Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Paige's 6th Birthday Party at Kidz Art


Paige's birthday party was today, on her birthday, at Kidz Art. The Kidz Art building is conveniently right outside the front of our neighborhood. Andrea had scoped it out a while ago and thought it was very cute inside and a good idea for a little girl's party. Paige wanted to invite everyone in her class, as well as a few neighbor girls to the party. Almost everyone we invited came, and every single girl from Paige's class made it to the party. It probably helped that the party location was so convenient for everyone, but we also hope everyone came because Paige is such a sweet friend and classmate.


We arrived 30 minutes before the party started and put all her decorations together. The ladies at Kidz Art had everything set up nicely and even had gotten some pink tablecloths that matched our decorations perfectly. Andrea has a great eye for decorating and everything looked wonderful and popped with all the vibrant colors.





As the kids arrived, the Kidz Art owner Sarah put on their aprons and got them all setup.



Paige put all the gifts on the gift table and it got very loud and wild very quickly.


All the girls were very familiar and comfortable with each other and before you knew it, it was a wild party with a conga line. It's hard to believe Paige's classroom at school has all these kids plus all the boys.


Sarah gave a short speech about what they were painting and how they'd do it, and then the kids got started.



Each canvas had a lightly drawn outline in place so the kids had a little bit of guidance on size and general shape. Pretty quickly though, everyone diverged in their own way.


We had enough spots for Connor to participate, but he didn't want to paint. Instead, he followed along on the whiteboard with markers.


Connor's creation turned out surprisingly well! He doesn't typically do a lot of artwork, so we were pretty impressed he did so well freehand on his own. 





After everyone got finished with their paintings, they were set aside to dry and then we snapped a group picture. 


Finally it was time to cut the cake! Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Paige and then Paige blew out her candles. We were sad to cut up the beautiful Cupcake Queen cake, but she was so delicious it was worth it.

After the party, a few neighbors came over to swim. Olivia's family, Kennedy's family, and our neighbor Megan swam with us for a couple hours and then we came in and had dinner.

Before bed, I took a picture of Paige with her final Cupcake Queen masterpiece. 


It was such a wonderful day and Paige enjoyed every second of it. I'm thankful Andrea is such a good planner and puts such memorable parties together for our kids. It all came together perfectly today and we are so blessed that we can do such special things for our little girl.



Paige's 6th Birthday



Today our little Paigie May Marie Magoo turns 6! She has grown up so much in the last year it's hard for me to wrap my head around it sometimes. She is so articulate, can read so well, is so independent and strong willed, so smart, so athletic, so sweet and kind and well behaved lately. She definitely isn't a baby any more.

This morning, I was sound asleep and was slowly coming out of my slumber as I thought I felt a few bugs crawling up my arm. I opened my eyes and let out a shout when I saw Paige inches away from my face, staring intently at me. I scared her probably as much as she scared me. It turned out her hair had been tickling my arm while she was checking on me. I wanted to scold her and go back to sleep, but since it was her birthday I told her happy birthday and scooped her up and cuddled her for a little while. Paige has been counting down the days until her party for a long time and she was so excited for her special day.

We ate breakfast and then got dressed up for the day, and then decided it would be a good time to open presents before Paige's party.




Paige was thrilled with all her presents, it's so easy to buy for her. She got Unicornos, Junie B Jones books, Tsum Tsums, and a fancy waterproof watch.





Before we left for lunch, I went to pick up her cake from our new cake lady Jo. It turned out so well, we were very impressed with the detail and the quality of the work. Genie, Abby, Amanda and Grandma and Grandpa Vernon called to wish Paige a happy birthday and we showed them the cake via Facetime.


Andrea had come up with the design based on some pictures she'd found online. Paige's party is Shopkins themed and the party was designed to look like one of the popular characters named "Cupcake Queen". The cupcake portion was cookies and cream cake and the bottom layer was banana. Jo used all natural ingredients and flavors for everything.




For lunch, we went to lunch at Cantina Laredo (Paige's choice) and she helped with making the guacamole and enjoyed cheese quesadillas for her meal.


Our waiter brought Paige a brownie for her birthday dessert.



Paige's birthday celebration at school - donuts for friends


This week is Paige's birthday and she wanted to celebrate at school with her classmates. As we did for Connor, we went to Dunkin' Donuts and Andrea and I brought them in on Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, Paige's school has instituted a ridiculous "no photo" policy and wouldn't allow me to take a single picture inside the building. The receptionist was very stern with me and warned me that if I took any pictures I'd be kicked out of the school and banned from the property. Andrea and I walked back to Paige's classroom and Paige's teacher also informed us that the receptionist had called her and instructed her that she had to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn't take any pictures.

So, unfortunately I have no pictures of videos from the school. After the children came in from recess, they all gathered in the common area outside the classroom. Everyone sang to Paige and Paige was wearing a special "Happy Birthday" crown made out of paper. Andrea and I passed out the donuts and it was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves and goofing off with our Paige. She has such a large class since the school is overcrowded, and it was a little chaotic, but Paige is used to it and has made so many friends.

When Paige got home from the bus I snapped a picture of her outside in the driveway while she was still wearing her crown.


Monday, April 25, 2016

Kids stay with Grandpa and Grandma Vernon


This weekend, Andrea and I celebrated her birthday with a weekend of tennis and adult time. Connor and Paige stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Vernon. Paige has been looking forwards to some time at their house for a while. She'd actually put together a sweet card for them and had sent it the prior week. The card had some drawings, a poetic note, plus two dollars and change. She'd sealed it up before we could see it, so it was a surprise for everyone. I took a picture of her holding the note and one of the pictures. The note, which was her own words, read: "Whenever I am around you I always seem to smile. I love you with all my heart. I know you can take me high. Can I come to your house? Love Paige" The heart picture has the words "Duw you love me to?" on it.

Needless to say, she enjoyed her time with her grandparents and Connor did too.


Connor loved hanging out with all the puppy dogs. Grandma and Grandpa seem to have relaxed their dog rules and have covered their furniture in blankets so the dogs are allowed on them now. Connor loved spending some time with "Pix and Pos" as well as with Chloe.


On Saturday morning, Grandpa took Connor to the "Feel the Wheels" event. Kids were allowed to climb on and sit in a variety of vehicles.














Paige and Grandma got ready for Kennedy's birthday party. Paige was invited to go with Kennedy and some of their other close friends to a birthday lunch at Maggiano's.





The rest of the weekend they played outside, helped do some gardening, and enjoyed their time with grandparents. 



Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for spending some time with our little people! We love you!