Annabelle’s Birthday and Doggy Daycare July 30, 2015

Hello dear ones! Our French bulldog, Annabelle Antoinette, turned two this July. She’s also started going to doggy daycare every now and then. I can’t give her the full attention she needs, since the baby was born. Plus she loves socializing with other doggies. Here are some pictures from Annabelle’s experiences. Enjoy!

I bought Annabelle’s dress, stuffed turtle, and doggy cake at Petsmart.

I got the pink decorations at the Dollar Tree. I bought cupcakes for us humans.

We played “doggy” music found at this link:

http://www.whenpoochcomestoshove.com/dog-party-ideas-puppy-pawty-music/

Then we told dog jokes:

http://www.ducksters.com/jokesforkids/dogs.php

The cat was not invited, but Tessa, our other dog, did get some cake.

Annabelle’s dress which she wore to daycare that day.

Annabelle hanging with her buddies at daycare.

For more posts about Annabelle, go to the category called Annabelle on the right side of my
blog.

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Michael’s Spiderman Pajama Party March 28, 2015

Hello dear ones! My oldest son Michael celebrated his 9th birthday early a couple weekends back. He had a Spiderman pajama party. We kept it simple since I’m pregnant. Michael’s actual birthday (April 11th) is a day before Leeland’s due date so we wanted to make sure he was celebrated. Here’s how we did it:

I haven’t been in a store in awhile. This pregnancy has been rough on me. So I ordered most of the party supplies from Party City. A few things I had left over from other parties…like crepe paper from the Dollar Tree and balloons from Valentines’.

The set up

• Spiderman posters and balloons~ We got a cheap helium pump from Walmart.

 

• A personalized birthday banner with Michael’s picture on it.

 

• We didn’t have room for all the birthday banners so we taped some to a project board (from the Dollar Tree). Project boards are great for decorating, especially when you have limited hanging space. We put red balloons on the chairs, and Chris hung red crepe paper from the ceiling.I made a web with white crepe paper in the middle of the board. Chris drew and cut out a black spider for the web.

 

• I didn’t get pictures of all the favors (sorry). You can see the favor bags though. Since we only invited Michael’s two best guy buddies I decided to buy nice favors. They each got a Spiderman mask, Spiderman mini basketball hoop with ball, Spiderman blow outs, Spiderman ring pops, and Spiderman bottles.

 

• I used white crepe paper to make a web on Michael’s door. Then I filled it with red and white balloons. He had such fun with it that he made his own webs all that day. I kept running into them :).

 

• I baked a simple box cake with white sprinkled frosting. I also made three small bundt cakes so the kids would each have their own. We had Spiderman candles. I had leftover cookie letters and I used them to spell out “Michael”. The bundt cakes were kind of a disaster but the kids didn’t care. The kids had pizza and individual cups of icecream also. We had Spiderman plates and napkins.

 

The Plan

• We had a pajama party instead of a sleepover because Michael’s buddies are younger than him. Also I didn’t want to go into labor with kids at the house!
• We kept it simple. The kids ate first and we had the birthday cake.

 

• Then we opened presents. I let the kids take out their masks from the favor bags.

 

• We got Michael “Big Hero 6” for his present. The boys stretched out and watched the movie.

 

• This kept them busy for a good while, but the movie ended an hour earlier than time for parents to come. So I took toys to the living room. Kids these days get bored very quick…Anywho, so then I had the boys draw super heroes. By the time their moms came at 9:30 we were playing “Duck, Duck, Goose” and “Michael says”.

Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Leeland’s Owl Baby Shower March 16, 2015

In this post: Hannah throws me an owl baby shower for Leeland, and 35 weeks prego pics.

Hello dear ones! Well, I’m 36 weeks prego now and just waiting for Leeland to arrive. I’ve had some false alarms and it’s a bit frustrating. I just pray that the timing will be right and I’m choosing to trust God to help me.

