Singin' Sensation

Happy 2nd Birthday Ani!

A return trip to the Malt Shop for a birthday sundae (just like last year for her 1st birthday!) donning a new outfit from Aunt Marcy & cousin Meggie.

Skuut bike from Dad (she doesn't reach the ground yet though -- hopefully soon!)

New, spunky outfit from Uncle Tim.

And even a gift (a book) from Jardin Magico, her school.

And I still haven't given her my gift yet (nothing huge, but I know she'll like it - sand shovels and bucket for playing at the park!) We're having a party for her this Saturday at the park up the street where she'll get balloons, cupcakes, and play time with friends. Lucky birthday girl!

Talented Friends

We have talented friends. Over the past few weeks, we have taken advantage of these said friends and their talents by paying them to create the wonderful things that they do. And we're very happy customers!

Friend #1: Cory Thorson, owner of Whoa-tos! Photos printed on wood. I had Cory do one for Monte's birthday a couple years ago and we just had him print another one of Ani with one of my mom's cats at her house. They both originally are rustic-looking photos, so they transferred well onto wood.

Friend #2: Beth Schultz, amateur photographer. Beth took our engagement photos 5 years ago and we were so pleased with them that we hired her to come to the Bahamas and take our wedding photos there too. A couple weeks ago, we had her take some family photos around Lake Nokomis. Again - extremely pleased!

Friend #3: Jason Larson, husband of my college friend Melissa and maker of pretty much any outdoor game you can think of: Cornhole (bean bags), Giant Jenga, Kuub, to name a few. We just picked up our customized Cornhole boards and handmade bean bags - it's always Panthers vs. Cyclones in our house!

If anyone actually reading this is interested in any of their services, we'd be happy to pass on their info. It's quality work for a reasonable price - and it's nice to help out a friend.

Hat & Butter

Ani made an Indian hat w/ feathers at school this week. We love all of her creations she brings home - they are up all over our house and on the fridge. We taught her to continually clap her hand over her mouth and go "Ahhh".

We went out for dinner tonight and Ani ate all of her....... butter. With her bare hands. There was a little cup of it with our bread basket and she ate the entire thing. We were kind of grossed out. She behaved though so we let it go and figured it was a "lesser of two evils" thing.

Size

Size perspective from the papasan chair.

Wood

Is this wood thing getting out of hand?

Mother's Day

We had a nice Mother's Day with Monte's parents over the weekend. An early brunch at the Highland Grill - family-style meal that was very tasty and free mimosas for the mamas. Monte even bought me flowers and chocolate! The only thing that could have been better was the weather - a little on the cool side.