{CARS} party time

This little cutie patootie turned 3 on Monday 2/15 and was insistent on having a CARS party this past Saturday to celebrate. I tried and tried to talk her into something less character specific and a little more girly, but she was not having it. This is a child who knows what she wants... it is really one of the things I love most about her (except when it goes against what I want. ha ha!). So, I had to work with what I was given. I refused to buy all the mass produced CARS party supplies and chose to instead use the vintage maps and posters in the movie as inspiration to cute it up a bit. We had a few stations set up to play off of the set up in Radiator Springs (Flo's V8 cafe- food buffet, Ramone's House of Body Art- temporary tattoos, and Luigi's Casa de la Tires- bean bag tire toss). The kids were just having fun playing in the backyard in the beautiful sunshine that we didn't get to any of the activities, but they were set up and ready to go in case. The cake was a Cold Stone ice cream cake picked out by the birthday girl, on top of which I slapped on a happy birthday sign and a few cars for good measure. In the end, Finley was thrilled with it all... and that is all that really matters.

happy {love} day

Love how these turned out for Avery's preschool valentine exchange. So much easier than last year's valentines (though maybe not quite as tasty). Picture, hole punch, sucker, DONE. First saw the idea here.

snow trip {shaver lake}

The youth of the San Luis wards were planning a snow trip, so we went a day early to "scout things out" and have our own snow play day. Friday was perfect... warm, blue skies (at times), easy, no chains required, good friends, sledding, tubing, snow angels galore= good times.

Saturday was also fun, but it was snowing buckets. We had to put chains on a 1/4 mile from the entrance to the snow park, which the guys were not happy about, but it turned out to be a good thing because they were VERY MUCH needed on the way down the mountain. Finley was NOT a fan of falling snow- it got in her eyes. Also she was so well dressed that I don't think she could move very easily (and had a hard time getting to her "bb"). She played for a bit- tried to make a snow man and then spent the rest of the day in the car with the heat on full blast. Emerson was loving the whole experience until she took a tumble with Paul- he had her in the backpack, slipped on the way up a snow bank, and her face hit his head. She was done after that and joined Finley in the car. Avery was not deterred- she LOVED every minute of the white stuff. The bigger the hill, the more air she got, the harder the crash, the better! She was going strong until she stopped for lunch. Then, she realized she was cold and that was the end of the fun. I think that was the case for most everyone. We packed up camp and went home... back to our much warmer climate.

The snow is fun to visit, but I have to say I do love my 75 degree February days!