Pink With Purple Sprinkles

Birthday: Part III "The Big Shebang!"

2009-05-13T02:33:00.032-05:00

On April 19th (one day after those torrential rain storms that flooded out many areas of Houston) we hosted Kendall's official birthday party at Stevenson Park in Friendswood.A picture of the invites that mommy & daddy painstakingly glittered, be-jeweled and assembled!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, albeit windy! We had a wonderful turnout--in all over 100 people in attendance--lots of playgroup friends, schoolmates, family (from near & far) and other special friends!

Not a cloud in the sky!

The most magnificent cake EVER! Cakes by Gina rocked the house yet AGAIN with a most delicious topsy turvy cake that exceeded even mommy's high expectations! The cake was a perfect match to the invites!

The cutest little girl you ever did see!
(Later, when asked what her favorite thing about the party was, Kendall enthusiastically exclaimed, "THE CAKE"!)

Lots of other yummies!

The activities for the afternoon included pottery painting (teacups, of course), train rides on the Mad Hatter's Express, Tea Cup Toss, and the bounce house.

The party favors included personalized M&Ms and bags of delicious glazed popcorn made by mommy's friends Abby & Will! YUMMY!

Many, many thanks to the following:

Cakes by Gina for the amazing cake!

Cafe Natalie Catering for the yummy dips, appetizers & tea sandwiches!

Over the Top for the lovely linens!

Sharon Nicole Photography for the awesome pics!

Special Arrangements Florist for the adorable centerpieces!

*If you are ever in need of any of the above services (catering, cakes, linens, flowers, photos) I HIGHLY recommend all these people!*

And to the following people for all of their help:

Abby & Will- Thanks for making & bagging all that popcorn! And thanks for blowing up all those balloons!

Chris Rock-you simply ROCK! Everyone raved about how awesome you were!

Lisa J- Seriously, what would I have done without you?! You bent over backwards to help me out on this one! I majorly owe you....BIG TIME!

Birthday: Part II

2009-05-12T01:19:00.009-05:00

So, to continue the festivities....we had a birthday celebration with our playgroup (thanks to Marisa for hosting this event at the last minute). Everyone got together for cupcakes and fun....and a little bit of dress-up, too! Mommy's good friend, Kasey, of Monkey Tree Photography (who has been photographing Kendall since she was a newborn) came over and snapped pics of all the kiddos in their silliest dress-up attire. A good time was had by all!

Here are some of Kasey's lovely photos of the FAB-u-lous Miss K!

And a few snapshots that mommy's friend Lisa took:

A Birthday in 3 Acts! Part I

2009-05-12T00:38:00.013-05:00

[Pardon me for being so behind in my blogging. I've had 6 weddings in the past 30 days! Whew!]

SO, our little tiny baby turned 3 on April 13th! We wonder how that is even possible, it seems as if she was just born yesterday!

What better way to to celebrate one's 3rd birthday than THREE celebrations!

On April 13th, the actual day of her birthday,we started out the day by going for main/pedis. Kendall thoroughly enjoyed herself, as you can see. Every smile seen below was totally un-prompted...she was tickled pink with being treated like such a BIG GIRL! Of course she picked out purple polish...and even got flowers painted on her toes!

Once daddy got home from work, we went to Main Event for a round of bowling. Kendall has been bowling before, and really enjoys it (for about 5 frames). Then, we went and played video games since she loves those (wonder where she gets THAT trait from!). She (and her daddy) had a great time!

We wrapped up the evening with a dinner out at Pappasito's....one of K's favorite restaurants. She loved having the staff sing to her (we did the same thing last year and she got a kick out of it the, too) but was slightly disappointed that no sombrero was involved this year (somebody walked off with it!)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T02:03:00.005-05:00

So here's our almost 3 year old visting with the Easter Bunny. She just loved him (as usual)!

And just for fun....a little blast from the past.

Age 2 (2008)

Age 1 (2007)

On Easter Sunday 2006, the day she came home from the hospital:

Blue Bell and Bluebonnets...doesn't get any better than that!

