| We had a rainbow party for Aurelia’s 4th birthday. We invited just a few of her closest classmate friends from daycare,Jackson,and then we had some older children that are friends from other connections that came,as well. They all played together really well and had a great time. For food,we grilled hamburgers,had orzo salad,colorful veggies and fruits,strawberry cupcakes with strawberry icing,and homemade strawberry ice cream. With help from some special friends who arrived early and helped me finish setting up,it all went smoothly. The birthday girl had a great time,and she received some really enjoyable presents.  A rainbow dress to fit with the party theme. The dress has french seams on the strips and the bodice encloses the skirt edge,so there are no exposed edges (I love it when I can figure that out – such a nerd,I know.)   
Aurie opening her presents! I was almost too busy to take pictures until some of the guests left,but here are some pics of the ones that stayed later. Marcus and the boys hanging out/on! at the table. Angie and Ivera helped so much with clean-up. There wasn’t anything left to do once they left! 
  
Birthday girl having a pageant to try on her new dresses. The older girls helped her change,would announce the new style,and had her all decked out!  
The guys played some video games and then Marcus showed how to play one of his favorite computer games.  
Playing with new toys. The bubble scepter was a big hit,and made great bubbles – you never know with those types of toys. Jackson gave her some puzzles,and she set to work right away putting them together once the house was quiet. She could do the Winnie the Pooh puzzle all by herself!! It has 25 or so pieces. This is a bit gratuitous,but I wanted to post a picture of Aurie finally wearing her “mini me” shirt that I made for her last summer. I guess I might have to make myself another one,because my original was a maternity top. Mommy a couple of days before Simon was born at the bottom of the Devil’s Millhopper sinkhole,and Aurelia finally wearing her shirt the next year.  
  
Back in April,we finally made it down to Ocoee (Orlando,basically) to visit the Farleys. Aurelia had such a great time! The kids played dress-up,complete with Tori fixing her hair. The kids had a little pageant to show us their dress-up outfits. Aurie was in princess/ballerina heaven,because she got to try them all on (and Tori was pretty excited to play with her life-sized doll.) Tori read books to her,we had grilled lunch and strawberry shortcake,and we went for the first COLD swim of the season. As we were walking back to the house from their neighborhood,I just had a take a picture of the three of them holding hands – so very precious. I especially love Bennet’s Spiderman floaty suit. The downside is that we want to go down there nearly every weekend,now. 
She loves to feed her little brother. Also,that dress is now her official favorite – I need to hurry up and get another spliced-t-shirt gator dress made up,because this one is getting too small and has paint on it. So much to do!   
Aurelia loves to dress-up. She has gotten a lot of wear out of the lion suit,which I made for her second Halloween. Look how short the sleeves are! Last weekend,we made a castle from one of those foam rubber kits. She had a great time decorating it with Mommy. The other night,I was doing some hand sewing to finish up a bag,and she really wanted to try it. So,I set her up with a scrap of material and a large needle. She got the in-and-out motion going pretty well. I need to get an embroidery hoop so that she can practice more easily. I love it that she is so curious about trying everything that we do.  
Eating a sun-butter and jam sandwich after blueberry picking. Eating our first watermelon of the year! She and Simon both dug in! We’ve also had some really great cantaloupe already. These pics are not from the same,day,but she has been wearing the “berry picking” shirt a lot,lately. She originally wanted to wear it picking so that she wouldn’t get lost – love it!! Now,it is in frequent rotation,probably due to the memory of a great day of picking. This afternoon,we took the kids after lunch to go see the Butterfly Rainforest at the natural history museum. For those who haven’t seen it,the butterfly exhibit is a pretty large botanical garden enclosed with netting where they keep butterflies from all over the world. They fly around,and with a sharp eye and perhaps a quick shutter,you can see maybe a dozen different species on a given day. The university has a diversity and propagation for re-release lab there at the museum,and the garden is their outreach area for the public to experience. So,here’s the rest of the backstory… For lunch after worship,we went to Las Margaritas with some friends,Winston,Ann,and their two little girls who are about 6 months and 1.5 years younger than Aurelia. As we were leaving the restaurant,the girls found a dead butterfly on the sidewalk,and Ann was supervising while they got to handle it and look at its wings and body,etc. (Ann is a doctor,so she’s sort of into the science thing,too.) Anyway,Marcus thought it would be neat to take her to see some live butterflies after that,so we went straight over to the museum. 
We arrived right about the time when one of the “wranglers” was about to release a box of young adults,so the crowd was pretty heavy. These were the only two shots I managed to take with being crowded and trying to keep up with her.  For more about our museum trip,look over at Simon’s blog… Yesterday,Aurelia and I made some paintings for Simon’s bedroom. I had this idea to make a very simple,cartoony-like landscape and put some “applique” cars from some of the quilt fabric I bought to make stuff for baby boy before he was born. So,I sketched the lines for the grass,road and sky on the canvases. As I was beginning to paint them,Aurelia comes and asks “ooh,can I paint too!!” Who could say “no” to that? So,I found another brush and let her go to it. By the end,she was wanting a tree on her portion,as well,even though I hadn’t planned on a second tree,and she also wanted a hat floating through the sky (a Wizard of Oz reference,I think). So,I had to tell myself to chill out and let her be creative. So,the result is 2 similar panels and one very special one for brother. She is an excellent painter. I know nothing about it,but she was able to control where paint went with really good precision. Mommy is really just a crafter,not a painting. I basically just fill in the colors. Although,I did start to try to make some directionality in the grass after a while – looks like the wind is blowing it. I can see how painting could be lots of fun. Perhaps that will be retirement thing…before there are grandbabies to sew for.:)  
Go over to Simon’s blog to see the finished paintings… Bubble baths are a constant favorite around these parts. Aurelia likes to keep a straw on-hand for blowing her bubbles up into big mounds. Simon likes to take baths with his sister whenever Mommy can sit and watch constantly. He is so cute in the big tub,and he loves to splash – a little too much for sister,who freaks out when she gets water on her face! Simon can propel himself from one end of the tub to the other with splashing,then we turn him around and let him go back the other way… He only stops once in a while to catch his breath or sputter some of the water off of his face,then splash,splash,splash!! Here is one of Aurelia’s bubble masterpieces!  And,yes,she does like to sit in the baby tub,almost as much as Simon likes the big tub! We often call this the “quick bath,” since our hall bath has NO water pressure,it takes more than 5 minutes just to fill the small tub.  
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