The water balloon

Water balloons are fun.

They feel really cool and they are fun to bite... 

 until they pop in your face.

"GIVE ME ANOTHER ONE, NOW!!!"

 Happy again. 



Until the next one pops.

 The life of the water balloon. 

Happy 1st Birthday, Cora!



This month kind of snuck up on me and I don't really know where to begin.  This morning I woke up saying Happy Birthday to my baby and it sounded weird to me and didn't feel right coming out of my mouth.  Tomorrow I will wake up and she will be one year and one day and then she'll 15 months and then 1 1/2 and then I will stop counting the months all together and it will just be years.

It's funny to run into people I haven't seen in awhile and for them to say, "wasn't she just born?" but I feel like she has been here forever and can't hardly remember what it was like without her.  It's hard to remember what those first weeks were like when she wasn't walking around, dancing and clapping to music.  Who totally adores her siblings and happily follows them around to whatever activity they are doing.

She resembles her daddy a lot at 1 year and I don't really see much of myself in her yet.  However, I do see a bit of my sister Chrissy in her when she was Cora's age. 

She is sweetness and light and determination and spunk.  A perfect combination and she is the joy of our lives.  

Alaina and I had fun planning her big day.  I made some finger foods and served them with lemonade and Alaina and I made some tissue paper pom poms and pinwheels and decorated the front of our house.

We wanted a relaxing afternoon for her and everyone else and I think we accomplished that.

She wanted to get her hands on these all week and I finally let her have one.

I made her cake and smash cake and it was 95 degrees and humid and I could not make the flowers work, so I made whimsical flowers and I still think it turned out cute.  She didn't complain anyway.

There were a lot of little boys enjoying a water gun fight, so I made sure Cora could enjoy some water fun, too.

She loved it.

Time for her big moment and she knew just what to do.

She owned that cake.

It even plugged up her nose and she couldn't breath.

So, so good.  She takes after her mom and loves cake.

The pool worked great for clean-up, too.

She received some great gifts and it seemed like she truly enjoyed each and every one.

She had a great day thanks to the family and friends who made it so special.

Happy Birthday sweet girl. I could not love you any more than I do.

No longer a beach boy

We finally talked Fabio into cutting his hair.

Before

He is still a cutie, but does look older and not as likely to surf.

After

Happy 4th of July!

 We spent the day at the lake with the Fostervold's and then headed to my in-laws for a bonfire to cook hot dogs and s'mores.  I'm not sure what we were thinking since it was 98 degrees with high humidity! It was still fun, though (:  Then I took Alaina and Jonnie to see the Fireworks while Jon stayed home with the younger two. 

It was a fun day!