Six Years Old

Madeline turned six today, and we were lucky enough to be able to have her party on her actual day.  She waffled between a Care Bear and a Strawberry  Shortcake themed party most of the summer, but ultimately decided on an arts and crafts theme.

Madeline and her friend Grace.  They were in the same kindergarten class.


Happy Birthday, Madeline!

Thanks to all our caring friends who were able to share the evening with us and Uncle Adam who was in town from Montana.  We had so much fun, and Madeline can't wait to play with all of her presents!

Culinary Skills

As I previously mentioned, I am taking a cake decorating class with some of my friends.  This clown cake is cake #2.  I tried to talk Madeline into using it for her birthday cake, but she was horrified.  She thought the clowns made the cake look like it was made for a "baby."  So, I decided to put Sophie's name on it since she is the closest thing I have to a baby (she is no longer in her crib or using her binky, but I'll make a separate post about that later, *sigh, sigh, sigh*).  And besides, Sophie has been feeling a little left out with all this birthday talk for Maddie lately.

In addition to making cakes, I have really wanted to work on some cooking skills.  I have been telling myself for awhile now that I am going to start actually cooking for my family, not just warming chicken nuggets and making Kraft mac and cheese.  So, last week I made this rigatoni and vegetable casserole; my friend Jenny made one for a party last year, and it was awesome.  I found a similar recipe on-line and made a few of my own changes like using less pasta and more veggies.  It had spinach, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and tofu in it, and My Kids Ate It! I think when this cake class is over, I might just take a cooking class.  

Cake Class!

I am taking a cake decorating class with some of my friends!  These cakes are the results of class #2.  Unfortunately, my cake was quite rushed since we only had about 25 minutes of the two hour class to work on our own cakes (we spent the other 90 minutes "practicing").   But, of course, I had two little customers eagerly waiting at home for a "rainbow cake," so rush I did!   

More Farm Pictures!

I took these pictures from Carrie and Milo's blog because they are sooooo cute!

Farm Time!

We spent Thursday morning at one of my favorite places, Underwood Family Farm in Moorpark, with a couple of our favorite people, Carrie and Milo!  The weather was  incredible for August, less than 80 degrees with a breeze, and  the kids had a blast riding tractors, feeding animals, climbing a hay stack, and riding ponies.

This little boy showed Maddie how to get animal feed out without putting a quarter in.  She spent quite a bit of time embarrassing me with this activity.  

Sophie isn't in the pony picture, but she was brave enough to ride one, too.  

The Dentist, Take Two

I took Madeline to see the dentist today, and I am happy to report, her second visit went about 100 times better than her first.  What a difference a year makes!  She was super cooperative for her x-rays, cleaning, and exam.  She hated the fluoride rinse, but other than that, no complaints (insert big sigh of relief from me here).  Well actually, Sophie has a complaint.  It seems she wants to see the dentist too, but I was advised to wait another year for her.  Hopefully, her enthusiasm won't fade too much over the next 12 months.

The Belles of the Ball

The girls started summer camp three mornings a week.  This week's theme was fantasy week, and there was a ball on Friday!  My little princesses were quite excited to don their dress-up clothes.  

Celebrating Birthdays

We spent the morning at Natalie's celebrating Andrew turning 6 and Alexis turning 2.  Where is the time going???  Soon I will be the mother of a 6 year old and a three year old . . .

Sophie and Milo eating gummy worms:

Sophie taking a swing at the pinata:

Collecting candy:

Sophie and Maddie didn't like the part when the kids were popping balloons:

Maddie cheating by using her hands:

Sophie with her favorite pre-school teacher, Marcella:

Some nice pictures our friend Louis took of me and my girls:

We're Home!

My fantastic travelers:


We are finally home! We spent five whole weeks visiting family on the East coast this summer. We traveled back and forth between Virginia and Maryland with excursions to West Virginia and into DC, too.

It is definitely getting easier to travel with the girls; they are getting to be old pros. Here's a little recap of our return to LA, keep in my mind, our girls were ANGELS! I packed them one coloring book each, some crayons, and a bag of snacks, and neither of them slept or complained once. First, we drove 45 minutes to the airport, stood in line for security for 30 minutes, and boarded our plane. We flew five hours, the girls LOVE turbulence, and they were not disappointed. We arrived in LA, exited the plane last, as we sat in row 30, and waited patiently for our 3 bags, of which only 2 arrived (This is getting to be the norm for us). We spent a total of 2 hours at the airport dealing with the luggage and waiting for our bus. While waiting on the curb, the first bus completely passed us by since it was already full. So we waited for a second bus (they run every thirty plus minutes or so) before riding an additional 45 minutes to the station. At the station, we were picked up by our dear friends and finally dropped off at our home. Yay!!!! Home Sweet Home!! In total, we spent close to 12 hours getting from DC to LA. My girls were awesome!!!

Burke Lake Park

Sophie's sister and cousin use peer pressure to convince her to ride the train in their seat rather than Mommy's:

Success!

We spent a morning at Burke Lake Park with Aunt Jen, Aunt Dawn, and our cousins, and guess what??? Sophie rode the carousel On A Pony!!!! Well, I should clarify, she sat on the pony but distributed most of her weight onto my hip while keeping a two handed death grip on me. This wasn't so bad while the pony was stationary, but when it started to go up and down, it was a less than comfortable arrangement. Baby steps, baby steps. 

Daddy's Old Stompin' Ground

Kent and I took the girls to a creek near his parent's home where he played as a kid.  We heard a bullfrog but couldn't find it, played in the water, and got bit up by bugs.  Those mosquitoes sure love me!

More "Borrowed" Pictures

A few more pictures I stole from my sis-in-law's blog . . .

Crab-fest 2009

Every year when my family gets together, we have a Chesapeake Bay seafood-fest with more shrimp and crab than you can eat, not to mention crab cakes, cornbread, and cold beer to compliment.  This year, Madeline was old enough to get in on the action.  She is not a big crab eater herself, but hitting crabs with a hammer? Now, that's fun.