Lily's Girly Girlz Party

***Warning - a gazillion photos follow this post! :)


For Lily's birthday this year - she got to have a super princessy, Girly Girlz party for her cousins and friends around her age.


OMG! Was she is super duper heaven.


It was a party fit for a princess...and we all know Queen B has no problem being a diva princess. All the girls were dressed in their princess finest. The events of the party included...

• A glittery princess up-do
• Sparkly makeup
• Manicure
• A craft of making a foam tiara
• Dance and dance and more dance to Princess songs
• Playing a game of freeze dance
• A cute "charades" type game involving Princess movies
• Pizza, chips, pretzels, and pink "tea"
• Pink cupcakes
• A princess walk to show off their new look

The girls were all so adorable and certainly had fun. Lily got to have Aidyn, Rylee, and Kate come over for a sleepover immediately following the party. The girls (hyped up on sugar) ran around giggling and screaming until I was able to persuade them with popcorn to lay down and watch a movie. Lily picked her new favorite $5 Santa stocking movie Barbie Charm School Princess. Then we (yes, I played) Pretty, Pretty Princess after Lily had zonked out during the movie. Rylee was the night owl staying up until 1am! I finally turned off the TV and she fell right to sleep. I guess not all kids (oops!) fall asleep to the TV like my kids...and me!


What a party. Definitely her favorite one yet! Thank you to all the girls for helping to make Lil's GOLDEN birthday super special!

Happy Golden Birthday Lily!!

Happy Golden Birthday to our first daughter...

Lillian Mae Campbell

Yep - she's FIVE years old today on the FIFTH of January.

It's her GOOOOOOOOOOOOLDEN BIRTHDAY!

We will be celebrating tomorrow with a Girly Girlz Princess Party with her little cousins and a couple friends. It is her "off" year for birthday parties...but, considering it is her GOLDEN BIRTHDAY...we just had to give in for another party. I would like to thank Stacey for throwing such a great Spa party for Kate because that was our inspiration for this party. I wish I could have put it all together at home just like Stacey did for Kate with different stations for each treatment...but, I was super lazy and never got around to planning a party. So...I called up Girly Girlz down the street from our house and booked a party there. I hope it is just as fun as Kate's!

In honor of Lil's FIFTH birthday...here's FIVE things I absolutely LOVE about her.

1. Her laugh. OMG! She has a laugh like no other. It is SOOOO loud, deep, hilarious...and just a teensy bit obnoxious. And when you get her really going - she just won't stop. I also love that SHE knows how much we just ADORE her laugh and so she exaggerates just a teeny bit to make us laugh even more. That girl is going to be the life of the party. I just know it.

2. She makes friends with anyone - even her little figurines. Seriously - she can sit and play with her barbies, and Littlest Pet Shops and dolls and have full on conversations. But, she doesn't even need figurines. If she is somewhere without any type of figurines - she'll use spoons or cars or really anything as a figurine. It's hilarious. The conversations are even better. It's like she is playing house with all her toys. There's always a mom and a dad and a sister and brother. And, she'll have loud conversations - so loud that we always think she's talking to us. But she's not.

3. She is SOOOO loving. Don't get me wrong - she can be a real pistol, but holy cow she is soooo loving. She always tells us how much she loves us. She tells each one of us - Brady, Charlotte, Bryan, and Me. It's always at the most random times. And she is very sweet and honest about it. She's a girl that certainly wears her heart on her sleeve and I love it!

4. She is SUCH a GOOFBALL. Yes, she's klutzy and silly and crazy and we L-O-V-E, LOOOOVE it! She is constantly saying silly things or doing silly things just to get a laugh out of us. And boy oh boy - she can't hold in the laugh herself. She just laughs away at herself for all the silly things she does.

5. She is as girly as they come. Although this can sometimes drive me crazy - I absolutely love having the girliest girl around. I literally don't know any other little girl that is as girly as Lil. She knows EXACTLY what she wants and she won't hesitate to let you know. She loves everything pink, purple, sparkly, and glittery. The more obnoxiously blingy or LOUD it is - the better. She would prefer to wear dresses EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. and we just have to about beg her to wear pants. She tells me how she wants her hair everyday. And believe me...sometimes I have to talk her out of some crazy hair-dos. She loves it when she and Charlotte match and loves it even more when I wear something a little nicer.

Oh Lilbugs - how we love you!! I am so thankful EVERY single day that we have you in our lives...even when you're whining and being your Queen B self. We love that even more. You're strong, opinionated, and know exactly what you want. Just like your mom :)

Happy 5th Birthday Buggies!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Lily with her bracelet, sticker from school, and her crown from her teacher.

Lily with her new party outfit and zebra slippers.

Lily with her birthday cupcakes she helped to make for her day.

Blowing out her 5 candles!!

Merry Christmas!!

