birthday fun

Lily celebrated her birthday today with her friends Sidney and Paula. They arrived shortly after lunch and wasted no time getting their craft on.

Sidney Lily and Paula

Once the skies had cleared they got to do what they really came to do and that was head to the pool. I laughed out loud when 4 girls from the swim team got into the pool and started doing laps and drills. Crazy kids. At one point they cleared out the shallow end as they were racing and doing fly and it scared all the littles. After laughing my head off I suggested they do something else. They finally just started being kids and stopped being manic team swimmers.

Huey, Duey and Luey

Finally being silly 

I laughed when I realised Lily and Rosie had goggles on

Swim friends

funny girls

they had a plan

and this was it.

Rosie promised her sister she would stay out of her hair and she did. I was really proud of her cos she was bursting to play with them.

The pool made everyone starving so we came home and Lily's choice for dinner was Chinese food so while they all showered and got cleaned up I ordered take out and it arrived in perfect time. They ate and wasted no time getting back to business and this time the business was dyeing their hair with Cool Aid. ~ yes I got the parents permission before dyeing the lovely blonde hair of their girls bright red. Lily actually learnt about it from Sidney.

painting on the cool aid. Supposedly blue shows up better on dark hair... not true

drying the dye

While they waited for the dye to take they ate cake and attacked each other with party poppers

Lily went first

Red tips which will wash out over the next couple of days especially since they swim all the time. Lily's hair isn't showing any colour at all but I think when she is in sunlight it will. She is disappointed...me not so much but I wanted her to do this and see what it was like. 

Now...now it is 11.30 and they are watching T.V. and making friendship bracelets. There is no end in sight. I put Rosie to bed a short while ago.

I call them un-sleepovers for a reason. I don't expect them to sleep. They have at least a billion other crafts to do before the night is over.

Paula had tried the Cool Aid dye before too but it didn't work at all. I researched it online and found the best way to do is to add conditioner to the mix  and paint it on the hair and then wrap it in foil and dry it. I rinsed it out until the water ran clear.

Happy Birthday Lilipop

I have an eleven year old daughter. It seems rather silly to me that she is eleven since it was precisely 5 minutes ago that an official in China handed me a 14 month old baby. She insists that it is true.

Sadly I was called into work this morning but I lined everything up last night so that her day would start with a little fanfare.

Good Morning birthday Girl

We knew things would be a little rushed this morning so we all agreed that she would wait until she got home from school to open her gifts with exception of her big present, a new bike. She got that on Sunday as she had to be with me so that I knew what size to get. hah, it's the same size as mine. She really really wanted a bike with gears and so she chose a monster bike with 18 gears. No photos due to the weather...I'll get to that part.

She went off to school with her cake, the one that Publix messed up and wrote Happy Birthday Summer, on and a new bounce in her step, being 11 does that apparently!

It was finally time to pick her up and really let her day begin. She was so happy. School ended today for the year so she is done for the whole summer. Both girls are delirious. Me too. Rosie couldn't wait to get Lily home and give her her gifts.I am not sure who was more excited.

I'm sure it isn't normal to tenderly and gingerly remove each piece of tape but that is how she does it. She also very carefully opens all her cards. I was on the sidelines shouting rip 'em but she wouldn't.

Thank you Nanny and Grandpa. The sock monkeys are from Ro.

She received this book from a client of mine and is thrilled with it. It is a pop up book that has a stage and and characters.


Birthday or no birthday, swimming was waiting. I checked the weather report because for most of the day we had been under a tornado watch and 3 tornadoes had touched down about 90 miles away. The pool was closed but the website said all swimmers must report. WTF? We reported only to be told to go home. Again, WTF? Some of the kids had been dropped off. I helped the coach call some parents as he had dropped his phone in the pool, LOL and when we were done I took the remaining kids to my car and we had an impromptu gathering complete with birthday cookies right there in the rainy old car park. The kids thought it was the best thing ever. In the end I drove them all back to my house and had birthday play date. win win.

Why talk when you can text?

The littles wondering if it will ever stop raining

fun...well they think so

Cookies on the dash with the rain in the background

After everyone left and Rosie went to bed Lily stayed up with me to watch the Heat game. She is celebrating her birthday with friends from swimming on Saturday but it looks like it will be a movie day and not a pool party...stupid Tropical Storm Andrea. Seriously it is only the 6 th day of Hurricane season and we are already getting hammered. Lily has had her Gotcha day celebrations marred by hurricanes 3 times and one of those was in China! I think she needs to have a talk to the weather Gods because she may need to make amends.

Looks who's six

My baby is six. I can't actually bring myself to say it out loud, I am just whispering the word in a way reminiscent of how old ladies used to say the word, sex. It just seems so very very big to me. She is still so tiny so I think it might be a mistake, an accounting mistake, yes that must be it.

Just in case it isn't a mistake I did my annual pre-birthday interview with her last night. Even she seems a little surprised that she is not going to be five anymore, weird little wonder that she is.




