Greta's Day

I've been a bit swallowed up by birthdays around here lately.  My girl's birthdays are all within 3 weeks of each other.  Phew.  I keep saying when they are older it will be fun, we can just do birthday week and all go somewhere fun.  But for now, we are celebrating them all as they come.
Thanks to the summer reading program at the local library, we had free tickets to the Strasburg RR.  Greta was so cute when I asked her if she wanted to go on a train ride for her birthday.  As we were getting ready she kept asking about the choo choo ride.

Greta was scared stiff of the engine

Claudia snapped this, I love the interaction between the 2

Morgan is ALWAYS trying to smooch on Greta.  It's a bit close up, but I love it.

That evening we had my parents and our dear friend/babysitter, Margaret, over  for cake and presents.

I love that my kids get gifts for each other at yard sales.  Morgan though that Greta would like these.  I think she got them out of a free box.

Everyone obviously liked this gift!

Had to wear it all

Greta was not very excited to have the cake with candles in front of her.  She quickly ended up on Margaret's lap

It was so cute to watch Greta on her special day.  I really don't think she likes being the center of attention.  She was very quiet, did not say a word, but could tell that she was enjoying it all, especially the presents!  We LOVE you Greta!!

The Party

Friday night we did held a party here for Claudia's birthday.  She turns 10 on Wed.  I only give my kids parties on certain ages and this year was Claudia's turn.  She has been looking forward to this day for months and months.  We invited 15 girls, we weren't quite sure where to stop and start with inviting, so we just invited all the girls her age at church.  They all ended up being able to come (except one who got sick at the last minute).  I was pretty nervous going into it, not sure of how everyone would get along and how would I manage such a big crowd.  My camp counselor skills came back from a few years ago, I used to love dealing with crowds of little girls!!  My parents kept the little 2 so I wasn't chasing after them.  The party went amazingly well.  Everyone got along wonderfully, had great attitudes, and we had a ton of fun!!

We started out the evening with a big water slide.  I love this sign that Claudia made

Claudia got to pick her birthday meal: BBQ chicken, baked mac and cheese, corn on the cob, watermelon and caesar salad.  After supper we played a get to know you game and then opened presents.

We attempted a pyramid, got pretty close.  2 girls are not on here.

After that we had an impromptu talent show.  It was so cute.  We had the electric slide, gymnastics, an artist, modern dance, ballet, a pair of sisters do an Irish dance, and much more, including some   serious silliness.

We had Oreo ice cream dessert instead of cake and then the girls watched a movie.  After all that it was close to midnight and this was what they were doing.  Trading silly bands.

I got a few hours of sleep that night, but not much.  The next morning Claudia wanted egg dish and coffee cake and fresh fruit.  One of the girls suggested that we take some time and "honor" Claudia.  What a sweet gesture.  It was so neat to hear the little girls sharing what they liked about Claudia and being friends with her.  She is so blessed to have such sweet girls in her life.

After breakfast we had a craft.  Can you guess what we made?

I couldn't have asked the party to have gone any better.  It was such a fun time.

Girls Everywhere

This is what is going on at my house right now.  16 girls.  Sleepover.  Claudia is almost 10.  We're having a blast.  More details later.

Baby G is 2!

I can hardly believe that tomorrow my little Greta is turning 2.  These past 2 years have been a bit of a whirlwind with her, I feel like she's pretty much lived on my hip for that time.  She is very much a mama's girl and I often joke that she has to be or else she doesn't get my attention.
Greta is such a joy, it's been so fun to watch her little personality emerge even just these last few weeks.  She reminds me mostly of Morgan, but still her own little self.  She loves to play outside and ride her scooter or just sit on the porch and hang out.  She also loves to run.  She has this huge stride for her little legs, it's so adorable.  I'm secretly hoping that she's going to be my little runner girl!  She's quiet, doesn't have too much to say, but knows many words and how to express herself.  It's so sweet to her see love her family.  She adores Aaron and thankfully her sisters have recently been raised a few notches.  I love that she now lets them do things for her.  And she loves her daddy, it's sweet to see them adore each other.
We are so grateful for our little "g".  She's got more nicknames and songs than any of my other kids.  Happy 2nd girly!!

I took these shots of her for her birthday about a week ago and am not really happy with them.  It was super muggy that day and she just looks sticky to me on the pics.  But the biggest thing that is bugging me is that her bangs are soooo long!  I didn't want to cut them before the pics b/c I have this tendency to cut them way to short.  I didn't realize how long they were until I looked at the pics.  But oh well, she's still a cutie and here they are.

Credit to my assistant, Claudia, for the next shot