Friday, February 26, 2010

Funny for Friday

Duncan has been dying for me to share these on the blog.  They were taken the same evening of this one.  So if you'd like to laugh a little (or a lot in our cases), watch our silly Amelie below.






And you thought she was the reserved one, eh?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Kneading Bread

 A snowstorm activity--






I LOVE that we always have homemade bread!  And I love how patient Duncan is in letting the kids help him.  He's such a fine example to me!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Amelie Muriel Turned Six!

We hit the six year anniversary of becoming parents last Friday.  Our eldest, Miss Amelie Muriel, turned six.  In some ways, it feels like I've been a mommy forever.  In other ways, I feel like this was last week:
  And that this was just yesterday!

But that is not the case.  
We've been blessed to have Amelie for six years so far.  And it's been a wild and fun ride!

This year, when asked what she would like as a birthday gift, she insisted the only thing she wanted was a jar of apple sauce.  So that's what she got!  Initially, at least.  On the jar was a note.  (You can click on the picture to read it.)  She had to follow clues to find each of her five gifts--two from grandparents and three from us.
 

She was tickled by the lone jar of applesauce on the couch where, normally, all of the birthday gifts are placed.
  
The first clue read:  To start with, go & take a look, 
A Ducky gift is where you'd find a chapter book!

She had to bring each one back and read where to go next.
This clue read:  This place used to have lots of puzzles and games.
But now there's a gift from the Birdies which in the mail it came!
  


  

And then:
The next gift is under a gift to you,
On the very birthday that you turned two!
It's painted and used to color or eat.
The present is where you put your feet!
  
The second to last clue said:  
Many things you watch in here.  
On a big rectangle they appear!
Where you sit and snuggle is another gift.
Just give the comfy blankies and lift!

Found it!
  
The last clue was:
The last gift is hidden on the floor.
Where daddy and even mommy snooze and snore.
Get down on your knees to discover a treat.
Under blanket & mattress & even some sheets!

Finally the last gift...
  

All the gifts!
  

I love how Violet's hand is on Amelie's leg in this one.


The doggie that walks, barks, and sniffs its bone.  Definitely a fave.

A dress for Amelie and one that matches for Rebecca!

When determining what kind of party Amelie wanted, she decided that since her birthday is close to his, she wanted an Abe Lincoln party.  This evolved into a Penny Party.  On Friday night, this boiled down to the cake you see below and some chocolate pennies as favors that I found on Amazon.
Here's the birthday girl with her penny cake--not my best work, but Amelie LOVED it!

That night we had some friends and family over for a dinner of breakfast:  eggs, bacon, plattor (Swedish pancakes), melon, and an orange juice punch.
After dinner, Amelie opened her gifts.

Our party photographer needed to add a self portrait.
Everyone, meet our freighbor, Rob.

Grandma and Daddy watched as Amelie opened gifts.

The birthday girl mugs for the photographer.

The photographer didn't want to miss the opportunity of having a self-portrait with Rebecca!

Amelie has always struggled with being sung to on her birthday.  But she did a fabulous job this year.  Still no eye contact, but no freaking out either.  And even a slight smile!  And this was the biggest group since her first birthday!


Amelie also got a new nightgown with one to match for Rebecca.  I think that her smile says it all!  It was a great day!

The next morning was the Penny Party with some of Amelie's school friends.  This party involved penny rubbings, a penny hunt, and a penny toss.

The whole gang!

Opening gifts.

The menu included "penny" pancakes, bacon and applesauce.

Dessert was ice cream adorned with chocolate pennies.
Interestingly, Amelie determined that if she were to have a friend party, she didn't want a cake and she didn't want them to sing "Happy Birthday" to her--one time the night before seemed sufficient!  And you know what?  It was her birthday, so she should be allowed to call the shots about such things, dontcha think?  I did think it was funny, however, that nearly this exact group had sung to her during school the day before!

This beautiful girl is growing and changing by leaps and bounds. 
It's such a joy to witness! 
We love you, Amelie!  We are so thankful to have you in our lives!!

The Cutest Valentines EVER

The first day we received mail after the huge snow dump, some of the best things to get in the mail were delivered--Valentines!  
Allow me to back up a bit.  Our children only have big cousins.  Eleven of them.  They all spoil us and lavish us with attention.  But Megan pulled out all of the stops this time!  She sent three personalized, hand-crafted Valentines.  Granted she too was home from school for days and days, missing that precious time of her sophior year.  (You a junior yet, Megs?)  But still.  She made these ADORABLE valentines for her baby cousins!  How sweet is that?

Here are the receivers of said valentines, showing off their cards.


Linus' with the intricate, self-portrait style.



 


Violet's with the cutest poem I think I've ever read.
(It's normally taped to the sliding glass door upon her insistence.)



And Amelie's with the delicate pop-up feature.


 


And here's a picture of the creator, Miss Megan, on Christmas Day.
 
Thank you, Megan for loving us and doing so many special things with and for us.  We love you!!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Violet Ella Turned 4!

When Violet learned that her birthday fell on Groundhog Day, she decided, months ago, that she wanted to celebrate with groundhogs come February 2nd.  I scoured the internet and found very little, save for beer cups and cocktail napkins, that had to do with this holiday.  Fortunately, Family Fun had this recipe in their archives.  It was a life saver.  
Violet loved the idea, so we went with it.  

Here are the finished products.

A close-up.

And the mess of the process.

Here is the fabulous birthday banner my friend Missy made.  Check out her etsy shop.  So stinkin' cute!

Here is the birthday girl with her presents and her siblings.

A little alone time with her gifts.

Checking out her Step 2 Pastry Chef set.  Quite possibly the cutest toy in existence.

And the parasol she wanted, so she could pretend to be Mary Poppins on an outing in the country.

And a pink soccer ball!  She loves pink and she IS going to be a soccer player when she grows up! 

During the day, our friend Cecilia was over.  After lunch, Violet, Linus and Cecilia had Pinkalicious-inspired cupcakes for dessert.

And Violet and Cecilia showed me "how many" they are.  (Cecilia will be 4 in May.)

At night, we had a few friends over for Chick-fil-a nuggets, chips, melon, and cut-up veggies.  Many of Violet's favorites.

The Fixes were there.  The Rohals were there.  Our freighbors were there.  And Bowie Grandma and Grandpa, along with Aunt Carol.

We finished out the evening by enjoying those Groundhog cupcakes.
Violet, who is so full of sweetness, had a marvelous day.  She kept exclaiming, "Mommy, I LOVE my birthday."  or "Thank you for my birthday, Mommy, I love it."


We love celebrating you too, Violet Ella!  We can't believe it's been four years since you looked like this.
Based on your 10lb 10.5 oz arrival weight, we thought you'd be playing football by now!  But instead you are dainty, petite, and seen gracefully prancing here and there more often than not!
We love you, Sweet Violet, and are so excited to see what the Lord will do with your life!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Alternative Ways to Watching TV

Do you have any idea how hilarious Kipper is?
Maybe Duncan and I will try watching Lost like this next Tuesday night.

It's sure to enhance any television viewing experience.