for all.

They do cards with unlimited play now. When Juliet lost hers toward the beginning of our visit, the manager kindly turned hers off and issued a new one.

I think Emily had a great time, and is really excited to enjoy all the perks of being 8.  Namely, the extra cookie afforded by our family cookie rule.

age/4 (rounded down to the nearest whole number) + 1 = how many cookies you are allowed.  

So all multiples of four in this house are exciting milestones. = )

Happy Birthday to our lovely Emily!

later days