Evie's Birthday, Con't

 Birthday morning--the traditional opening of gifts. This year there were presents from Aunt Becky, Uncle Matt & Casey, and Great Aunt Betty.

Thank you, Aunt Betty, for the Hobbit gifts! It's nice to have a present to share!

The sparkly headband was a hit.

Aunt Becky, Uncle Matt, and Casey were in on the American Girl Doll surprise. You can see Evie has read the label.

What is it??

Why, it's the puppy dog that goes with her doll, Saige! Thank you!

After opening gifts, we walked to Dunkin' Donuts. I love the walk-ability of our neighborhood!

Don't worry, we didn't eat them all! We shared them with Daddy. While waiting in line, I gave Evelyn the camera, who enjoyed some candid photography. I love seeing life from their perspective. :)

Later in the week we went to Toys R Us to enjoy the gift card from Grandma & Grandpa Blackman. In keeping with tradition, the birthday girl let her sister choose a gift (a new girl & accessories for their Loving Family Dollhouse collection), and then chose three stuffed animals for herself.

 She'd just been diagnosed with an ear infection, and when we got home, she took her meds, put her ear on a heating pad, and snuggled with her gifts to watch--of all things--our wedding video. I'd not watched it in YEARS, and it was so sweet to see the girls' reactions. They loved seeing all the family and friends (especially Cousin Lindsy, our flower girl, who was then 10) and went crazy over the KISS. They were, however, disappointed that Daddy did not smash cake in Mommy's face at the reception. I told them we'd chosen to be NICE to each other on the first day of our marriage. :) They still thought it would have been more FUN to have a cake fight. :)

Birthday Surprise

Given the choice between an American Girl Doll and a party with friends, Evelyn went with the doll. It was really no contest. So we thought it might be fun to surprise her with a family gathering in her honor.

We did it the Sunday prior to her actual b-day, and she was totally surprised. Amelia LOVED being in on it and helping me prep for it while Alan took Evelyn shopping for ice cream--the ruse.

Her initial shock and bewilderment turned quickly into pure joy.

And we had a wonderful time eating her favorite dinner (Southwest Veggie Lasagna), yummy leftovers from a shower mom had hosted that weekend, and of course, ice cream.

Happy birthday to our fabulous nine year old. Life is something you are still enjoying to its fullest, and we love that about you! 

Favorite People

They are so cute in their matching dresses (from Easter) from Grandma Bisset! They are showing off their new fancy shoes (an amazing new thrift store just opened not far from us), and their wild leggings and socks.

Speaking of new, can you tell our front porch got new coats of stain and paint?

Family Outing

Riding bikes is really big right now around here. Amelia's bike is named "Bunny," (after one of Laura Ingalls' horses), and Evelyn's is named "Twilight." (Not related to the TV show.) Amelia talks to her bike the way one might talk to a horse. "Ya, Bunny! Ya, girl! You can do it, girl!", etc.

We ride bikes to the school up the street, and often break for playing on the playground.

Evie scored her hot pink Converse All Stars at the thrift store for $6.

They are great for leaping off swings. And apparently mis-matched socks are all the rage.

Sunset at the school. I love pretty skies.

The girls have a game where they creep along the outside of the fence surrounding the playground. Alan took the opportunity to hop on Amelia's bike.

I think he looks pretty cute in her helmet, too. :)

It's good to get the family out! 

Picture Day & always check the blender first

They looked so adorable heading out the door today. Amelia is still in a Little House on the Prairie phase. (If the be-ribboned braids were not an obvious enough clue.)

They've reached the age (so soon??) where finding the right ensemble for picture day is a big deal. Thank you, Aunt Lisa, for the pretty dresses you enjoy giving them and that they enjoy wearing.

And "what's with the blender?" you ask. Last night we had Alex Walsh over for dinner. It was awesome to host a young man who was just a bit older than our girls when we started our Hamiltopia meals years ago. Now he's in college. Sigh. However, now his parents are going to wonder if we were trying to kill him.

Sunday night I made pesto. I do remember thinking the blender was working hard to grind up the walnuts. Last night I was excited about the fresh pesto cream sauce with chicken that was going over the pasta. Fortunately we didn't mix ALL the chicken or pasta in with the cream sauce. As we ate, we all started finding these little shards of--this is crazy--METAL in our food. The best we could figure was that, since the blender lives in the same closet as the recycling, when one of us tossed the foiled cap off a bottle of wine into the recycling, it flew instead into the blender, and I didn't actually look into the blender when I made the pesto. The little pieces of metal were very obviously mangled, and only in the pesto cream sauce.

We threw the whole thing out and finished the meal with plain pasta, chicken, and salad. Oh, and we laughed a lot, too. My plan had been to make fruit smoothies for dessert, and even though the blender looked harmless enough, no one was that excited about the idea. So no dessert.

Alex said it would only have been weird if, instead of dining with us, he'd been eating dinner for the first time at a girlfriend's parents' house. What a guy.