Happy First Birthday Halle!

"What's this"

"Got It!"

"Hmm, now what do I do with it?"
"Oooo!"
"Yum-o, thank you so much for this delicious cake, Mommy!"
"Ooo, it's so good! Is it gone already?"
"Plate, not so good. I want some more!"

Halle had a great birthday. We had some friends over for dinner yesterday. I decorated with some pink balloons and a birthday sign. When Kaia saw it she exclaimed, "It's my pink birthday!" I had to explain that it was Halle's birthday today, and hers was another day. She's already decided she wants a pink cake. Halle was excited too, she's been totally entertained chasing balloons around the house. I can't believe my baby is one!

It's Summertime..and the Livin's Easy

No time to blog...we've been enjoying the outdoors...

Playing Dress Up

I found some fun dress up stuff at garage sales. Two sets of butterfly/fairy wings for I think 50 cents each. And a unicorn costume and a bumble bee costume for $1 each. Every once in a while, Kaia and I run around the house, wearing our wings, flapping our arms, saying "I'm a beautiful butterfly". Alex likes the costumes even more than Kaia does. In the first picture, they were admiring themselves in the mirror. The second picture was snapped just as Kaia pushed Alex down. I'm not proud that my daughter pushed her (she took a time out after that), but I think the devious look on Kaia's face as Alex dives to the ground is kind of comical. Those two argue like sisters.

We Have a Yard!

Finally, the outside of our house looks like a home! We have a driveway, sod, landscaping, and even a patio. Mike even built stairs for the patio. Now if only the weather would cooperate...all I want to do is get outside! It's so awesome!

Mike's New Look

Mike got some new glasses. His old ones broke and he was left walking around with superglued frames for the last 3 weeks. Aren't they stylish? I think he looks good. A regular Danny Gokey. Much improved from his old look....

You may be thinking, "yeah, we all have embarrassing middle school pictures". No, no, my friend, this was a school photo taken in 1993, which I believe was his senior year. It's a good thing Mike and I did not meet until six years later...hee, hee. Love you, Mike!

Post-Pigtails

And this is what happens when you wear pigtails all day... She looks just like Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, when he dresses like a crazy ex-football player to visit the mental institution.

I CANNOT Bake

I tried to make banana bread....this was the result. My mom brought some banana bread over a few weeks ago, and I've been dreaming about it ever since. I thought I'd try making some - whole wheat though - so I don't feel as guilty about eating half a loaf. I got a well-reviewed whole wheat recipe at allrecipes.com, and I followed the recipe exactly, I swear. However, it said "cool on a wire rack for at least 1/2 hour" so after removing it from the oven, I immediately flipped it out of the pan onto the wire rack. Well, half of it stayed in the pan. The pan was greased, that wasn't the problem, I think I just should have left the bread relax in there for awhile. On top of that, I don't think I cooked it long enough. Eating it this morning, it was pretty mushy, but not bad, didn't seem to bother Kaia or Halle. Since then, I remembered that the whole wheat flour I used was pretty old (I just don't bake often, do you see why?). So my new theory is that the old flour ruined the recipe, and the rushed, post-oven transfer did not help matters. I bought some more bananas today. I'll try again when they get old and nasty. Until then, I'm still convinced....I CANNOT BAKE!