Decor & Food

Here's all the "fancy" stuff we did to get ready for Abree's Fancy Nancy party...

Fancy flowers

These were so cute and so fun to decorate with. They are made by accordion folding tissue paper, securing with a wire and then a lot of careful fluffing.

The fancy table settings
The fancy front door
"Bonjour", because Fancy Nancy loves French (everything sounds fancy in French).

Fancy necklaces, boas, bracelets and hats strung about.

The fancy books that inspired the whole theme.

The fancy hat cake

(I'm not super proud of my cake, but with all the other fancy stuff around it, it looks ok.)

The fancy accessories that each guest was given to wear.

The fancy favor bag

"Merci!"

An eraser cell phone, candy ring, a princess Lip Smackers, stickers, necklace, candy bracelet (not shown) and bubble ring.

Abree's "Fancy Nancy" party dress and tiara. (Just like the one she wore in the book.) :)

Non-fancy glasses that the girls made fancy by decorating with sparkly stickers.

A Fancy Nancy picture the girls colored and decorated.

The fancy food

Finger sandwiches (with Fancy toothpicks), grapes, strawberry parfaits and pink lemonade.

We're ready.

Let's Par-tay!!!

Invite

If you invite them. . .
they will come!
(Especially if you're serving lunch and everyone comes in their fanciest attire. That's a fancy word for clothing.)
Abree and I decided to do a "Fancy Nancy" party for her 5th birthday. She helped me get the invitations ready and delivered them to her friends.

"Fancy Nancy" by Jane O'Connor, is a really fun book series. Nancy believes that more is ALWAYS better. She loves dressing up and being fancy. Her family is quite plain, she tries her best to teach them to be fancy and LOVES using fancy words like; fuchsia, plume, stupendous, accessories, chauffeur, parfait or anything French... because everything sounds fancy in French.

If you have a girly-girl in your life, and you haven't read these books, you best be checking these out from your local library. They are so much fun!

Family Motto

Before
During
After

This is above my front door.
It says, "SMULLINS--Stand Up".


At the beginning of the year, we had a Family Home Evening, where we set family goals and decided on a family motto. Our good friends had created a family motto a few years ago and the idea had stuck with me.


We talked about what it meant to "stand up". We discussed standing in good places, standing up for what we believed in, as well as standing up for our family members. I assured my kids that their siblings and family members would be their best friends in the future. I don't know how much sunk in or was learned. We'll probably need to expand and continue the discussion. It may need to become a weekly or monthly discussion.


I want my kids to stand for what is right, be good examples (even when it's not cool) and stand up for one another. I pray that having a family motto, and seeing it daily, will enforce and encourage this.

Sweet Siblings

The other day I walked in on this...

siblings being sweet of their own free will and choice.

I KNEW it was a Kodak Moment for sure.

They really DO like each other.

Why do they feel the need to prove otherwise most days?

Homecoming

After the run, when I walked in, I found a cleaned house and this...

A banner on the mantel, "Great Job Mommy!"
A drawing of the 5K course.

Gifts from my kids.

A fully decorated bedroom...

Ceiling fan streamers, balloons on the floor and sparkly garland on lamps and nightstands.

They had even baked cookies and put them in a cute jar.

The "Be a Wiener" dog was from Jason.

Do I have a great family, or what?!

What a sweet surprise.
Thanks kiddos!
I love you too !!!

The Run

After a short night, with not a lot of sleep, Amber and I headed downtown. We strategically parked our car close to the end of the race. That meant briskly walking to our starting position, maybe a mile away.

We were there with plenty of time to spare, even stopping along the way to say HI to friends and take a picture together.

The anticipation was killing me. I hadn't eaten a lot for breakfast and I think the adrenaline was making my legs shaky...think Jell-o. But I was also excited and enjoyed the "oneness" I felt with all these women of different ages, backgrounds, and stages in life. It was a downtown
par-tay!

Music blared, women danced and local celebrities announced.

It was fun to people-watch and see how different groups dressed for the occasion. There were angels with halos, divas with feather boas, and grammas with funky running socks. They were all so cute in their own way. There were also those "serious" runners with their little running shorts, sunglasses and i-pods.

After the wheelchair and elite runners were on their way, it was FINALLY our turn, the RED wave. We counted down and then we were off!

We started by the capitol building and raced toward the train depot. I thought to myself, "I'll try to run until I get to the hill (by the train depot) at least." Well, I didn't quite get to the hill, but I did make it to the bridge. I was semi-surprised how different it was than running on a treadmill. I could do at least a mile of running and sometimes two on the treadmill, before walking... not today.
Even when I wasn't running, I tried to keep a quick walking pace. Amber said, "Your walk is my jog!" All along the way, there were people shouting encouraging words and clapping for our running efforts.

At the top of the hill, behind the train depot, there was a water station. I was handed a cup of water, but couldn't drink it. Even walking I spilled it all over the front of me. "Oh well, I'm almost there," ...or so I thought.

Running through the neighborhood on the bench, a mom and her young kids ,were out on their driveway with make-shift instruments, shouting encouragement and clanking and jingling. It was sweet.

Finally, we saw the end in sight..."just around the corner and down the hill". Uh huh, more like, "WAY around the corner, a long ways down the hill, then another long stretch, around another corner and FINALLY a straight shot toward the finish line".

Just before the finish line, guys in tuxedos, held out their hands and high-fived us as we ran passed. The announcer shouted, "Your almost there ladies... You're almost to the finish line... Keep running!" He also congratulated people as they crossed and highlighted young girls and older women. "Good job Sarah... Folks, she's just 6 years old." Yep, I was running at the pace of some 6 year olds. :o)

When the finish-line was close, I exerted my last bit of energy and sprinted across the line.

The time on the arch said, "47:-something". I assumed that was my time. Amber said she thought it was less, because she had been keeping track on her watch. Even so, I was in my normal range.

After turning in our timing chips, making a bathroom pit-stop and collecting our brown bag breakfast, we found the booth and checked our official time...... 42:05! Whew, a good effort.

The party continued, as Amber and I walked back to our car.

It was a nice thing to accomplish. It wasn't as hard as I thought, but it was as hard as I thought too. I liked having this under my belt and I found myself looking forward to and anticipating NEXT year... "I'm sure I could run more, get a better time and increase my efforts".

I don't have any goals of marathons in the near future. I believe I would like to master the 5K, before moving on to bigger races. For now, this is my pace...but still a challenge.