Meanwhile, my best friend Hannah threw me an owl themed baby shower. You may remember that I threw her a tea party baby shower last year. Here’s the link for that:

A Tea Party Baby Shower for Hannah

I have plenty of pics to show you. First, Chris and I took my 35 weeks prego pics in our back yard. Chris’ parents came in for the shower and his mom helped us out. It was nice because up until this point we didn’t have any pics of Chris kissing my belly. Chris is smitten by our lil one and it truly shows in these pictures. So without further ado..here they are.

Now, on to the shower...

Thanks again Hannah for the awesome job! And thanks to my mom for having it at her place.

First, the adorable invite

A sweet set up

Yummy! Punch and owl cupcakes!

My mom put this awesome collage together of me and my hubby as babies.

In the living room. I added Leeland’s ultrasound art.

Favors

More owl goodness…

Mua

Remember the shower I threw for Hannah? Well, it was for Miriam, the lil bundle of cuteness Hannah’s holding in her arms. Miriam is a one year old now!

My dear friend Erin, who watched over Miriam so Hannah could set up. She also makes the best chocolate cookies…just sayin’.

My mom in law Peggy and my mom. Two very special ladies.

Let the present opening begin…

until my blood pressure suddenly drops and I have to take a break. Fun…

But that doesn’t stop me from winning the baby shower word scramble!

Yummm…these owl cupcakes turn our teeth and everything else blue. Someone thought this was funny…

A very special wishing tree to encourage me during labor and delivery. What a beautiful idea, Hannah!

What sweet thoughts from everyone. This inspiring quote is from Hannah. You may remember it from my chalboard art.

My darling mother

My lovely mom in law

My bff Hannah and her Miriam. Hannah truly blessed me! And my dearest ones that came to the shower encouraged me as well. I am so blessed.

Baby stuff everywhere! We’re ready :). Come soon lil songbird!

Cloth baby wipes that Hannah made for me.

Well, God bless & remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover

An Adorable Strawberry Shortcake Party March 2, 2015

My buddy Carrie had a sweet Strawberry Shortcake birthday party for her 2 year old little girl. I just have to share with you! Enjoy the pics :).

The birthday girl

I hope you’re inspired! God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Valentine’s Weekend 2015 Plus 32 Weeks Prego Pics February 22, 2015

In this post: Our Valentine’s get away and The Vow date night, Miriam’s 1st birthday, a Valentine’s hunt, diy scratch offs, and date night bags for kids.

Hello dear ones! Valentine’s weekend started off with a bang. My best friend Hannah’s little girl Miriam, turned one. She had a little party with family and a couple friends. Look at this delicious cake from Publix.

Miriam had her first taste of cake and wasn’t sure if she liked it.

We finished our Valentine’s countdowns. Remember the heart chain and kisses countdown found here:

2015 Valentine’s Decor and Countdown

I also gave Michael and Chris Valentine jokes every other day.

Valentine jokes

Free Printable Valentine Jokes

I used these Valentine’s printables from the Dating Divas to set up a hunt for Michael. I found goodies at the Dollar Tree and hid them around his room.

Valentine’s Hunt
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/holidays/valentines-day/valentines-search-and-find/

I found this chalkboard coffee cup at Michael’s Craft Store, for Chris. Michael made this diy scratch off valentine for me with Chris’ help.

DIY Valentines Scratch Offs
http://www.yellowblissroad.com/the-ultimate-valentines-day-printable-pack-plus-a-coordinating-free-printable/

My mom and step dad kept Michael on Valentine’s. I sent this date night bag with Michael to open once we were on our date. It included the games “Don’t Eat Pete” and “Valentine’s Monster Bingo”. Links below. I was told they had lots of fun :).
Kid’s Date Night Bag
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/family-fun/kid-date-night-envelope/

Don’t Eat Pete game
The printable is included in the date night bag link above.

