The general rule of thumb in our house following a birthday, or Christmas, is that you have to write your Thank You Notes before you can use or play with the gifts you received. Although this birthday there were a few exceptions - like when Daddy busted out the Guitar Hero shortly after all the party guests left. LOL.
I'm pretty particular about what I'd like to see in the notes, Hannah expressing thanks for the specific gift by name, and then add something else, for example, "I really wanted that", "I look forward to listening to them", "I used your gift card towards...."
But you know, following this birthday I gave up in asking her to be more detailed. Her simply writing a "Thank You Note" is still her expressing her thanks and gratitude formally in a written note, and second, her simple statements of "Thank You for the ...." and sent in a note is a lot more than we receive on a lot of occasions when it comes to gift giving. LOL.
I know that the giving of a gift is not to seek a formal "thank you" in return. But I do believe it's proper etiquette and in this day and age, our society can use all the etiquette that be taught! LOL.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Writing Thank You Notes
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Hannah's Birthday Party
Today was Hannah's birthday party. Everyone she invited except one was able to come, therefore there were sixteen kids running about our house between the hours of 10 and 12 this morning.
The theme was Hannah Montana and Hannah dressed accordingly. She wore her Hannah Montana costume that she got for Christmas. Her best friends mom called this morning saying Emma was certain she was supposed to dress up for this party, which wasn't so, but we had Emma dress up and come as Lola, Hannah Montana's best friend, dontcha know. She even colored her hair for the occassion!!! They both were extremely cute!
Hannah got lots of great gifts, including four Webkinz, which she was very excited about. One of them even came with a carrying backpack. She got a couple Toys R Us gift cards, a Target gift card, and some good ole fashioned cash! Grandpa Steve gave Hannah a present the whole family has been enjoying all afternoon, Guitar Hero World Tour for the Wii! Her and Daddy were both very excited to get it! And so far they both are playing nicely and taking turns well. 
Hannah's cake was a huge hit! She was proudly showing it off and telling everyone her Mommy had made it. I'm so glad she liked it. It was just as yummy as it looked and thankfully there is some left to enjoy a piece after the girls are in bed. :)
It wasn't long after our last party guest left that Hannah was begging to go to Toys R Us to use her gifts cards. One of the things she really wanted for her birthday and I had remembered months ago, but totally forgot when it came time for birthday shopping, was a digital camera. With her birthday gift cards, she was able to get a fairly nice one on sale, with a carrying case, as well as a couple other things. She made wise decisions and in the end, got everything she wanted for her birthday!
She had so much fun with all her friends today. And it was great to see the friends come who aren't in her class this year. This year has been different not having the same 18-20 kids all together, and we don't get to see each other all that much, so it was nice to see and visit with the parents as they dropped off or stayed.
It's hard to believe another birthday of Hannah's behind us. What's even harder to believe is this is her last year of being a single digit age!! LOL.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
An Evening with Gramma and Papa
Gramma had some ham left over from Easter that needed to be used up, which landed us an invitation for dinner (gotta love those homecooked meals from Mama!). Hannah was excited to get her birthday present from Gramma and Papa...a ton of beautiful beads and a carrying case box to organize them in!!! She was so excited and plans on making bracelets for a lot of special friends and family in the near future!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Hannah's Birthday
What a fun filled birthday for Hannah! She was up, ready for school, bed made and raring to go shortly after 6:30. She was ready to open up her birthday presents from Mommy and Daddy and from her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins that live out of state. She was excited to get Hannah Montana bed sheets, new purple Crocs, Pixos, a 'big girl' Bible, and a set of books on CD to listen to! 
For the last two years, I've brought Hannah lunch of her choice on her birthday. I was trying to get out of it this year, but it means so much to her, I caved. She chose McDonalds and Rachel and I joined her for lunch. We had a whole table of giggling, talkative girls, and it was so good to see some of Hannah's former classmates over the lunch period. 
Hannah's birthday celebration continued after school when we headed to Disneyland for the evening. We made our way to the ticket booths and obtained her birthday button and her $59 Fun Card and then we were off into Disneyland!
We made it into the park, just in time to watch the 3:30 showing of the new street parade called "Celebrate". We were at a bad spot along the parade route, so we'll definitely have to see it again. But from what we could see, it was cute!
A few days ago, I learned that a longtime friend and her kids would be making a trip to Disneyland today, her daughter has been Hannah's best friend since birth, literally. I told her we'd be there after school and we could meet up and totally surprise Hannah on her birthday. They ended up working it out and they stayed. We totally surprised Hannah. If you could have seen the expression her face, it was priceless. The two jumped up and down for what seemed like an eternity. They linked arms and we were off. The birthday princess leading of course. 
One of the things that Hannah had seen a couple weeks ago were the new stations that you can design your own mouse ears. This was one of the things she had hoped to use her Fun Card on, so we made our way to the Mad Hatter on Main Street and Hannah went to town at designing her ears. She chose a pink base with fuzzies and silver jeweled ears and a princess crown patch. They turned out cute and she wore them proudly for the rest of the night!
