Princess castle and random playtime

What does a good daddy look like? He's not too proud to build a castle for his daughters' My Little Ponies, princess dolls, and Toy Story figures.  Kinda like this:

 ...setting it all up...

 All done!

 And so proud of it!

 Danielle was coloring.....

 ....which meant that Mom was able to do a pretty hair-do!

 Danielle is reading a story to Ashley!

 ...and Ashley is....um.....I have no idea what she's doing!

Bob the Tomato hat

Bob found an adorable hat for Ashley. She's quite fashionable!

 Such a cutie!

 ....I call this her "I'm so innocent!" face....

A rough day....

I don't have the pictures at the moment, but hopefully I'll get something relevant up soon. Monday was a rough day -- it actually started Sunday night, but really, Monday was tough. It was tougher on Bob than myself. Sunday night we got hit with an ice storm. Don't think anyone thought it would actually be an ice storm, just maybe a little snow and sleet mix. Yeah, then there was a ton of wind. Right around 10:30 to be exact. A branch (a big one) broke off one of our trees and snapped the power line the connects to our house. No neighbors affected, just us. So we sat on hold for 45 minutes with the power company to report our emergency -- that a power line was down in our front yard. Finally made it back to bed around midnight. Bob had a LONG day planned that started off with a 4:30 alarm and a 2 hour drive. On the drive, he slid into a guardrail. Now he needs a rental car. And a hotel. Praise God he's not hurt. Also in the morning our wonderful neighbor calls the power company and reports that our power line is down. When he calls, they respond! The trucks got everything fixed and we had HEAT again!! Yeah!!! So all things considered, our family is safe, so nothing else really matters. I suppose I should probably go catch up on work now......

Ashley's Birthday Party

We were finally able to have Ashley's party today.....a little later than originally scheduled, but we still had tons of fun! A house full of people is always fun, and then throw in some sugar!!

Getting ready for everyone to come over....and yes, Mom's sporting Ashley's special headband (another 2 am idea)!

 Look who just got up from her nap....and is still a little sleepy...oh, and check out the shirt!

 ...what are we doing here, Mom?

 Just being silly!

....a cute catch by Daddy....

Lunchtime! What a big girl!

 Yummy-yum time....

 What's a party without presents?!?

 The anticipation is just more than Danielle can handle...

So excited!!

 ....and now the anticipation has gotten to everyone!!

 Strutting her stuff! Love the tutu and heels!!!

 Happy birthday to you!!!!

....and ice cream to end the party!!!

Minnie Mouse cake

So we picked a theme for Ashley's party - Minnie Mouse!! We picked up a bunch of fun plates and napkins and cups, but then we needed a cake......so here's what we came up with:

There was NO way that I would be able to make Minnie's face, even with the Minnie Mouse pans that you can buy. So we tried making a Minnie Mouse hat. I baked a cake in a mixing bowl with a rounded base, then trimmed the top flat and turned it upside down.

I browsed the aisles at Michael's and found that the fun craft-foam sheets comes in a double thickness....so that's what the ears are. I also bought some wired ribbon and made my own bow. A little piped frosting, and the whole things looked pretty cute!

 Ta-da!!

So I figured that we also needed cupcakes, but how do you make Minnie cupcakes? Turns out that the ideas you get at 2 am while laying in bed sometime actually work! The ears are chocolate parliels (turned backwards) and I bought a spool of thin ribbon to match the big cake's ribbon. Tie about 20 bows, stick everything on top, and presto! Minnie Mouse cupcakes!!

Big sister looking on and making sure that I'm doing it all right!

 She let me know that I passed quality control!!

Buried girl?

The other day it suddenly got VERY quiet....and I got worried.  I went looking for the girls and discovered that Danielle was 'sharing' ALL of her toys with Ashley!

 ....and Ashley was quite happy for her sister to pile everything on top of her!

Pretty girls!

Little beauties!