Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

Earlier in the month I exclaimed to all how big of a month August is in my household. I wasn't kidding. Last week alone, we celebrated my father-in-law's 60th birthday, my mother-in-law's birthday (40?!<-- me looking for brownie points!!), my 7 year wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband, and last, but most certainly not least, is my uncle's birthday. Now, I was not near him to celebrate the last one, but it's always in my heart (and super easy to remember since we got married on his birthday!)

So I want to publicly say Happy Birthday to my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and my uncle! I wish you many many more happy ones to come!!!! And to my husband, I am so glad we were actually able to spend the ENTIRE day together for our anniversary. Truly a special occasion. I love you!!!

So on to the images...in order to fully celebrate, we rented a house on Gun Rock Beach in Hull, MA for the week - well, Wednesday through Sunday, but close enough. It was really great. We were literally right on the ocean, as you can see. What you can't see is that high tide brought the water up to the back steps for us. It was amazing.

Off the porch to the left:

Off the porch to the right:

This was the view off the porch over to Nantasket Beach (at night):

The waves crashed into the rocks right below the porch. These rocks actually form the base of the foundation of the house we were in. It was so cool. The kids loved climbing all over the rocks - moreso than being in the ocean!

RJ checking on the rocks below:

And Maddy posing like a goof, as always!

I just thought this was really nice looking. As we walked along the street, Ron was carrying Maddy and the sun was setting right over their shoulder. I just love how they are silhouetted with the orange sun.

Maddy's Birthday Party

Friday night was Maddy's 4th birthday party. It was soooooooooo much fun - thank you to everyone who came. I wanted to keep it very small, since we as a family are in the middle of one of the most hectic times of life. Maddy was getting a little antsy, so I let her open one gift in the morning before school. She was sooooooooooo excited to get a new bathing suit and towel that she insisted on putting it on immediately. I almost couldn't get her to put real clothes on for school!

Here's the cake...I baked the cake, then brought it t my mother-in-law's house so she could help me decorate it. This was the first time I ever attempted a cake like this, but I think we did GOOD!!! Maddy liked it, which was really all that mattered to me.

Here's a picture of Maddy and Daddy - isn't that sooooooooooo sweet?! I'm trying to get a slideshow together now. Once I do, I will add another post with the full show in it.

Birthday's are Fun!

We had quite a busy weekend! After my sister's shower (see below!) , we had a birthday party for our cousin. He's so cute and the kids had so much fun!!! My Auntie-In-Law is an Arbonne consultant, so I got to spend some time playing with the make up and skin care items. I bought a whole ton of stuff and became a wholesale distributor with her, so if you want to know more about it, shoot me a quick email (I get a discount!) and we can talk. I love what I have so far and do NOT want to be a salesperson, but I will tell anyone who wants to know what I love and why!

I took a few great shots of the kids (of course - again, they are my FAVORITE subject!). This one of Maddy makes me smile every time. And if you know Maddy, this face is HER!

They got to do a pinata, which was so much fun for them!

Here's one more of Maddy (notice the curls - Giggy set her hair in curlers before bed and she looks just like a princess!)

Oh yeah, and we TRIED to get a family picture with all the cousins together, but as you can see, they were all a little giggly!! (It IS a party I guess!)

Mansfield Character Breakfast

This morning I took the kids to a character breakfast where the proceeds benefited the Chernobyl Children Project, USA. Prior to today, I had no idea such an organization existed. The purpose of the organization is to provide help for children affected by the Chernobyl disaster. What I didn't realize is that the nuclear disaster that occurred in 1986 is still having a profound effect on people who live there. You can read more about what they do on their web site, but one of the main things they do is to coordinate trips for children from the region to a Boston-area host family. They get to stay with the family for a month and receive proper medical attention for the time they are here.

I realized that it truly is amazing how little I know about what is going on in the world. It makes me sad to think of the innocent children that were (and are continuing to be) affected by the radiation.

Here are some images I made while we were there: