Lucky Night

Casey's out of town again (again, on a cool trip!  So proud of him- chosen to get to play golf with the Regional VP and some higher ups for doing such a great job over the past few quarters.  It's a WAY bigger deal than I'm making it out to be.  But we'll brag to the people who care sooner or later!)- anyway, so I'm just operating in survival mode right now.  W

We went to chick-fil-a to eat and play and get real tired after school today- and it happened to be family fun night!!  There was a clown there painting faces (or arms, in Ada's case- not sure why she chose that body part!), making balloon animals/objects, and the big cow roaming around!  Ada had a ball.

We also went to Charmin' Charlies (the superstore of costume jewelry) where Ada picked out 2 headbands and a purse on clearance.  We actually went to get a gift card for one of my students that I had last year in Chemistry, and this year in Anatomy- who found out this summer she has stage 3 Hodgkin's lymphoma.  She's been placed on homebound instruction for the semester while she undergoes treatments.  As if that weren't bad enough, she's having some adverse reactions to the therapy and spending a lot of time in ICU.  She can't do anything like get manicures or pedicures because of her weakened immune system- so we (myself and 2nd period) thought she might like to get some pretty jewelry or a scarf or something.  Prayers for Jackie, please!  Why do such BAD things happen to such WONDERFUL people!?

BiRtHdAy G!Ft ExTrAvAgAnZa!!!

Well, the beautiful thing about having an AMAZING birthday party with AMAZING friends and family the day before your actual birthday, is that you get to play with all of your AMAZING gifts the e-n-t-i-r-e  d-a-y of your real birthday!

Here are some really funny pictures I snapped (cell phone, as usual- sorry) throughout the day of Ada having a total hay-day!

Ada nightlight from Uncle Christian.  "Gotta be careful, this can hurt my toes!  I should not touch this."

Ada LOOOVES her Tinkerbell outfit from Aunt Andi!  So does Dax...

Gimme that Tink dress!

Got it.  Lemme taste those wings.

LUNGE for it!

In fact, Dax started officially crawling at this very moment.  He wanted the dress THAT bad!  (Seriously, we have a real crawler, now- but his preferred method is still the army crawl or sit-and-lunge!)

Ta-daaaa!  (Notice the tinkerbell shoes from Mommy and Daddy, too!)

Fluttering around the house.

She would've gotten these boots eventually, anyway, since this is all she'll wear in the winter... so I wrapped them up and called them a gift.  She wore them in the 90 degree weather to the grocery.  :)

I found this tent (from Roxy and Bella!) pretty much in every square inch of the house at some point.

More dress up!  (Thanks, Aunt Kendra!)  And, a shopping cart with groceries from Mom and Dad.  This girl dresses very fancy for a quick trip to the store.  (We set her room up like a grocery store.)  :)


Ada really racked it up in the toy department- a singing bathtub Ariel from MiMi, a soft stuffed Dala horse from MorMor, a Barbie and matching pony from the Atlee girls, and a Target gift card she still gets to spend from Pop and Honey!  And, not to mention- much of the birthday party from Grams and Papa!!!  She played fervently with everything today- probably the best day of her entire life thus far. 

We went to her favorite dining establishment tonight- Fajita Willies.  I don't think she's ever tasted anything from the menu- she just likes to play in the sand box.  :)

I love this girl SO much.

And that's it.  Her birthday is over- she's officially 3.  How can I stop time!?

Turnin' Three by the Sea!

Well, one heck of a day was had by all today at Ada's 3rd birthday party!!!  For a quick look back at her other birthdays; click here for the day she was born, click here for her 1st Birthday Party, and click here for her 2nd Birthday Party. 
Today was absolutely AmAzInG, and I highly recommend holding your next birthday party at Moody Gardens Galveston!  (The only downside is that it IS a far drive for your guests- and let me tell you, our friends and family that made that trek are so amazing!  We also had several friends get sick last minute, and we missed them dearly!!!!)

Here are the million pictures from the day- thankfully Andi brought her camera and took over the photography when my camera died 20 minutes into the party (d'oh!)... so many of these are stolen from her!!!  :)

Babe the penguin!!!!!!!!!  She is honking for us here.

Birthday girl, about to blow out her candle.

Happy birthday to my favorite sister!

Fun was had by all- even the baby!

Uncle Rick and Donny.

There was a glass window to the actual aquarium in our party room!  This was what the girls did much of the time.

Beautiful Bella Boswell.

Sweet Roxy and me- She and Bella drove all the way from College Station.  Love them to death.

Present time!!!!  Ada's girlfriends were SO sweet and patient, and such good friends to help her out so nicely!  (Seriously- how much restraint should a 3 year old have to exercise!?  We will be spoiling them on their birthdays with AWESOME gifts because they were such sweeties!)

It was feeding time (and repair time) during the party- the girls were fascinated.

Ada got a stuffed octopus to kick her day off this morning- she's showing it off.

Thank you so much for coming to my party, Bella!

Ada and Olivia in the shark cage.

Mom and Steve!

James, Andi, Dax, and MorMor!

There was a little aquarium photobooth set up in the party room.  The girls were obsessed.

There was a sand-art fish necklace making station- one of many adorable "stations" at the party.  These people did an amazing job- I didn't have to lift a finger!

Headed to Palm Beach water park!!!!!!!!

Caitlin and Olivia comin' down the slide.

LoVe this picture that Andi snapped- and I love that you can see Caitlin, Olivia, and Daddy standing at the top laughing!

Please, don't do this on Spring Break in 15 years.

BFFs lounging on the beach together.  Love.

And here is everyone that made the long trip down to celebrate sweet Ada's 3rd birthday- several were there only in spirit, due to extentuating circumstances (Christian, The Schilhabs, and The Moebeses)- we love you ALL, and can't thank you enough for spending such a special day with Ada!!!!!!!! 

Unforgettable day, for an unforgettable girl.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADA GRACE DOWELL!  I love you more than you'll ever know!

Ada Grace Dowell

I still can't believe she's about to be three.  More posts and pictures to come from this weekend, I'm sure... But I was just getting really emotional wondering where the hell the time has gone, so I decided to be proactive and post a blog!  :)

Ada's Birthday Weekend Kick Off!

I cannot believe Ada's birthday weekend is officially HERE!  We're kicking off the festivities with cupcakes at school today- she's beyond thrilled!  Then birthday party tomorrow (ack!), and then her special spoiled day on her actual birthday- Sunday.

Some more Ada-isms since my last post:
Ada: Did you hear that?  It was my bottom.  Tooting.
Me: Ada, I love you so much!  Ada: I kkknnnnnoooooowwwww, Mom!
Ada (when asked what she learned on the Smart board at school that day, in a sing-song voice): I learned about Tippy-Toe-ing, Tippy-Toe-ing!