Anna-Claire's Kitty Cat Birthday Party

Anna-Claire is 3 years old! Today is her actual birthday, but we celebrated on Saturday at her cat-themed party. (A-C loves cats!) The Birthday Girl wore a pretty pink tutu and a cat shirt from the blabla store that also had the number 3 on it. Plus, the cat on her shirt matched her blabla cat doll, Rose, that she got for her birthday. So cute! She also is wearing an adorable cat bracelet her Aunt Robin brought back from the Czech Republic.


Here's the big Birthday Girl with her family before the festivities got started. Don't you love their fun party hats?


I love this picture!


Kate loved the hats--she tried to get various people to put them on throughout the party. LOL!


More fun party stuff.


Treat bags--I meant to get a photo of the innards. ;o) I think we must have left Kate's in Tennessee. (Will you all save it for her?) If I remember correctly, inside her bag was a cat finger puppet, a Kit Kat bar, a Hello Kitty photo album, a Hello Kitty stamp, a kitty cat pen ... and I can't remember what else. :o)


Yummy cupcakes!


They were delicious, too!


The kids decorated cookies to look like cats.


They also played "pin the tag on the cat's collar" (or something like that). ;o)


Presents! Get it? Three lollipops on the gift bag because she is 3 years old!


Anna-Claire Bear with one of her birthday gifts


After gifts, it was cupcake time!


Look! Riley's cupcake matches her shirt!


So does Bekah's--there is a cupcake on her shirt behind that sippy cup (not her sippy, by the way--LOL!).


Party guests--Abba and three of her cousins.


Grammy and Grampy


Uncle Steven and Aunt Robin


Kate and her parents


Kate and her Aunt BaBa


Anne's side of the family


Johnny's side of the family (missing our Spain relatives, of course)


Grammy and Grampy with five of their 13 grandchildren


Isn't this the sweetest? This is how Rebekah signed A-C's card.

ETA:
We got Kate's treat bag--thanks to Aunt Anne and Uncle Johnny for saving it for her. :o) I took a photo of the contents:


What great goodies--thank you!

Turkey Cupcakes

I'd been wanting to make these turkey cupcakes for a while now. I came across several versions of them (or something similar) on this here Internet, and they are so easy! Anyway, while we were in Tennessee, we gave them a whirl. And by "we," I mean Anne (who actually made the cupcakes) and Abigail, Anna-Claire and me (who frosted and decorated them). Oh, and the rest of the family, who ate them!


Ingredients and supplies. The Coke is optional for some--but for me it is a must! It was hard not to eat all the candy accessories.


Hard at work! LOL! We were still in our jammies. Anne already had a Christmas tablecloth on the table, so I just pulled it back over her centerpiece so as not to deface it with chocolate icing and such.


One of our finished turkeys. Gobble! Gobble!


On some of the beaks, we used broken pieces of candy corn. That seemed to work better than using the whole piece.


Here is A-C with some of her creations. She is very artistic!

Anna-Claire's Cool Trick

Do you watch Yo Gabba Gabba? If so, then you're familiar with cool tricks. It's the part of the show where folks show off their ... cool tricks. A-C couldn't wait to show us her cool trick the other night. It is a raw and rare talent!



Anna-Claire and Kate love to watch Gabba. We have several episodes recorded on the DVR, and Kate is often requesting to watch one. Lately, she's abbreviated her requests to, "Watch Gabs?" So funny!



When we arrived at Uncle Johnny's house, we realized that Kate and A-C's outfits coordinated. This one was actually unplanned! Believe it ... or not!

Smiley Face in Kate's Meatballs

At lunch today, I put Kate's meatballs in a bowl and cut them up before I presented them to her to eat. I set them down in front of her and proceeded to do some other things to get ready for our trip to Tennessee. (We left soon after Tanna got home from work.) Well, Kate kept saying, "Smiley face! Smiley face!" And I was like, "Yeah, smiley face!" I figured she was talking about the little smiley face ball (really an antenna topper, but who cares?) I gave her to play with at the eye doctor's office this morning. You see, Kate loves smiley faces and likes to point them out when she sees them. After awhile, I realized that she wasn't talking about the ball. I also realized she was pointing at her food. So I had a look. Sure enough, there appeared to be a face on one of her meatball pieces. Can you see it?



Our little girl has an eagle eye, in case you didn't know. Sorry the photos aren't the best, but you get the idea. I should have put these meatballs on eBay, but I was in a hurry and just let her eat them. Now ... if we get a chicken nugget with an image of the Virgin Mary ...



I love that Kate loves smiley faces because I do, too. I used to make little smiley face indentations in my skin with my fingernails. Weird, I know. But it's true. I also used to pour glue all over my hand just so I could peel it off. But that's another post for another time ...

Thanksgiving Field Report

Thanksgiving was out in full force here earlier today, complete with a 14-pound turkey, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and a little family drama to boot! ;o)

Seriously, we had a nice day here at home. Tanna had to work this morning, so Kate and I (wink) were busy all morning with preparations. The television switched between the parade and recorded episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba. There was pure delight when DJ Lance and the others made their appearance in New York. Kate liked it, too!

Tanna got home around lunchtime, and his parents arrived around 2, just in time to eat. A co-worker of Tanna's, Dr. Yan, a cardiologist from China who couldn't be with his family today, came over, too.

Kate said her short prayer before Tanna said Thanksgiving grace. We also took our traditional photos with the various turkeys and called Grammy and Grampy to wish them a happy Thanksgiving. It's been a good day, and we are thankful. Very thankful.


I wore my new apron! Don't let the photo fool you. That bird was heavy. Remember when you were little and had to pick up a gallon of milk and your arm would start shaking? Well, it wasn't quite that bad, but I was afraid I might drop it. I suppose that would have to do more with my clumsiness than anything, though. ha!


Pre-meal photo. Do you like my little eye trick?


Dr. Yan is in the house!


Yummy!


Kate with Halmoni and Halabaji


Gobble! Gobble!


Evening photo shoot with the turkeys


Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kate wants to wish YOU a happy Thanksgiving!

Pearls Before Swine

Jamie and Kate enjoyed an outing to Lenox and another ride on The Pink Pig last week. We actually rode twice with the two-for-one coupons we had. Kate and I both were very grateful that Di had an extra sucker for Kate--thanks, Di! Afterward, we walked down to Pottery Barn Kids so the girls could "play kitchen," as Kate likes to say. Jamie looked adorable in her beautiful Hanna dress, as she had just come from her visit with the Phipps Santa. We go next week--can't wait!