May Birthdays

Tamzin turned two on May 3rd, and Azie turned five on May 4th.  True to my commitment, they had separate birthday parties this year.  

Grandma and Grandpa by the Beach did bring them a present a little early, and they opened them together. 

It was Moon Dough and Play-Doh accessories.

It provided countless hours of entertainment.

 I made Tamzin a Princess and the Pea cake, idea compliments of Family Fun once again.

Mine was a little sloppier than theirs, but still so cute... and apparently yummy.

Azie's birthday fell on the day the F. family came to visit.  That gave us double the reason to celebrate.

  

After seeing Tamzin's cake with the marshmallow girl, Azie came up with the idea that she wanted flower marshmallows on her cake. 

This is the best I could come up with, and Nita helped me polka-dot them.

Now that I've reached my goal of having separate birthday parties, maybe next year my goal should be to let Tamzin and Azie have separate posts for their birthday parties!

My Cute Baby

I just love my little Tam, Tam. 
She just loves to have her picture taken. 
These were from a photo shoot in my bathroom.

     

They just don't make kids cuter than this.

Birthday Parties

Annika turned 9 this year.

She took cupcakes to school during lunch and shared them with all her classmates. 

Here she is with Kiki and Miki.

A few days later we had cake at home with the family.

Oreo turned 100 this year.

We had a party, complete with limited edition Birthday Cake Oreos, homemade ice cream, and candles.

Apparently the ice cream was too good to waste even a drop.

My Pie

I like to call Tamzin "honeypie". 

Two nights ago when we were putting the girls to bed Cameron said to Tamzin, "Good night honey." 

A slightly embarassed Tamzin walked over to me and said, "Mommy, Daddy my pie."

The Biggest Mess

So we got this box of questions for Christmas.  They're designed to be conversation starters, and Azie loves for us to read the questions to her.  Last night one of her questions was, "What is the biggest mess you have ever made in the kitchen?"  Her reply was, "When Tamzie peed on the floor."  Here's proof she wasn't lying.

Tamzin wanted to wear Azie's panties one day, but she's obviously not ready for that!

Christmas Day

Christmas 2011 will forever be known as the year our kids were finally excited on Christmas morning... mostly thanks to Tamzin.  One tradition we have is on Christmas morning we gather in one of the girls' bedrooms and eat Pop Tarts and drink milk while we read the story of Jesus' birth.  Then we have a family prayer before we go downstairs to open presents.

Annika has been asking Santa for a new Pogo Stick.  She has been practicing on Kayja's since last April and has gotten quite good.  Azie spotted it first, and yelled to Annika that she had seen it.  Annika has been improving her Pogo every day since Christmas.  I think her record is 116 without stopping, which, according to her, would have been higher if she had been wearing shoes.

Azie LOVES to help cook in the kitchen, so Santa brought her a tabletop kitchen of her own.  Now she and Tamzin make all kinds of yummy foods to serve to us.

Kayja got a Pet Shop treehouse with a Pet Shop that wiggles its tail.  She thought it was quite silly, and I agree that a little plastic toy wiggling is pretty funny.

Darion had yarn on her list, and was so excited that Azie and Kayja bought her some pretty, fluffy yarn that she started crocheting a scarf as soon as she was done opening presents.  Santa brought her a seat cover and matching steering wheel cover.  Now she just needs to get her license...

The four older girls all got games, personalized notebooks, pencils, erasers, comfy pillows, and clothes.  They also got a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve.  Tamzin had to wait til morning because someone (I won't mention my own name) forgot until she was tucked in, fast asleep.

The highlight of the morning was undoubtedly Tamzin.  She came down the stairs and saw none other than her beloved Cookie Monster sitting on the couch.  The only reason I didn't get it on video was because she ran faster than any Olympian sprinter has ever dreamed.  She also opened a little baby doll in a cradle from Darion with shouts of, "Yeah!!!"  She opened a fuzzy dog and ran away from it.  (She's afraid of fuzz and bugs.)  She thought the next present was fuzz, too, so she ran away before she even opened it.  Luckily, it was an Elmo shirt.  Then she was so excited that she thought every present after that was Elmo.  I wish I could relive this Christmas with Tamzin over and over.

Cameron got Swedish Fish from Santa.  He must have been a good boy this year to deserve such a treat.  He also got an extra large shower head, as he has been complaining about tiny shower heads since the day he was born.

My favorite gift this year was a new camera.  I have had the same camera for about five years now, and it just has been wearing out.  I apparently complained about it enough, that Cameron wanted to silence me once and for all... or at least for another five years.

Since we had Christmas Eve dinner with Cameron's parents and grandma in S.G.U., we had plenty of leftovers to enjoy Chrismas Day, without all the cooking.  Ham, sweet potatoes, veggies, and cider... yum!

Yes, I Am a Slacker

I have gotten onto my blog two times now since my last post, but I had so much fun reading everybody else's blogs that by the time I was going to write, something came up and I had to go.

Our adventures have been many since I last wrote.  Tamzin and Azie both had a birthday in May.  Their birthdays are only a day apart, but I promised myself that they would never have a joint birthday party.  I just want them to feel like they each have their own special day.  In fact, when we were in the hospital, Cameron gave plenty of encouragement so that I would be sure to get Tamzin out before the clock struck midnight.  (I made it by an hour and a half - phew!)

We ended up having to leave town on Azie's birthday, thus making it a necessity to have a joint party. (Not starting out so great, I know.)  It sure was fun, complete with great friends and great gifts, but after we had the party I recommitted myself to having separate parties for a different reason.  I couldn't see both of them at the same time.  I ended up missing a few precious moments, including Azie's huge eyes when she opened her Zhu Zhu pet.  Here are a few that I caught.

Yes, Azie requested a blue frog cake.

One of Azie's many favorite presents.

Tam Tam is in love with Elmo!

 She wasn't about to leave a single crumb on her tray.

Squealing because she couldn't get her doll out of the box.

Poor Baby

Little Tamzie has been very sick. She started with a cold and a cough on Saturday, then a fever that night. Diarrhea followed on Sunday and into yesterday. She finally ate and drank her bottle last night at dinner. She slept all night last night and woke up without a fever. She seems to have turned a corner, but yesterday she just wanted to sleep and be held. I have to admit I enjoy the cuddle time when my babies are sick.