A Ninth Birthday!

We celebrated our sweet girl's ninth birthday this past weekend.  I really cannot believe she is already nine - time please slow down!  We started off with brunch at her favorite French cafe/bakery on Saturday, and it was delicious, as always.  They treated her to a yummy plate of macaroons for dessert!  After brunch, we did some shopping at Paper Source for wrapping paper and ribbon for her gifts.  She chose the all-pink floral print, and I chose the multicolored floral print next to the bottom, but I basically wanted them all!  I really do appreciate nice gift wrap, and so does my daughter.

On Sunday, I made her birthday cake - chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting (her favorite) topped with lots of yummy sprinkles.  It was delicious, and she loved it!  We celebrated at my parents' house for a little family party.  It was fun and she enjoyed it!  She received lots of sweet gifts - new outfits for herself and her American Girl Bitty Baby doll, some games, and a really sweet locket from her aunt and uncle.  And on Monday, her actual birthday, we brought cupcakes to school so she could celebrate with her classmates.  

It was a great weekend, and we were so happy to celebrate our sweet girl turning nine.

Almost Spring

Hello!  Last week felt like Spring with highs in the seventies.  Daffodils are blooming, and my potted tulips are starting to sprout, but we are back to Winter today.  That's okay with me, as I'm not ready to say goodbye to winter quite yet.

I recently purchased The Simple Bites Kitchen cookbook, and I am loving it.  I've tried several recipes so far, and some more than once, and they've all been great.  I made the corn chowder for dinner tonight, and it was excellent.  We all loved it!  If you are looking for some new, mostly healthy recipes, I would highly recommend this cookbook.

It's the first day of March today, and it definitely came in like a lion with lots of rain and wind.  My daughter will celebrate her ninth birthday later this month, and I can hardly believe she is turning nine.  Where does the time go?  She is such a sweet girl and we have so much fun together.  We are looking forward to celebrating her birthday in a few weeks with a family party and a class party at school.  

I finally got around to framing one of my favorite pieces of Charlotte's artwork from kindergarten.  It's very special, and we love it!

Well, I'm off to make a cup of hot tea and get cozy while I watch a cooking show on PBS this evening.  Cooking shows not only inspire me to try new foods, but I also find them very relaxing to watch.