My Little Lion is Four

I'm all for having birthday parties for kids under four as long as it's economical and we're all honest that the party itself is for the adults. I'm also a little wary of a 4 year old getting 30 presents - a bit overkill if you ask me. I mean, "happy fourth birthday" and to make sure that you are well on your way down the road of materialism and being consumed by stuff here are 30 gifts . . . probably need to save that for a later blog post :). With that said, Luke's birthday party was great! Both sets of Grandparents came down from Indianapolis and Uncle David joined us to help us celebrate this momentous occasion. Highlights included the Lightning McQueen birthday cake, a pirate hat, the "storming Nortons!" (my own title), and the grandparents! K and I gave Judah a set of Lincoln logs (again, probably more for daddy) and our old digital camera - hoping to get the artistic juices flowing early. The gala was held at the park a mile from our house and was replete with lightning McQueen accessories (paper plates and napkins), hors d'oeuvres (a veggie tray), and an amazing entree (PIZZA!) Throw in a lightning McQueen balloon and this party was a true success coming in just shy of the $50 mark.

My "pretty-princess" is two years old!!

Time flies and I no longer have a baby girl! Ava Marie turned two on the twenty-sixth! To celebrate this grandious (that's a fancy name for "great" ~ Fancy Nancy books) occasion she got Chick-fil-a - pronounced "Chick-fuw-a" - for lunch and pizza for dinner (sure sign mommy and daddy are running a little behind in life:). After poking at a couple of sprinkles she spurned the cupcakes that her momma had lovingly made.

The highlight of the evening for Ava Marie was opening gifts. The lowlight of the evening for Luke was watching his little sister open gifts. The play kitchen was the big hit of the night and the following morning it precipitating several time-outs with siblings sitting side by side looking mournful. The little people house (dad and mother) and the turtle book (pa and ma) have gained momentum as the novelty of the kitchen has worn off. Aunt Julie/Uncle Sherwin gave a pretty fan and the gg's chimed in with a check. All in all the "pretty-princess" had a fabulous (that's a fancy name for "wonderful" ~ Fancy Nancy books) birthday. Daddy rocked his little girl to sleep, thinking that she is growing up way too fast!