Getting ready...

Gracie's fifth birthday is next week and this year she has decided on a Wizard of Oz theme. Which was really surprising because although she likes the movie it is not one of her favorites and she gets scared during parts of it. I on the other hand, could recite the movie for you I have seen it so many times. It was one of my go-to movies as a child. It always seems like she has a way of choosing things either don't exist or are simply hard to find. For example, two years ago she asked for a shrek castle for christmas from santa. I searched the internet and let me tell you there is no such thing. So, not wanting to dissapoint her we found little shrek figures ( extremely over priced) on the internet and bought a toy castle. Has she played with it? Yes! She loved it and now Jadyn is enjoying it. But, two weeks after Christmas, after we spent ten dollars or more on the figurines, plus whatever we had to pay to get it by Christmas, Target had them on clearance for $1.99. My point is there are no wizard of oz stickers, paper, anything anywhere. So, I had to get creative, and yes after I got done I thought of ways to make these better, but at this point I'm on a time crunch.


Blank note cards from wal-mart, blue gingham ruffle ribbon, sparkly red ric rac, and ta-da!!

The finished product.

After the first birthday cake mess, where I tried to make the cake myself and messed it up I swore I wouldn't do that again. But I saw a cake I thought I would try and fit right in with the theme. A six layer rainbow cake...............

All my cake mixes dyed and ready to go.............

Ok, a little lop-sided, but hey it has six layers!

Looks pretty good, except for how uneven it is. Any suggestions??? And this cake takes A LOT of frosting..................


P.s. the green and purple are really dark! They were the hardest colors to mix right.

books, books, books

I finally found a pre-school program on the internet that is in our price range(free!!) that lays everything out for you so all you have to do is pick up that weeks books and print out some pages. EASY!! So we decided to go to the library last week to pick up all of our books on cows, because that is our first weeks theme! On the way I tell Gracie, "don't get upset if they are closed because I'm not sure when they close." " ok momma." Then I go about driving and I hear the little conversation between Gracie and Jadyn. Gracie- "Jadyn don't get upset if the library is closed, because I probaly will." Jadyn- "o-tay" Well, of course, we picked the ONE night of the week they close early. Tears and wailing. Grrrreeeeaaaaatttttt. ONe chocolate shake and trip to hastings later she's ok with a new paint book in her bag. Saturday we made the trip again and look...................


All of our books about cows, some about thanksgiving, leaves, animals in fall/winter,leaves, plenty to keep us busy!

You have to be 5 to get your library card, and it is still a couple of weeks away from her birthday, but I asked anyways. At first he was very reluctant to let her get a card, but then he asked"Can she write her name?" "YES." I was so proud!!!

It's not beautiful but she can write her name without any help!!

Here she is with her new card! She looked at the books, sat on the couch and read through some, but her favorite part about the library..................the computer with the dora game!!

Halloween 2009

This year was the first Tull Fall fest. There was games, costume contest, hot dogs, and then trunk or treating. It was a lot of fun for the kiddos and we have way more candy then we need!!

Jadyn was a love bug this year. It was Gracie's costume that we got in Childrens Place in California three years ago. I loved it so much, Jadyn just had to wear it!!


Paw-Paw will do anything for his grand daughters! Gracie did his hair and make up.

Little Red Riding Hood and grandma. Gracie and our great dane JoJo. I got this idea from family fun's website. I just knew we had to do it!!

Oh, and by the way, the cape turned out fine, but I was so not impressed with the hood. Oh well, I 'm still learning!

Gracie, Jadyn, and Mallory...........

Look at all these adorable kids!! Jadyn won third place in the costume contest.

Gracie won first place!!

I think Jadyn visited this trunk for treats at least five times!!

Watching bee movie in the car and doing some trick or treating!