1/1--We watched a little bit of the Rose Bowl this morning while eating cheesy grits 😊 and I had to show the girls the performances by Kelly Clarkson and Imagine Dragons from last night because they performed after they girls went to bed. Happy New Year, y'all!
Then this:
"Belle I love you. You are the best cousin in the world! You are so sweet Belle. I know you love me too! We are the perfect match for each other! You do awesome things. And you do not have to get me anything. Since you are so nice I would get you something. I wish you and me were sisters and we were a family if we lived with each other. I do not want to go home. I want to stay with you. I love you with all my heart. Makenna to Belle"
😍😀😀😀
1/4--The twins' birthday party is tomorrow. Are you kidding me that the only number they were out of was 7?!!
🎶🎵Reunited and it feels so good! 🎶🎵
We realized on our way to the airport to fly home last week that Avery had left Blankie at my parents' house; we were just far enough away from the house that we didn't dare chance going back for it. She was SOOOOO sad. Even Makenna cried when we realized it. Avery mentioned it many times on the plane but was much better about it the past week than I thought she would be, mainly because she had "Sister Blankie" (a blanket that I had tried to switch out with Blankie when Avery was about 1 1/2 but she was having none of that, ha ha! She could tell it wasn't Blankie, even in the dark.) Paw-paw mailed it to us and it arrived today, yay! Thanks, Paw-paw!
1/5--7th birthday party, a Spa/Night Owl party (late-over)!!! We had 14 girls (including the twins)! The twins planned all of the activities. We ate pizza and breadsticks for dinner, had a limbo dance party, played Pin the Beak on the Owl, did homemade face masks (one was made of oatmeal, honey and plain yogurt, then other one was banana, honey, and plain yogurt. I had cut up cucumbers to use on their eyes but I forgot to put them out), played Spin the Bottle (with nail polish bottles to determine what colors they had to paint their nails), then they opened gifts and we ate cupcakes! I think all of the girls had a great time. And it was BY FAR the least amount of time and money I have ever spent on one of their birthday parties! :D :D :D
The invitation:
I made 5 of these balloons and hung them in the foyer, living room, and kitchen:
The cupcakes--chocolate with homemade buttercream frosting (my girls said I make the best frosting ever, they don't ever want store bought again, ha ha!):
The Pin the Beak on the Owl game:
They had to gather all of the owls they have to use as decorations 😁:
The welcome sign--I just took the invite and changed it a little and printed it on 13" x 19" photo paper:
The Happy Birthday banner:
A sign for decoration:
Eating pizza and breadsticks:
The limbo dance party!:
Playing Pin the Beak on the Owl:
Avery chose the banana face mask and used quite a bit 😋:
The Spin the Bottle game:
Birthday presents from their BFF:
Blowing out their 7 candles!:
More dancing--the wave with their arms 😃:
This was all the twins' idea and they did it all on their own--they made a thank you card for each girl to give along with the party favors, which was a little owl box with lavendar scented bath salts in it:
1/8-11--I Monday-Thursday at the Younique Foundation Haven Retreat for women who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The retreat is completely free of charge--you just have to get to Utah! And how lucky am I that I am already here!! It is held in a gorgeous house and a cabin in a beautiful canyon. Our food was provided and made by a chef--I'm talking gourmet food!
The retreat included all of these activities:
*Kintsugi (you break a ceramic bowl and fix it with gold--gold powder mixed in epoxy; it symbolizes that we can be fixed and find beauty in the way we are healed)
*Many education classes (5 key strategies, grounding techniques, healthy relationships, restorative sleep, assertive communication, healthy body image, overcoming shame, mindfulness, etc.); we also learned other methods of healing besides just talk therapy
*Drumming circle
*Yoga
*Muay Thai
*Make-over and photoshoot
*Entertainment (a young woman came and played keyboard and sang for us--she was so good)
*Chair massages 2 nights
*Group therapy 2 days
*Art journaling
*Water coloring to be used in a Younique Foundation video
I had the most amazing roommates who are now lifetime friends, including one from Louisiana! :D It was a very enlightening, emotional, special experience that I will never forget. We were pampered and made to feel so special and safe. We were also given a silver necklace to remember our time there, the progress we made, and the hope that we gained for healing. I full-heartedly recommend anyone who needs this retreat to look into it. Message me for info or help! I'll post a link to the website...
Stuff from the Haven Retreat:
*The silver medallion and chain that was presented to us by Shelaine Maxfield, one of the founders of the Younique Foundation. The back of the necklace has cracks on it, like the kintsugi bowls.
*We were also given a card at the same time as the necklace.
*We made a key chain with our group; we each chose a bead that we liked, then we shared a meaning behind our bead and passed one out to each person in the group. It is super cool what we came up with!
*My kintsugi bowl, which I spent time cleaning up and perfecting a little more yesterday--further symbolizing that the work didn't end at the retreat.
Some of the pictures Jared sent to me while I was at the retreat:
Daddy did side ponytails 2 of the days!:
They had a hard time going to bed the first night I was gone, so Jared promised them they could use their "new" sleeping bags on the third night if they went to bed the second night without any crying:
Makenna wrote this note about me being gone for three nights. Aaaaaw!!!!
["When you were gone at night I wanted you so bad I started crying."]
1/12--Our first bike ride as a family; we just rode around the block right before it got dark but it was fun.
1/13--We rode our bikes to the park and now I'm just sitting and watching my girls play on this beautiful day. ☺
1/14--I had Princess Pink, the unicorn, and Louis, the leopard, at my house today. 😅 They spent more time making their costumes and dressing up than they did playing in them, ha ha!
1/15--Family bike ride to the park. The girls enjoyed their day off (MLK Day) playing together, then playing with their BFF.
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