Beach Picture Time

We went to the beach to get some pictures with Mike, Debbie, Jeff, Allison and the boys. Allison's camera got most of the pictures, but here are a couple that I got with mine. I was an absolutely gorgeous evening! Sean and Connor have matching shirts courtesy of Heather Crawford.

Debbie, Reagan, Sean & Connor

Mike, Debbie, Michael, Barrett, Reagan, Sean, Aidan & Connor

After our time at the beach, Damian and I took the kids to Cheeburger Cheeburger on 5th Avenue. Connor discovered the joys of the spoon! I wish I had taken the camera into the restaurant to get his reaction. When Reagan was a baby, a single spoon would keep her occupied the during an entire meal out. Hopefully Connor will follow in her footsteps (Sean did not!).

Scholar in Training

Connor enjoys 2 of our favorite children's stories. His Great-Uncle Ronnie gave these to him for Christmas. I had forgotten how wonderful board books are! I still have quite a few of Reagan and Sean's books that I'll have to get out of the garage soon.

You may have noticed that we did not send out Christmas cards this year. It was just a little too crazy, plus my sister wasn't here until right before Christmas and we didn't have time to get a good family picture. Anyway, these are the pictures of the kids I WOULD HAVE used, had I done a card!

photography courtesy of Katherine McClure

Reagan Turns 7

I can't believe Reagan is 7 years old already. I swear I don't know where the time went.
-














I didn't do anything real fancy with the cakes this year. There was just too much stuff going on! The one with chocolate frosting was supposed to be a yellow cake. I found this particular recipe online, but I wasn't all that impressed with how it turned out. I suppose I shouldn't try a recipe for the first time on the day of the party! But all the kids loved it. And the frosting was quite tasty as well. Can't go too wrong with homemade chocolate frosting!















The white one was actually a red velvet cake. A red velvet cake is chocolate in flavor. There's just something cool about a red cake! I did learn the hard way that this particular recipe is NOT one where you want to tap the pan on the counter to distribute the batter. It turned out a little dense. But, once again, I heard no complaints from the kids.

Reagan made a funny comment. She said that the frosting tasted like cheesecake. I told her that was because it was a cream cheese frosting, and that's what we use to make cheesecake.





























This year we did a joint party with Brittney Bittner. The girls share a birthday. It was a lot of fun. We had the party at Gymnastics World, which seems to be a favorite for birthday parties this year (we have another one to go to there in a couple of weeks). There were probably around 25 kids at the party. It was a great time and Reagan and Sean were quite worn out by the time we got home.















Reagan got a Baby Alive from her Grandma this year. A friend of hers at school brought one in for show and tell and ever since then Reagan knew she just HAD to have one! Strangely enough, we're already out of diapers for the baby.

We did a family dinner again this year. That seems to work out well. Reagan requested Turtle Cheesecake for her dessert, and I did not disappoint! We had some awesome lasagna (if I do say so myself). The Smoked Cheese & Sausage Lasagna has become an instant family favorite. Smoked mozzarella can be hard to find, but it's definitely worth the search. Also, I 1.5 the sauce part. Otherwise there doesn't seem to be quite enough. Southern Living's Classic Lasagna is also an excellent choice. No changes to be made there, as far as I can remember. Although using Boar's Head mozzarella slices really makes the flavor stand out.