Let's Go Fly a Kite

One of the presents Rosie got for her birthday was a kite. We have flown it twice, and it is so much fun. The second time, Jono bought us an extra long string and the kite was so high in the sky!

The butterfly kite in the picture of Rosie is really a sticker I added using the program Picnik (the real kite didn't fit in the frame of my collage). Picnik is a very fun editing program that you pay $25 a year to use. My sister Rebecca told me about it and I love it. There is a free version, but the really creative tools are in the package you buy.

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Petting Zoo at Gardner Village

For a recent cousin-playgroup we met at Gardner Village's Petting Zoo. It was a very fun outing; the animals were so adorable, especially the little pigs!

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Rosie's 9th Birthday

Happy Birthday to our sweet Rose! She loves her birthday and we made sure it was very special for her. We celebrated by eating at her favorite restaurant The Old Spaghetti Factory and the waiters sang Happy Birthday to her. (I hope this made up for what happened earlier in the day at school; the janitor always sings Happy Birthday in a funny voice to the birthday students at lunch, but he had the day off. Rosie was crying hysterically after lunch to her teacher!)

After dinner we went home and Rosie opened her presents. Among other presents, she got a tea set, a piggy bank and an Owl City CD, which was an interesting combination. She was so happy!

The next day was Rosie's big birthday bash. We had an "Ace of Cakes" inspired party and each girl got to decorate her own cake and apron. It was so much fun; the girls were adorable and did such fabulous work with their creations! In preparation for the party, I sewed 14 aprons, baked 16 cakes, and whipped up 8 batches of frosting; I would do it all again to see Rosie's smile!

All About Rosie:

She is still a wild and crazy girl, she chases boys at recess and comes home with grass stains on her cute white leggings. She loves to sing at the top of her lungs while dancing on her bed; she has the whole upstairs level shakin'! She can go from laughing hysterically to crying her eyes out and back to laughing in a matter of minutes.

Rosie loves to read. We got her a reading light for her nightstand so she can snuggle up in her bed and read before falling asleep. She almost always gets 100% on her spelling tests at school and has passed off all her multiplication facts and is working on her division 5 facts. She got her first "B plus" last term and was devastated to not get all "A's".

After being the best eater in the family for most her life, she is suddenly quite picky. She refuses to eat school lunch, but doesn't like sandwiches. I give her a slice of white bread and a cheese stick or yogurt in her lunchbox every day--how boring!

Rosie still loves to write and makes up funny stories or poems all the time. She writes letters to Grammy and Grampy, which makes them laugh. Rosie and I spent several hours de-junking her room a couple weeks ago. I discovered her secret for cleaning her room, stuffing things under the bed or in the corner of her closet! She loves bags and purses and has many; each was stuffed with "treasures" that we had to find a home for. This girl did not inherit the neatness gene!

Rosie can be sassy, but always feels bad afterwards, and apologizes with a hug and kiss. She says the sweetest prayers, that are very long and detailed. She always says, "Bless mom in her motherhood" which touches my heart every time. We are so blessed to have Rosie in our family!

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Coleman Can Ride a Two-Wheeler!

Coleman just learned to ride a bike without training wheels, hooray! He is quite proud of himself, and I am proud of Jono. He was very patient with Coleman, who had a hard time concentrating on riding the bike because he was talking so much. Coleman also had a hard time steering, and fell over many, many times! He has bruises on his legs and a scratch on his cheek from riding straight into the bushes in the catwalk. But, he is very brave and gets right back on. Way to go Coleman, you can ride a bike!

Ouch! Coleman's legs were black and blue from falling so much!

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40 Years

I just had my biggest birthday ever--the big 4-0! To celebrate, Rosie and I wore black, the whole family ate Chinese food, and I baked my favorite cupcakes. Here's to 40 more! I was actually feeling pretty good about myself until Coleman handed me something and said, "Here you go old woman."

The Best Cupcakes from New York City's Magnolia Bakery

1 1/2 cups self rising flour ( I have used all purpose instead and it's fine)

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup unsalted butter (if I only have salted butter I use it and it's fine)

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs @ room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour and set aside. Cream butter, gradually add sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Combine milk and vanilla and add into mixture in parts, alternating with the flour. Mix well, but don't overmix. Fill 24 cupcakes 3/4 way full and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Butter Cream Frosting (also from Magnolia's Bakery)

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well until creamy and smooth. Frost and enjoy!

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Our Favorite Spring Holiday

We boiled 4 dozen eggs this year to decorate for Easter--wow! The kids and Jen F. had a great time mixing and matching colors until each egg was a mini work of art. We were glad to have so many eggs because Coleman kept accidentally breaking them. Each time he was so upset, then Bud or Rosie would offer him one of their eggs and his smile returned. Unfortunately, he would break another egg and the sad face would return. All was well in the end; he had more eggs than anyone else because the others kept sharing with him!

All the eggs that Coleman kept breaking we made into egg-salad sandwiches, yum!

The Easter Bunny did a fabulous job of hiding the eggs this year; tucked away in interesting places but not too obscure that the egg stays hidden forever. Coleman again broke many eggs, but was not so upset about it as the day before. The Easter Bunny hid the baskets in the double ovens and each child had a $5 bill in a plastic egg. They must have been hungry because Bud wanted to spend his money on a Subway sandwich and Coleman wanted to buy a box of honeynut cheerios!

We then enjoyed a delicious lamb dinner and watched "Church on TV". Happy Easter!

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