Cookie Monster!

At our grocery store on base, as soon as you walk in they have a basket of cookies for the kids. It's great because it keeps Taya quiet for the first half of getting groceries. Bladen doesn't need one. . . he's only 9 months old. The cart I put them in has Bladen in the front (like a normal cart) & then Taya is strapped in by the handle. It's a huge cart for 3 kids. (it's the only way I can keep them separated.) Anyway, Taya was enjoying her cookie & I was weighing my fruit when I hear Taya start screaming hysterically something about her cookie! I turn around & THIS is what I find!!

Bladen had flung himself forward far enough to steal her cookie from her & then downed it as fast as he could (I had no idea his 2 little teeth had the man power to eat a hard gingersnap) Taya was flailing wildly trying to get it back from him but was buckled in & couldn't reach. I just looked at the little guy & this is the face he pulled: "What? Did I do something wrong?" SO CUTE! (Yes, I went back & got Taya another cookie.)

Snowman Cupcakes

Cadence's teacher asked if I wanted to bring a treat to the class to celebrate her birthday with them. I was thrilled. (You know me & my love for baking!) So, since it's been an abnormally freezing & snowy winter here in Germany, I decided on cute little snowman cupcakes. They're just normal cupcakes in liners with white frosting on top. Then you dip them in coconut to give them a snowball look & add chocolate chips for the eyes & mouth & an orange tic tac for the nose.

The kids loved them for the most part. I guess most kids have never had coconut before. A lot of them asked me if I put torn up paper on the cupcakes. ha ha ha. That made me laugh. But they all had fun & they sang Happy Birthday to her. Then I got to take her home early. It was fun for all of us!

Presents!!!

Cadence got a lot of fun things for her birthday this year. . . She got legos, a book full of her drawings from 2009, a nightgown, Snow White, some bedding, some games; Trek & I got her a leapster game system with learning games (to help with reading & math skills).

My mom got her this little toy hamster thingy. That thing has a mind of it's own. It runs all over the house all by itself. It bumps into walls & turns itself around & goes the opposite way. Taya LOVES chasing it. It scares me. It's like a little rat that runs around my feet all the time. ha ha ha. She loves it though. She got a little carrier, a surfboard, & a house for it too. It's actually a pretty good idea for kids when you don't want to buy a real pet. Now both Lorien & Taya want one.

Birthday Breakfast

Our family birthday tradition is the Potter Birthday Breakfast in bed on your birthday. Cadence told me straight out: "Okay mom, I want scrambled eggs with cheese, toast with orange jam, & a ding dong for my birthday breakfast!" I just said "Aye, Aye Ma'am!" She woke up early on her birthday, & came to wake us up. . . then snuck back in bed so she could pretend she was "sleeping" when we brought her food to her. I was laughing so hard at her. But she got exactly what she wanted. We brought the toy table into the bedroom so her sisters could eat breakfast in the room as well. We all had a blast together!

Princess Party

For Cadence's 7th birthday party, she had a princess party. She's 7 now & I know that she is getting older, & soon there won't be any more "princesses" for parties. So I have to enjoy it while I can. We decorated the house in pinks & purples, with princess plates & cups & a giant castle as a centerpiece for our table. And then we had that Belle cake that Cadence was SO excited for! On our door was a sign that read "Cadence's Castle! Princesses Welcome!" It was perfect!

Cadence has exactly 8 other girls in her class at school, so she decided that she wanted to invite all 8 of them to her party instead of half of the invites be for school friends & the other half for church friends. She really did not want anyone from school feeling left out. What a sweetheart! She is so caring of those around her. She is such a good girl.

Well, being the horrible winter that it's been this year, a lot of the kids in her class got sick & only 2 of them were able to come to her party. I was SO worried that she would be disappointed that more didn't come, but she acted as if it didn't bother her at all & we all had a blast!

Signe & Emily were great & we had lots of fun learning how to become true princesses. We made homemade castles, homemade crowns, beautiful heart charm bracelets, & purses. We learned princess etiquette & manners & we all had a fabulous time!!

The girls all loved singing happy birthday to Cadence. And then we all chowed down on Belle cake & strawberry ice cream. Then we finished by opening presents. Cadence got 3 new littlest pet shop pets from Signe & a big dress up set from Emily. She was thrilled! We all had a ton of fun.

And I had to throw this picture in there because Bladen LOVES Taya & always wants to be with her, but she can't stand it when he touches her. She screams & cries like it hurts, but he still loves to rest his hand on hers or on her lap despite her cries. I thought this was a sweet depiction of that mutual love between them. . . Don't you just love it?

Curly Girls

Cadence & Lorien both wanted me to do their hair in curlers for Cadence's party. I LOVE putting curlers in their hair. I love the outcome. They both look so great with curly hair. It's funny because I do Cadence's in the bigger curlers & her hair will stay cute & curly for 3 days.

With Lorien I use the tiniest curlers I can get & it is SUPER curly (like little orphan Annie) for about 3 hours & then it goes straight again. Her hair does NOTHING with the bigger curlers. The poor girl has hair like her mommy. My hair was always straight as a board. When I got perms, they never lasted longer than a week or two. But she sure enjoys the curls while they are there.

I didn't notice how reddish & dark Lorien's hair is getting until I did it curly & put it next to Cadence's beautiful blond locks. I love that my girls are so similar yet so different. They are both so beautiful! I love them so much.

Cadence's Belle Cake

Cadence wanted a Princess Party for her birthday this year, so I asked her which princess cake she would like me to make. This year it was Belle. I actually enjoyed decorating this one more than any other cake I've done before. It was simple but fun & turned out quite beautiful. I was very proud of it. And Cadence loved it. I love making my kids happy.

First Sleepover

On the 29th of January, Cadence got invited to her very first sleepover. One of her best friends from church invited her over for her birthday & Cadence was SO excited. I almost cried as she left with her pillow & sleeping bag. . . she's not a baby anymore. She went & stayed the whole night without being scared at all. In fact, she had the time of her life. She was talking about it for days! My little girl is growing up too fast.

Painting Beads

Mamoo gave Cadence the cutest set of beads for Christmas. It's taken us FOREVER to actually get it out & do it together, but we found the perfect time when she was off of school & Lorien was at school & the little ones were taking a nap. Perfect mommy daughter time. She painted each of the big beads all by herself, & then I helped her string them along with some sparkly beads onto twine to make 2 necklaces & 2 bracelets. She spent 2 full hours working on her project. It was SO MUCH FUN for the both of us to do together.

Speghetti & Glue

At Creative Critters this time, we dipped cooked spaghetti into colored glue to make pretty noodle pictures.

We also made penguins out of oreo cookies. These are an adorable idea. Take the top off an oreo & break it in half & put to the side of the cream to look like a penguin's head. Then use mini chocolate chips for eyes & a candy corn for the nose. They were so cute. Taya never fully finished hers. . . she saw an oreo & it immediately went into her mouth! That kid LOVES her "snacks!"