Alexa's 2nd Piano Recital

Alexa finished off her first FULL year of piano. She enjoys it (I think.) Here are the two pieces she played. The poor girl had to go first so it was a little scary. But I still think she did a great job. (I don't know, I could be a little bias though.) She did look cute though with her hair up. It's the only chance these days that I get to pick how her hair is done. (I told her since I paid for the lessons I get to pick how her hair is done and that she had to wear a skirt - which was torture for her.)

HaPpY bIrThDaY mCkEnNa

Our baby turned 2 on May 30th. I can hardly believe it. I have just found that it is the best time for a birthday. Things are much more relaxed and the weather is so great. No getting ready for Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Just birthday party time. McKenna's birthday was on a saturday so we celebrated the whole day.

We started off with daddy making pancakes and a few special pancakes for McKenna.

Then we headed off for a picnic at the park with presents to open.

All the party goers.

McKenna LOVES babies and so this baby cradle I found was perfect. Alexa made the dolls out of fabric, buttons and yarn.

Then for the BIG present from both the Grandparents:

A car to ride in for walks. Thanks G'ma & G'pa Gibb and Grumps and Abuela. It's a big hit everytime McKenna comes outside.

After the park we came home and had cake and ice cream. Alexa and Olivia had just done cake decorating at Activity Days and so they practiced their new skills on McKenna's cake. Pretty good job, I'd say.

After cake and ice cream we went to our dear friends, the Eckholdt's to go swimming. They went out of town so we got to take care of their plants and pool while they were away - for our payment we got to swim whenever we wanted. Love that plan.

AAAHHHH!

Happy Birthday sweet McKenna. We are so blessed to have you in our family. We are so grateful for your darling spirit and love watching you as you experience this life with us.

Strawberry Pickin'

I love summer and especially when it's strawberry pickin' time. Out here in NC (just like I'm sure a lot of states do) we have some Pick your Own Fruit Farms. We decided to make it a family outing. Here are the AWESOME strawberries we picked. (If I were good at blogging I would have taken pictures at the farm - sorry, no such luck.)


A few days later, we went straight to work and made some yummy jam, strawberry shortcake and smoothies. Here are the girls working hard to make the jam. (We are working on Maya's cutting techniques.)


The one piece of advice my mom has given me is "Don't ever do anything for your kids that they can do for themselves." Making the jam is definitely something they can do now. It was great. I came away with strawberry stain-free hands.

Contrary to popular belief, McKenna did not join the KKK. She is just wearing Olivia's chef's hat.


The finished product. I can't WAIT for next year.

Now it's blueberry pickin' time. Any suggestions with what to do with those?