Malia's Birthday

Most of you remember Malia, the little girl I babysat last fall. Well, she turned 1!!! Kim was sweet, and let me make the cake for her party. It didn't turn out near what I wanted it to, but considering how crazy the weekend was, the Lord blest it, and it worked!

The theme was 'carnival'...the primary colors are 'bout as carnival-ish as I got... :/

Kim had LOTS of fun stuff at the party - I'll get other pictures up later, hopefully. But, one fun thing was this little horse. Aspen had a blast riding it.

Malia was super cute with her little cake...I don't think she liked getting her fingers dirty with the frosting.

McDonald May Birthday

May held lots of McDonald birthdays. Rebekah kicked it off, followed by Alyssa, then Suze, and Mom  McDonald wrapped up the month. We had a blast celebrating each one, all month. As always, Mom McDonald did an incredible job planning the party, even though it was her own. We all LOVED the games...and delicious food.

Courtesy of Annabel & Alyssa, there is a new guest at the McDonald household... A Hamster. Aspen absolutely LOVES the crazy thing, but can't stand feeling its' itty nails touching her. So, Aunt Bekah got creative and figured out if Aspen sat in a basket, the little varmint critter could sit with her too.  

This is our precious Eliana! Melts your heart, and brings an instant smile

We played outside games at this party. Alyssa loves frogs & bugs, thus they were the them. There was the frog hop game, then a scavenger hunt for all kinds of nature items; we could earn bonus points, one of which was a spider...I scooped one right up into my bag - careful to always know where in the bag it was...Joshua killed his, then put it into the bag. I think I should have gotten extra points for a live one. I didn't even think to kill it... ANYWAY. Aspen LOVED that she got a turn in this game.

Each team had 2 babies that needed to be juggled so the adults could have their turn 'hopping'...it definitely added to the challenge.

After the game was over, Aspen took a sack to PawPaw to help her her do it again...

He sorta twisted the rules on her...

This was Alyssa's cake...she even decorated the L's herself. Don't they look great! Annabel did the eyes. SO proud of them.  Mom McDonald came up with the design; pretty cute. 

This was the other dessert we had. Mom McDonald's Baked Alaska. Absolutely delicious!!

Happy Birthday! 

Just 2 more McDonald birthday parties for this year..then we'll start all over!

Mommy's Helper

Aspen really has become my little helper. It's neat to see things from her perspective, it often makes me smile; and sometimes it's even convicting. 

I had a birthday cake order the first of June, and with the leftover batter, I made purple cupcakes for the McDonald May Birthday Party - specifically for Alyssa. Aspen must have seen me test check the large cake, because she began calling me, and pointing...this is what I found. 

"Mommy! Look!"

Big Helper! (you can also tell she helped me by putting her own shoes on...she usually intentionally puts them on wrong.)

I often caught Aspen here...the pack'nplay. She was never supposed to be in it, and it now has 'nice' dip in the bottom because of her. Her climbing in there with her sister though, was so sweet. (Eliana is now in her own room, and has been for a while now...big girl!)

News Update!!!

I'm sure some of you think I've just forgotten about this blog, but I assure you, I have not!! I keep scheduling time to update, and then something crazy comes up. I'm trying to remember exactly what all has happened since I last updated, and there has just been a TON of every day occurrences, along with the typical craziness that seems to follow us Moreno's around. :)

This will need to be a short post, but wanted you all to know that I am trying to get caught up. Hopefully, I'll get ya'll up to speed this week. Please keep popping by. Thank you for your patience. In case you're wondering what has kept us so busy -- We were sick for a week, plus Father's Day, Youth Group activities - including a girls slumber party, a very fun family graduation party and....the biggest...a trip taken at a Italian Restaurant in Galveston...a very short trip, that ended flat on the parking lot pavement; poor Mom Moreno took this "trip" and is now slowing recovering from it. We'll be going to the Dr. tomorrow to check our her broken arm/elbow, and see how it's healing, etc.  Would appreciate your prayers for her as she recovers. I'll keep ya'll updated, and give you more behind the story...along with the rest of our life. Thank you for praying! 

Here's a quick couple pictures! 

Sweet Times...

I laid Eliana on our nursing cover on the floor for some tummy time... Then I looked over, and Aspen had brought her some toys & laid down beside her. 

I set Eliana in her jumperoo while working on something, and she just had the funniest little blank look on her face... :) Love 'my Maries'...

Cousins...

We had the extra special privilege of meeting my cousin Adam & Danielle's baby girl! Adam & Danielle are serving our country in England as Adam is in the Air Force. Baby Madison was born 5 days after Eliana, even though her due date was 15 days before our due date. Poor Danielle... Maddie is so sweet, beautiful, and very photogenic!

It was so good to see Adam, Danielle, Madison, Aunt Laura & Uncle Lee. Thank you for sharing your evening with us. It was such a tremendous blessing. 

Memorial Day 2013

Brian was off on Memorial Day, and it was SO nice to have some fun family time. We had an easy breakfast, I did some baking while Brian slept in, then we headed out & did some clothes shopping. 

Trying to get a good picture of the girls...

Poor Eliana....lol

  

After stopping at one of my favorite stores, there was this horse to ride...Aspen had never riden one before, but asked SO very sweetly... We decided to splurge a little for her....

There's a particular pretzel bakery I've been wanting to treat Brian to, but we haven't had the opportunity. I had decided well in advance, that we were going to get a pretzel while shopping...it was really good too. :)

I wanted a picture of us, so I handed the camera to Aspen....I think if I'd given her another chance, she'd done even better, but Brian thought it was pretty cute.

After shopping, Aspen fell asleep in the van, so we did some driving around. Next, it was to Roni's for family time with the Moreno's. Jason did yet another fabulous job grilling...and Roni's side dishes we wonderful too! They had just purchased a slip & slide for the kids....Aspen absolutely loved it! I don't think she ever figured out how to actually slide, but...still had fun.

Brayden so sweetly played with her

Drinking the water...

Thank you Mom, Dad Moreno, and the Quijano's for a fun evening!!!