birthday celebrations…. of the real and pretend variety.

hi friends! hope y'all will bear with me as i do a bit of catching up. as usual, the blog has taken a back seat, but there are definitely important events that have transpired over the past few months that i want to make sure i document. so i'll be trying my best to catch up while simultaneously "keeping up" (story of my life - ha!) ;-)

a few days before laney's actual birthday, she had a "pretend" birthday at school. (side note: i am NOT a fan of pretend birthdays. i do not want to "pretend" my child is turning a year older any earlier than i have to thankyouverymuch) needless to say, laney did not share my affliction for pretend birthdays. she was over the moon excited about celebrating with her friends at school. she took some m&m cookies in (her favorites!) and all her little people sang to her as she blew out the candles. she was glowing! and not just because of the rash on her cheeks. fifth's disease does not discriminate against the birthday girl. 

sweet laney. :) 

the next day we went into town to pick up her cupcakes for her real party. and of course, she had to have a little pre-game warmup with a cupcake of her own just to make sure they were okay for all of her guests, of course. #crushedit

we celebrated her birthday that weekend with a gymnastics party. unfortunately, more than half of the guests were sick (with fifth's disease thanks to laney - oops!) so not all of her friends could make it. but, never fear - it didn't slow the birthday girl down one bit. the gymnastics party was the perfect party for laney. she loves to jump, run, flip, and spin around. she could have jumped on that trampoline all day. i love so many of the pictures that my dad took during the party, because they just capture laney's personality so well. 

she is such a happy, happy girl. her joy is contagious.  we love you, laylay!

end of school year gifts (Free printables!)….

**EDIT: when you download the files through "dropbox" you will be asked to create an account, but you can disregard that step and then the download will appear! feel free to email me if you have any trouble**

**EDIT 5/23/15** LINKS HAVE BEEN UPDATED! :) and to see this year's post with NEW printables, click HERE.

i'm pretty sure the month of may is the busiest month of the year, at least it is if you have children in school. granted, i'm only four years into this whole "school" thing and we haven't even technically started "real" school yet, but goodness gracious! may is kicking my tail. between end of the year parties, recitals, end of the year programs, graduation, teacher appreciation day, class gifts (and multiply all of that by two children) some days i feel like i make to-do lists just to remind myself to make to-do lists. ;-)

i posted last year about some end of the year gift ideas for teachers and classmates. and honestly, i would have gifted the teachers something similar again this year, but my girls have some of the same teachers from last year so i didn't want them to have a repeat gift. if you want to see some ideas (and MORE free printables) from last year's post, CLICK HERE.

this year, i just made a gift tag for the girls' teachers and the director of the school. y'all know i love a cheesy play on words, so i just couldn't resist. "Thanks a melon for such a sweet summer" with a cute little watermelon graphic. i put some "sweet" smelling lotions and soaps in their bags. i also added in some watermelon flavored gum and a few gift cards and other odds and ends.

for the girls' friends: fun size bags of m&m's with a gift tag that reads, "have a sweet summer" and the m's in summer resemble the m&m logo. libbi and laney's tags close with, "your friend" but i've created a blank version as well as another version with just a heart. that way it can be used for boys/girls/friends, etc. i think it would even be cute for teachers to give their students!

i can't make the month of may any calmer, i surely can't keep my baby from graduating from preschool (Lord knows, i would if i could) but hopefully i CAN offer you a bit of help with these FREE printables! just click the link for the free download.

THANKS A MELON

SWEET SUMMER (your friend,)

SWEET SUMMER (blank)


let me know if you have any questions or if the links aren't working! feel free to email me: mrsamytippins@gmail.com

three...

laney james, 

today you are three. 

you are life. 
you are kindness.
you are laughter.

you give big squeezes.
second chances.
shy smiles.

you still sleep sideways.
you still have your "baby" laugh.
you still love to be held.

you can build lego castles.
drive your sister crazy. 
melt our hearts.

you won't get near a bug.
you won't hide your feelings.
you won't use an inside voice. 

you love singing.
coloring.
skittles.

you love to dress yourself.
you love to compliment others.
you love to play with your sisters.

you have brown eyes. 
impeccable manners.
the sweetest personality.

you share your most prized possessions.
you always say, "thank you." 
you changed our lives.

you are ours. 
you are His. 
you are three. 

we love you, laney james and are so thankful for the past three years. they have been filled with unspeakable joy, immeasurable love, and incredible blessings. 
happy birthday, laylay!

first, third, fifth...

first. third. fifth. 
and i'm not just talking about odd numbers. or my girls' (soon to be) ages - {sidebar: wahhhh!}

first. 
this past week marked a few firsts for my biggest girl….
libbi had her first ballet recital over the weekend! i couldn't have been more proud of how well she did and how brave she was - it was a packed house and a BIG stage!
she also sported her first bun. she's been growing her hair out (don't even get me started on the fact that i have a child who is old enough to declare she's "growing out" her hair!) just to make that bun for the recital. if it were up to me, she'd go for a cute little bob haircut tomorrow. but alas, she's asserting her independence - and perhaps a little bit of a stubborn streak - and continuing with her rapunzel goals. 
 more on her sweet little recital later :) 

(never fear…this was from dress rehearsal, i did make sure she had on the correct tights for the actual performance!) 

third. 
y'all. laney will celebrate her third birthday this weekend. T-H-R-E-E. how is that possible?! even though she hasn't been the official "baby" of the family for some time, she still seems like the baby. she still loves to cuddle up and be held. and heaven help me, she's still in diapers. all i can say is, at least she's not drinking out of a bottle. although she probably would if i'd allow it. ;-)
we're celebrating her birthday with a fun little gymnastics party on saturday. here's a sneak peek at her invites. 

fifth. 
not fifth place. not a fifth birthday. nope. fifth as in fifth disease. precious laney has fifth disease. which sounds really scary, but is actually not that big of a deal (unless you're pregnant and she's definitely not. otherwise we'd have a whole 'nother set of problems to worry about!) 

i guess it all started last tuesday when she took a nap. laney NEVER sleeps. so when she naps, it's usually a sign that something is up. sure enough, she had a fever. she didn't have any other symptoms (unless you count jeffrey being out of town as a symptom, since that seems to be a factor whenever anyone gets sick. they always wait until i'm alone.) so i gave her some tylenol. she slept well that night and seemed to be better the next day. i kept her home just to be sure, but she never showed any signs of being sick. i thought all was back to normal and then a few days later the rash showed up. if you know anything about fifth disease, then you know that once the rash is evident, you're no longer contagious. it basically looks like she's been slapped on the cheeks or that her cheeks are very windburned/chapped. thankfully, it doesn't bother her at all. in fact, laney is completely oblivious. ;-)  
libbi is actually much more concerned with it than laney-ha! 
poor libbi has her momma's hypochondriac gene. sorry, libs. 

we've been living in the land of odd numbers the past few weeks. first. third. fifth. and here's to hoping it's our LAST encounter with some of them :)