 I like to allow the girls to have their birthdays their way. If they want cake for breakfast then they get cake for breakfast. The rest of the year I am a bit of a drill Sergeant and since I DO NOT throw enormous birthday parties that cost as much as a wedding for them I allow frivolous behaviour. She even chose everyone clothes, that was scary. Thank heavens I don't have any orange shirts!Rosie being Rosie had her usual breakfast albeit surrounded by balloons and Happy Birthday banners and wanted to go to Miami Children's Museum for the day.  So we did, right after she opened her prizes.

One of my favourite photos ever of Rosie. I just caught her as she came down the slide as you enter the museum and she was so happy.

Lily caught a fish

Rosei captained a boat

Even the seahorses wore orange in honour of her birthday

A quick visit to the dentist

Thems so large choppers.

Got milk?

Grocery shopping at Publix

EMS workers

Rowing her boat

Kayaking

Climbing the rock wall, the tiny one

That's a big hat, Lilipop

Lily took on the monster wall, and won

Lily thought it was hilarious that the bear was so big

Getting her groove on in the recording studio. She had me is stitches.

A birthday tiara compliments of the art deptartment

Let them eat cake.

Cutting destroying her cake

Lego was her wish. Look at all the pretty colours it comes in now. Oh and when did Lego come in a Winnebago and trailer set complete with a BBQ and bicycle. It's very cool.

Happy birthday sweet girl. I love you to the moon and back. You are such a funny little one and make us laugh all the time. You have this strong need to please and are always checking to make sure I am OK. You are my girl and if I am there you are fine. You will take Lily as a close second but other than that you are not interested. Recently you have come into your own, thank goodness and have even been known to put people in there places. Swimming is the best thing that has happened to you and lucky for us you love it. Your confidence is starting to soar and I know that you are going places. You have a very compassionate side and get upset with anything that you construe as an injustice. School is another favourite place of yours and thankfully it is making sense. It was hard for at first to make any sense out of readiing but recently that has changed. You think math is the easiest subject ever and breeze your way through, just like your sister. Talking of Lily you truly do think the sun rises and sets on her.
I know this year will fly right by, they all do and I my wish for you is that it brings you all your hopes and dreams.
Love Mama.

Another birthday

We celebrated another birthday in our house today, mine. I love my birthday just as much as any child and I get really excited about it. The girls love to celebrate any of our birthdays and they make them so much more fun.

With Rosie still being icky we laid a little low. She wanted to make a birthday cake so that is what we did. I was just the supplier of ingredients, she did the rest. She really went to town with the decorating. 

I love my cake. Well not the cake so much cos frankly it tastes bloody awful but the decorations on it. I finally figured out what is going on with my baking. My scales are shot. The girls have dropped them so many times getting them out of the cupboard that they no longer work. So when I measure things I might just as well use things like shoes and socks cos the amounts are never ever the same. It wasn't until after we were done that I realised just how messed up they are. Instead of a nice fluffy sponge cake I have 2 pieces of something that sort of resembles cookie dough crossed with cement. But in all honesty I don't really mind, I now know what the problem is and Rosie had so much fun so tell heck with the taste. 

After I had opened all of my "prizes" we went for a dip in the pool. I think the cool water and weightless helped Rosie feel better than she has for days. She even asked for a snack when we got home. She tried some of her cake but decided she'd rather have something else instead. LOL

It was a great day and I loved every minute of it. Jacob surprised me with his gifts, he apparently does listen! (or as Lily says, he can take her hints!)

Thank you all for a really lovely birthday. 

I think she has all of her bases covered, from xmas, to Mothers Day, to silly hat day.

Lily did the piping around the edges and added the candles. The icing is a blue/green colour.

Blowing out my candles with my 2 very proud bakers and decorators.

Swimming with dolphins

Lily decided that instead of having a birthday party this year she wanted to swim with dolphins. It may sound extravagant but don't forget where we live. We are surrounded by places that offer the opportunity to do just that however they differ in price by over $1100. Really, they do, it's insane.

We made the reservations a few weeks ago and headed off this morning with one very excited 10 year old. She had the biggest smile on her face. Shortly after we arrived it became very apparent that Rosie was feeling ill and the high humidity and soaring summer temps were doing nothing to help her feel better. We did the guided tour of the facility and then Lily got to do her swim but right before she was done i left with Rosie and headed to the car. jacob and Lily stayed and saw a few more shows including the parrot show, sea lion show and one other. We were meant to take a bottomless boat tour but it just wasn't fair on Rosie so we opted out. WE took Lily on a quick tour through the gift shop but she decided to get and ice cream instead, smart kid. I can't begin to tell you how hot it was today but the devil called and asked if he could come over and warm up.

This is where we were in, Key Largo. Fl. Fabulous I tell ya, fabulous.

Sick little Pickle, sitting in the bag in the shade.

a dreadful photo of a really really really hot me and my cool as a cucumber girl

getting ready

asking the dolphins to twirl

twirling with Kona

Swimming with Kona. She lost part of her fin to a skin disease

More swimming

I love the look a amazement on Lily's face here. She is in heaven

A kiss

Dorsal tow

picking up speed

Really flying

Jumping through hoops

good bye

It was a fabulous day. Of course I wish Rosie had felt better and all had gone as planned but alas life happens when you make other plans, ha that's why I learnt to dance in the rain. I don't think Lily will ever forget turning 10. Happy birthday sweet girl I hope you had a banner celebration. Love you.