Birthday Extravaganza Post 1 of A Few More

How old is Anna??? Four!

The story of two bouncers... I have a place to recommend if you are interested in renting a bouncer. It is called Santa's & More. Their number is 586-263-9479. Call them, you can't go wrong. Last year we rented a bouncer for 24 hours (Saturday 10 am - Sunday 10 am). They dropped it off Friday because they were "in the area" and didn't pick it up until Tuesday. Which was awesome because that was the weekend that hurricane whatever name raced through and dumped 6 inches of rain on Michigan. So this year, they still gave me last year's price. They showed up at 10 am on Saturday with two bouncers. The delivery man, also known as the owner's son clarified what bouncer we wanted and set it up. Then upon leaving asked us if we wanted the other bouncer set up since they didn't have it scheduled that weekend and he brought it... for free.

Um, sure.

So that is why we were one of those families that looked like we went all out for our daughter's birthday and probably annoyed several neighbors... but, whatever. It was a blast.

Here I am with the girls and my 91 year old grandma (aka GG for great-grandma to Anna) in the background.

This year was a princess cake again... but this time Anna wanted a pink and purple cake. Knowing how long last year's cake took me (over 12 hours in total) I only made three types of icing; chocolate, pink and purple, and kept the design simple. Here is something to gross you out... in total, this cake had the following quantities of ingredients: two cake mixes, two sticks of butter, four eggs (not to bad). The icing in and outside the cake: 6 cups of Crisco shortening, 6 pounds of powdered sugar... and a few other ingredients that are not as shocking as 6 cups of shortening or 6 pounds of powdered sugar... cake decorating is serious business. Now I know why decorated cakes are so expensive!

Bouncer love with Aunt Christe! The "Safe Corner" for bouncer tag.

Lunch time! Pizza!

Baby's first trip down the little slide on one of the bouncers... don't worry, before long she was flying down the big slide on the big bouncer, going down head first, on her face... whatever.

Sister love through the big bouncing ring in one of the bouncers.

Fried Maisie, Cousin McKenna and Birthday girl Anna.
Present Time!

The big present of the year was Anna's new princess scooter from Grammy and Grampy!

This year we also got a pinata. It was a lot of fun, although I think the kids were not to sure what to do at first once the candy started flying out of it... but they figured it out. They now make them with strings that you pull that open up the trap door... so no more kids wielding plastic bats and hitting dad in the crotch while he raises and lowers the pinata. Too bad, there goes our chance at AFV $10,000 prize! Of course it was a princess pinata.

Not a Baby Anymore...

This picture absolutely kills me, because she looks like such a big girl! Not a baby anymore, although she will ALWAYS be my baby... Ugh! I get teary eyed every time I look at it! Seriously, I need a tissue right now. It goes too fast!

This is another picture that I couldn't wait to post for the birthday extravaganza blog... Stay tuned for that!

My Tri-Lingual Four Year Old

This weekend was Anna's four year old birthday extravaganza... so I have a ton of video and like 275,000 pictures to go through... so instead of posting on that now, I will post on a few things from the past week or so as I sort through the birthday stuff.

That being said, my daughter is extremely advanced for her age, and informed Ken that she is tri-lingual the other day. She speaks English, Spanish, and penguin. Here is a demonstration:

I also got a new present... can you guess what it is???

This one is for Sara and Mike

Here is Anna helping me make the icing for her cake... don't tell anyone, but Anna cooties were ALL OVER IT!

Did you figure out what my present was?

I have waited a long time for it...

Any guesses?A new 50 mm lens with 1.8 aperture for my camera. This lens has a very shallow depth of field which blurs the background and makes my beauties really pop out of the picture. I postponed it for a long time because I don't really need it, but I sure did want it. So I finally caved and forked out the money. I think it is well worth it!

Stay tuned for more... Well, here is a preview of the party pictures. This is what my yard looked like... Yes, that is TWO bouncers that you see. Don't worry, I didn't pay for two. There is a story behind this. To be continued...

Cutie Pics

Just some cute pics of the girls... from Aunt Sara

First Day of School

Anna went back to school today. She went last year and loved it so it was a smooth transition for her to go back. She had a new dress that GG (her great grandmother) bought her and looked super cute. I took a picture of her in it, but as always, there was a long, drawn out, drama episode to get a cute picture. I posted the process because looking back at them makes me laugh so hard. So here is our picture process... don't worry, the scrapbook photo is at the bottom... we eventually got a good one!

Here we go... pretty as a princess!

Funny Videos

Well, I started to create a new blog (see the entry below) and for some reason my computer was taking FOREVER to process the videos. I had to cancel it out and now have decided to do a separate entry of videos. The videos here also are the same time frame for the photo entries below.

Both the girls love ice cream. Here they are enjoying some after dinner. Emma-Grace in particular is quite vocal about her joy. Notice she is using a spoon. This is a new development. We are no longer allowed to feed her, and she needs a fork or spoon at every meal. The first week or so was a complete disaster, but she seems to be getting the hang of it. She will let me stab her food to get it on the fork, but then I have to lay it down and she will pick it up and feed herself. Spoonable stuff she can do on her own. What is funny, is that we pray every night before dinner and she has to hold her fork (so Anna does too) when we clasp our hands together. Good thing I am a mom who accepts that kids are always grimy and sticky. I think it makes their lives more fun. Anyway, Emma-Grace gives us all a lesson in how simple true happiness can be.

This video is similar to the first one, but I love happy Emma-Grace in the first one and the BIG ANNA at the end of this one.

Blue Berry Pie - Ken's mom makes awesome pie and her blueberry pie was excellent this year. Emma-Grace enjoyed it too. Plus, we do a dinner time routine with Anna when she empties her plate... I have to ask if she spilled her food, or hid it in her pockets... or whatever before I realize that she ate it all. This routine has been going on for about a month now.

Like I said earlier, we went to my parent's cottage this weekend. They have this HUGE hill that the homes sit on and then you go down the hill to the beach. Of course it was a source of entertainment, with Anna and Ken throwing a big Frisbee up and down the hill to Uncle Mike. Emma-Grace was thrilled to slide down it on her bottom or belly... yes it is that tall that she can get enough speed to slide down it. Here is a video of her sliding, but the best part is the near miss of the giant Frisbee and Emma-Grace. Hilarious!

Here is Ken getting beaten up by the girls.

CMU Poster Child and Labor Day Weekend

The girls enjoying ice cream... like Anna's chocolate mouth? Gross! It is amazing how much fun an empty tote can be...

Here we are putting everything back in the tote... without knowing that the girls were in it! Ohhh!
Just a quickie - Emma-Grace decided to style her own hair with goo from food... Like the mohawk?
We went up to my parent's place for the holiday. Here are some pictures of the girls around the campfire. Do you like Emma-Grace's outfit? Who here thinks she should be the new poster child for CMU?
Here is photographic evidence of me and Anna going through the many emotional phases in order to get one picture of Anna...

Phase I - Total inactivity. Notice she is laying on her hads to keep them from moving. Complete ameba-ness. Passive resistance.

Phase II - The listening phase in which I explain that I am going to get a picture of Baby Sissy. notice her contemplating the attention she will no longer get and Emma-Grace will.

Phase III - Compliance. Here she has realized that I do want to take a picture of her and she is a super model. Plus, we don't want Emma-Grace to get all the attention!Anna, Ken and McKenna playing in the pool.

Daddy pile up! I think Anna got tossed off.

More CMU poster child propaganda.