2009-03-30T10:59:00.013-05:00

Recently Kendall and I took a day to have a Mommy & Me adventure. We headed up 290 in search of blue bonnets. I had also been wanting to take her to the Blue Bell Creamery, but since they are closed on the weekends it's been near impossible for us to make a family trip up there.
So, Kendall and I just went on our own, leaving poor daddy stuck in the office.

Kendall had a fantastic time at the Blue Bell plant (sorry, no pictures allowed inside the actual tour...it's all top secret stuff). Their tours are really fun (and short, thank goodness)...and they end in the most wonderful way...with a free scoop of hand-dipped ice cream! Kendall indulged in "birthday cake" flavor, which was admittedly pretty yummy.

Kendall's favorite part (outside of the ice cream eating) was running around on the gorgeous grounds outdoors, and she also enjoyed "shopping" their adorable gift shop. Definitely a fun day trip we recommend!

By the trademark Blue Bell girl & cow:

Sitting on the first freezer truck--circa approx. 1930s I believe.

A few lovely pictures in their pretty courtyard.

From there we headed out Hwy. 105 in search of a bluebonnet patch to take the Texas traditional kid-in-bluebonnet pictures that are a staple around here. The flowers were everywhere around us, but the biggest patches were behind fences (w/signs that said "no trespassing/private property") so we didn't risk it there. I found us a nice little patch on a stretch of road between Brenham and Navasota. I changed K's clothing and got busy snapping. Unfortunately Kendall wasn't as cooperative as I'd hoped--she was pretty mezmerized by all the beautiful blue flowers...so I did the best I could. Here are a few of my favorites from the bunch:

And we're done! (aka mommy's camera battery went dead)

Strawberry picking!

2009-03-26T00:43:00.015-05:00

It was a gorgeous day out on Monday....clear and in the 70's...a perfect day to spend outdoors. So we headed to the local strawberry patch for Kendall's first strawberry picking experience. It's safe to say she LOVED the entire adventure!

She eagerly grabbed her bucket:

...and got busy picking!

She caught on pretty quick that you had to find the biggest, reddest ones....and to pull from the stem, not strawberry.

Look at these beautiful plants!

She stepped in a bit of mud (see her left foot), but even that wouldn't deter her:

She picked out several especially for daddy!

Showing off her goods:

So proud of herself!

She then brought them up to the counter to be weighed:

And then took a break on the branch of a big old tree nearby to try a taste.

Whew! All in a hard day's work.

Happy Spring!

2009-03-22T10:52:00.010-05:00

We've been super busy around the Balfour house these days. Daddy & mommy both have a lot going on with work & Kendall stays super busy with her many activities.
Now that the weather is nice--Kendall loves spending time outdoors. Even more so now that she has a brand new play ground of her very own!
We'd contemplated getting one for about a year now, and the company was running a great special on last year's models, so we went for it. Kendall couldn't be more thrilled!

These are some pictures of Kendall checking it out for the very first time a few weeks back:

She totally loves the swing the best:

But the slide is fun, too!

Kendall and her daddy enjoy playing outside together on the weekends when mommy is at work & Kendall also loves having her friends over to play with her during the week. Even one of the cats, Bailey, has played with her on it! Kendall thinks he likes the slide best!

The only person less than thrilled with this new contraption is the lawn guy! But luckily for him, our back yard is now at maximum capacity....no more room for anything else!
Hands down, a great investment that should last us many, many years!

A little thank you shout-out to those of you who donated to her Playground Fund for last year's birthday! We did (finally) put that $ to good use!

Happy (belated) Valentines Day!

2009-02-26T19:31:00.011-06:00

So, mommy got a little behind with blogging....wedding season has definitely gotten underway!

Kendall has also been keeping busy! Before Valentine's Day, Kendall and I hosted a cookie decorating party for our playgroup. Kendall really enjoyed "helping" make the cookies* and especially loved decorating her cookies with icing & lots of sprinkles, of course!

