a gr(eight) birthday

 rise-n-shine!  it's donut time!!  big sister picked out her favorite donut - plain glazed.  you can keep all the fancy sprinkles and icing - this girl is a purist. 

 then came time for presents - she told me a while ago exactly what she wanted: a fijit friend in blue.  so, that is what she got, along with a few other goodies. 

and last, but certainly not least - time for dessert!  mini banana splits.

we are kinda on cupcake overload right now, having had them at her party, and sister's party.  sometimes, there can be too much of a good thing!

happy birthday, big sister!  hope 8 is great!

party weekend

not only did we have big sister's birthday party today, but she and 4 friends started partying at another classmate's slumber party on saturday evening.  this was big sister's first real sleepover.  she & about 12 girls partied until the wee hours (2:30 am is the story i heard).  after picking her up sunday morning, she had a few hours to rest before her own party, and a quick nap was unavoidable.

(before and after) 



for her own party, big sister chose a dolphin theme, and i tried my best to accommodate.

we had a great turnout - 9 of the 14 kids we invited came for a few hours of swimming, water balloons, a pinata, and - of course - cupcakes & ice cream.  it was fun, but i don't know if i could do this more than 1x per year!  and many thanks goes to daddy for being a terrific lifeguard! :-)







sleepover success

 little sister had 5 friends over to celebrate her birthday.  3 of them stayed overnight - they enjoyed pizza, cupcakes & ice cream, danced, watched movies, and generally had a squealing-good time.  (yes, with this many girls there was lots of squealing)

it was my first time hosting such a party, so by the end i was pretty exhausted.  3 girls fell asleep by 10:45, but the other 2 were up with me until i made them go to bed at 11:30.  but little sister and friends had a blast, so that is what i'll remember most.

thank goodness for all the wii "just dance" games we have - they really came in handy.  it was so cute to hear 7-year-olds singing along to the latest hits. 



look who's six!

rise & shine!  it's someone's birthday! ! ! !

 we started the day with a mini-donut tower treat.

then after dinner, it was time for presents and cake.  

does she look happy to be 6 or what?

dog walker for hire?

i'm not sure who is walking who here.  little sister is enjoying these few weeks with "g-ma's" dog, penny.  (yes, they have started calling my mom "g-ma".  not sure how that started, but it's where we're at...)

toothless

pink piggy, meet green piggy.

we finally found little sister a piggy bank - and we found it just in time...

lost tooth #3

sweet treat

 i was wrong - we figured out another cool red, white n blue dessert:  J-E-L-L-O !

and don't be stingy with the "white"!