Sister was content to watch from the side of the road and collect candy, coupons for free ice cream and various stickers handed out by local politicians.
I'm finally starting to get to enjoy some fresh veggies from our container garden. Just over a week ago I was able to pick my first tomato. And then this weekend these were finally ready to be picked: a bell pepper, two tomatoes, 4 jalapenos and 5 cherry tomatoes. I ate fresh tomato slices on my sandwich for lunch today. So delicious. I'm thinking about planting some lettuce and spinach seeds soon so I can enjoy those this fall. I love being able to walk onto my back deck and pick fresh veggies.
Vinegar and Baking Soda-These are my favorite household cleaners. There's just so much you can use them for. Whether it's cleaning glass, scrubbing down the tub, cleaning drains and toilets, deoderizing the fridge and trash can, removing stains on the counter or getting rid of hard water stains, one of these products can do it. And they are inexpensive and environmentally friendly.
My little cows.
Yes, I joined in the fun.
Smyle!
U Smyle 2
The manager handed out little stuffed cows to all the kids.
After breakfast we let her open her presents but she decided she wouldn't open them all at once. She wanted to spread the surprises out over the day. She cracks me up! Since moving to Kentucky we haven't done big parties for the girls. The first year we just didn't know that many people so we decided to do something fun as a family instead and we've just kept that up since then. Sister chose to go to the Science Center this year. Since she loves science so much it was the perfect way to spend the day. With Daddy, learning about the human body. 
Playing with and interactive map table.
They got a kick out of playing with this digital photo of themselves.
And it was very exciting to get to sit inside the Gemini trainer.
After our afternoon at the Science Center we headed home for cake and more presents. Sister requested a Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream Cake for her birthday. I combined a couple of recipe's I found online and came up with what may be the most awesome cake ever! Really, it was amazing. Rich chocolate cake on the bottom, creamy Breyers chocolate ice cream with chopped up Reese's cups in the middle, a layer of decadent chocolate ganache all topped off with more chopped Reese's cups. Sister was very happy with it! I was very happy she requested it.
It was a really fun day for us all. I still have to remind myself she's 9. And sometimes she has to remind me. But 9 seems to be the magical age when they really, really stop being little girls. She has made it known in the last week that she doesn't like fairy tale princesses anymore. That wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that her room is totally decorated with Disney princess stuff-princess bedding, princess pillows, princess wall decorations, princess crown wall canopy. You get the idea. I even painted the ceiling Bibbidi Bobbidi Blue. I'm fairly certain I'm about to regret that decision. I told her that perhaps we can makeover her room for Christmas. I was letting her look at bedding in Walmart yesterday and not a single thing she picked out coordinates with Bibbidi Bobbidi Blue. I really don't enjoy painting ceilings. sigh
So onto my birthday. It was a pretty low key day. The Man had to work all.day.long. I vaguely remember him kissing me bye that morning. I rolled out of bed around 8ish that morning and was served breakfast on the sofa. My sweet girls had intended to serve me breakfast in bed but seeing that I was up first it was the sofa instead. My facebook page was filled with birthday wishes from friends I've made throughout my life. I do so "heart" facebook. Two of my friends had conspired to surprise me. The one friend who is a DJ in a small market in Alabama called me to wish me happy birthday and to let me know he and my other friend were dedicating a Duran Duran song to me on the radio that morning. Even though I couldn't actually hear it all the way up here in Kentucky, I still thought it was very sweet. I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment that afternoon but after hiring a baby sitter and driving half an hour to the office, I was told that as of midnight the night before my insurance no longer covered doctors in that particular health care network. Nice. So I drove home and enjoyed a big piece of leftover ice cream cake with my girlies. The man arrived home about an hour before my birthday was over with roses, dark chocolate reese's cups(do you see a theme here) and a cheesy musical card. It had this picture from 16 Candles on the front:
and it played So True by Spandau Ballet. Awwwww! The Cheesy Man wrote "The perfect 80's card for the perfect 80's girl." inside. I love my cheesy Man. He's the cheesiest!
Before I leave I have to share the latest from Baby Girl. She's my delicate little flower. She is not a fan of the heat and bright sun. She has migraines and both of those seem to contribute to her migraines. So she's decided to start carrying an umbrella at all times to shield herself from the bright sun. As we were running errands yesterday, I couldn't help but be a little amused as we walked from car to store with her under an umbrella on the brightest, sunniest day possible. That's my Baby Girl.
