Birthdays and fancy water

Lilly turned 3 last month and celebrated with a hand full of balloons, some great new toys, a trip to the movie theatre to see Rio and to top it all off, a delicious lemon blueberry cake (her request).
Lilly is an absolute joy to have in our family. She is energetic and silly and still loves to snuggle up with me. She is very complimentary and is great to be around if you are having a bad day, unless she has been the cause of the bad day. (It happens sometimes, she's not perfect.)




Then yesterday Ms. Bella turned 8. I can't believe she is already 8. I can remember the day she was born and in my mind I am still that young, new, incompetent mother. After doing this for 8 years shouldn't I feel more confident and wise? hmm....Pete has done a great job raising her.

She is getting baptized next weekend. I am very proud of her for making this decision and I love to see how happy she is about it.

She requested a cheesecake. I have never made one before but am always up for a baking challenge. It turned out pretty good. The top did brown and crack a little so I covered it with a raspberry puree and decorated with blueberries. Bella is really into the peace sign right now and that is easier than spelling out happy birthday with fruit.

Bella also had a culture fair last week at school. All of the classes in the second grade learned dances from other cultures and performed them for their parents at an assembly. Bella's class learned a Japanese drum dance and she did an amazing job. They were also asked to put together a display about their own families culture or ancestry. We wish we were more Italian than we actually are but we (when I say we I mean everyone but me) took claim to it and that was Bella's focus.

And finally just a word on Mothers Day. Pete had to work today but being the amazing husband that he is he still woke up early to make me a wonderful breakfast. A veggie omelet, hash browns, strawberries and mango, all the things I love. While he cooked the girls made me some cards and then they all brought it up to me in bed. They do this for me every year and it is my favorite thing. They also got me some wonderful gifts. My favorite is this glass beverage dispenser. When we went to Disneyland a few months ago, we stayed in a hotel that had several water dispensers in the lobby that were filled with water and sliced citrus. I loved having ice cold citrus water everyday as we were coming and going from the hotel. So now I can have this fancy water from a fancy dispenser in my own home. Love it!

Happy Mother's Day to all!