It's a party

I kind of have this thing for celebrating Paige's birthday. I moved out of my parents house when she was seven, so I missed more of her birthdays than I like to think about. In fact, she told me that growing up she used to keep track of how many birthdays she had to celebrate without her sisters. Sad, right?

So now that she lives in my neck of the woods, I can't help making a fairly big deal about it. So big that the day before (while I was in the midst of baking and decorating and cleaning) Jeremy casually commented, "Wow, how come you don't go this big for my birthday?" Oops!

This year's theme was pastels. And this was in our inspiration. Isn't that little girl and her party table adorable?? Adorable.

Since her birthday this year landed on a Sunday, it really was just a Sunday dinner (roasted whole chicken and roasted root vegetables with wheat Lion House rolls) with some cake added on. And some cookie making (Paige loves her some cookies!) to add to the fun. The decorations were pretty and fun. And she hadn't come over for a Sunday dinner since before Christmas, so it felt like a big deal.

Gosh I love this girl.

The Birthday Princess and her attendant. Paige was a trooper and wore her birthday crown the whole day. Ginny couldn't resist wearing hers too. 

Getting ready for some dinner. Oh yeah and "King Raymond" / batman was also in attendance.

The desserts.

20 candles!

Nothing like wearing one of Grandma Snowball's aprons and making sugar cookies. Paige nailed it.

And that's a wrap! Sorry I didn't really get pictures of all the pink and blue bunting on all of my many windows. Or the cute scalloped bunting I made like from the inspiration pin. It's pretty cute and still hanging on my wall.... so you could just stop by if you want to see it! Ha!

Stay tuned for next year's shin-dig.

XOXO

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Today is one of my very favorite holidays. I love the red and pink everywhere. A heart just might be my favorite shape. And conversation hearts really are so so good (in a chalky, sugary kind of way). Basically I love it all.

We started the day right with heart pancakes followed immediately by goodie bags from Grandma T (my mom). She sure does spoil us!

Plans for the rest of the day include prepping and decorating (more than we already are!) for a special heart dinner, finishing up and delivering valentines to some nursery and primary friends, and finishing our valentines for each other (which will be part of the dinner/party we're gearing up for later).

If we have added energy we might make some heart sugar cookies (can't go wrong there) or homemade gummies.

And, of course, we'll all be in various shades of red and pink and will tell each other we love each other all day long.

I hope that YOU are feeling the love love love today too!  We love YOU!

UPDATE

Well hello there. And how are you? 

I feel, in so many ways, that my (our) life is in upheaval right now. Not really. But kind of. Here's a brief update...

Jeremy: is neck deep in his fourth semester of Law School. Busy, busy, busy. (That's three "busy-s"--one for school, one for church, one for us at home.)

Carly:  I set three goals for 2013: 1. Do a better job remembering birthdays, 2. Plant and harvest a big beautiful garden this year, 3. Exercise (at least) three days a week (something I've been doing since September when we bought a treadmill off KSL). On top of those year-long goals, I aim to keep my sanity on a daily basis. The latter may or may not happen. Cross your fingers.

Raymond: will have hearing aids by the end of the week! After lots and lots of testing in the last two months, we've learned that he has mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears. It is permanent (although we don't yet know if it could get progressively worse--CT scan this Thursday may shed light on that). We are pretty excited for him to start hearing better soon!  He, otherwise, is still into all things super-hero related.

Ginny: is both potty training (by her request) and learning to sleep in a toddler bed all in the same week. She's doing great at the potty training (how could she not when it's completely on her own initiative), but not so great at staying in her own bed.. Pretty much we play musical beds all night long. Good times. She is otherwise pretty adorable. Jeremy in particular is absolutely smitten by her. Father/daughter love is so sweet.

Rex: is adorable. He smiles and smiles and smiles. And still I can't get enough of that face. Even in the thick of RSV and an ear infection he was smiling away. He digs the rice cereal.

And there you have it in a nut shell! I hope to pop back in here sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed!