Mogan's 10th

This evening I got to spend some time with my sweet Morgan.  We went to Toys R Us to use a birthday gift card, free supper for her at Qdoba, and then we hit the park for some birthday pictures.

Such a sweet girl she is.  I was thinking today about what a special place she has in our family.  She's not one of the loud ones, but she makes her presence very known by how much affection and love she gives.  Morgan is a player...she doesn't care what is being played, she will join in.  She spends hours with her younger siblings, playing everything from legos to ninja gymnastics classes.  She also is a very good caretaker for Josiah.  She simply adores him and is always happy to watch him when I need her to.

She's growing up so quickly.  I see her growing and maturing in so many ways.  We love you Morgan!!!

Morgan doesn't like this picture but I think she looks so much like Claudia on here.  Crazy!

New red pants from h&m for $3.  She was thrilled.

For her birthday gift from us she got her ears pierced.  She hates her mole but I think it's adorable.

Her favorite place to be

My favorite shot of the night

This is the "yes, i live in Lancaster County" shot.

Fairy Tea Party

Hi, this is Claudia, I did a fairy tea party with Avery and Afton a while ago and mom asked me to make a blog post about it.

                                                First all the girls went to the fairy spa.

 I did their hair, makeup, and painted their face while they listened to music on my ipod.  I gave them a headband I decorated and a fairy wand.

 Here was the set table. I didn't put the food on because we were doing other things before the tea.         Morgan was the "waiter" and brought out all the food.

                    I had some live butterflies in little jars. (don't worry, I cut air holes in the top)

                                       After the spa they went to the pixie dust station

                         All they did was dump sprinkles in a jar with their name on it.

                                                   Waiting for their turn for the spa

                                          Aaron INSISTED on watching.

                                                  Afton's final result was...interesting.

                                             Aaron had the camera, and the mirror from the spa

For tea we had watermelon and cantelope cut in little balls, zucchini bread, pretzels dipped in chocolate, and kool-aid with some sprite added.

Piano Man

This picture was taken by Morgan.  I love it.

Morgan's birthday party

I have officially survived my second girls overnight 10th birthday party.  Sweet Morgan turns 10 today and we had her party last night/this morning.  Everyone had a great time.
We did things very similar to how we did Claudia's a few years back.  If it ain't broken, it don't need fixed, right?  If I would suggest something different Morgan kept saying, "But this was how Claudia did it..."  Got it.
I'll start by showing off my wonderful handmade cake.  May I again reiterate that when God was handing out cake skills, I got booted to the end of the line.  I don't know why I even try.  I can't even make a normal double layer cake without it looking like a train wreck!  As I was icing it, I had a bit of an angry moment (the stress was mounting from all the work just hours before the party started) and Morgan looked and me and said, "Mom, you just kind of had a temper tantrum."  Yup, sorry.  Next time I have a kid's birthday party coming up and want a pretty cake, can someone please gently remind me to just buy a cake??  At least it tasted ok, red velvet with cream cheese frosting.

I asked Morgan if she wanted me to add sprinkles to it and she said, "No, I like how the flecks of  cake are mixed in with the icing."  Score.

Claudia made this sign for the front door

The girls and I worked very hard all day to get ready for the party.  About an hour before it started, Morgan was so antsy.  She asked me what she could do to distract herself and I told her to sweep the porch.  Happiest sweeper ever.

Birthday girl on the waterside

Little bud getting in on the action

I really enjoy watching the girls' friends with Josiah.  I tell ya, God made girls to love babies.

Friendship bracelet

Blurry, but I loved this little interaction between sisters.  They are getting to be such good friends.

A jump shot with 14 girls was pretty tough.

My dear friend, Kendra, came along to help me for the evening.  What a huge help she was to me!!  Thank you, thank you, Kendra!! 

This morning we went to the creek.  The girls loved it.

Keeping me company while we watched the girls

The daring few