Madi's Birthday

The week before Madi's birthday was a busy one and I had no plans of throwing a big party. We'd previously decided that next year would be "friend party" year for Madi and she was totally content with having a small party here at home, celebrating with just family. She had originally asked for a Tangled party and wanted to act it out which I thought we could have a little fun with. Then on the phone, Madi told my mom all about her "Tangled Party" and how she wanted to be the queen, Spencer the king, my mom the witch (Mother Gothel), Elle as Rapunzel, and my dad as Flynn Rider (I obviously wasn't included in Madi's plans)! Of course my mom totally jumped on this and got super excited. She secretly made plans with my dad to drive up Wednesday night and surprise Madi the morning of her birthday. Little did I know, my mom (knowing that I'd had a super busy week) went ahead and planned a Tangled Party. She got onto pintrest, got tons of ideas, rewatched the movie, created costumes, made up games, and even brought stuff for Madi's dessert. 

As soon as Madi fell asleep Wednesday night, my mom and dad showed up- armed with all sorts of decorations and ideas! They immediately got to work, making poof balls, hanging lanterns, putting up wanted posters, etc. etc.  They pretty much transformed our living room into a sceen from Tangled. It was super fun and I was giddy with excitement!

Thursday morning, 6:30am, I was sitting in Calvin's room nursing when I hear Madi come out of her room. Luckily Spencer also heard her. We both jumped up, meeting her at her bedroom door, video camera in hand. We sang happy birthday and then asked if she was ready for her first surprise. We opened the door to our guest room and told her to take a peek. My parents sat up in bed and started singing happy birthday! What a fun surprise for Madi. My parents climbed out of bed and led Madi around the corner to the living room where Spencer and I waited with video and camera for her next surprise. 

Madi and Elle checking out all the surprises on the present table.

It was a fun morning with a pancake breakfast (Madi's request), playing "find Pascal", and opening presents from my parents (mom couldn't wait til the evening)! Madi had asked for a few things for her birthday and luckily all her birthday wishes came true! She had asked for a princess book, a new doll, light-up shoes, and a butterfly cake. Below is the first present Madi opened- a collection of the classic princess stories. There's a quote from Albert Einstein on the dedication page of the book that I love: "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

And that's exactly how we spent the rest of the morning- reading fairy tale after fairy tale. I was surprised with how attentive Madi and Elle were with the stories. There were fewer pictures, more text, and higher level words, but they stayed completely focused and interested. 

Madi's second gift was a doll (just as she had asked for), but this doll wasn't like any other baby Madi and Elle already have. This was a special doll my mom had found in some specialty store in San Francisco. On one end the doll is Cinderella in rags:

Then you flip the doll over and it's Cinderella in her gown. Madi's already had so much fun dressing up as Cinderella's twin and insisting I take a picture of them!

We'd originally planned on going to the beach for Madi's birthday, but she was having so much fun at home that she decided we should just go the next day. It worked out better anyway cause we actually still had a lot to do before the evening. We had to finish her cake, wrap presents that arrived that day, and get everything ready for dinner. My parents are always great with making a normal afternoon extra fun. They took the girls to the park and then onto the store to pick up last minute stuff for dinner (plus some extra treats for the girls)! 

Madi's requested birthday dinner was mac-n-cheese. Since she also loves hot dogs, I figured we could have a BBQ (hot dogs and hamburgers) for the adults and mac-n-cheese for the girls. We also had a couple of Madi's other favorites- watermelon, corn on the cob, and chips and salsa (no salsa for Madi though). My mom also had come up with these adorable jello cups to go along with our Tangled theme:
Blue jello for the water and an orange slice for the boat. Cute cute!

While we were waiting for Grandpa Al, and Boppi to arrive I let the girls get started on their dinner. Madi wanted to sit at the adult table while Elle decided to eat at our small picnic table. As we were hustling around inside the kitchen and the girls were outside eating, we hear Elle's little voice call out, "Happy Birthday Madi!" Such sweet little sisters!

After dinner, per Madi's request, we had a (very) short enactment of Tangled. I actually don't think it was what Madi had in mind, but I know she was very pleased with the costumes!

The King and Queen

The rest of the cast! Mom and dad went all out on their costumes. Flynn Rider was a total hit!

After a good laugh we brought out cake and ice cream. Madi had been asking for a butterfly cake, which thanks again to my mom, she got! My parents found the butterfly cake pan in Monterey and my mom very patiently spent a couple hours in the afternoon decorating it (pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to make it this beautiful):

After cake and ice cream Madi opened presents. She got light-up shoes from Gram Rox (just as she had wanted), an awesome bubble blowing machine (that she and Elle have already have tons of fun with) from Boppi and Grandpa Al, matching 4th of July shirts (for her and Elle) from Elle, a clock/ cd player for her bedroom (something she's desperately been needing), Sound of Music DVD (watched bits of it at Boppi and Grandpa Al's and fell in love), and lots of clothes from Spencer and I. It was a very happy 5th birthday for Madi! Big thanks to Gram and Papa for all their help in making it a special day!

Grandma's 100th!

On June 22nd Grandma Jenkins turned 100 years old! This was definitely something worth celebrating! We were so excited that she agreed to hold the celebration here in Camarillo and we were especially excited that she was staying with us in our home! Being only one level it made the most sense, but for those that know Grandma, know how crazy picky she is and how incredibly opinionated she is about everything (as she should be- she's 100 years old)! She's very particular about what type of chair she can sit in, what foods she wants (and doesn't want) to eat, how high the bed should be, how accessible the bathroom is, how noisy the room should be, etc. So for her to be ok with staying at our house, I took as a complete compliment!

