William Burnet Maier

In the wee hours of August 30th, my 100% woman sister Katharine and her husband Mike welcomed William Burnet Maier into their family. He joins their ever adorable son James, who even though he presumed his mom might deliver a baby goat - like the one they see at the petting zoo, was apparently not dissappointed and immediately fell in love with his brother. O call my sister 100% woman who didn't miss out on her epidural like I did with Lindsey Kate and my sister Marilois did with Frances Faith - she CHOSE to have the baby au-natural at home. That is one AMAZING woman!!! We laughed at the thought of James going to sleep last night not even aware of the impending birth and waking up to find not only did mom deliver a living, breathing, baby doll brother, but they were home with it too! Only in the Netherlands! :) What an amazing way to keep the family together. That home birthin' stuff isn't such a bad idea - except for the pain, I mean! :)

I don't have pictures yet, just a link to their blog www.maierbaby.blogspot.com with a few photos. No really close-ups yet. I'm waiting..... :)

Anyway, my family joins me in welcoming your precious new member of the family. We're praying for a speedy recovery for Kat. and blessings on the beginning of this wonderful new life!! We love you!

Tea for Two (or 12)

Yesterday was Lindsey Kate's 8th Birthday. We decided to invite her friends over for a tea party. Here is a picture of the girls posing in their dress up clothes.

Lindsey Kate told my mom (Bami) that she wanted a tea cup collection for her birthday. That was the inspiration for the tea party. Bami found these adorable tea cups at TJ Maxx and they were reasonably priced enough that we were able to purchase one for every girl as their party favor. I ordered "feathery" crowns and crown rings from Oriental Trading Company for all the girls.

We provided extra dress-up clothes and makeup with a mirror for them to fix themselves up. I heard Heyward declare "WOW, I look GOOD!!". It was VERY hot but as she tied on her rabbit fur wrap, she declared "This is perfect to top it off!"

Here is our lovely tea-party table and the girls enjoying their "tea". We actually served sparkling grape juice instead of tea. One little girl remarked "This stuff is SO good - you will need to give my mom the recipe". FYI - the recipe is equal parts of grape juice and ginger ale. Makes a delicious punch!
My dad wore his tuxedo and served the tea party fare to our princesses. The girls enjoyed a lovely menu of Cupcakes, iced cookies, flower-shaped ham and cheese sandwiches, pickle sandwiches, dill pickle spears, grapes and strawberries. One "princess" commented "I've never been to a party where I didn't have to fix my own plate"
Poor brother wasn't feeling well and cuddled up in a chair with "Poochie" and slept through the WHOLE thing!
Here is a picture of the food table (minus one plate of sandwiches and the cupcakes). The white tulle and Christmas lights made such a lovely decorating tool. After the "tea party" was over, the tulle doubled as veils which we tied to the girls crowns. They were SO precious!!

Legos and Strawberry Shortcake

This was a multiple cake weekend. I baked two for parties on Saturday and then cupcakes for Lindsey Kate's party on Sunday.

The first is a Strawberry Shortcake cake for our friend Maddey's 2nd birthday.

The second is a lego cake for our friend Jack's 10th birthday.

First day of School

WOW! I was horrified when I logged into my blogger this morning and realized I did not blog ALL summer long! I guess that sums up in a nut-shell what kind of summer we had. No time for anything! We had a lovely vacation in South Carolina, Church camp, tennis camp and cheerleading camp plus a 3 week visit from Katharine and James. WOW - an event filled summer!

Anyway, today is the first day of school. Heyward in the 4th grade, Lindsey Kate in the 2nd and Micajah at pre-K. I am attaching pictures. How many of you wore Converse hi-tops as kids? We certainly did. I had a total trip down memory lane when Lindsey Kate wanted pink hi-tops for he school shoes! How funny!

My friend Tiffany's little boy Caleb is in Micajah's class at pre-K. She called to share this adorable story with me this morning: When she went to drop off Caleb, he was being a little clingy to her. She said Micajah came up to her and said "If he forgot his blanket for nap time, I can share my towel with him". She said thank you, but that Caleb brought his towel. He then said "I also brought school supplies I can share with him. I have 2 glue sticks, markers and paper if he wants to use them". How adorable, huh? I am glad to see he wants to share his stuff with his buddy.