the twelve days of birthdays

If your kids were born twelve days apart, with one of them having been born on Valentine's Day, then you know how crazy it can be with all the gifts, cake, parties (both birthday AND Valentine's varieties), cupcakes, candy, cake, cards & tissue paper, and oh, did I mention cake???

First came Nicole's birthday. This started off with a gift for each sent home with daddy from their uncle, aunt & cousin - Webkinz pink dragons! Can we say, ecstatic?!!



Ah, this was precious - the card that Claire made for Nicole...



Mmmm, every year Nicole asks for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (a girl after my own heart), and I added a huge helping of sprinkles because I know she loves them, even at nine years old.



Four days later came the joint party - a pajama party complete with pajamas (of course), pizza, a movie & Funfetti cupcakes.

Here's all the girls in their pajamas, eager to get their sugar rush on.



The girls received a couple of joint gifts at the party... this particular one was so fun - two hands shot up from amidst the crowd for all to see and squeals of delight from all the girls arose - apparently Cooking With Mama for the Wii is quite popular among the young folks these days. Kit Kittridge, too.



Our sweet Skye had only been with us for a day when the party descended on her.



Two days later we were at Gramma & Grampa's for another little party, including one of their Auntie's famous cakes. I've mentioned before how my sister is talented in areas I am not - case in point, cake decorating. No one would ever want to eat her masterpieces, if it wasn't for the fact that it was chocolate cake under all the pretty frosting. The ladybugs and bumblebees were edible, too.



Doesn't every family turn the lights out when the candlelit cake comes to the table, to get the fullest effect?



A few more days pass, and we reach the finish line of the birthday race... Claire's and St. Valentine's Day.

Leapster headphones are more fun than the Leapster itself...



Yeah, no looking back at my sister's cake now, alright? M&M's are another art form in and of themselves, didn't you know that? Claire has asked for a rainbow cake every year for three years in a row. I got this idea from Beki. Oh, and the flavor is lemon, in case you're curious.




So if you've been wondering why I've been scarce here on my blog, now you know. I hope to now return to my LBB - Life Before Birthdays. Oh, wait - my nephew's birthday is Friday...

At least I can get one last slice of cake.