Birthday Cake, Birthday Pancakes, Birthday Doughnuts...
Sounds Like a Party to Me!

I thought I'd make this post easy today (this week is shaping up to be busy and potentially stressful, as it has the girls' first days of school and a lot of stuff I want to get done!) and just share a whole bunch of pictures from the last week in our lives.

To start off, last week Sydney had her Kindergarten Camp. I thought this was a wonderful idea; they let the kids come in and spend a half day at the school, meet the teachers, get a tour of all the classrooms and different areas (library, lunchroom, gym), meet the principal, and learn fun things like how to open up juice and milk cartons. Although it probably shouldn't have been, it was a very emotional time for me; I seriously teared up amidst all the talk of carton-opening! (I can only imagine how difficult Wednesday is going to be!).

Here are pictures of us heading into the school and Sydney reading her "School is Fun" book afterwards...



On at least three occasions in the past week, the family has requested my new creations: Frappucino Milkshakes (a truly yummy concoction of ice, milk, mocha ice cream--the best is Edy's French Silk flavor--and chocolate syrup). Here's Delaney enjoying a glass...

I don't have pictures of it, but on Friday night Gary and I enjoyed a date night out together. We ate at Cajun Steamer (I WISH I had pictures of that crab-and-shrimp topped chicken. Mmmm), went to a movie, then came home and cuddled and watched tv of our choice (the kids were gone overnight!).

On Saturday, we celebrated my Mom's birthday with family, the cake shown above (angel food cake! strawberries! whipped cream!), and gifts (her big gift was the complete 9-season DVD set of "Seinfeld"...we laughed and laughed and laughed with it all day!)...



(And now we interrupt all of this week-long celebrating for a short public service announcement: Pillow fights with your Pop are SO fun! You should grab your nearest husband, or father, or sibling, and hit them with a pillow as hard as you can. Crazy laughter will ensue!)

Okay...back to your regularly scheduled celebrations.

On Sunday, my niece Lori turned 18. She spent Saturday night with us and I woke her up with a big, giant stack of birthday pancakes (pancakes, blueberries, chocolate chips, syrup, whipped cream, and a few candles)...



And then after church we all took her birthday shopping and for a celebratory birthday doughnut (or a dozen; yes, a DOZEN!!)...




(that look on Delaney's face cracks me up. It's like sheer bliss, isn't it?)




That evening our church hosted another celebration--a back-to-school bash complete with water slides and games, hot dogs & hamburgers, popsicles, fireworks, and lots of fun with friends...



(that was just a random kid coming down the slide, but I just had to share that action shot!)




We had a BLAST all week (and weekend) long! I hope yours was excellent too!

And, oh, before I leave you, let me share with you what else Sydney did all last week long. She wore many of her new back-to-school outfits! She loves shopping, loves to try on clothes, and loves to pose in them. And, now that I'm a much older (i.e., laid back) Mom, I let my kids wear their clothes before their first day. Isn't she cute?...



Okay, that's the end for real.

Love you all!!