celebrating amelia

We have a Peep and the Big Wide World theme going this year for birthday cakes.  I don't think that this cake looks a lot like the Peep that we see on the cartoon, but this was image that Amelia chose for her cake:

I think she turned out pretty well...although I think she looks a wee bit angrier in my cake than in the image.  But, thankfully, Amelia didn't care. :)

Our favorite neighbors, the H family, joined us for cake and ice cream.  

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It took her about 6 tries to get her candles blown out.  She blew at least 3 times before extinguishing even one candle.  As far as I know, the germs that ended up on the cake didn't result in illness. :)  On a side note, I love Olivia's face in the next photo!!

april fool's day recap

I realize that April Fool's Day was 16 days ago.  Let's pretend that today is April 2, and I'm posting this in a timely manner. :)

I did some research on April Fool's pranks ahead of this year.  The girls and I had discussed the jokes/pranks that people play on each other on April Fool's Day, and they were really hoping to take part in the fun.  

So, like the simple mom that I am, I chose 3 things that took less than 5 minutes.  The first {and arguably the best} was adding mustaches to a couple of little faces.  I added the first half of Amelia's mustache, and I was laughing so hard that it took some composure to add the second half!

{On a side note, I used a black washable marker so that it would come off of their faces and their bedding easily!} 

I also gave Meredith a mustache, but Claire was more difficult.  She is not a super-sound sleeper.  Her face was turned toward the wall, so I tried climbing up on her bunk.  That didn't work either.  She began to stir, and I knew I would get caught.  

The next morning, Claire was first up.  She said, "Why does Amelia have marker on her face?"  I said, "For April Fool's!!"  She thought it was pretty funny.

Amelia came out next.  Claire and I were cracking up at her.  She wouldn't go look at herself as much as we tried to trick her into looking in the mirror.  

Meredith finally came out, looked at Amelia, laughed, and said, "Amelia looks so funny with that mustache!!"  I said to her, "Have you looked in the mirror lately?!"  She ran to the mirror and completely cracked up.  It was pretty funny.  

Amelia, of course, was not so amused at first, but she came around. :)

I had also put Cheerios in the Fruit Loops box.  I only let the kids get 1 or 2 boxes of sugary cereal a month, so I thought this was going to be great.  I even put the box on the counter so that they would all see it when they came out for breakfast.  

I said, "Would anyone like Fruit Loops for breakfast?"  Seriously, no one wanted any!!!  Epic fail.  So, I said, "Meredith, I bet Olivia would like Fruit Loops.  Could you please pour some for her?"  Now, I had a taker.

The milk was colored blue, and at the same time, I asked Claire to get the milk out for the cereal.  They both enjoyed the cereal and the milk!  People seemed a bit leery of that blue milk, though.  I had to keep giving it to Olivia to drink. :)

We really had a good time with this, and I know the kids are looking forward to next year!

super easy caterpillar cake

One of the girls' favorite things to do is to look through old pictures.  They love to see their births, their birthday parties, and past Christmases.  We were just looking through 2005 pictures, and we came across Claire's cake from her 2nd birthday!

This was one of the cutest cakes I ever made.  It was so adorable and soooo easy.  I just had to post it since I didn't have a blog back then. :)  

To make him, all you need is a bunt cake pan.  Bake the cake and let it cool.  

-Cut off 1/3 of the cake with a straight cut.

-The bigger piece turned up on its side becomes the main body of the caterpillar.  

-Cut the smaller piece in half and put one piece on each end.  

-Frost the entire cake.  I used m&ms for the feet, mouth, and the number 2.  I used a big marshmallow cut in 1/2 for the eyes and attached a couple more m&ms.  

 

my little cheeser

Sometime last fall, Olivia decided that she was going to go full-fledged-cheesy-smile on us:  squinty eyes, total teeth, and the sound "eeeeee" while she does it.  It is absolutely hilarious to watch her when I pull out my camera.  She's gotten to the point where she just flashes one quick cheesy smile and then goes back to what she's doing.  Totally cracks me up.  

I decided to flip through my picasa files and pull out a few of them just for this post.  She could not get any cuter!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love her. 

{happy birthday, amelia}

Today, Amelia is five years old.  Five is a pretty big number in my book!

Amelia is so full of life.  She is so full of energy.  She is so full of one-liners.  I have no clue where she comes up with some of the statements that emerge from her little lips.  {Note:  all of these great things about her can also have their downsides!!}

From the moment her feet hit the floor until her little eyes close at night, she is go, go, go.  She keeps us on our toes.  

Amelia Kate,

You are such a beautiful little child.  You continue to not know a stranger.  You have been given such a wonderful gift of making people feel so special.  I know that this will serve you well in this life.  You love to be a helper, and I pray that your servant's heart will only grow.  We love you more than you could possibly know. 

{the big chop}

So, all three of my big girls decided a couple of years ago that they were going to grow out their hair and donate it.  I thought this sound really sweet until I had to start brushing the long stuff.

I'm also not a big "doer" of hair on a daily basis, but I'm not opposed to it if someone asks.  Claire pretty much takes care of her own hair and only occasionally asks if I'll braid it.  She does everything else on her own.  

Meredith happily puts hers in a ponytail each and every day, and I'm okay with that as well.  As with Claire, I only have to braid it every couple of weeks.  

Then, we have Amelia.  I have to wash her hair, brush her hair, and do her hair.  Recently, it had been turning into a bit of a daily battle.  I was due to have my hair cut in February, so I asked her if she was ready to donate hers.  She said yes, so I jumped on the opportunity and scheduled us both for a chop.  

Here she goes...

Meredith got to chop a bit... {and just look at how long her hair is getting!!}

Claire got to chop a bit as well... {she, too, is getting some awfully long locks, although hers appears shorter because she has some body to her hair}

8 1/2 inches...chopped!

The finished product.

Amelia has quite a bit going for her already, but this girl has great hair.  It lays nicely almost always.  It looks cute both short and long.  It has lovely little highlights in it.  It's just thick enough without being overwhelming.  The girl totally has Jennifer Aniston hair.  Lucky duck. 

Meredith insists that she is going to wait until her hair is down to her waist before getting it cut.  We'll see.  It's getting a bit too long for my liking already, but I don't really have to "do" anything with it, so I won't complain too much.  I'm not sure what Claire's goal is.  We'll just have to wait and see.  Be watching for some other chops around here in the {not near} future!