Daddy had to travel on his birthday, so we celebrated a day early.
He had helpers for his gifts.
And we ate some of the cupcakes from Tab’s party to celebrate in his absence.
Tabitha’s 9th birthday party
It was a gorgeous day out. Seventy degrees and sunny.
We had all day to prepare and everyone worked together.
The party was scheduled for 4:00 – 7:30. Which is really cool. Except in my head I thought it was 4:30 – 7:00. Which left me sort of surprised as cars started pulling in at 4. LOL. It was even on the calendar!!!
We had all day to prepare and everyone worked together.
The party was scheduled for 4:00 – 7:30. Which is really cool. Except in my head I thought it was 4:30 – 7:00. Which left me sort of surprised as cars started pulling in at 4. LOL. It was even on the calendar!!!
They played a few games in the driveway. Johanna was a party guest, along with all the big girls.
Katriel hung out with us most of the time, as well. But she didn’t get into the games.
These girls were so fun and funny.
Time for dinner. Pizza and fruit. Survey says, most 9 year old girls don’t like pineapple… (because that was all that was left just about.)
After dinner we handed out aprons for each girl.
And we started frosting cuppycakes. On Thursday Nan had made 72 cupcakes. We put them in these little boxes (you can really buy ANYTHING on Amazon). Then Saturday morning John and I made frosting. Lots and lots of frosting. Lots.
The girls were super creative.
Because we wanted them each to get to take home their creations (and because I enjoy making frosting?) we had a regular cake to sing over. I had no time left creative juices left to make a “fun” cake, so Tabitha provided Lego girls to doll up the cherry frosting. Her smile tells me she is okay with this.
Some of the finished products.
As fun as it was to party with the big girls, Hanny was excited to see a new baby in attendance. She asked the baby’s mommy if she could hold her, and the mommy said yes. ♥
When Katriel figured out what Hanny was up to, she wanted a chance, too.
The party ended around 7:30 – I think. And we have a lot of cupcakes around the house as each of my girls made 6. I think we will freeze some. Because that’s a lot of frosting!
Cute as a kitten
I have to share this photo. I love her “real smile.” The one she offers when she is not hamming it up. 
The light switch seems to have gone on for reading. It’s an exciting time for her.
I always tell her how exciting it will be when she can read the Bible all by her own self.
♥
Tabitha is nine!
Her day started with her wake-up song.
And she was greeted downstairs with balloons, a garden flower, and – um – whatever that was that Daddy hung from the light fixture (looks like a forming blood clot IMO).
She got the morning off school, but did have some work in the afternoon… Mostly she enjoyed listening to her new Adventures in Odyssey CD that Nan brought over in the morning.
For dinner, Nan, Nene, Ba and Poppy joined us to celebrate both Tab’s and Daddy’s birthdays.
She got more gifts than he did…
Including some fabulous high heels we blessed her with.
They requested and received molten lava cake…
Happy Birthday Tabby (and Daddy)!
A Day at the Zoo (2015)
It was a Sunday without commitments.
It was a Sunday with warmer temperatures.
It was a Sunday to get out of the house so it wouldn’t be wasted on yard work.
It was a Sunday with warmer temperatures.
It was a Sunday to get out of the house so it wouldn’t be wasted on yard work.
It was a ZOO DAY.
It’s been more than a year since the kids and I visited the zoo.
It’s been more than a few years since John has been to the zoo.
It’s been more than a few years since John has been to the zoo.
The place was crowded, but not unpleasantly so.
There were a few new animals, and all of them seemed new to Katriel.
There were a few new animals, and all of them seemed new to Katriel.
And while the kids took a number of photos of the animals, my favorite subjects are by far my own monkeys…
Katriel sincerely enjoyed this guy. Gal? Thing?
Ugh.
Ugh.
I think he liked her, too.
The woman I handed the camera too gave us gobs of headroom and cut off our feet.. but it crops out ok, I guess.
LOL – I still have some church bling on! 😉
LOL – I still have some church bling on! 😉
Vending machine ice cream bars are fun, too.
On the way home we went through the car wash. Most of the kids have never been through the car wash before, and those who have been have forgotten it. We sure are a FUN bunch!
We ordered pizza on the way home and called it an adventure day.
Easter 2015
I’ve already posted about Easter morning. The rest of the day was rather low-key.
Marie’s delicious Beast’s Quiche.
Marie’s delicious Beast’s Quiche.
As I mentioned, Easter snuck up on me this year. Consequently, we didn’t invite anyone to join us, nor did we go anywhere. Nan and Nene joined us for supper.
Stewart sang at church and had to be there at 8:00 AM.
After church John hid the eggs around the house. It was just too cold outside. Katriel was too hungry for fun and games so we fed her a fast lunch and got her to bed. After lunch she found her six eggs.
Dinner was steaks on the grill with au gratin potatoes and asparagus. I don’t know why I didn’t take dinner photos…
We had more dessert choices than necessary – and you can see the little girls thoroughly enjoyed them.
We had more dessert choices than necessary – and you can see the little girls thoroughly enjoyed them.
I think this might be my favorite picture from this year. ♥
Hanny's basket 2015
Hanny’s basket 2015
Easter Sunday 2015 part one
Part two will come when I load up the real camera…
Easter snuck up on me this year. The only plausible excuse I can think if is that it just fell too early in the month.
I was seriously caught off guard.
Marie wanted to make breakfast for us, so we made one of the recipes from her Princess CookBook
We hunted for some meager Easter baskets.
(Videos on separate post.) 
Stewart had to be at church for choir at 8AM so our morning was a lot different than usual…
I’ll get some of the later-in-the-day photos posted, um, later in the day?
Dayspring Disciples 
