Is there such thing as being TOO prepared?

BIRTHDAY PARTY PLANNING

Starting to plan a birthday party for February in August....is this normal by any means? Probably not, but this year we are combining both girls’ birthdays and just having one MEGA birthday party. I need to see what places are out there that would hold the people we are going to invite. I'm sorry I like to plan. Oh and yes, I have created 3 different invitations for their birthday bash. I like to play with my options! It's true, the interests they have now will most likely change by February, but that's fine, I'll just have fun creating yet another invitation and theme for their party. At least I'll have an idea on where to have the party, what food we will have, etc.

STARTING TO PACK FOR A CHRISTMAS VACATION IN SEPTEMBER

Yeah so, what's wrong with this? Maybe packing 3 months in advance is a little crazy. I'll only admit, a little, but what’s wrong with packing items you won't need until your vacation? What's wrong with making lists on what to bring and which bag to put which items in. Is it just a little too much? Maybe, but it does relieve a lot of stress. I am stressed enough as it is with traveling with the kids on 6 hour flights. Kaitlyn will be _ months and Alexis will be 1 month shy of being 3. What temper tantrums will we have to look forward to on the plane? We have bought some items for them to play with which will hopefully last longer than 10 minutes.

1. Each of them will have their own pretty pink DVD player, in which they will have many choices for DVDs to watch.

2. My Quiet Book - We bought it from One Step Ahead for $25, which is no longer available there. I did find one through Amazon here. It has detachable pieces that I have spent a few hours sewing on so we do not lose any pieces.

3. Colorback Sea Turtle from Timberdoodle. Another $25 purchase I'm hoping will keep them busy for a long time.

4. Snacks, Juice and binkies (or as Kaitlyn calls them "bobos" - Of course we couldn't go anywhere without these handy items.

I'm sure there is more that will come to me as we get closer to our journey. We are so excited to spend this Christmas with Ben's family for a whole week.