Valentine’s Monster Bingo
http://www.yellowblissroad.com/the-ultimate-valentines-day-printable-pack-plus-a-coordinating-free-printable/

Several weeks before, Chris and I had a date night at home. We did these couple quizes and interviews from the Dating Diva’s. It reminded me of Chris’ likes and dislikes. I used the info to plan our Valentine’s date night.
Couples’ Interviews & Quiz

http://www.thedatingdivas.com/just-the-two-of-us/couples-date-night-quiz-and-interview-printable-kit/

We reserved a hotel room with a hot tub. I decorated the room with Valentine’s decor from the Dollar Tree. I put the romantic candle holder I had made, on the tub. Remember it from this post:

Personalized Romantic Candle Holder

It went great with “The Vow” theme.

We arrived at the Olive Garden real early for dinner. The line was crazy, and we got on the waiting list. We were told it’d be an hour and a half wait. So we decided to go to the store across the parking lot while we waited. Bad idea. The restaurant pager messed up and kicked us off the waiting list. We found this out an hour later when we went back to Olive Garden. They tried to get us back in the system but couldn’t. We were told the wait would be longer, so we decided to just order online. We were told that would only take 20 minutes. Well, the pick up wait was over an hour. We were starved at this point so we got Mcdonalds to hold us over and went back to the hotel to start our movie.

When Chris went to pick up our food he had to wait in line for over 20 minutes. It was close to 9 pm when we finally ate supper.

We had planned on doing these mad libs and vow printables from The Dating Divas. It didn’t happen though. We both had headaches by the time we got our food. We did however watch The Vow which is a very inspiring movie.
Love Mad Libs
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/holidays/valentines-day/madly-in-love-mad-libs/

The Vow Date Night
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/theme-scene/the-vow-date/

We did try to do the chocolate tasting printables. We were both so sick at this point. This could’ve been a great date night but things just didn’t work out. Next year I don’t think we will make plans on the actual day of Valentine’s. Traffic was horrific and the hotel was filled with ummm…other people’s intimate sounds. I really didn’t want to hear all that. Thankfully the movie blocked the sounds out.

Chocolate Tasting

http://www.thedatingdivas.com/romantic-rendezvous/chocolate-tasting/

Well, if I’m going to have a bad night I’d rather have it with my hubby than all by myself. At least I had good company for Valentine’s :). This was supposed to be our last big bash together before Leeland is born. Oh well…

I almost want to try this date again on another night. I really want a do over! I hope you’re inspired anyways and maybe you’ll have better luck with your date if you use these ideas. I would recommend going out the weekend before or after Valentine’s but not of!

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Date Night ideas:

Our Date Nights:

PS: Here are some extra pics for you :).

The guys painted my bedroom door with chalk paint. It was a lovely gift.

Here are my 32 weeks prego. pics.

Birthdays, Blessed Moments, and Baby Updates February 11, 2015

Hello dear ones! Well, it’s been busy around the Dover household. On Feb. 9th I turned the big 30. The week before my Mom had her birthday. Though we’ve had one scare, this miracle pregnancy is going well. I’m about 32 weeks pregnant…so 5 to 8 weeks to go. Anywho, here’s a glimpse into my world, outside of crafting.

Leeland will be here before you know it. We thought he was coming early at 29 weeks. I spent seven hours in the hospital with contractions. Thankfully all is well. So when I got home I really kicked up the nesting. I washed Leeland’s clothes and cloth diapers.

Here I am at 28 weeks.

And then 31 weeks.

My labor and delivery dress came in the mail!

Last year, Mom and I had a big birthday slumber party together. The link is here:

Hilarious Birthday Celebrations with Mom

It was crazy with costumes and karaoke. This year we kept it simple and I took her out to eat. Then we came back home for cake and Band Hero. We just got Band Hero, so we’re having fun with it.

The next weekend we celebrated my 30th birthday. Michael made supper Saturday night with a lil bit of guidance.

