Strawberry Fields are apparently NOT forever....

The sweetest of all sweets.

Love that face.

"I love you five" Not really, mostly just muddy hands. :P

Daddy is over there.

Run!!!

See?

Daddy at work, as usual. :)

Frolicking girls.

Ri with her berry bucket.

Running freeeeeeee....

Picky. Picky. ;)

Can't believe her hair looks that long!

My little model.

Beauty sisters.

Going for the first pick.

Daddy tried his best to make the girls happy...Carrying both never really lasts long!

Pensive little girl in the mud.

Daddy and his assistant.

I thought her running face here was too funny!

Daddy the pickin' captain...since I was taking pictures and the girls were avoiding prickers on their legs....

She didn't mind the fact that they were overripe.

Stopping to test the product.

Running down the rows of mud.

Sweet little Chumbers.

Somehow, we thought strawberry season had just started...We were wrong. Though we called ahead and were assured that there was still picking, when we got there, they told us there wasn't much left and if we could "find a strawberry it was ours-kinda-thing." Gee thanks. Well, she was right, there wasn't much there. The tiny berries we did collect kinda pureed themselves on the way home and some taste better than others. Thank God for Strawberry Bread Recipes!! :) Either way, picking fresh whatever always makes for fun pictures and we had a nice time. Cailen however was very annoyed by the prickly, scratchy leaves dragging at her legs. She lost interest in picking fairly quickly because of the prickly weeds? (They annoyed me too!) So, she wound up running up and down the rows that were less covered in leaves. She had fun in her own way and Ri was pretty committed to carrying her baskets around, looking important and smiling for the camera. :)

The wanderer.

She picked more flowers than strawberries practically!

Next year when we go strawberry picking there will be 5 of us! I told Kris on Father's Day that he is going to be a daddy again. :)

My Baby Bunnies

My big two year old Ribers.

Such a goofer.

Growing weary of this life as a rabbit.

We got this costume for free from a friend. I was going to use it a Halloween...or Easter and that never happened. Before the girls outgrow it and before I try to sell it at my yard sale this weekend. I thought I would snap a couple shots to remember this little bunny outfit...and how cute my baby bunnies are in it. Ri tried it first and it seemed appropriate since she has the little round toofers that bite her lip. Cailen really wanted to wear it and once she finally got custody of it her mood was a bit off for a few minutes...Until she took it off. Then she was better. OY! Kids! I went a bit wacky with the photoshop color schemes. Sorry if you eyes hurt! ;)

My moody little model. Who was desperately trying to ignore me!!

Trying to be silly though she's simultaneously trying to be pouty.

Trying to cheer up.

Okay, I'm done. I'm happy!

100 AKRE WOOD 2nd b'day party (out of order pics)

Eating crackers mom, no time to smile!

My little Birthday "Busty"

One angle of the room and the decor I made.

Grandpa helped the gift opening process move along so I could take pictures. Ri likes to rip scotch tape sized pieces off the wrappings and it takes FOREVER!! :)

Rosetta the Tinkerbell friend.
"

"OHH! Abby! She got the REAL tinkerbell dolls! The BARBIE kind!!" Elena was incredibly impressed.

"Yumpy Dee" takes his last breath before being carved into. :( Sorry Lumpy!

I put candles in both cakes and Cailen got to help blow them out, since Riley wouldn't even try!!

Come on! Help me out here people!!

The blog wouldn't let me arrange my photos the way I wanted so I hope you enjoy the out of order montage above and below!

I don't think I've ever spent so much time on the preparation of ANYTHING! Well at least not in one week. I guess this is why people hire wedding and party planners. I had so many ideas in my head on what I wanted to do for my 100 Akre Wood Party and I could find next to NOTHING in the store to help me out with that. So, I had to regroup and revise my decorating plan. So I bought construction paper and made my own decorations. I crocheted 11 headbands which took about 45 minutes EACH!! I did a fondant homemade cake. Cleaned the house, did favors, made Super Sleuth badges...I will admit, I had a lot of fun working with crayons, markers, glue and construction paper, but at times it was a tad overwhelming. The girls had fun helping with the decorations wherever they could as well. Good times.

We had a record number of attendees for this party (so it was tight) and my dining room was hot since it was about 84 degrees outside. But somehow we managed to have a great time! :)

I suddenly felt like a daycare teacher when it was time for activities. I wasn't sure how it would all pan out, but the kids did a great job. I think this is the first party where I planned games...

Ri was gearing up to do her pin the tail on Eeyore. She went last, so she had plenty of time to work on her strategy. By the end we had a nice pile of tails in the right spot.

I found toy magnifying glasses at the dollar store so we had to do another mystery. The had to figure out what was in the paper lunch bags by feeling it, and if they couldn't figure it out there was an itty bitty drawn clue on the bag that they could use their magnifying glass to see. They seemed to like that. :)

Eeyore smile! Now you have numerous tails!!

Kids with their headbands waiting to play an unblindfolded version of Pin the Tail on Eeyore. The super sleuths were "solving" the problem of Eeyore's missing tail....The answer to the problem was definitely to PEEK! ;) It was cute. *Eeyore, you are making me look pregnant!*

I had extra batter and extra purple from the writing so I frosted the 6 inch cake. I had bought the characters months ago and did want to use them without cluttering the Lumpy cake.

The colors came out weird, but I'm proud of my creation none the less! Riley was very upset when I let someone eat one of Lumpy's legs...."Don't eat Yumpy's Yegs!!"

Hundred Akre Wood Thataway^ Happy 2nd Riley!

Lumpy "Yumpy Dee" was the main reason for the theme. So, he was the backdrop of where Ri would sit for cake and presents.

Super Sleuth Badges for the kids.

Cailen's first drawing of Pooh ever. Man is it cute!

The headband's Tigger, Pooh, one pigglet for Cailen and Riley was wearing her Buster band.

Some of my paper decor creations.

Ri LOVED her "Busty" headband. *cracker in her mouth sorry!* The girls wore blue as everyone was asked to, so they would have "Super Sleuth" uniforms on.)

I'm not sure if I could love these girls any more than I do. It is such an honor to be there mom and I hope I am succeeding at making some nice memories for them. Cailen still tells me about her Princess party and asks me to make her another princess cake. That makes me feel good that she remembers it and A LOT of details. Riley mentioned her Lumpy cake while we were shopping the other day. EVEN THOUGH, at the party by the time she saw the cake she was aching for a nap and didn't react to it a whole lot. Riley has blessed me so much for the past two years. I can't thank God enough for the gift of her and the ability to celebrate her day with so many friends and family who love her. Thanks to all who came and for the wonderful presents!