Birthday Party 2011

The girls had their birthday party last weekend. They were so excited and had so much fun!

Here's Nora before I put on her swim diaper.

The pictures don't do it justice...her diaper was seriously huge!

Cousin Banks

Mary Hampton

Smith and Banks

Anne Parks' Cake

Nora's Cake

She'd been waiting for so long for this moment!

Nora's getting ready to blow out her candles!

At this point, Nora was asleep!

Anne Parks with her new tennis gear (Thanks, Smith and Banks!) 

Anne Parks is 5!

Anne Parks has has woken up every morning for the past month, and the first words out of her mouth have been to report how many days until her birthday. She has been so excited about turning 5!

Here's our sweet girl 5 years ago...all 9 lb. and 11 oz. of her.

Here she is on her 1st birthday...
and at her 1st birthday party.

Starting the 2 year-old class...she looks a lot like Nora in this one!
Becoming a big sister just after her 3rd birthday.

Here she is on her 4th birthday. I thought she looked so big then, but she's grown and changed so much in a year!

The Birthday Girl at her party...

and afterward in her new tennis outfit (Thanks, Mamasissy!)

Here are Anne Parks' 5 year-old stats and interview:

Height: 44 inches
Weight: 43 lbs.

Favorites
color: red
food: quesadillas, pizza, and ham
drink: chocolate milk
activities: basketball, dancing, and hula "looping"
outfits: new tennis outfit and her "jumpers"
song: "Sweet Caroline"
cereal: Lucky Charms
vegetable: broccoli and carrots with dip
toys: American Girl Doll (Avery) and Charlie McCarthy doll (rescued from Tizzie's attic)
movie: Tangled and Annie
tv show: Handy Manny, Jake and the Neverland Pirates,  Caillou, and Angelina Ballerina
game: Guess Who?
book: Loose Tooth and any Berenstain Bears book
animal: giraffes and flamingos

If you could have a new name, what would it be? AP
What do you love about Daddy? I love when he lays down, and Nora and I climb and play on top of him.
What do you love about Mama? Going places with her.
Where would you like to take a trip? The Kids' Museum and the beach
What do you think about being five? It's good! I'm growing bigger.

Chirpy Chick Easter Egg Hunt

The Chirpy Chicks: Anthony, Mary Hampton, Olivia, Isabella, Gentry Claire, Liles, Anne Parks, Addy Katherine, Andrew, William, Richard, Wyatt, Claiborne, Alex, Charlie, and Patrick

Anne Parks and one of her favorite chicks - William Guy

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Allie, Mary Hampton, Liles, and Anne Parks

Sal and Mookie's Festival

Jason will do anything for his girls - including being the only one on the dance floor!

Chick Snack

Anne Parks was in charge of bringing a snack for her class the other day. She wanted to take chocolate, chocolate truffle cake (the kid is a chocoholic!), but settled for Oreo Truffles instead.

The recipe is very easy. It is a little messy, though!

Ingredients: 1 box of Oreos, 2 boxes semi-sweet Baker's chocolate, 8 oz cream cheese

Step 1: Crush the Oreos.

The Ziploc wasn't cutting it, so we opted for the food processor.

Step 2: Set aside a handful of crushed Oreos and put the rest in a bowl and mix with softened cream cheese.

Step 3: Have a taste!

Step 4, 5 and 6: Roll Oreo mixture into balls. Dip into melted chocolate. Sprinkle with crushed Oreos.

The looked awful, (We ended up calling them "Mud Balls".), but boy they were good!

Ragin' Cajuns

We had a fun visit in Lafayette during Spring Break! We did lots of things, but one of the girls favorites was going to the Ragin' Cajuns football practice.

Nora is not intimidated by big football players. After this pic, he started running sprints, and Nora just ran with him! I had to chase her across the practice field!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hootie and the Blowpop Tree

During Spring Break, Cousin Maggie came to stay for a few days, and we joined some of Anne Parks' "chick" friends at Easley Amused. It was so much fun, and the girls did a great job on their owls!

Olivia, Anne Parks, Maggie, Gentry Claire, Mary Hampton, and Addy Katherine