Love, The Campbells

Bryan | Dawn

Brady | Lily | Charlie

Majercin Christmas 2011

Last weekend we kicked off the 2011 Holiday parties with our annual Majercin Christmas! It was probably the best year yet. I love how it's relatively small (35-ish people), super casual, and well...just plain fun!

The kids (there seems to be a lot of them now) hang out outside running around like crazy...and the adults - we alternate between the patio and the living room. Basically, we mingle, eat, mingle, and then it's present time. Oh - and you can't forget the multiple references to Christmas Vacation (because we're ARE the Griswold's), or my dad's jokes to the kids about Santa cancelling Christmas. As cheesy as that all sounds - I seriously look forward to this EVERY.SINGLE.YEAR.

My grandma gives all of the kids her gifts and then off they go to play. We then give my grandma her gifts and everyone passes out some family gifts. It's so much fun! Then - it's time for the grand finale...Our White Elephant gift exchange.

OMG - so fun!

All adults bring a gift around $25-ish dollars. We pick numbers...and then you know how it goes. Normally it's a pretty big battle for gifts - but, this year was rather calm. Either we're all getting really good at buying gifts that will be liked by everyone...or we were just really nice to each other this year.

Last, we mingle some more and then head out.

This Majercin Christmas party has been going on for my entire life. Literally - my entire life. It used to be held at my grandparents house on Christmas Eve and within the last few years it has been taken over by my Uncle Barry's family and even more recently moved to the week before Christmas. Since the family is getting so big and everyone has grown and started families on their own - we've found the week before Christmas is a much easier time to get everyone together. They do such a great job hosting - and this year, even included a Christmas Carol game at which my cousin Jessica's boyfriend, Justin, seriously kicked tushy!!

This year we made out pretty well in the White Elephant. Bryan got hooked up with some Titleist golf balls and tees and I got one of those large 1.5 gallon drink dispenser things. I have SERIOUSLY been wanting one of them and have almost bought one like a zillion times. So - I am soooooooooo thankful I ended up with that!! Bryan really won a huge clock (which I loved) but, it was pretty girly and Cori volunteered to switch with him. Golf balls for the clock.

Unfortunately, I took like next to zero pictures. But...here is one that Kristen took of us.

Zoo Lights 2011

Last night - together with the Babcocks, we took our annual Zoo Lights trip. 

After battling the parking lot...and literally looking for a spot for over 20 minutes - we finally made it in through the gates. We circled around the zoo, saw the "dancing" trees, drank some hot chocolate and headed out. The weather was perfect. It was not too cold and not one drop of rain (thank goodness!!). 

Upon leaving - we caravan'd it up to the 44th Street house. OMG! It was packed. The kids LOVE that house and we had not yet made it up there this year. That house is almost better than the zoo. And, it's free! Well - I did put $2 in the "donation" bucket. But, still! And - there is a bubble machine! The kids could literally jump around for bubbles for hours.

Another tradition...checked off the list!

It's almost Christmas - I'm getting giddy just thinking about it. Goodnight! I'm off to Santa's workshop to wrap some gifts!

LSATs

Sooo...I know I've been completely MIA. 


COMPLETELY MIA!


I was studying for the LSATs. Yes - the LSATs. 


You might ask why a 32 year old, married, full-time employed, mother of three children would want to take her LSATs. Crazy, right?


I agree. Kind of.


But - I guess a part of me has always wanted to go to law school...so I thought no better time than now. I was that kind of child that was a great debater. Very argumentative. I'm pretty sure I'm still that person. I know I'm still that person. Privately, personally, and Professionally. It's just who I am.


Here's the thing about the LSAT. It was H-A-R-D! I studied on and off for a few months, typically in the evenings once the kids were asleep. I was going to take a prep course, but the enrollment fees of $500 - $1500 scared me off. So - I was forced to study all by my lonesome. I studied books, online, and took tons of actual old tests that I ordered online. And, the week before the test - I took vacation time to study non-stop. 

So, yes - I studied....A LOT. And, I really should have studied more, MUCH more. Although I studied...there really isn't anything to "memorize." It's not your standard test. It measures: the reading and comprehension of complex texts with accuracy and insight, the organization and management of information and the ability to draw reasonable inferences from it, the ability to think critically, and the analysis and evaluation of the reasoning and arguments of others. It's a thinking test. And it's timed. It is written for you to fail. It is written to confuse you. It is written to ensure you do not have enough time to truly get through all of the questions.


On paper, the things that are measured by the test are things at which I excel. But, the fact is - I have always been a terrible test taker. My SATs = gross. 


But, the LSAT is over. I can now enjoy reading a book (for fun - not for studying). I do not get my results until January 6. I'm not sure how I will fair. I'm not sure if I'll score high enough for an acceptance letter. I'm not sure if we can even make it work if I do even get accepted. 


I guess...only time will tell.

Jake's expression looks exactly like how I felt when the LSAT was over.