Madi and Elle were beyond excited to have her as a guest in our home. They made beautiful pictures and hung them all over the door of the guest room. Then before Grandma and Aunt Fay arrived I went over a do and do NOT list with the girls. Should we climb on GG- NO! Should be yell, scream, and fight around GG- NO! Should we pile all our blankets on top of GG and snuggle? Ya, I guess.

You get the idea! I tried to come up with a good list as to what the girls could do while Grandma was in our home- so not to drive her absolutely crazy! I think it went well. We sure loved having her here!

As for the birthday celebration....
Friday morning we headed over to Spencer's parents for Grandma's birthday breakfast- waffles!

Love this pic of Grandma savoring every bite of her birthday breakfast!

At breakfast she opened her first birthday card - from the White House! Spencer got a good laugh out of Grandma and the whole family when he joked that Pres. Obama also included a campaign donation card! The Jenkins Family, and particularly Grandma, are not big fans of our current president! But Grandma was nonetheless very excited to get a note from the White House.

Grandma and Morgan actually share a birthday, so I had to get a picture of the two birthday kids!

Friday afternoon a bunch of us took off for the beach while Grandma stayed to relax and visit at mom and dad's. We all got back together in the evening for dinner, dessert, presents, and a little tribute to grandma. I was super bummed that we forgot our video camera at home because before cake, with all of us gathered around, Grandma gave a few words of wisdom and then sang a couple songs for us. It was very sweet. It was late, and my kids were all beyond exhausted, but this was a very special night and one not to be forgotten.

Opening gifts and reading birthday cards

Grandma and her two kids

Five grandkids

13 GREAT grandkids (Ashley and Bailey not pictured)!

After a small photo shoot, we lit the candles and sang to grandma. She was visably touched by all the family and loved ones who care so dearly for her. It was a wonderful celebration!

The next morning we headed back over to Spencer's parents to get ready for an open house for Grandma. Since she lived in Camarillo for several years she has quite a few friends in this area and lots of people who were anxious to drop by and wish her a Happy 100th Birthday!

Notice grandma sitting out in the gazebo, enjoying the beautiful decorations.

100 pin wheels were made for 100 years of birth!

It was a wonderful birthday weekend. We love you Grandma! 

Jenkins' Reunion

It'd been such a long time since all the Jenkins family had gotten together, so for Grandma's 100th birthday (post coming) everyone came to visit! And what a FUN reunion it was!! June 13th the first visitors arrived- Jocelyn flew in, Tanna and kids drove from Logan. Then over the next week everyone else started to arrive. By Thursday, June 21st, everyone was here including family from New Hampshire (Joyce, Joel, Fred, Miriam, Seron, and Jessica).

Everyday was a party- tons of people to hang out with, fun activities going on, and good meals every night. Below was a typical night scene:

Calvin was spoiled rotten with everyone wanting to hold him. And I definitely appreciated all the help!

Of course dinner time was way too exciting for my children (meaning: they never ate much), so I'd try to feed them at home before coming over. Below is Madi with her new best buddy Jessica. They were inseparable. It was super cute to watch them play so well together. They met for the first time 4 years ago when we road tripped it up to New Hampshire. Jessica had just turned 2 and Madi was 10 months old. I remembered they were cute together back then too.

Since Madi was always with Jessica, Elle of course needed a best buddy, and she and Tyler immediately hit it off. I was really happy to see them play so well together. They also were inseparable!

It was such a treat for us that live here to enjoy all the company the entire 2 weeks family was around! We especially loved having so many cousins around to play with. 

Chess with Uncle Michael kept my girls captivated!

Aunt Joci had a sleepover at our house! It was so much fun and kinda like having another mom around. She's amazing with the kids- so patient and loving, but kept them right in line. I loved it!

We loved having cousin Sydney come play for the day. It was heavenly having someone to help with Calvin and keep the girls entertained!

Silly Uncle Jeremy!

Don't let Calvin's face fool you- he LOVED being held by his Aunt Joci!

And he also loved being held by cousin Ashley!

We were honored to have GG, Aunt Fay, and Uncle Bob stay at our house. Even though we weren't home very much, it gave my kids some fun one on one time with everyone that they might not have gotten otherwise!

Aunt Fay baking away- she made 2 cakes, 1 pie, and a quiche for Grandma's birthday!

Elle reading with Uncle Bob

While Grandma's birthday party was the main event of the reunion, we managed to squeeze in all sorts of other fun too!
The beach is always a highlight:

And what a treat to have a volunteer to hold Calvin. Thanks Joc for all your help!

The kids found all sorts of sand creatures!

Brittany spent the entire afternoon in the ocean!

And Joel was the bravest of everyone- swimming with no wet suit on a chilly, overcast day!

On Monday, the 25th, Dad rented a sail boat for the day. Spencer took Madi with him in the morning. Then we met them at the beach around noon for the second group to head out. Below is their boat heading into the harbor.

Hours of fun were spent on the trampoline:

Keegan had some pretty awesome moves!

Tanna's back flips were impressive!

Then Spencer got on and ALL the kids wanted to come jump!

Some of the older cousins organized a talent show. It turned out to be quite the hit!

Elle sang "Do Re Mi"- totally adorable!

Madi and Jessica first sang the National Anthem. 

Then they did a little dance. Jessica was incredible (definitely a natural dancer like her mom), but it was watching Madi that was killing me! I couldn't stop laughing!

Then all the cousins preformed a couple songs.

Brittany's talent of the hypnotist was the best though! She called up volunteers- me being one of them, and got us to fall into a deep sleep. Then we became world famous dancers, talented knee drummers, and broadway singers. It was fun to do and even more fun to watch later on video!

We all enjoyed every minute of all the company! Just hope it's not too long before our next reunion.