My Two Fur Balls

Since Michael, Claire, and Matthew are now back in all day school- I am just home with these two sweeties.  Emily and Sweetie Pie.  How can I complain with these cute faces staring at me?  It's going to take some getting used to the quiet house, but I know the three of us can figure it out!  

Claire's 11th Friend Birthday Party

Claire invited seven of her closest friends to her 11th birthday party today!  The plan was to have the girls meet her at Bucca di Beppo for a birthday lunch and then head back here for a viewing of The Hunger Games.  

The girls were so excited to have their very own room at Bucca di Beppos.  They were put in the Pope Room which is super cool.  It has a giant lazy Susan in the middle of the table with the Pope's head on it!  Random but fun, too!  I told them that if they behaved and were reasonably quiet, I would let them stay in there without an adult!  Damien, Michael, Claire, Matthew, Gina and I were at a neighboring table where I could see their every move!  No adult in the room . . . yes.  Adult watching their every move . . . yes!

We ordered yummy pizzas, pastas, and salads for them which they thought was awesome!  Then came the ginormous ice cream sundae for Claire's birthday song!

After that- we went back to the house for more fun!  They loved the movie and Claire loved all of the gifts that her friends gave her.  She got a life size cut out of Katniss Everdeen which was really cool.  She also got some other cute Hunger Game themed gifts!

She loved her party and is really grateful to have such great friends!  Once again, Happy Birthday Claire!

Claire's Birthday Gift from Gina

Just had to post this because this gift to Claire from Gina was just too cute.

Claire Turns ELEVEN!

Happy 11th Birthday to my sweet big girl, Clairey!  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, supportive, intelligent, capable, funny, and amazing daughter!  She was so excited for her special day!  Today is a school day.  It's not always fun to go to school on your birthday but we started off the day with doughnuts, so not all was bad!

Today was a 12:30 dismissal day so we showed up to get Claire, her friend Bella, and the other kids.  Damien gave her a dozen roses which was really cute!  We grabbed the kids and headed to Red Robin for her birthday lunch!

While at lunch, she asked to hold my phone so she could watch the clock to turn to 1:51 p.m. which would make her official!  It was cute.  She and Bella counted down the seconds and then cheered when Claire was finally 11!

For Claire's birthday, we gave her Adidas sandals, Nike athletic flip flops, and some great new boots (along with some other treats)!
For her birthday dinner, we invited the family down and had Nothing Bundt Cakes for dessert.  Claire's favorite flavor is Red Velvet so we made sure she got it!

Another high light of the day was Auntie Jocelyn's gift to Claire!  She wanted to give Claire money but didn't want to just put it in an envelope.  She wanted to do something crazy and she sure did!  She put the money in a ziplock, taped into the bottom of a bowl, filled the bowl with whip cream, put a hairnet on Claire, and then told her to get her gift . . . but she couldn't use her hands!  It was awesome!  Messy, fun, and eventually- Claire got her money!!!

Happy birthday, Claire!  We love you and can't wait for your friend party in a few days!  Have a great 11th year!

E and Papa's 40th Anniversary

We were so blessed to celebrate E and Papa's 40th Wedding Anniversary!  Their anniversary is the last weekend in August but we decided to postpone the party so we could all be there to celebrate them!  We were able to all come together today to celebrate this wonderful marriage!

We all met at a crepe restaurant in Santa Rosa and practically rolled out the red carpet for them.  We included many of their original wedding elements into our celebration and it was so moving to see Mark and Marlene go down memory lane.

Part of the luncheon included everyone telling Mark and Marlene something special that we felt about them.  It was especially wonderful to see the thirteen grandkids pay tribute to them.  It was so sweet.

Happiest of Anniversaries to you, Mark and Marlene.  Here's to 40 more!

Happy Saint Matthew's Day

Now it's Matthew's turn!  Today we got to celebrate St. Matthew's Day!  It is so funny that St. Emily's Day and St. Matthew's Day are only two days apart!  Lots of celebrating in September!  Matthew was so excited for today and literally woke up at the crack of dawn.  I had to tell him to go back to sleep because we weren't going to celebrate with Grandpa until the afternoon.

We face-timed Grandpa and started the celebration!  Matthew chose to get clown ice cream cones from Baskin Robbins as his dessert which everyone loved!  Then, the best part.  The presents!  Grandpa got him the Disney Infinity game and Mike Wazowski!  He was literally beside himself!  He had no idea that Grandpa could get him something so cool!

Thanks again Grandpa for making my kids feel extra special one more day out of the year!  We love you!  Happiest of Saint Days to you, Matthew!!!

Happy Saint Emily's Day

My kids look forward to their Saint Days sooooo much!  Today was Emily's big day!  You would think it was her actual birthday she was so excited!  Grandpa never disappoints these kiddos!  Part of their saint day includes picking out the dessert and this year she picked a ladybug cake!  How fun is that?

Grandpa got her some great saint day treats, too.  He gave her a Lego Friends set, a Lego holder, and a darling pair of black boots.  She was grinning from ear to ear.  It really was a sweet day.  Thank you Grandpa for making Emily feel so special and once again helping her connect to her faith.  Love you!