Breaking in the sprinklers

Mira and Amelia helped us break in the sprinklers yesterday for the summer season. They had a playdate with friends, plus the kids across the street came over and had fun with the water toys and running through the sprinklers. Looks like we're going to have a great summer!

Amelia and her BFF Sophia:

 

 Chasing with the water toys:

 

 

 

 Enjoying a snack and drink on a wonderfully hot day!

Mira and Camryn creating with sidewalk chalk. My driveway looks so pretty!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day 2012 was a wonderful one! Chris and the girls gave me cards and three hanging baskets, then took me out to breakfast. The rest of the day was spent lazing about, and I even got a little shopping in. Here is our annual photo with my darling daughters:

Happy Mother's Day to my sweet mom Martha and all the other mom's I know.

Inline skates make eight feel great!

Mira scored a bit of birthday money this year and, instead of wasting it on little junky items like she's done in the past, she decided this year to put her money to good use and buy something worthwhile! Mira found my old rollerblades in the garage and has been trying mightily to use them for a couple of days, even though Chris and I have been protesting that they are way too big. So Mira decided to buy herself some inline skates for her birthday. Chris took her to the sporting store and came back with a really cool pair!

Mira took right to it, under Chris' excellent guidance! We insisted she also purchase knee pads and wrist guards, and she must wear her bike helmet while skating. Mira loved zipping up and down the sidewalk across the street and is anxious to get really great at it so she can skate around the park! I have a feeling she's not far away from that goal.

Amelia turns 5!

Today is Amelia's 5th birthday! Our family party for both girls was today (Mira turns 8 on the 26th of May!), so the day was extra special.

My mom and dad came up yesterday and stayed overnight. It was especially nice since yesterday was my and Chris's 11th anniversary, so we were able to go out to dinner alone while Mom and Dad graciously took the girls to McDonald's for dinner. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Today my baby turned 5. Here she is in all her five-year-old glory:

Mira blowing out her 8 candles!

 Me and Chris on our way out to our anniversary dinner:

 Dad and Amelia playing Rock, Paper, Scissors:

 Amelia and cousin Sydney:

 My oldest, about to turn 8!

 Two people had the same idea for a dress for Amelia!

 Buried under mounds of tissue paper!

 Amelia blowing out her 5 candles:

 Putting together a craft that she received as a gift:

 Writing in her top secret diary (with a lock!) that she received as a gift:

We also got a gift card from Grandma and Grandpa Johnson to buy some guppies and went to get them straight away! They are happily swimming in their new homes. Mira named her three guppies Chloe, Genevieve, and Alessia. Amelia named hers Amy, Sophia, and Chloe. They are very excited to have new pets. Fingers crossed they live a long life in their tanks!

Thanks to everyone who made it to the girls' birthday party. We really appreciate you taking the time to celebrate with family and you made this day very special for Mira and Amelia.

Amelia's 1st friend party

Yesterday was Amelia's first birthday party where she could invite friends over to celebrate with her.
2 hours + 8 five year olds = one tired mama! I think 4 kids would have been better, but Amelia had fun so that's what's important! We had a few activities planned, and still had 45 minutes left over! I guess the activities didn't last as long as I'd hoped. I had visions of smoothly flowing from one event to the next seamlessly, ending perfectly on time with parents swooping in to bring their child home. Not quite the case. (Although ALL the parents arrived right on time to pick up their kids, which was wonderful!)

Here is a sampling of a couple of the party activities. They played musical dress-up game:

 

 

 

 Opened gifts. Here is Amelia and Alex:

 Amelia and Grace:

 Amelia and Sophia:

 Amelia and Lola:

 Amelia and (her boyfriend!?!) Ian:

 Amelia and Avery:

 Amelia and Noah:

 The entire group:

 Pinning the pirate chest to the treasure map:

And the kids decorated their own cupcakes, which served three parts: It was the cake, it was a craft, and it was a parting gift since they decorated two, ate one and brought one home in a cupcake box. I love economizing! Each kid also received a lovely parting gift from the dollar store: a rubber snake for the boys, and a paint your own piggy bank kit for the girls. All in all, Amelia loved her first friend party! We are gearing up for the family party next week on May 6, then Mira gets her shot at a friend party in early June. Throw my and Chris's 11th anniversary in on Saturday and it's a busy month!

Happy Easter 2012

This year we spent Easter with Chris's dad and Terrie. The kids did their annual Easter egg hunt on the hillside and down to the beach! They love this tradition and really love finding the eggs with the cash in them! This year Amelia found one with $5.00. She was thrilled!

My two darling daughters:

 Randy, Amelia, and Mira:

Amelia, Cara, and Mira waiting for the Easter egg hunt to start:

Ready, set, go! They are off!

Up the hills, down the hills, on the beach . . . eggs could be anywhere!

 Cate got her own little plot of land at the top of the hill to find her eggs.

 It's a long way down from the house!

 Mira and Cara:

Amelia starts gymnastics

Each season, Chris and I let the girls pick an activity to join through the park and rec board. This can be either a single class, a drama class, a sport, or an art activity.  This session, Amelia chose gymnastics! Her first lesson was Tuesday night and she really enjoyed it! They got to taste a little of everything in the first session, then they will fine-tune their skills over the course of the next few weeks.

Here are a few photos of her first night:

 

 

 

Parents aren't allowed to view again until the last class. I'll post more photos then and show her progress!