Ladybug, Muddle, & Thud!

Madeline had a blast with 6 of her 3, 4, & 5-year-old friends at her 5th birthday party. Since we had a little trouble coming up with a great cake design that incorporated all three themes she wanted (bugs, elephants, & dinosaurs), we went with the cupcake-cake idea. (The dino on top was supposed to be an elephant, but the cutout was a little too big to be stable on a cupcake--Madeline wanted the dino more anyway :). The cupcake-cake worked great with the group--no messy cake cutting. . .

While waiting for her friends to arrive, Madeline, with the help of Camille, made ladybug, elephant, and dinosaur decorations for our dining room. This elephant, with baby elephant standing on top, was my favorite--an original Madeline composition!

Ladybug, elephant, and dinosaur games were played under the protective care of stuffed Ladybug, Muddle, & Thud (the ladybug, elephant, and dinosaur characters Madeline LOVES from her Ladybug magazine). We played pin-the-legs-on-the-ladybug, did an elephant hopping race, and dug through corn kernels for dino bones (we don't have a sandbox, be we did have some old corn kernels we needed to get rid of . . . :). The kids loved it.

After presents and cake (with strawberries and grapes--which the kids ate more of than the cake), we spent the balance of the party down in the basement, just playing. Very nice.

Successful Bugstravaganza

Nine eight year old girls descended upon our house to paint ladybug banks, check out Camille's bedroom, hunt for plastic bugs in the grass, giggle and squeal, eat rice-krispie treats with plastic spiders hidden in them (Camille's idea), ooooohh and aaaaahh over the gifts they got her, make bracelets with ladybug glass beads, and moan when their parents came. Camille had a great time with her friends and declared it a buggy success. (She designed and added the spider drawn with M&Ms on top of her cake.)

Camille's Birthday Invitation

We once again got to use one of our Costa Rica photos for a birthday invitation. In the background is Camille's leg and Madeline standing behind. This little bug was one of their favorites and they begged me to get a picture of him. :)

Playground Harvest

I submitted this photo at a local show. Although I didn't win anything, at least two of the judges LOVED it. Too bad the others didn't, because I was going to use a prize as a justification for a camera upgrade. . .maybe next time. :) And, thanks to Madeline for obsessively collecting acorns last fall and arranging them all over the picnic table!

Happy Valentines Day!

Once again, the girls designed their own valentines.
They taped bookmarks to them and gave them out to their classes.