Sunday we had a small celebration at Sweet Frog with my closest friends.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been alive three decades!

My gal pals

My mom and stepdad

The guys watching the kids play outside.

The sweetest bunch of kids. Michael wore his nice suit for me.

On Monday (my actual birthday), my hubby woke me up with breakfast and roses. Three roses to represent him and our two boys.

Michael made me a heart card.

My Mom visited with french fries and balloons. She knows me well :). For the most part it was an uneventful day. I was dealing with pregnancy ickiness and we had school as usual. I’m not sure I feel 30 yet.

Well, here are other happenings…

Chris and Chester enjoying the recliner.

Annabelle gets a bath.

Tessa gets a shave. This took Chris hours.

Chris and Michael working on a kit.

In other news, Michael has lost two teeth…one by light saber. Michael’s buddy Liam did the honors lol. We’re waiting on one more tooth to come out. The count down to baby time is on. We’re looking forward to Valentine’s, my baby shower, and an early birthday for Michael. The baby is due a day after Michael’s birthday (April 12th)…so we are celebrating in March, Lord willing. Chris is still job hunting and we’re hoping to get good news from a recent interview. His last semester of college is keeping him busy but we’re still sticking close as a family. It’ll be nice when we can get settled.

Well, thanks for reading! God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Winnie the Pooh Day: A Random January Holiday January 23, 2015

Hello dear ones! January 18th was Winnie the Pooh Day. It’s one of the two random January holidays that my family chose to celebrate to stave the winter blues. Here’s how we celebrated :).

The Set Up
I decorated cheap posterboard with tissue paper, construction paper, and Winnie the Pooh quotes. Yellow and red were the colors of the day. I got plates and napkins at the Dollar Tree.

I used brown package paper and green balloons for the tree in the “100 Aker Wood”.

The Food
Hunny Bears~ Honey Teddy Grahams
Acorn Cookies~ Nilla wafers, Nuttella, and Hershey’s Kisses
Honeycomb Treats~ Honeycomb cereal, butter, & marshmallows

Hunny buns~ Honey buns
I found the paper hunny pot online. Links at the end.

Activities

Watch the 2011 movie

Play bingo while watching the movie. The bingo cards actually didn’t match the movie we had, so we had to improvise. We used coins as pieces.

Winnie the Pooh quiz~ sadly we all failed but I got the highest failing score lol!

Pin the tail on Eeyore

Paint a Honey Pot~ I found the mini flower pots at the Dollar Tree.

Coloring 🙂
I also found this coloring book at the Dollar Tree. This was a very inexpensive party.

The finished products!

Mine

My son Michael’s

My husband Chris’

This party was a blast and so simple. The further along I get in my pregnancy the more I love simple!

I hope you enjoyed! God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Pinterest links for Winnie the Pooh ideas and printables:

Appreciate a Dragon Day: A Random January Holiday

Hello dear ones! January 16th was Appreciate a Dragon Day. It’s one of the two random January holidays that my family chose to celebrate to stave the winter blues. Here’s how we celebrated :).

Michael as a dragon

Dragon Day Decor

The Food:
Dragon Fire Balls~ cheese puffs
Firedogs~ hot dogs
Dragon Eggs~ speckled jelly beans

Activities

Origami Dragon~ Chris made this and was so fed up with it that he didn’t want to teach us lol.

Become a Dragon

I tried different methods I had found on Pinterest to make the scales but to no avail.

The wings are made from clothes hangers and tulle. I found the dragon (ninja) vests at the Dollar Tree.
Michael as a scary dragon.

Chris refused to dress up. So the dog became his guinea pig. Tessa the fierce!

I felt more like the Avatar chic than an ice dragon. Oh well!

Michael colored a dragon mask.

My attempt at Dragon Egg nail art. Yeah, another fail.

Draw a Dragon

Michael’s chubby dragon. We decided that he eats lollipops all day.

My cute dragon. She lives in the mountains and shoots ice.

