really late easter egg hunt

Because Leah's 2nd birthday party fell during the week before Easter, we didn't get to have the egg hunt we wanted to do until the week after Easter. But it was just as much fun!

two!

So as usual, I'm a little behind in my blogging. Last Wednesday we went to Leah's birthday party. Laura always does SUCH a great job of decorating and letting things up!! And we all had a lot of fun just being together again!

The birthday girl. She now answers "two!" whenever you ask how old anyone is - herself, my kids, Mommy, Kiki.... :)

Laura did a nursery rhyme themed party because Leah is very into nursery rhymes these days. She had set out spiders for the kids to color and stickers to decorate them with.

Little Miss Sunshine here is going to make a great babysitter in a couple years! She loved getting to hold Annie for a couple minutes. :) I think Annie liked it too. :)

Ok, seriously! Check out these peanut butter sandwiches - in the shape of a clock!! (Hickory Dickory Dock...) So cool!!

I should have gotten more close up pics, but each snack had a nursery rhyme to go with it! And if you have read my blog for very long...you know who did that cake there in the middle. Do you know the nursery rhyme that goes with it?

"Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye.

Four and twenty blackbirds,

baked in a pie......

...When the pie was opened,

The birds began to sing;

Wasn't that a dainty dish

To set before the king?"

(Cake by Leah, of course!)

"Leah, say 'Cheese!'"

Isn't it funny how so often the other people around will "blow" the candle out with the birthday person? :}

Jonathan here LOVES birthday parties. But there MUST be balloons. And cake. And presents. Of course. He couldn't wait for Leah to open her presents and finally it was time!

Great job on the fun party, Laura!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEAH!!!

little bo peep

Had to get these edited and up tonight because I have another photo shoot tomorrow evening! :) Just pray the rain will hold off until afterwards!!

Here are *some* of the rest of Leah's 2 yr birthday pics. I had come here to explore with Michael a few months back and couldn't wait to come in the spring when everything was green and flowering! It was definitely beautiful!

She loooves "circle flowers" and oh boy! were there plenty of them here!! She "shake! shake! shakes!" them instead of blowing them. Very effective! :)

We knocked on a lot of doors trying to see if Aiden was behind any of them. He wasn't. Aw, nuts.

She loved these red chairs! And mommy and Kiki were happy to beat the belly dancer over to them who was also there having her pictures taken. Ha!

Ooh, how I wish I had a video of this! :) She was holding this little chick toy and singing to it: "Rooock a bye chiiiiick....."

Soo. Sweet!!

Pausing to hug the tree during our peek-a-boo session... :)

And then Aiden came for a few minutes!!

They are so funny together! Aiden was peeking through the V in this tree and Leah wasn't quite sure of the point of this...although she did try it too. :)

And of course, I couldn't not take a pic of this little cutie! Can you just barely see her new accessory?? Here...you can see it in the one below...

She got her ears pierced!! She is just so fashionable! :) And yes, she's a pro at blowing bubbles! lol :)

Next we found a great tree to climb! By this time it was dark enough that I had to turn on my dreaded flash! Bleck. I do not like having to use it. but oh well. These two pics make me smile! :)

Flash again...ew. But look! Little toddlers holding hands...tooo cuuute!!!!

Some day these are going to be engagement pictures.

If these two can overlook the fact that little Leah would have the same name as her mother-in-law.... Teehee! :)

baby annie 3mo pics

And a few of big brother, Aiden...

Say hi to Cake Leah. :}

valentine's day fun

My kids and I decided it would be fun to have a little Valentine's Day party. Sadly, Shannon had to work that day so we missed having her and Jonathan over, but Leah and Laura came with their cuties and we just had a laid back, wonderful morning together!

Of course, no party is complete without a Leah cake. My girls were so excited to have a "real" Leah cake - all fancy and beautiful...and delicious! :) And with all the sugar flooding the house this day, I made sure all other snacks were healthy ones! Thankfully my kids love healthy stuff and ate about half the baby carrots! lol

This is Aiden. He's getting so big! I love this last picture above...Leah had my camera at this point and he is looking at her like "Oh brother, mom! Quit taking my picture already!"

Leah...I couldn't resist this next one...

Tee hee!!!

This is why Leah had my camera for a few minutes... :}

"Baby Leah" as we call her when Cake Leah is around :) looves to be read to by Little Miss Sunshine.

She's cute. :)

Look at this little beauty!! Annie is melting so many hearts with that big smile these days!

Well...her mom did used to be a teacher.... ;)

Sharing some V-day love. :} She gave Aiden a kiss...then he tried to hug her back...as she quickly hopped down from the chair. :}

Leah left to take her two kiddos home for naps and Laura and Baby Leah stayed for a little while longer and went to our playground across the street. Mr. Happy is instructing her in the proper ways of swinging a "big kid". :)

My little buddy. :) You can ask him what color a "hunk" is and he will say "green!" because he thinks it's the same as a hulk...like the green hulk!

She's making a heart. :)

After Laura and Leah left, we hung out at the playground for the rest of the afternoon. It felt soo good to be out in the warm sunshine breathing the fresh air!! After a while, our new little friend, Lulu, and her mom came to play...and our favorite dog, Smiley, even came to see us! A great end to a great Valentine's Day! :)