When I got to Ohio Friday evening, Anna(9) was out with a friend, taking a cake decorating class for kids.
When she got home, she put some finishing touches on her Kitty Cat Cake while her younger sister Maura watched intently.
Then Anna put the lid of the cake carrier on the cake to protect it and left the kitchen
There Perfect!
Maura licked the frosting knife.
The weekly photo challenge this week is a multi-photo challenge using one of the new gallery formats that WordPress created. The suggestion was to include a gallery of nine photos. I was talking on the phone with my friend V and she said Oh, that’s an easy one. Your family!
I added fireworks and raspberries for celebration and summertime. Seeing Michael so happy receiving a medal at a dive meet this summer made my nine photos tally an even dozen.
The family numbers added up quickly. I decided to show what really makes me happiest!
Witnessing my family love one another. Watching Erika enjoy her children ride the Merry-Go-Round at the zoo, James catching Laura in his arms, celebrating Anna’s First Holy Communion weekend with the family. And Steve playing with the grandkids.
All of these photos make a mom’s heart sing.
One thing I noticed this visit is that we no longer hang out at the baby pool. How quickly everything changes.
I used to sit there for hours while the kids painted the concrete with paintbrushes, poured one bucket of water into another and the filled the sprinkler cans with the handles and spouts- fill and dump, fill and dump, and do it a hundred times. They always loved those beach toys at the pool. Now the three oldest are on the swim team, the eldest two the dive team and Maura at 2.5 isn’t too far behind. Still sporting a life jacket, she wants to jump off the side of the pool repeatedly and she even makes a motorboat sound as the older two pull her around. So the pool game is up and down and she loves it!
Tomorrow is a big swim meet in New Albany and so tonight at the pool the kids had their hair spray painted green and received new green swim team shirts with ducks on them. The team mascot. A pep rally of sorts, to get everyone pumped up and excited for the effort.
Won’t be long and Maura will join her brothers and sisters on the swim team I’m sure!
Maura (2+) doesn’t let me brush her hair or add a barrette or bow when I visit. And if you get a band in she is likely to pull it out. I went upstairs to see how we were coming along on getting ready to load up the car. Drive to Laura’s and James’ for the 4th of July. Anna(7+) was brushing and putting Maura’s hair into a ponytail. This is never an easy task.
Anna had just set the pink brush on the bench. And Maura was sitting there with her feet dangling. Looking in the mirror. I thought it best to get them unaware. No time to clear up the background. Just shoot. After a few minutes, Anna turns to me and said “She is my WORST customer.”
( The tattoo is temporary!)
