1, 2, 3, 4 Birthdays!

Lovely Courtney celebrated her birthday at Interstate Lanes...super cool bowling party! We had BLAST gutter balls and all! The cake I got at Russell's Bakery for the birthday girl was so dense it broke the plastic cutting knife...so, we all just dug in! Happy Happy Birthday, Dear Courtney :)

Andrea celebrated her big 35th with friends at Yvonne's pad...coloring mandalas, chatting...the evening was so very relaxing...very Zen. Oh and the red velvet cake was gorgeous and soooo tasty...another creation by Russell. Yvonne's pond out back was hoppin with frogs calling to each other....loudly! :) It was a lovely evening with some fabulous women. Feliz Cumpleaños, Comadre!

The following two shots were taken by Yvonne...thank YOU amiga!

Then Unca Joe had his big 30 blowout! Family all got together to celebrate his departure from his 20's. Melissa made a YUMMMY pineapple upside down cake. All Mia could say was 'Uncle Peeete...uncle Peeeete' She's a HUGE fan of Melissa's brother...he's beyond fab with kids. Everyone adored baby Lily, especially Gwen. Gwen pretty much took over the roll of Mama...such sweetness :)

Ahhhhh then there was lil Anika's third birthday at Acrotex. The kids...and parents...all had a super fun time running around, jumping on the trampolines, jumping into the huge foam pit and just being monkeys. It was INSANE! I must admit that I look forward to Anika's parties because her parents score some fab samosas...I had a hard time not eating more than one. I found out the Indian grocery/restaurant is about a mile from our house. Sorry, back to the party! LOVE LOVE LOVE Anika and her sweet smile...hope you had the best time sweetness!

This and That

For Mia's first birthday, I ordered a plush from Etsy named Toothy Snake Bone. While packing up all her stuffed animals for the big move into our new house, Toothy Snake Bone was rediscovered...Mia proceeded to stick it in her mouth and shake it wildly about like Niles goes with his doggie toys!

More fun with Miss M.... this day, Miss M shot Mia with the bubble gun...much to Mia's delight. Mia chose to combat the bubbles with a light saber made from pipe cleaners, naturally. Miss M made a beautiful sun that Mia claimed as her Big Sister gift from Miss M :)

Then out came the makeup! Mia has a super cool pink glittery makeup box filled with lip balms and now she's added some pastel eye shadows. She's so girl...when she's not jumping in the mud! Mia applied sparkly eyeshadow to everything (toes) and everyone (Miss M).

While dancing around, Mia hit her hand. HARD. She cried and I held out my arms for her to come to me...she sobbed, 'no...I want my Miss M' awwwww

Here's your Lily fix

July 4th...Finally!

We were thrilled to spend the July 4th holiday with our friends Courtney & Harry + kids...and Erica & Dave + kids. Harry BBQ'd up some super tasty burgers and dogs. Then we all hit the HUGEMONGOUS water slide. Even Lily got her suit on and hung out in the pool with me. The last time we were over there, Mia had a rough go with the slide...got stuck at the top and it took Harry rolling with her to get her down. This time, she conquered the slide and was oh so proud of herself.

There was much chillaxin' going on...we all hung out while the kids ran themselves exhausted. The moon came out and so did the fireworks. Harry hooked Mia up with her first sparkler! She LOVED it! The guys tried to blow stuff up in the street...but never fear! Erica was there...with fire extinguisher and all :)

We had the best 4th, and we hope you did, too!

Pie, hydrant & tights

More fun with Miss M yesterday. We went over to the new house to meet the AC guy..he fixed it and it wasn't too expensive...that's always nice. Then we hit the 620 Cafe & Bakery. It's super close to the house and has tasty homecookin'. We're in soooo much trouble when we move in. We've already eaten there two Sunday's in a row :) The great thing about their bakery is all their fresh, well, baked goods. Including PIE! Miss M told me that in her 16 years, she's only had apple pie. WHAT?!...but there are soooo many lovely pies out there. Well, after brunch, Mia and Miss M sauntered over to the bakery counter and picked themselves their slices...and both ended up with chocolate cream pie! Did they want to share a piece? Hell no! Below are some shots with my pos camera phone...I LOVE the one a few down of Mia begging for two more bites...oh, the thing is that yes, you can have pie, but just a few bites...it's a LOT and tasting food is wonderful and the ability to put your fork down and walk away without finishing something just to finish it is something I'm still working on. Plus, that slice o' pie was bigger than her HEAD! :)

In our cul-de-sac, there's a fire hydrant that gets opened up every month or so just to let the chlorine levels rise...don't ask. All it means to us is a good time. We all hung out in the spray until Lily cried from the sidelines...Miss M and Mia hung out for a while. When they came in the house, Mia was SOAKED, and oh so happy :) What's funny is that after getting out of her wet dress, she opted for some colorful tights...yes, it's July in Texas, but the girl wanted her tights :)