Monday, February 22, 2010

Happy 10th Birthday Allison Renee!









Hard to believe but our baby (Allison Renee...aka "Allie"!) turned 10 yesterday....man, the time sure does fly the older you get! ; ) We had a grand celebration this weekend, including hosting 10 little girls from her school for a slumber party (whew, that was fun and crazy!) on Friday night and then had a family party for her on Saturday. Needless to say, we were all a little tired by Sunday! Boy did we have fun though. She and her friends had a ball at their slumber party....complete with decorating purses, playing "spa/salon" with hair braiding, massages, manicures, etc, pizza, movies & popcorn and homemade blueberry pancakes when they woke up Saturday! Allie requested a guitar cake for her bday party....Mama had never made one of those and decided to take a try at it and couldn't find a pan shaped like a guitar so I improvised....didn't turn out too bad, the girls loved it so that made it worth it! Aunt Amy, Uncle Jim and the girls were so kind to host Lauren and Katelyn on Friday night so that Allie was able to really enjoy her party with her friends w/out her little sisters getting too involved! ; ) And of course, the two little ones had a great time at their house! Amy helped them bake a cake for Allie to surprise her, what a wonderful Aunt my girlies have! ; ) We all really enjoyed the weekend celebration and thank God for giving us Allie in our family....we are so blessed!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Valentine's surprise for the girls....





Jason and I decided to surprise the girls for Valentines weekend by using up some of our "points" Jason has earned from his traveling for work and getting a free night at the Holidome in Terre Haute, IN. It was so much fun! I loved being able to surprise them. I packed without them knowing on Friday and then late Friday afternoon, we told them we were heading over to Plainfield to shop and eat out for dinner. The two younger ones fell asleep on the way and didn't realize where we were but almost to Terre Haute, Allie began to wonder where we were headed. Once we arrived there, we joked w/ her about how much fun it would be to just spend the night somewhere there and then when Daddy pulled into the hotel and went inside, she was really questioning me! ; ) When he got back in the van, the other 2 girls were awake and we proceeded to tell them that we were staying the night there for swimming and fun! They of course responded in the Massey girl fashion and SCREAMED for joy! ; ) We had a great time swimming in their heated indoor pool, relaxing in the hot tub, eating pizza in bed, staying up late to watch some of the Olympic opening ceremonies and then capped off our night watching the Disney movie "Princess and the Frog". We woke up Sat. to more swimming, a huge breakfast buffet (yum-o!) and then finally headed home....what a wonderful way to spend Valentines Weekend....I love our family! ; )

Allie's 4th grade Abraham Lincoln Day!



Every year, our elementary school (Waverly) holds a very fun day for the 4th graders called "Abraham Lincoln Day". Since the 4th grade classes spend a lot of time studying Indiana History, they love this day and are so excited when it rolls around. Well, this year was Allie's year for this. Before the actual day, their teacher requires them to complete a very extensive research project about Lincoln. They have to do a written report during classtime and then on their own at home, they must complete atleast four different activities of their choice, approved by Mrs. Cooper. Allie decided to do a drawing of Lincoln, a Venn diagram (comparing and contrasting herself to Abe), a replica of his family and home made out of playing cards (her idea, it was so neat!) and a box display (made from a unused pizza box, very cool!) featuring articles and photos of the new Lincoln exhibit taking place currently at the Indiana State Museum. Once they complete their activities, then the day of "Abe Lincoln Day", they are able to wear costumes (Allie dressed up as Mary Todd Lincoln) and then other classes and parents come to the classroom to view all of the various projects. It was so neat to see her proudly display her work, we were very impressed. And, we have to say that from all of her hard work, she really did learn alot about Lincoln! Way to go Allie! ; )