Be Our Guest!

-"Mom, are mermaids real?"
-"Well, they're real in your imagination!"
-[total and complete utter devastation face] "Are you SERIOUS!?! NOW what am I going to be when I grow up?!"

People, this is London.

I had an awful cold last week, and as I laid helplessly on the couch, London came to see me.
"Mom, I'm sorry you're not feeling well. You need lots of rest, and vitamins. Don't forget to eat lots of fruit and venchtables." And then she got me a glass of ice water with a straw and held it to my lips to drink. "Here, Mom."

And now she's five. I blinked and my baby turned five.

The beautiful flowers provided by Hartworks Floral Design!

She wanted a Beauty and the Beast party, and you know by now how I feel about birthdays...so we did just that! The food was really yummy- banana, peach, strawberry, and nutella crepes, tiny chocolate chip muffins in the shapes of roses, and fruit salad----- but London's friends weren't too excited about having real tea...oops!

Uncle Noah decorated this delicious lemon-blueberry cake!

Princess Belle was our wonderful surprise guest! She sat down with all the girls to read them a story, while the boys all hid, peeking into the room from around the corner! London kept telling her friends, "She's princess Belle from the play!" 

Thank you Princess Belle!!!!!

London spent the entire day in her Belle dress, holding it up just enough to show her ankles-the most graceful little princess. 

The day before London's birthday, she sat at the kitchen table, saying her morning prayer. She sweetly asked, "...and please bless Auntie Tarynie, and bless baby Layla to be healthy and strong, and--please--bless baby Layla to be born on my birthday..."

Layla was born on London's birthday:  a healthy, teeny, beautiful baby girl! My mom and I sobbed the happiest tears as OJ brought her into the hospital room. Taryn is so attentive and loving, and her entire countenance glows with pride. Happy birthday, little miss Layla! 

The Start of Summer

It was Kyle's birthday, and all he wanted was to get his very first pedicure. So we dragged our favorite people, the Adams, with us to the mall, and indulged ourselves. Kyle rolled up his dad jeans, sipped on a miniature bottle of cold water, and charmed the poor lady scrubbing his man feet. Afterward, we walked to the Cheesecake Factory, where we confused the waitress with our somewhat scandalous order-sharing. We laughed our heads off until we couldn't keep our eyes open for another minute, which, thanks to our combined six children, was about midnight.

We had grand plans for the fourth of July, which included celebrating Kerrisa's birthday, barbecuing, swimming, and a fireworks show to round out the day. Everything went according to plan, until the kids all fell asleep on the way to the fireworks. I thought for about 3 seconds about waking them up to watch, before I recognized their snoring little faces as the perfect excuse to enjoy a fireworks show with my best friend on her birthday!