Chris’ scary dragon. I wouldn’t want to cross paths with this one!

Sheep Toss~ This is a game inspired by a How to Train Your Dragon party. I used cotton balls and construction paper for the sheep. I found the dragons and the red container at the Dollar Tree.

Michael and I tied. Chris won. Yeah, my dragon silhouette banners fell down.

Dino/Dragon Dig ~ I got this kit at the Dollar Tree awhile back. Chris had to help Michael. That dino was well buried! You may be wondering why I have a dino for Dragon Day. Well, we believe in Creation Science and that dragons were the name for dinosaurs before people started using that word. More info in the links.

Famous Dragons Quizzes ~ I put this together myself. I’m unable to share documents but I can give you the pictures if you want to use these. I just ask that you link back to my blog if you want to share ;).

We finished the night with dragon themed shows. There are plenty to choose from. My quizzes should give you several ideas.

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Famous Dragons Quiz

Famous Dragons answer sheet

Famous Dragon Quotes Quiz

Famous Dragon Quotes answer sheet

Dragon/dino Pinterest link:

Could dragons be dinosaurs?

https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/dragon-legends/dragon-legends-truths-behind-the-tales/

The 1800’s Week 2: South America, Mexico, & James Audubon May 27, 2014

In this post: We continue our study of the 1800’s. Come have a fiesta! Then take a trip to the rainforest! Crafts, food, and fun! 

Hello dear ones, I pray you’ve had a nice day. For part 2 of our study of the 1800’s we were able to learn a little bit about Belize, the country I’m about to go to for mission work. It’s in Central America but it’s very close to South America & Mexico. The most exciting part of the week was turning the homeschool room into a rainforest.  Here’s how we learned:

South America

•  We read about the South Americans’ freedom from the Spanish in Story of the World book 3.
• We did lapbooks on South America and the rainforest.
• We read South American Nursery rhymes in the old book set that belonged to my Dad.
• We made a hut over the reading pool, using hawaiian grass skirts. I hung up toucan decorations. Our “fiesta” flowers became jungle flowers.
• I used an ocean table cloth on one side and we added sea creatures and a fishing net. These also came from the Dollar Tree.
• Our bookshelf became a jungle waterfall.  Michael colored the tree frog and the jaguar. I used tissue paper and brown wrapping paper.
• I hung door decor of a parrot and a toucan.
• We read The Great Kapok Tree. It’s a lovely story about the animals in the rainforest.
• We tried tropical fruit and we had a tropical drink (coconut water with pineapple juice, gingerale, and sherbert).
• Michael watched Rio.  Michael played online games about the rainforest.  We watched videos about the dance and music of the Garifuna people of Belize. We listened to sounds of the rainforest.
• We read Hands of the Maya.

Mexico

• We read about Mexico’s independence from Spain in Story of the World book 3.
• We read Mexican nursery rhymes.
• We bought a cactus :).
• We made big  “fiesta” flowers out of tissue paper.
• I made a cactus pinata out of a tp roll. I filled it with tropical Mike n’ Ikes. Michael just had to pull the string.
• Michael made a Mexican yarn painting. Links are after the picture.
• We ate tacos and Mexican hot chocolate cupcakes.

James Audubon

• We read Into the Woods about James Audubon. He was a French American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He’s most known for his documenting and painting of American birds. 
• Michael put together a Robin lapbook.
• Michael drew a picture of a robin, from his Draw Through History book.

Other

• Michael finished reading Farmer Boy.
• He did a composer study on Claude Debussy and I attempted to play Clair De Lune.  We listened to his music.
• We watched “Amazing Grace” & read about William Wilberforce’s help to end the slave trade.
• Michael drew a picture of a steamboat from his drawing book.
• We read poems by Tennyson and watched the scene from Anne of Green Gables where Anne pretends to be the Lady of Shalott.
• We also read about the end of Napoleon, and the Zulus and Boers in Africa.
• Because we just finished with Napoleon, Michael finally played his French Revolution game. It has Napoleon on it. He used a Lego for his game piece and look, it must’ve been guillotined!

