Wednesday, April 23rd: Just because

I had a few fun pictures and thought I would post. There will be a fashion show post coming soon, as Barbie needs to model all of the new and awesome outfits that she got from Aunt Tiffanie!

Kevin took some pictures on Saturday. Both girls, finally eating steak. Ashley also declared that “everything is better on the grill”. It brought a tear of pride to Kevin’s eye.

steak2 steak

In the meantime, this past weekend was Easter. The girls had a tasty breakfast. Kayla had waffles dusted with cinnamon, then served with strawberry sauce and cool whip.

waffles

Ashley made a sandwich out of her waffles. Nutella, strawberry slices, and a little cool whip.

nutella

And finally a couple of Easter morning pictures. Check out the new haircut!

easter1easter2

April 13th: Double Digits!

It’s true! The little kid is now 10 years old. It seemed like not so long ago that she arrived in this world, mooning everyone after having to be pulled out (she was a breech baby). Yes, Ashley arrived tush first. And now she is 10! Friday night, Kevin took a video of her “reflecting” on being 10 while they waited for me to get home.

Why were they waiting for me? We planned a super secret surprise for Ashley. Friday after work, I drove 2 hours south and met her best friend’s mom halfway from their new house in Peoria (remember, this is the friend who suddenly moved in August). I then drove back home with her friend in the car. When I got home….

On Saturday, Ashley had a party at the gymnastics place in Gurnee. They do a nice party: 30 minutes of gymnastics stuff, 30 minutes of huge inflatables, and 30 minutes in the party room for treats and such. Neither of my girls have birthday cake anymore. They want cookie dough truffles instead! For Ashley, I decided to theme the truffles for the Easter season. Bunny army! Check out the adorable little baby one, and the cookie dough truffle eggs.

bunnyarmy2 bunnyarmy1 bday8

It’s amazing what you can do with white chocolate and meringue powder for making frosting that hardens.

Party pix! We’ll start with inflatable basketball.

bday7

Kayla was having some issues with the inflatable obstacle course.bday6

Ashley taking a 6 ft dive into the foam pit.

bday5

Ashley doing a million cartwheels on the tumbling trampolines.bday2

She opened gifts. One of her friends gave her this card, which we heard endlessly for the weekend.

After her party, another of Ashley’s friends came over. This friend had to miss the party, and is also a very good friend to the girl we brought home for the weekend. She was SO surprised when it wasn’t Ashley who answered the door! We had a 3 girl sleepover (Kayla went to a friend’s house). We drove her friend back to the exchange point this afternoon. Capped off with a Sweet Tomatoes dinner, and her birthday is complete. Thank you to everyone who gave her gifts – she loves them all! We finish with the newly 10 year old practicing her forward lunge punch and back stance knife hands for karate.

ashley2 ashley1