Baby girl Leensvaart

Two weekends ago I hosted a dinner party/baby shower for my good friend Mandy who is expecting a baby girl in April! Two years ago, Mandy and I were both pregnant and had our baby boys, Jack & Brooks, just 2 days apart. I was THRILLED to be able to throw her a special event to celebrate the birth of her second child, and I was THRILLED that this time I was NOT PREGNANT as well! We are all so exited to have another little GIRL in the mix! I just go crazy for all things girly since I live in a world of blue and weapons and balls and wrestling and Nikes. 

Mandy is preparing a perfectly girly, pink & green, whimsical, woodsy nursery for this little girl. So I went with that theme for the shower. 

I obviously erased my address and contact info from the invite I created, but you get the jist. I was diggin' the simplicity and the bakers twine. I totally forgot to take a pic of the envelope. But it was super cute. I just hand addressed them with fun print and I used washi tape to jazz them up a bit. This was my first time using washi tape, but the print was super fun and it added a little flare! 

I found these free prints online to help decorate the dining room. 

If you look closely you can read the words to this song I love- "Make You Feel My Love". I love this song especially in the movie Hope Floats! 

I re-did my chalkboard with another quote I love and knew Mandy would too! She will be a strong woman just like her Mommy! 

A little greeting at the door...

Since this is their second baby they just need a few new things and some fun GIRLY gear too. So I just picked up some pink pacis, onesies, a cute hat, and owl washcloths for her. But in our group of friends we like to celebrate each special baby that comes along and we like to spoil the Mama a bit too! 

I decorated and set the table with a few cute touches- moss, owls, fun straws... 

If you zoom in to read the sign in the above photo, you will see that each lady got to take their labeled wine glass home with them as a favor at the end of the night. 

Along with their chalkboard wine glasses, each guest took home a little sweet treat as well. 

No baking on my part. Just some cute as a button, soft, pink iced sugar cookies that I got from the bakery at King Soopers. Easy. 

And speaking of sweets...

I picked up a chocolate chocolate chip Nothing Bundt Cake as well. A FAV!!! For sure. 

Along with water, and wine, we also had pink lemonade. I bought these little chalkboards at Michaels. They were a great purchase because I will be able to use them over and over again for different parties. I added the washi tape to dress them up a bit. 

A few pretty decorations in the kitchen. Burlap and babies breath. 

And here are all the lovely ladies (except me). 

I had bread/oil/vinegar and caprese skewers as appetizers. And I baked a lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. 

Before we ate we each went around and read a Bible verse to bless Mandy and little girl. 

Then we ate and chatted and laughed and had a great time being together. 

After dinner we played one quick game…

We concluded that Mandy mainly wants baby girl to be like HER! Ha! But what Mama wouldn't want her baby girl to be just like her! 

I technically won the game! Ha! I got 8 out of 10 answers correct. But since the hostess can't win her own game...Mandy's Mom came away with the real win and a mini bundt cake as a prize! 

Then it was time for gifts! 

Love this adorable 31 bag full of all things girly! 

Ruffles! Who can resist?! 

And she got her crib bedding from her Moms. So cute! 

We finished the night with cake and we celebrated Mandy's birthday as well. It was the next day. 

I'm so thankful for this group of girls. Our husbands were all high school best friends. And now as adults, us wives are best friends too! I love that we all come from different walks of life, different states, different careers, different passions, but we all come together because we love our husbands and we love Jesus! We laugh and cry together. We love each others children. We pray for and support each other. It's the best. I'm a girls' girl. No doubt about it! 

Here is Mandy with Rick's mom on the left and her Mom on the right. Her Mom, Carole, flew in from Ohio just for this special day! 

I sure love to throw a party. I love every last little detail. It's a hobby of mine. I love to be creative and crafty…if only I could get paid for it! And it sure helped that my awesome hubby surprised me by taking a half day at work to clean the house for me- that part I do not like! Ha! He's amazing!

 But I especially love to throw parties for the people that I love! Rick, Mandy, Jack, and this baby girl are so near and dear to our hearts. We so value their friendship and fun! And now we just wait for the arrival of baby girl in April! I can't wait to find out her name and to snuggle a little tiny that I can pass right on back to her parents at the end of the night! :) Congrats Leensvaarts! We pray that God will watch over you and protect you as you deliver this little girl. And we pray that she will be strong, courageous, full of spirit, and love. We pray she is humble and gentle. We pray that she will be a light in this world. And we pray that she loves God with her whole heart. Love you guys! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had another fun filled Valentine's Day around here this year. As always, I planned a few special things to make the day memorable. 

We worked on Valentines for their classmates the weekend before. I pinned a bunch of different ideas on Pinterest and let the boys choose which ones they would like to make. Nolan actually came up with the idea to make sea creature Valentines so I had to search around to find a cute one to print. 

We found these fun sour gummy octopuses at Michaels. They were the perfect sweet treat to go with his cards, especially because he looooooves anything sour and gummy! Nolan helped count out and stuff a couple for each bag. 

