PARTY time!

Brooke's SEVENTH birthday party!  Lots of the pictures I require yearly:

This year she wanted a Hotel Transylvania party (her current favorite movie), and of course I could  not find a THING.....but she dressed in all black like the girl Mavis, wore a vampire cape and was as happy as any girl could be!

We opted to have it at a place called Jump n Jungle.  Not cheap, BUT they do EVERYTHING for you, so we got to bounce and have fun ourselves and leave the mess for THEM to clean up.  Was it worth it?  I definitely think so!

Most importantly: Brooke LOVED it!

The whole gang that came to have fun with her:

And, making silly faces!

Smiling while we were all singing to her.

Attempting to blow out her sparkler candles.....took a little Daddy help, but oh well!

Funny thing about Brooke and her presents this year: She made everyone sit there and wait while she read every single note, card, etc.  She loves to read and it shows!

And, we got home to a special delivery from New Mexico.....she LOVES it!

Catching up, Part 4....another one BITES the dust.

Friday afternoon, Brooke's 6th tooth to be loose and her 2nd top tooth to be loose was getting ridiculously ready to be pulled.  I knew her Daddy was on his way home from work so I told her she had two options: Go get the dental floss and attempt to do it all by herself, without any of us watching, OR wait until Daddy got home and he would pull it for her.  She came back not even 5 minutes later with tooth in hand and happy as can be that SHE did it!

And, later this birthday weekend Brooke was reading to Granddad when I left the room....I came back to see this.  Fun memories in the making!

Catching up, Part 3....Brooke's passion.

I thinks as parents we ALL want our kids to find something they love to do.  I tried to talk her into all sorts of things besides ballet/tap/dance period, but she stuck to her guns and every single week she looks forward to her dance class.  She loves practicing at home, loves the outfits, loves everything about it.  And, not that it is important, but I got to watch and video how much she has improved since February and I must say I feel as though she has found her niche. 

Glad she found something SHE enjoys so much!

Catching up, Part 2....decoratin'.

Not going to say much.  Here is some of the fun we had Easter Sunday.

Love the look of concentration.

Catching Up, Part 1....egg hunting.

We have been a little busy, so today I am going to attempt to catch up on pictures!

Easter Egg hunt at school on Good Friday.  They had to make up a snow day, so what better way to spend it than searching for eggs and eating lots of treats!?

Yep, I am THAT mom that didn't fill our eggs with candy.  Instead I did trinkets, including these lovely bubba teeth.....

Runway Walking.

Some of these clothing stores are SMART! They had a FREE runway fashion show for Brooke's age yesterday.  I called a good friend and we took our divas to check this place out.  They hired a DJ, had a full blown spread filled with candy covered popcorn, cotton candy, cake pops, cupcakes and even drinks with candy rimmed glasses. They had a makeup artist and hairstylist too! They had a runway for the girls to walk down and tiaras, wands and boas for them to wear as well.  The ploy was to get them to try on the stores clothes and model them down the fashion runway.  AND, they also have a section for the mommies as well.  The had to have cleaned up!  The place was packed.....and the most important part is that Brooke had a blast!

Getting her makeup done:

The after on the makeup:

Getting her hair done, which she loved and I hated....HAHA....I try very hard to make sure her hair is protected and seeing a flat iron on it made me cringe!

The after.....she was in heaven!

Modeling outfit #1.

And, I forgot to mention they also hired a photographer to take shots of them while on the runway....I tried to sneak shots when the photographer wasn't looking because I am cheap....um, thrifty....whatever you want to call me!

She had a blast!  It was well worth it.  I must say however that I think the clothing for the mommies is more "normal" priced than that for the girls.....but that is someone on a budget talking!

Meet Max.

We are still alive and kicking!  And I promise to bombard the blog with pictures after I am fully caught up from year end and tax season.  Believe me when I say staying busy is not a gripe, especially when it comes to helping pay the bills! 

Meet our new puppy Max. 

I will try to make the story of Max a quick one because I need to get to work. 

Did we intend to have THREE dogs?  No, not quite.  But, can we let a sweet little guy like this suffer?  No, not quite.  Steven and Dennis were out working on the farm, at this land we call the drug house (because it was seized by the gov't for drug stuff years ago) that they have been clearing off to turn into farm land.  Lo and behold they see this sweet little critter under the front end loader.  He had apparently been abandoned (I will stay off my soapbox on that one) and has been fending for himself against the coyotes for days by hiding (something he is still really good at).  He was starving for food and attention both.  Steven called me Sunday and asked if I would come get him, take him to our house and try to find  him a good home because we don't NEED three dogs.  I did, we tried....had a few interested parties, yet not even a week later we find ourselves attached and in tears at the idea of him not being with US!  So, yep....meet Maximus, but we call him Max.  He is a little spitfire who is turning out to be a quick learner and a great little addition. Feel free to stop by and meet him!