one of the highlights of our the canada trip was catching up with old friends the Gualdieris. Monica (center) and Lara went to preschool together, so even though don't see each other hardly ever, it's still wonderful when we do! also notable was the banana nutella crepe i had for breakfast in this picture. unbelievable! Nita's on the right, and Alex is the youngest. He's starting college this year. Makes me feel so old. I remember when he was born!


you got to love how i somehow pawned the double stroller off on lar!

My dad bought all the ladies a necklace at the Byward Market to commemorate the occasion.

my son can put away the peaches! and the watermelon. often Hannah declines my offer of a snack, then just steals it off of charlie's tray. swiper!

sleepy face.

smiley face!

so, hannah's bday cake. (now, before i talk about this, i know lots of regular old sahm's make amazing amazing cakes. i am not one of them. so, it may not be that impressive, but it sure was an accomplishment in this house.) it was kind of an afterthought, I know how much work (and $$$) these things can be. i guess i just did it to say i'd done it. i started 4 days beforehand. made 3 layers, then used the pampered chef batter bowl for the top. i made chocolate ganache for 2 layer fillings, then raspberry jam for the other one. then we did regular buttercream on the outside. patrick made a hole to put the doll in. then together we decorated it.

the flowers were all patrick. i have to say, we were pretty happy!

and it was GOOOOOOOOOD. (well, kind of rich. and a little too much ganache. but hey, hannah and i like chocolate! nobody else could finish their piece :-)

Aunt Jeana, Grandma Jan, and Aunt Dixie were among our distinguished party guests.

my big birthday girl

this is my last batch of baby food. I just thought it looked so nice and colourful, i love colourful food! green kale, orange carrots, yellow summer squash, purple cabbage, and rice. Yum!

now for my little birthday boy. this is the picture from his party invitations. it's a farm theme!

so, our front yard has been a little busy these days. the basement wall is rebuilt! the yard still looks disastrous, but it's fixed. we'll get the porch put back on soon, and then get around to redoing the inside of the wall.

what is this, you might say? well, glad you asked. it's my new dining room table! patricks building it himself. i'm so excited. he's talked about it for awhile, but to be honest I didn't actually think he'd do it. but now he's almost done. it's going to be beautiful!

my anorexic tomato plants. so sad. and to think of all the time i've spent watering them.

alright, this post may also be somewhat anorexic, but now i can cross it off my list!