Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Addie's 7th birthday party

 Addie's birthday party was held at the ice skating rink this year.  With her and Ben being such good skaters now, we figured her friends would really enjoy it too.  Little did we know that on a Saturday in May, the public skate session is not popular, so it was our whole party plus two strangers ON THE WHOLE RINK! It's like we rented the place out for ourselves! Awesome. I made her birthday cake, which was modeled off of OPI brand nail polish. It had red velvet and yellow cake inside.
 It was pretty nice outside, which make the rink much less chilly. We were all there in t-shirts!
 Aunt Erin brought Claire for her first skating experience.  Her skates were so tiny!
 Hyltin, David, Addie and Liam, all in first grade together.
 Addie really wanted me to take a picture of her doing something amazing. 'Nuff said.
 Muddy even made it out on the ice for a few laps!
 Aunt Kim had a blast too!
 Uncle Scott and Teb had fun.
 There was a lot of this going on, but honestly, kids learn so quickly.  By the end of the day, they were zipping around like pros.
 All of the kids.  All of their parents got to skate too, which was really fun.
Overall, it was a great party. Addie had a blast and so did her friends.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Amazing SEVEN years

Today was sweet Addie Pie's seventh birthday. I know each year I say something along the lines of "I can't believe she's another year older," but it's still true! Seven is like totally not a little kid anymore--she's a legit mid-kid.  In fact, she's closer to being a teenager now than to being a baby! Ack!
She's been counting down the days for weeks now.
She woke up at 5am and came into our bedroom asking, "Is it after 12 yet?" When we said "yes, Happy Birthday!" she was beaming.  Next thing we know, she's cuddled under the covers with Brian and crying. He asks what's wrong and she replied, "nothing, I'm just so excited and happy." The smile on her face was from ear to ear. I've never met anyone who is so excited for her own birthday. As Brian said to me, it's because Addie knows she's special and has so many people who want to celebrate with her.
Overnight I did some very basic decorating with streamers in the foyer for Addie.
Here's her reaction as she saw the streamers.
 Really, I don't think the decorations were worthy of her expression, but I guess I'll take it.
 The beautiful smile of a seven year old!
 That's a large number 7!! She went to school and had a great day of everyone doting on her.
When I got home from work, I was quickly told to "don't look in here!"
Eventually I was told it was ok to come in and I got to see Addie wearing her new outfit from Aunt Wendy and Uncle Richard...
 Holy smokes! Is that a 7 year old or a 17 year old? She's a little Bohemian princess. Soo cute
 Look at her. Seriously. So grown up, but still the giddy, funny, sweet, talented little lady she's always been!
 Hard to believe I was holding this brand new baby seven years ago and now she's this lovely girl!
 Ben with his best friend.
 We opened some presents out back. First was a new swim shirt.
 Then was a box set of MadLibs. She will have such a blast with them. Both Brian and I have fond childhood memories of playing MadLibs. It'll especially be fun for Addie and Ben since they love words and reading so much.
 My boys.
 We snapped some pictures while Addie was on the phone with her admirers.
 Finally, she opened her "ultimate gift." There's only one thing she really asked for...
a diary with a lock!! That look in her eyes (some may call smizing) is pure delight and happiness.  Her diary got opened immediately and after they went to bed, Ben yelled down to us, "Sometime when I'm older can I have a diary with a lock too?"
I can't imagine what she needs to lock up in her diary, but it must be something special. 
Overall, a wonderfully happy birthday for a wonderfully special girl.
Saturday will be her birthday party with her friends and extended family too.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Mother's Day 2012

Yesterday was our annual Mother's Day trip to Chanticleer. Oh my word how my kiddos have grown up...
Ben picked out his outfit, which was very dapper.
Addie was into a phase of posing while looking out of the side of her eyes. 
Guppy and Ben
Look how sweet they are!
Awkward!
Does it get any sweeter than this?
In the little hut, look how tall they are now! They used to have to have someone hold them up and now they can stand by themselves and have room to spare!
Reminds me of postcard
Compare these with the previous Mother's Day posts, and look at how they've grown!
Where's Ben?
There he is! Addie says he looks like a stamp here.
In "our tree." Soon they'll be the same size as us!
The loves of my life.
The love of my life, with Ben in the background too
Screensaver, anyone?
Kim reflecting.... lol
I think Ben's eyes are closed, whoops. 
Me, Muddy, Kim and Addie
Like how the colors pop here
This picture just cracks me up....it looks like the A-Team or something.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

AWKWARD

So Addie, Ben and Graham do this silly thing where they cross their arms, point their index fingers and say "awkward." We don't know why they do this, but it's hysterical to see and they do it so often.

Fast forward to this week, when I'm presenting a workshop in Orlando.  The kids couldn't miss any more school, so Brian and I went by ourselves.  
Saturday before we left, we went to Hollywood Studios and found Phineas and Ferb. They were happy to oblige with our awkward pose.  
We thought it was pretty funny and sent it home to the kids.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Holding Colin

We had Graham's 8th birthday party at our house last night. Colin and Claire came up, which meant the kids got to hold Colin for the first time!
 Almost all of the cousins together, Claire was too busy playing on the swingset.
  Benjamin was very serious about holding Colin. Colin slept the entire time.
 His first few pictures were with his eye at half-mast or closed, so I told him to look really happy and hold it for this picture.
 Addie loved holding him too.
Little cuddle bug.