The rest of our time, we spent over at California Adventure. Having dinner, running about and playing tag on the rope bridges in The Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, getting on the Toy Story Midway Mania ride, and more store window shopping. We decided to head out to the large World of Disney store in Downtown Disney for more shopping, courtesy of the Fun Card. And it is then that our friends bid farewell and we went our separate ways, them to the parking structure and us into the store. Hannah shuffled around for what seemed like forever. We decided to save the card and go back and shop next week and take her time in picking stuff out, rather than buying cheap, plastic toys that will break, etc.
It was a great, great birthday. And she's now looking forward to Saturday, when she'll have some friends over for a Hannah Montana birthday party. "It'll be the best of both words", don't you know!!!
She's 9!!!
Today, we celebrate nine years of Hannah and nine years of being parents.
Nine!!
As my Dad would say, that's halfway to eighteen! Yikes! LOL.
Her face has changed a lot in recent months, stretching, loosing the last of her 'little girl look'. Walk with me down memory lane, if you will...
She weighed 9lbs 15oz at birth.
One Year Old pictures.
Months later she would become a big sister!
To celebrate turning 9, she is taking brownies to share with her classmates. And then from school, we'll head to Disneyland, where as a result of the "What will You Celebrate" promotion, she will obtain her "Fun Card" in the amount of $59! And then on Saturday morning, she's having some friends over for a Hannah Montana party of course!! We Love You!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Coloring Eggs with Friends
According to Hannah, anything in life is a lot more fun if done with friends! So this afternoon, we arranged to have friends join us for coloring eggs! We had after school snacks, a time of doing the Resurrection Eggs, and then they all went to town on coloring eggs! It was a great afternoon of fun, laughs, and great fellowship on this fine Good Friday.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
A Field Trip to the Planetarium
Hannah's class, along with two others, went on a field trip this morning to the local junior college's planetarium.
And guess who went with her??...DADDY!! This field trip was right up his alley. I'd have gone, but I know he was much more interested than I would be! :)
And guess who was a totally rocking husband to take my camera and take pictures so I could blog about the event???...MINE!!! 
Sounds like the field trip was fun. Hannah had some stories to share with me after school about her trip. Daddy said the bus ride was chaotic and the boys in Hannah's class sure are rambunctious. LOL. I know all in all, Hannah loved having Daddy come along!
Friday, April 03, 2009
One Final Off Track Adventure
We had our last 'off track' adventure today. Today was Uncle Bart's birthday and we, along with Gramma and Papa, packed a picnic lunch and drove down to spend the day with him for his birthday. We had originally thought we'd picnic on the beach, but it was a little too breezy there to be setting out a picnic, so we went to a nearby park that is absolutely amazing. We've been to the park once before and the girls loved it then and it was no different today.
We were uncertain of what the weather would be like today, it was cloudy and overcast on the drive down, but it turned out to be absolutely beautiful along the coast. And we couldn't drive all the way down without a stroll along the beach. We stopped at the beach just across the little lagoon from the campground where we camp with our church friends. The campground is in the background of this picture of Hannah. Awww, how we wish Hannah was still on vacation next week, then we could join Uncle Robbie and Auntie and the girls here next week. 
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
One Last Off Track Visit ...
It was shaping up to be a beautiful Spring day, and with only a few days left of being off track, what better way to spend the day then a girls trip to Disneyland. We loaded up the backpack with hats and our lunch and we were off on our Disney adventure.
We arrived to the parking structure shortly after 9:00 and scored a close parking spot! This is always such a huge highlight because it'll come in handy hours later when you're tired of walking and really don't have the energy to walk to the other side of the structure. We hopped on a tram with no waiting! This was a first in MONTHS!! So far, so good.We entered into Disneyland first and started getting on things that would later have long lines, with the exception of all the good rides, my kids don't ride the good rides. 
We had our lunch inside the Golden Horseshoe and watched the show. This particular show used to be done outside and has since been moved indoors. We sat in the front row of tables and the girls very much enjoyed the show. 
We managed to do quite a bit and the crowds weren't too bad. I've read in several spots on the internet that the Disneyland Resort is anticipating extreme crowds next week, so maybe today was the calm before the storms to come?? We did a few things we very rarely do, like ride the horse drawn street car on Main Street and the Storybook ride. 
It was such a beautiful day that we did take some time to sit on a bench and people watch. Hannah didn't know what it meant to people watch, so I taught her. And we made up stories about the people who walked past us. She was a crack up!
We strolled through some shops today as well. With exactly two weeks before Hannah's birthday, and with the anticipation of the $59 Fun Card she will receive on her birthday at the gates of Disneyland, we were scoping out the stores to give her an idea as to what she'd like to spend her money on. The possibilities were endless.
Hannah goes back to school on Monday, and next week is supposed to be extremely busy, so this will most likely be our last trip before Hannah's birthday on the 15th. It'll be fun to come and spend the afternoon after school spending free money from Disney!
