Francie and April

A few days ago... Mr. S brought home these little guys....

He had found them on a job site...and knew a few little people who might have some fun with them!
Here is J admiring his new friends in their temporary home in our garage.

Sophia was at school when our new friends arrived so J had some extra time to himself with them.  He named his turtle "Francie," and wanted to spend lots of time with them in the garage.  We fed them grass and water of course!

We told the kids that the turtles couldn't survive in a box and we would release them to their real home after we had some fun with them.  So...we piled in the car that night and headed for the lake in our neighborhood to say our goodbyes.  One of these little guys was pretty feisty and liked to snap a little bit....a good thing we didn't let the kids REALLY play with them:)

Sophia's turtle whom she named "April" went straight for the tall grass and camped out where we could hardly see her.

We tried to keep a close eye on her.

J's turtle headed straight for the water...

and took off!

The kids had fun watching their turtles find a new home.

J still asks if we should go back and check on them:)

Super Sweet

I don't want to admit it...but this little guy turned THREE months on May 1st.  I do not know where the time went.....

Here are the two boys that I get to share my day with every day!!! Love them so much.....pretty soon they will be playing cars and trucks together....but for now Sam just loves to stare at his big brother and listen to his stories.

This little guy definitely has a contagious smile and he even has a cute "out loud" giggle.

I pulled this striped romper outfit out of Joseph's box in the basement last night....it's a 6-9 monther...and fits Sam perfectly at 3 months:)

And of course....he thinks his sister is just the BEST!  You should hear how Sophia talks to him...just like a mommy...it's sooo cute!

I just hope the next three months will pass a little bit slower!

Ben & Jerry's

I am a little behind in posting the FINAL celebration pics for Sophia's 7th birthday!  We celebrated with her school friends at Ben and Jerry's for a fun party of ice cream cake decorating and even got a tour of the ice cream store as well as a lesson on making waffle cones and cups!!  

First the girls got to have a taste test of a variety of ice creams and had to guess the flavor!  Pretty fun!

Even little J got in on the action:)

Sam didn't get any ice cream...but he certainly didn't miss out on the action:)
Too bad it was a cold and rainy day for our spring ice cream party:(

The favors...

The girls watching the store owner demonstrate how to make a waffle cone!

Decorating the ice cream cakes.

The girls had so much fun with these frosting bags....maybe next year we should just have a cookie decorating party at our house....Lord knows I already have ALL of those supplies;)

Sophia looked so sweet in her new birthday dress!

Then came the mustaches....too funny!

Opening presents...Some of her friends went in together and got her another pair of twinkle toes that she has been DREAMING of.....pretty neat!

What a lucky little girl...she got so many fun things....one mother even hand-made a little dollie dress for Sophia's new American Girl.  Sooo sweet!

I Scream....You Scream...

We all scream for ice cream.....

Ice cream was the perfect party theme for my SEVEN year-old, Sophia!  It was a beautiful day for a birthday party with her family on Saturday!  We didn't do anything fancy....just enjoyed each other, opened lots and lots of presents, and treated ourselves to a "make your own sundae" bar.  Of course there was cake and cookies and cupcakes too!!!

Here are some of the party decorations and treats!

These little guys were actually cupcakes with a buttercream frosting that was scooped on and made to look like ice cream!  The sauce was melted chocolate candy melts and of course the cherry on top was a peanut butter m&m carefully placed by my best helper, little J!

The cake!

Some of the toppings for the sundae bar.

The cookies.

The favor table!

The ice cream pints were for the guests to fill with treats to take home. I found the printable labels on this site .

Opening presents...some of her favorites were her Kanani accessories, roller skates, Magic Tree House books, and the movie Tangled.  Of course she received lots of DARLING clothes, too!

Thea and Nouna watching me feed Sam while S was opening!

I love this picture of her!  She looks like a 7 year old!    I tried to make a mini bunting on her cake.  The little pennants were pink and blue and had the letters of her name on it...but they were so light you could hardly see it in the picture!

Making a wish...

A picture with my birthday girl!

The cake was 4 layers...like the Easter cake...but different recipes....chocolate and white cake.

There were no shortage of arms to hold Sam.  He got passed around all day and loved it!!! Such a sweet little guy!

Whew....another party in the books!  Hope Missy enjoyed her day!!! We still can't believe she is 7!  Pics of her Ben and Jerry's party with her friends to come soon:)