How cute are these?

My friend Stephanie is currently running a contest on her blog until August 31st for one of her framed sayings, worth $25. They are so darling!

Birthdays ...

In the last few weeks we've celebrated some special birthday's in our family and we're still not finished!

Sunday we celebrated Grandma Mum's birthday and the kids and I put together a special card for her with GR's help. I thought about keeping it a surprise, 'cause I plan to get lots of mileage out of this "card" but I'm terrible at keeping surprises and the kids are really pleased with it ... as am I!! It turned out better than I expected! We had a wonderful family dinner together and shared yummy chocolate birthday cake!!


Our last full day in South Haven, when we went horse back riding, we also celebrated Alex turning ONE! Considering the number of tumbles, spills and out right falls this kid has had (the memory of them still make me shudder!) in his short 12 months on the earth, I for one count it a miracle we made it to this milestone. And so far his road to birthday number TWO is proving to be equally eventful ... I should keep a record of the things I pull out of his mouth. Yesterday started with SEVEN marbles. Yes, all seven were in his mouth at one time, and he was trying to figure out how to get the other three in his hands in his mouth without one or two popping out. I've decided that he's not interested in eating the marbles, he just likes the feel of them in his mouth. He has yet to even try to swallow any of the things he's put in his mouth ... pencil erasers, pom-poms (by far one of his favorite other than the marbles), sunflower seeds in the shell, pistachio nut shells, rocks, large wooden bead, ping-pong ball, walnuts straight from the three (husk and alll!) and more.

Since it was our last night, and we were trying to eat up the entire contents of the fridge and freezer, our birthday celebration was simple ... HUGE ice cream cones for everyone. Earlier in the week Alex had his very first ice cream cone and we quickly learned that he loves them, so an ice cream cone "cake" was perfect, and he loved every last drop of his cone!


On August 8th, Emily turned 6 years old! Mary Ann and her girls came the day before and helped us celebrate her birthday. Emily requested lunch at McDonald's playland with the cousins and dinner at IHOP Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Barbara -- gotta love taking up three booths and mounds and mounds of pancakes! Then we came back to our house for a tripple layered double chocolate cake, ice cream, and lots and lots of presents.