Slowing Down....

Silence. Simplicity. Peace. Undivided attention. Slow. Soft. Gentle. All of these words make me stop and take a deep cleansing breath of air. To pause, shake out stress, and smile. They make me want to be better. Slowing down is something I want in my life (maybe a bit more since the birthday marathon, but I am always trying to slow). I want to remember to take the time to connect with my family and to spend that quality time with them. Time is fleeting. It goes fast and so does the chance to get things done. To finish that book, to fold that laundry, to exercise, to cook, to clean, to prepare the next weeks lessons, to blog. :) All of these things are so important, some more then others, but all have value. But I find that in my hurry to finish the things that need to be done, I forget to take the time to hug my kiddos, to play a game, to sing a silly song, to read a book. These little things really dont take much time. In fact they are the easiest and fastest things to do. The stress of my "to do" list never ends and it wears on me. I have noticed that my heart is uneasy. I am trying too much, doing too much, and that makes me a snappy, grumpy mom. I am unhappy, they are unhappy, and the house feels miserable.



As I type I really realize that its not that there is too much to do. I can do what I have set out on my list. What the problem is, is that I know I need to be a better person. To stop being on the computer so much (yes I know its ironic to say that as I type it out), to stop wasting time reading other people's world, as my own starts to fall to bits around me. I use to feel that I needed to read the other blogs that I love daily. But this past week, with all the birthday preparations, I have not had as much time to. And, guess what? They all go on without me! :) They dont need me to read them daily (though I'm sure that they appreciate it). I let it go and life was easier. My time is needing to be reevaluated. I should play a game with my girls instead of reading another blog post. It would make them happy. And it would honestly make me happier. It would give peace because I am doing what God wants from me. These little things, take so little time from the rest of the busy day. How long does a hug take? How long does a quick game of memory match take? How long does a story take? Not much. In the light of all the hours of a day that we have, all of these things would take less then a half of an hour! So why then are they the first things to go? Why do the things that bring the most peace and joy drop off the list first? I dont know. I wish I did. There are always going to be things that need to get done. I will always have places to go, things to do, and people that need me. But I dont need to let that frenzied feeling dig into my soul and make me feel insane.



Peace can prevail, even in times of busyness. This feeling is one that really affects me as a mom, as a teacher, as a wife, as a woman. It can destroy a person so fast. I feel it eating away at me, and unless I stop it by slowing down, I feel like my moments of insanity will become my new normal. I dont want this. I dont want to be the mom that yells, that is too busy with her own things to pay attention, that cant seem to pull it together. And yet this is starting to become me. So I need to stop and I need to do. What a paradox! I need to stop wasting time, and start being available for my kiddos. I need to stop saying not right now, and start saying let do that! Its hard for me, and yet I pray for success. I know that the Lord is asking it of me. I really dont want to give things up, but I must. It is for my good, for my family's good. It will be worth it in so many ways!  It was on of the resolutions I made at the beginning of the year ( you can read all of that here). I guess its good to review to stay on track. If you all can send a small prayer my way, I would appreciate it! And I am praying for all of you out there who are doing your best and trying to be all that you can be. It may not always be easy, but it is worth it! Peace and Smiles!
If you want to read more amazing and thoughtful posts on this, stop by In the Heart of my Home and Amongst Lovely Things.

Rainbow Unicorn Birthday~ Day 2!

*UPDATED on Jan. 31, 2012* I am linking this to the weekly Pinning it Down link up! There was so many ideas here from Pintrest, it seemed silly not to! Plus, if I'm honest, I haven't done anything else off Pintrest since! ;) Happy Pinning!

Well yesterday we had the family party for Bunny's 6th birthday! Most of the decorations were the same, but there were a few new treats! :) It was so very wonderful to have so many family members able to stop by and celebrate Bunny's Birthday! Everything was rainbowed and labeled! I used my Scrapbook program and this awesome Rainbow Package. It made it super easy to make all the little labels to tie the theme together! So easy to do, and yet so pretty! My sister in law and I (alright, more her then me) spent quite alot of time making the six layer rainbow cake! It was AMAZING and so beautiful! I was really thankful that she was there to help build (yes build) and decorate the cake! It turned out really pretty and it was super fun to eat! Another thing that we did, was make this Rainbow fruit platter! I also used it as the inspiration to make a Rainbow Veggie Platter too! They were so pretty and so good!we had a cheese ball in the shape of a unicorn! This idea was inspired by a bento meal I saw on Pintrest! It was just too cute and we had to have it! We also had punch with rainbow ice cubes! The punch was so simple, just 7up and white grape juice. The rainbow ice cubes were cool aide that I froze into ice cubes. I just sprinkled a bit of powder and a bit of sugar into the tray, then I filled the rest wit water! Pretty simple and no real recipe! :) I had a blast with this and I made sure that I had pictures! Here they are!



