16 yr old Lydia!

Lydia turned 16!!!!!  Aaaaaaaaa!  Her birthday turned out a little differently than she expected because a couple weeks before her big day this happened…

At least she got to pick the color.

Lydia chose to open presents in the morning before Mike left for work (instead of sleeping in, which really surprised us).  She asked for a guitar.  It was a little ironic…
16 fingers for Lydia!  And her birthday breakfast of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Then we found out it was National Donut Day and Krispy Kreme was giving out free donuts!!  Second breakfast!  (And she is driving with a permit.  She is a great driver.)

We were lucky to pet sit for our good friends.  George the kitten is hilarious.

And we love their dog, Tess (what a great dog name!), who is a pit mixed with some sort of shepherd.  Good dog!  

Lydia invited a bunch of youth for a pool party (at which she couldn’t swim).  Not a lot of pictures, but here are a couple.  Notice the birthday girl sitting on the side of the pool.

After swimming and pizza all the teenagers came in for cake.  Unfortunately, our fancy dance fridge doesn’t fit the cake plate so I had to balance it inside a cooler.  Aaand it tipped over inside the cooler.  But it was still good.

After cake the teenagers went down in the basement and watched Jurassic Park on the projector and with surround sound.  (The goal was to finish the basement first before setting up the home theatre, but with wood prices being what they are the finishing of the basement has had to wait.). It was good teenage party.
Happy birthday to our ever delightful Lydia.  You are a terrific 16 yr old!  

Evelyn Eleven!

Evelyn and Lydia had their birthday week in June.  Evelyn turned 11!  She started her day with crepes.  (I like her taste.)

We had lots of rain that morning so the girls played with leaves in the drainage ditch behind the house.

Science experiments.

After dinner of cowboy stew, cornbread, and cucumbers Evelyn opened presents.  I took the kids to pick out dollar store trinkets.  Sometimes quantity is just as fun as quality.  She also asked for a shaved ice machine. (Notice Bridget’s helping out finger to make 11.)

Evelyn and her Black Forest cake.  She insisted she help make it.  

Classic Evelyn.  Happy birthday, you photo phobic girl.  We love your fun and creativity!