Zoe's birthday party

Zoe had a Tiny Party for her birthday (just like Madeline did when she turned 10). We had fun making tiny decorations and tiny treats for the party.

A tiny banner...

Zoe's special tiny cake...

Tiny cakes for all the guests...

Tiny hamburger cookies...

Zoe turns 10

Zoe's favorite treat right now is Muddy Buddies, so that is what she wanted to take to her class on her birthday. I decided to put them in dixie cups with a cute little tag on a stick. It worked out well and she was happy to share them with her friends. many Muddy Buddies...

Turning 10 is pretty exciting! Zoe opened presents from us on her birthday. She got roller blades, soccer shorts, and the movie Alice in Wonderland.

She was really excited to finally get a pair of Adidas soccer sweatpants that she had been begging for.

Now she looks like a real soccer girl!

Dad takes Carson on class field trip to zoo

I couldn't take Carson on his field trip to the zoo this year, so Dad filled in. They were happy, I was sad. I hate to miss those fun outings with the kids. But they had a lot of fun together.

Madeline's New Smile

This is Madeline before going into the orthodontist to get her braces taken off. She got them on almost two years ago. According to Madeline it's been a long almost two years of no sticky candy and corn on the cob. The 'fangs' she had are just a distant memory now! Fun! They sang to her and gave her balloons with a bottle of sparkling cider to celebrate.

The beautiful new smile all straight and sparkly white! Madeline was happy to go back to school and smile the rest of the day. She has since enjoyed Milk Duds and corn on the cob sans braces.

100th Blog post!

I can't believe this is my 100th Blog post! I thought I should mention it because they always mention it for TV shows if it's their 100th episode or whatever. I don't have anything special to blog about, so I just took some pictures of my front porch area because it is such a pretty morning. This is my cute piano lessons sign I put out to get new students. As of right now I have 7 students (8 if I count Zoe) which is all I have time for. Teaching has been pretty fun. Zoe is the hardest to teach because she doesn't like to be corrected so our 'lessons' usually last about 5 minutes.

This is my pretty bush that is blooming right now. I think it's some type of rhododendron, but I'm not sure. I love the brilliant red/orange color. All the rhodies in my yard are in full bloom right now and the giant fuzzy bumblebees are loving them. The bees are so cute and fat and just slowly buzz among the flowers. They don't bother us at all, unlike the hornets that are trying to make more nests in our eaves.

This is my Japenese maple that I trimmed in the fall, but now it's so bushy you can't even tell. It needs some serious pruning and shaping! I just don't know what I'm doing!

Carson gets a new haircut

Carson's hair was just so bushy and he would get hot and sweaty, so we took him to SportsClips to get a cool style. We came out with the Faux hawk and 'product'! Carson likes it and we think it looks so cute on him.

Madeline turns 14

Madeline is so old! She turned 14 and celebrated by having a Cooking theme party with some of her friends. Grandma Gwen was here so she made adorable aprons for everyone as party favors. Adorable aprons!

Puff got an apron too that matched Madeline's.

Hayden flaunted some frills with his apron...

The girls (and one brave boy, Brendan) made enchiladas, salsa, a mexican dip, beans and rice, and fried ice cream. They did a great job and everything was delicious!

Brendan was such a good sport. He even chose his own apron and was man enough to pull off pink! He was in charge of the enchiladas.

Jen made a yummy chocolate fruit dip.

I made some Red Velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that were Muy Delicioso!