Heath chose Lego Star Wars Valentines. 

They both did a great job signing each one. Nolan has 26 kiddos in his class. And Heath has 16. 

Then Nolan stuck a fun felt sticker on each one as well. I love being creative and crafty with my boys. 

Here are the finished products…

They turned out super cute! 

Oma & Opa gave the boys cards and treat bags earlier in the week. Brooks was uninterested in posing for this pic. 

Cohen gave the boys some yummy Muddy Buddy mix as well. 

And these two packages arrived on our doorstep for 3 very loved boys! 

The boys both celebrated Valentine's Day at school on the 13th because they didn't have school on the Friday, the 14th. 

Heath was beyond excited to share his pixy stix with his friends. 

I just love Nolan's natural smile. Perfection. 

We made these favorite Valentines for all of the boys teachers. Teachers love to be thought of on Valentine's Day! And to me, nothing is better than Starbucks! 

Brooks and I joined Heath for a quick party in his classroom at the end of his day. We frosted heart shaped cookies.

And decorated them with sprinkles. He like dipping his apple slices in the frosting too. :) 

Then we passed out his Valentines. 

He was so proud! 

Love this guy! 

He made this cute Valentine at school. 

They decorated their boxes at school as well…which this Mama loved- one less thing to have to take care of at home! 

Nolan's party was just for his class. 

Check out his Valentine bag…random. Not a single bit of pink or red on it. No hearts. Whatever. Gotta let things go sometimes. Ha! 

He had a fun party at KED the day before and in his Kindergarten class that day. So that's all that matters. And he had the BEST time opening all his Valentines and reading them. He was smiling ear to ear when reading the ones from Ella and Avery…he acted like he was so honored that they gave HIM a Valentine! So sweet. 

Auntie and Uncle Flobby were working at the florist Valentine's Week so they were unable to Skype while we opened their package. So we took some video instead. Here are some clips...

They got some candy and Kinex Mario guys and a Pete the Cat Valentine's Day book. 

They sure spoil the boys! And the boys LOVE it! We can't wait for them to have babies…well, in a year or so…so we can spoil them right back! 

A few Valentine treats for my sweet hearts to find on Valentine's Day morning! 

I made these glowstick Valentines for my Kindergartners and saved a few extras for the boys. They think glowsticks are so cool. And it was a nice alternative to a candy Valentine. 

They were super excited about the Grapevines. They haven't had them since the pool this summer. 

Smiling on Valentine's Day! 

All of our cards. I still really like to give and receive the perfect card. And I love a thoughtful, handwritten message inside. The boys ran into my bathroom to give me my card right when they woke up! 

We spent the morning being lazy at home together and then they went to Auntie Kim's for the afternoon while I went to school. 

Valentine's Week is one of my favorites with my Kindies. We made these super pretty Valentine Bags, passed out valentines, watched a Valentine movie, frosted cookies, and made a craft. I LOVE lovin' on my kiddos extra this week! 

After school we came home to Skype with Grandma & Grandpa and open up a package that they sent. 

The boys got the Frozen soundtrack, water color paint books, and a hot DOG slicer. Grandma knows her boys so well! 3 perfectly fun gifts! And we have been listening to the Frozen soundtrack non stop since. It is so fun to listen to the boys belt out all the tunes. They know every single word! 

After Skyping we had a fancy dinner of Papa Murphy's heart shaped pizza in our dining room! The boys love eating in there! And they even got to drink out of wine glasses! 

After dinner we SURPRISED them and took them to see THE LEGO MOVIE! They were so excited! They had been waiting to see it! 

They always love these big signs in the lobby. 

We decided to try bringing Brooks to his first movie. We were hopeful he would watch more than he does at home because he would be so enthralled with the big screen. We knew he was a little young, but didn't have a babysitter, and were hopeful that if he wasn't interested in the movie that maybe he would fall asleep, or snack his way through it. 

He made it about half way and then got antsy. He started jabbering and wanting to run around. So Mark, very nicely, took him to the lobby to wait while the boys and I snuggled and finished the rest of the movie…which they thought was AWESOME! 

It was a simple and sweet day with my people and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! 

Mark and I got to go out on a Valentine's Day date on the 15th. Brad & Jayne watched the boys for us (thank you)! We had a gift card to Salt Grass Steakhouse so we went there. It wasn't the best meal ever. But we got seated at this table right in front of this fireplace. It was a nice spot even with this creepy bobcat breathing down our necks. We had a nice night together. 

And finally a few random gift shots...

The boys having fun with their NFL sticker book Valentine's Day present. This was a major score- I found it on clearance and bought a bunch of packs on sale too. I have some saved for their Easter baskets as well.  

Painting in their water color books that Grandma & Grandpa sent them. 

And here is their hotdog slicer! They think it's pretty funny! 

As you can see, we had a great week of celebration! We sure are LOVED!