Birthday Time

The main news this past week is that Claire celebrated her Birthday! On Saturday we invited friends over and there were 12 kids that showed up! Claire is constantly asking when we can go to a friends house or when we can invite someone over, so I thought this was a meaningful gift for her. We moved the couch to make plenty of room. The slide from Grandma Hebdon was the centerpiece of the party. I made cake cones for the first time; they were perfect for little kids. On her actual birthday, on Sunday, we opened mom and dad gifts and Grandma Quinn watched her open her gifts via video. Thanks for all of your birthday wishes!

 A new dress and necklace. Her first tea set. I love that it's metal, like the Rice Krispie plates we used to play with at Grandma Arave's house.

 I couldn't resist buying this giant Lisa Frank coloring book! And these are her first set of markers.

 A doctor tool kit. Her first patient was her new toy bird that records what you say and repeats it back.

 A whole box of band aids to herself. She and a friend burned through them in one sitting. Her baby doll looked like it was in a body cast!

 Yes, she opened this present one little piece of ripped paper at a time.

 Frozen marshmallow cereal! The breakfast of a toddler.

 Dad demonstrating how to play a harmonica. The kazoo has been her favorite, and Todd has taken to the shaker egg.

 Someone didn't set the bowl far enough away...I turned back from helping Claire and saw this.

 A friend gave us this castle tent. It's quite the set up sliding down a pink slide into a pink and purple castle!

 Todd is getting better at reaching and getting around!

 We had a sensory table for the older kids at the party. There were lentils everywhere by the end! Thankfully it's easy to vacuum up and it matches the color of our carpet!

 The after picture.

 This was the only "good" during the party picture I had.

 Sea shell wands.

 These mini beach balls were what we used instead of balloons.

 Before the party.

 Playing with the elements. This is the first time I let him sit on his own without spotting him. He sits up on his own all of the time now.

 This was a tea party we went to at a friend's house. There were all age groups in attendance. Of course we loved it.

 When Todd is content he'll just roll around and suck on his fingers.

 We have a rose bush outside of our house and Claire loved that I put one in this tea cup.

 Fun at the park. I used to make these at recess time when I was little.