I think that everyone had a great time! I know that Bunny did! She really loves birthdays! She does get overwhelmed by the attention, but she loves it at the same time! :) She got so many wonderful gifts and she had a wonderful time with everyone! It was a special day and I just couldn't have imagined it any better! Here are a few pictures of the birthday girl herself!



Thanks to all who helped celebrate and make Bunny's day special! You all bless our life so much! And I hope that you like what we did for the party! If you have a rainbow party yourself, let me know! I would love to see what you did! :)

Rainbow Unicorn Birthday~ Day 1!

Today my Bunny turns 6 years old! I am so proud that she has grown in the the beautiful, cheerful, and detailed girl that she is! I love her ability to celebrate the littlest things and to keep order to all the big ones too! She has learned and grown so much this year that sh hardly seems like the same little girl! She had learned to tie her shoe, to read some small books, to add and subtract and even do some multiplication! She learned to love God in a deeper way, to observe her world in detail, and to find deep appreciation of nature! I love her so very much! She was born so small and yet so curious about her world. I love that she is still the same Bunny she always has been! My hope is that she always will be as she grows into a little lady!
Today on her 6th birthday I really wanted to celebrate this year with her. It seems as if this birthday ends that small child phase of life. She is growing and getting older and I think that she is now almost and elementary child! I cant believe how fast its gone!!! So I really went out of my way this year to make sure that Bunny had a wonderful birthday! My sister and I set the whole table up the night before, so it was all ready for Bunny when she woke up! Each place setting was a different color of the rainbow, with a name card, plates, silverware, recycled crayons favor, and a small handmade unicorn (made by my sister)! One each chair was a puff ball made of tissue paper and the unicorn hat! It was very impressive (if I do say so myself) and I think that everyone thought it was great!

Here is the table all set!

Here is Bunny's Place (purple is her favorite color)!

These Puff Balls are AWESOME! My sister made them using this online tutorial here!

Chocolate rimmed glasses for milk!

This idea is from Pintrest here!

Here are the bags that hold the crayons I made a couple of weeks ago!

Red Place.

Orange Place

Green Place

Yellow Place.

The Birthday Girl!

Here is Bunny's Hair. She found all the colors of pony tail holders all on her own and

saved them just for her birthday!

Horses for the boys in case they just didn't want a girly unicorn!

Silly girl! She is so excited about Bunny's birthday! She is also a little sad its not her birthday!

The party time was kept fairly simple. I let the kids start the fun off with painting their unicorn (or horse). This was really alot of fun for them and they really got creative and did a great job! I love that they put so much time and effort into making them just right. I found these little unicorns here!

Here is Pup's.

This one is HM. He did it all on his own!

Here is Bunny's.

Bunny really enjoyed the painting so much that she wanted to paint a rainbow too! :)

After painting we went upstairs to do our Celebration of Life. The Celebration of Life is a Montessori Birthday tradition. The child holds a globe and walks around a candle (that represents the sun). Each time the child walks around the sun, it represents a year in their life. At each year, we share pictures and stories from that year in their life. Then we get to the new year they are beginning and we sing Happy Birthday. The child blows out the candle! It is a very personal and beautiful way to remember their life. In our house, after we do their celebration, i let them open a gift and have a treat! So this year we did this with our friends! Bunny loves this celebration so very much. I want to make a scrapbook with all the pictures from a year on a  page. This way I have all of them together. I also need to find a pretty candle to use each year. If someone has some ideas, I'd love to hear them!  After we sang, she opened her gifts!



I bought Bunny a Mini American Girl Doll. I told her that I would buy her one each and she could start a collection. She LOVED idea! In fact I think that if this was all she got, she would have been happy! :)

After all that fun, the kids were ready for lunch! We had Unicorn Horn roll ups (I forgot a picture). These were just crescent rolls with cheese and ham wrapped up in them. I rolled them so the edges are even for they rolled up in a spiral. We also had rainbow fruit Kabobs, milk in their special glasses, and rainbow cake in mason jars! They all loved it so much! The kids also haled make their own fruit Kabobs!

Here they are making their fruit.

The idea for this came from Pintrest here

.This idea came from Pintrest here.

Yummy!

It was a success! ;)

Happy 6th Birthday Bunny!



It was a super fun day and tomorrow will be another great day! We are gearing up for the Family Birthday Party! I hope that she really will love it too! Stop back and I will share all the other rainbow and unicorn fun we have! You can follow my Pintrest Birthday Board here to see all the inspirations!