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Friday, February 8, 2013

She Turned Ten

So at the end of January, my baby girl decided it would be a good idea to be ten years old.  I mean, not that she had much of a choice.  I saw it coming, she was born one day, then she was 1, and then 5, then 8, and all last year she was 9.  I still wasn't quite ready for 10.
We planned a small party for her.  Then we realized it was going to rain the day of her party.  We decided to have the party anyway, partly because we had guests from out of the country staying with us, waiting for Lisa's party.  Partly because it was her birthday & I'd already ordered food & balloons.

So, the two days before her birthday I started baking cakes for her small party.  Yes, many cakes for one small party... because she had seen a picture of a stacked rainbow cake & asked for one.  So, I made her a rainbow cake.  Also, it had to be done two days before because the DAY before her party, I had to decorate the cake.  Of all the themes she could have picked for her party, she chose the one theme with practically nothing available to buy party wise.  Club Penguin.  You can't get a CP cake (well, one place said they'd do it, but it was the same price as a wedding cake).  I couldn't even find any little plastic Club Penguin figurines. We had a bunch of them once upon a time, but they must have gotten lost in one of our moves.  I don't remember ever seeing them in this house.  Someone told me about a cool frosting technique I could try.  I meant to practice, but I never got around to it.  I think I ended up doing a decent job anyway.  Lisa loved her cake, and that's what matters.

A few of our friends were able to make it to the party, despite the rain.  Then the rain stopped and the kids got to run around outside for a while, anyway  It was a pretty good day.  I'm glad she asked for a party, because the past couple of years she'd had family trips to San Diego for her birthday (one to San Diego Zoo, where we spent a long time watching the pandas, one to Sea World).

Now, get ready for a bunch of party pictures.












        
                 






Friday, February 1, 2013

January Happened

We did things after Kevin's birthday.  For one, my parents came to visit.
*okay, so half this stuff was in December...


A few days after they arrived, Christmas happened.  Right before Christmas, Ev came to town, which was fantastic, because I missed my sister (she left a day after Christmas, so I miss her again).


(please don't ask me how or why a guinea pig was in my Christmas Tree) 

Having parents here meant we had someone to watch the kids, so there were a few movie dates; we saw The Hobbit, Breaking Dawn, and possibly another movie I'm forgetting.  We also took everyone to see Hotel Transylvania, and I had a Girl-Cousins-Night-Out and saw Pitch Perfect, followed by a trip to Denny's.  All movie trips were fun. I should do that more often.

After the Tournament of Roses Parade (on tv, cuz ain't nobody trying to freeze in Pasadena all night/morning) we took the kids to the snow... it was really cold.










There was a homeschool class at California Adventures...






And then Lisa decided she wanted a party for her birthday... that deserves a post of it's own, because it was a very big birthday.  She's double digits now.