Christmas with the Lindseys

Today we exchanged gifts and celebrated Christmas with my family.

And there was a ton of presents to open.

The girls were excited about their presents.

And the newest addition to the family.  A furry member.

It didn't take long to wear them out.

But sugar never fails to revive them.

Pier fun after Faith's birthday party

After having our fill of cake and presents, we headed to the pier.

Seth was just dying to go fishing.

Watching him throw the cast net is quite amusing.  He actually puts it in his mouth.  Gross!

Seth wasn't the only one who caught something.  Grace caught a Queenie!

And a Hope.

Then MeeMee, Seth, and I all caught a fish at the same time!  Seth and MeeMee with their poles and me with the cast net. 

Soon the sun started to set.

And another wonderful day came to its end.

Faith's 1st birthday party: Cake, presents, and confetti

We started off the party by singing Happy Birthday to Faith.

And let her blow out her candle.

We've been practicing the blowing.

Faith clapped her hands after we sang to her and finally let her dig into the dessert!

Grace helped feed Faith her bee.

Faith thought it was "bee-licious!"

And buzzed her bee around in the air for another bite.

Then it was time to open presents.  Doesn't her little outfit look darling on her?

Grace helped Faith with her presents.

We made quite the mess!

Faith got her very first baby doll.  And she loves it!

And Faith walked around looking for more presents to open.

We gave her this little Queen Bee pull toy.  It's one of her favorites.  She's always liked Grace's "puppy friend" but Grace won't ever let her play with it.

Then it was time for the pinata.

After many tries we finally found the right pull string and out popped the confetti, glowsticks, and such.

I really have a mild obsession with confetti.  I think I may have enjoyed it more than either of my girls.

But the glowsticks were a definite hit.

Both Faith and Grace wore them all over the house.

And played with them for days.

Don't they look so sweet together?  There's just something about cute little bums in ruffled tutus that melts my heart.

Then Grace was kind enough to clean up the mess.  She's a little obsessive about keeping things clean.  Faith is the exact opposite.  Oftentimes Faith will go behind Grace making a big mess out of whatever Grace has just cleaned up.  But this time Queenie held onto Faith to make it easier for Grace to vacuum. 

Faith's 1st birthday party: Cake, family, and decorations

Faith had a "Sweet as can BEE" birthday party.

And as usual, I went all out making her cake.

The little bees are a cookie version of a cake pop.

And of course Faith gets her own cake.

She also had lots of presents from her aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Before the festivities began, Grace opened a present from MeeMee.

And Faith helped.

Grace got a baby she can play dress up with!  She loves her and takes her everywhere.

Faith wasn't too interested in opening her present just yet.

I had ordered bee-themed monogrammed shirts and matching tutus for the girls.  And they arrived just in the nick of time.  Literally, an hour before our party.  Grace adored hers.  Of course...

Then I got my picture made with the birthday girl.

And so did her Daddy.

We took a festive family picture - Chloe included.

Then Faith had her picture made with her MeeMee.

MeeMee and Pappy were certainly in the  party mood!

Here is everyone ready to cut the cake and celebrate Faith's first birthday! 

MeeMee and Pappy, David, me, Queenie, Seth, Granddaddy, Aunt Hope, and Grace and Faith

We painted Nanna's kitchen

The girls and I drove to Linden to my Nanna and Gran's house.

We had an agenda - paint Nanna's kitchen!

 This is what it looked like for the last 30 years or so.

Even Faith was eager to help!

So we took the cabinet doors off and brought them outside to paint.

 We even painted the ceiling.  Seth is a messy painter, can't you tell?

 Nanna couldn't resist peeking in.  And I think she looks pretty pleased.

Here is her kitchen afterwards.  So bright and cheery!

The upper cabinets are a bright, Springy blue. 

The bottom cabinets and walls are white.  And countertops a cheerful, country yellow.  We also painted her accent telephone wall yellow and her mother's chair yellow, but it needs another coat or two.

Afterwards, we were all tired and covered in paint.  But very, very satisfied and pleased with our hardwork.  Faith included.