Well, I hope you’re inspired. Links after the picture!

Belize (rainforest) on Pinterest:

Mexico on Pinterest:

 The 1800’s on Pinterest:

Music Lessons on Pinterest:

The 1800’s Week 1: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/the-1800s-week-1-sacagawea-claude-monet/

The 1800’s Week 3: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/the-1800s-week-3-native-americans-the-alamo-edgar-allan-poe-the-gold-rush/

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Once Season Finale Party May 23, 2014

In this post: Mom and I celebrate as we watch ABC’s Once Upon a Time season 3 finale. Come join our Once party! We’ve got food and fun!

Hello dear ones! Once Upon a Time (on ABC) had it’s season 3 finale on Mother’s Day. So Mom and I had a girl’s night. We stuffed our faces and pampered ourselves (pedicures of course).  Here’s all the details:

The Set

• Once backdrop~ I took a blue plastic table cloth and painted it. Then I hung it up in the living room. It’s simple but it took hours to paint.
• Once table~ I reused the black and white table cloth from our Marie Antoinette party. We also reused the plates and the clock napkin holders. I switched the napkins though, red for Regina. I also made the clocks say 8:15 (fans know why).  An apple and a silver platter were a nice touch.
• Once project board~  I modge podged black and white tissue paper over an old project board. Then I glued pictures of Hook, Rumbelle, & the Storybrooke clock tower.
• Food label props~ I took fairy tale scrapbook paper and stuck it to boxes so they’d stand up. I printed the labels in a nice font and glued them to the paper.
• Emma’s Bug~ This BMW model is actually mine from highschool. It looks a lot like Emma’s.

Food

• Belle’s American Burger~  Burgers and home fries were the main course. Belle has her first hamburger in the second season.
• Emma’s Swan Cake~ More like a big brownie with powdered sugar on top. I used a swan stencil that I cut out.
• Regina’s Apple Streudal~ Regina loves apples and so do we!

Activities

• The Season 3 finale! It was perfect…except the ending. I was a little mad. I’m excited about next season though.
• We didn’t have time for a marathon of previous seasons but I did catch up on them while I was crafting.
• The Once Family tree~ If you are a Once-er, then you know the characters of Once are almost all related to each other. The Evil Queen Regina’s adopted son is the birth son of Snow White’s daughter. Oh and did I mention that Rumplestiltzkin’s father is Peter Pan?! Mom and I tried our hand at making the family tree from memory. Then we checked it with a nifty one I found online.
• Charm Bracelets~ I made these for Mom and I. The bracelets are based on “ships”. If you are a fan of a couple then you “ship” them. Like I ship “Captain Swan” (Hook and Emma Swan).  There’s also Rumbelle (Rumplestiltzkin & Belle), Snowing (Charming & Snow White), and Outlaw Queen (Regina & Robin Hood). Mom and I both like Regina. Yes, she was evil but she has changed :). So I made us both charm bracelets. I found the charms at Michael’s Craft store; a  heart that opens. a red jewel, a picture of Outlaw Queen,  and a royal key. I made the Captain Swan bracelet for me; an anchor, a blue jewl, and a picture of Captain Swan. I found the pictures online and modge podged them on craft scrabble pieces.
• Once necklaces~ I took glass flat stones that you use to decorate vases and I modge podged different pictures on them. I added two pretty jewels to my Captain Swan necklace. As you can see in the pictures, I made a ton of these. This way Mom and I can switch out our necklaces. I’m also a big Rumbelle fan, so I’ve got several pretty necklace stones for that. They’re not the quality I’d like but they are cheaper than all the necklaces on Etsy. And I have variety.
• Pedicures

I hope you’re inspired! Links after the pic…

 

Once on Pinterest:

My Parties:

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover