Happy 6th Birthday Riley!!!

Tuesday was Riley's 6th birthday. She got to have a family party Friday night and a friends party Monday night at Chuck E. Cheese. Here are some pics of the parties and my beautiful girls. Enjoy!

Check out her hair-do. She did it herself for the family party.

And here is the full-length pose. Check out the slippers...

Riley and cousin Ray.

Riley's cake was decorated by her, Shelby, and Ray. Can you see all those pink sprinkles?

Here she is at Chuck E. Cheese's. Isn't she beautiful? She is growing up way too quickly! Turns out she likes the games at Chuck E. Cheese's, but not Chuck E. himself. Daddy had to ask Chuck E. to leave so Riley would go near her cake. Oh well! Live and learn. No more Chuck E. Cheese parties for her.

Look how long their hair is getting. Mommy, Riley, and Shelby wore french twists in their hair on Sunday.

And last, but not least, check out this pose. What hams! Their not my babies anymore...

Fun weekend

We had lots of fun this past weekend when our friends came up from Normal for a visit. Annika just turned 5 and Frankie just turned 2. Their mom, Moreena, just turned...just joking Moreena! Anyway, tons of fun was had by all and the Moms and Dad (Scott) were exhausted after our 24 hours together were up. The girls played dress-up, got out every toy in the toyroom, stayed up waaaayyy too late, played at the YMCA, played in the leaves, and then got out every toy in the toyroom again. They were very, very, very busy little people!
Here is Miss Riley in her get up Friday night. Nothing like putting everything on at once! And here is Annika the Princess...
Annika wore this outfit most of Friday night and I kept thinking it was Riley. Riley would wear this pink dress alllll the time (when it used to fit) and with the similar hair color, they just look so much alike. See for yourself...
O.k., so this picture doesn't show it quite well, but Shelby, Riley, Annika, and Frankie do all look alike. A few summers ago, Moreena and I were brave (crazy?) enough to pack up the girls in our van and head to a liver disease family picnic in Green Bay. This trip included an amusement park and an overnight stay. We survived and had fun. I (Moreena was in the bathroom) was sitting with all 4 girls in a McDonald's during a snack/potty break and a man commented on how pretty all my girls were. I just thanked him rather than correcting him that I was mother to only 2 of the girls, but Moreena and I did talk later that, with how the girls' birthdates are, one mother could have given birth to all four girls! Imagine that!!! How exhausting!!!Here is 2-year-old Fabulous Frankie! She had a great time in the leaves. What a doll! She is so cuddly and, believe it or not, the last little girl to fall asleep Friday night.
See that little bit of blue in the leaf pile? Yup, that's Scott! He showed the girls how he falls into the leaves and then they attacked him. Many, many giggles were involved. Here's the video. (Thanks Moreena!) Much, much fun was had by all and we look forward to getting together with them very soon.

Happy (belated) Halloween!

Happy Halloween (a little late)! Riley & Shelby had tons of fun (as usual) and we have enough candy to feed a small country for a decade. Yikes! Here are some great pictures of the jack o'lantern carving with Scott's family Sunday night. It was Bruce's (Scott's brother) 40th birthday and his parents were leaving for about 2 months to travel in their motor home all around the country.



This picture was taken at the Pumpkin Patch in Calendonia. The CDO classes went on their annual trip there. I let Riley play hookey from Kindergarten and go with us.




And now...here they are in their costumes. Ariel, the Little Mermaid, and Grumpy Care Bear (very fitting for Miss Shelby's personality). Thank goodness it was warm enough that too many layers weren't needed and the costumes didn't have to be covered by coats.










Please go back to Shelby's caringbridge page http://www.caringbridge.org/il/rileyshelby in the next few days and read up on the upcoming 3rd annual Cosmic Bowl fundraiser @ the CherryBowl coming up December 3rd. Thanks and take care!
(P.S. Please forgive my formatting on this post - I'm still learning how to use this new webpage.)