Next, we had a Valentine's day party with our playgroup. So I made these for us to share with our friends:
It was held at a local indoor playgroud and we had a great time! Kendall loves interacting with all of her friends:

Kendall taking a snack break with her good friend Rowan!

* None of the cookies Kendall "MADE" were made available for human consumption.

Crafty girl!

2009-02-07T20:43:00.007-06:00

Kendall loves school! She loves her teachers, her friends, music class, playing outside on the playground, and especially making arts & crafts. So much so that I decided to try our luck at a paint-your-own-pottery place. She did pretty good, although it didn't hold her attention for too long (mommy had to help). But she enjoyed herself. In 12-14 days we shall have a fabulously glazed & fired ice cream dish, made by yours truly.

Just a swingin'

2009-02-07T00:37:00.009-06:00

Kendall LOVES gym class. We go with our playgroup a few times a month and she adores it.
She especially loves the rings. She'll grab on,

swing until her arms can no longer support her,

then let go and land on her feet. It's so fun to watch.

She's quite the little monkey.

Jumping for JOY!

2009-02-03T03:26:00.007-06:00

Doesn't this picture tell it all? This little bear LOVES the trampoline that Santa got her (and daddy so painstakingly assembled) for Christmas!

She is a hoot on it....trying to do the "splits" like mommy showed her! She sure does have a LOT of energy and this is a great way to let some of it out!

Such fun, this little one!

Kendall's first BIG GIRL haircut!

2009-02-03T03:21:00.005-06:00

This past weekend we took Kendall to get her very first big girl haircut at the "fancy haircutting place" (as I coined it in an effort to get her excited about this new place, even though it doesn't have fancy little cars you sit in to get your trim like the place we've always gone before).
Boy, did she do great! She sat like SUCH a big girl throughout a shampooing, cut (and a detailed one at that), and blowdrying!

She looks SO grown up! Where did my baby go?!

Just the facts, ma'am!

2009-02-03T02:46:00.006-06:00

name: Kendall Claire

nicknames: Kam or Kami, Kami-bear, Sam or Sami, “nen-nall clay”

born: 4.13.06

daughter to: Todd & Kelly

hobbies: gymnastics, dancing, swimming, jumping on trampoline, having friends over/going to friends houses, tormenting kitties Bailey & Chase, shopping with mom, chasing daddy around the house

favorite foods: avacados, hot dogs, cherry tomatoes, turkey, ice cream (birthday cake flavor, to be exact), cupcakes (sans the cake…frosting will be fine), candy (aka “honey”), sips of daddy’s Diet Coke (aka “cokey”)

least favorite foods: pretzels, raisins, hamburgers, the bread off most any sandwich

favorite books: Pinkalicious, Purplelicious, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, any Curious George book

favorite songs: Cup of Joe by Daniel Ho, Greg & Steve’s The Freeze, Player’s Baby Come Back, theme songs to Backyardigans & Curious George TV shows

most recent accomplishments: Can spell her first name out loud! Potty Trained (except at night)!!

sweetest thing she says/does: Recites the entire Guardian Angel prayer

not-so-sweet thing she says/does: Torments Bailey the cat (which results in lots of unpleasureable timeouts)

favorite family activities: Kemah Boardwalk, Moody Gardens, going to HEB!

favorite place to go with Mommy: The bookstore, Children’s Museum, the MALL!!!!

favorite place to go with Daddy: Any park, Best Buy

favorite restaurant: La Madeline, Pappasitos

an interesting thing you probably didn’t know about Kendall: she is missing one of her bottom front teeth…it never came in….dentist will eventually have to X-ray to determine if a permanent tooth is down below or if braces will be in her future!

Introducing the newest little member of the blogosphere!

2009-02-03T01:45:00.000-06:00

Hi! I’ve finally succumbed to the world of blogging….as a way to keep family and friends up-to-date on the goings on in Kendall’s little life. Between playgroup activities, Mother’s Day Out, and family outings….she keeps quite a busy schedule! What better way to stay in touch with all of you who we don’t get to see regularly than a BLOG! It’s what all the cool kids are doing, after all!