Rilla's Fourth Birthday

I was bound and determined to post to this poor, neglected blog tonight, especially when I think about the far-away relatives who haven't seen any new kid pictures in weeks!  Then I realized that I hadn't posted any pictures since mid-February.  That's a time period that encompasses February break, two birthdays, maple sugaring, and day-to-day life.  A tad overwhelming.  So, I decided to go with posting some pictures of the crowd-pleasing Marilla's fourth birthday.  And try to post more pictures soon.  So, here you have it!

 We'll start with Saturday night before Rilla's birthday.  Uncle Justin manfully stepped in to rescue the travesty of a cake I had made.  Rilla wanted a "pretty" cake, so decided to fulfill Elliott's desire for a Valentine's cake at the same time.  I knew you could make a heart cake by baking a square cake and a round cake and putting them together.  However, I didn't put the same amount of batter in each pan, and they came out different thicknesses.  I then tried to fix them by slicing some off one and putting it on the other parts.  Needless to say, it was a crumby disaster.

 Thus, Uncle Justin stepped in.  His expertise with skim coats on drywall apparently stood him in good stead, because he did a gorgeous job hiding all the flaws and making the cake look edible-- and like a heart!

 

 Rilla, getting a sneak peek at the cake after her Saturday night bath.  No excitement on that face.

 While Justin was working industriously in the kitchen, this was the scene in the living room.  JoAnna, who had flown in that day, was heavily asleep under piles of blankets.

 Enough heavily asleep, in fact, that Justin tried to give her an icing mustache when he was done with the cake.  Unfortunately, she wasn't sleepy enough to sleep through THAT.  But she did startle awake nicely!

 Cody, using her as a pillow once she succumbed to sleep again.

 And, a little soon-to-be four year old, curled up in bed with her favorite monkey pajamas, and the tutu Aunt Bet had given her.  Nothing like being a ballerina monkey to make your dreams interesting.

 Getting dressed for meeting the next morning, talking excitedly about her birthday.

 Bethaney, disagreeing with something.  I think it was over the venue for the Vaughan girls' (almost all-- we missed Lisa!) picture.

 I would just like to point out that I am not wearing heels.  I'm beginning to feel I stumbled into a White family picture in this one.  I guess I really am a shrimp.

 All the "young" ladies that were there, that Union Sunday.  And Ethan, who was willing to be a girl if it meant getting in the picture.  I didn't even realize whose little hand had slipped into mine until the pictures were done!

 Lindsey, with her nieces and nephews, both biological and honorary.  (Again, missing Oregon Vaughans!)

 The Evil Twins, all grown up.  Hard to believe Elliott is a year older than Orianna when you see them together.

 Crazy group of kiddos!

 Mom with her girls (and Ethan, natch).

 Sunday potluck, so of course these four ladies are clustered around the dish pan!

 Ashely made this very elegant, attractive sushi for lunch!

 Time for the beautiful cake.

 Rilla (and Ethan!)

 An enthusiastic crowd of paparazzi to commemorate the event.

 I pretty much have to grit my teeth and try not to squeeze her whenever I contemplate how gorgeous and perfect she is.

 Opening presents!  A Little People tub toy, which has been a big hit with all the kids, although I'm a little sick of bumping my shins into it in the shower.

 For a serious coloring girl, new crayons were a must.

 So shyly demure about the gifts.  Lily did enough grinning for the two of them, though.

 This gift was one of the ones I just had to buy, whether or not Rilla wanted it.  Thankfully, she loves it, too.  It was a little box with lots of drawers, containing a puzzle, markers, postcards, paper, stickers-- how could you NOT love something like that?  It now lives on her bureau, except for the 500 times a day she gets it down to pet, stroke and admire.

 Cuddling the soft new sweatshirt from Aunt Bet.

 This is another present that has been in heavy rotation.  I think we'll wear it out before it ever gets around to winter again.  It was a little uncomfortable wearing it through the 80° weather this week, but she persevered.

 A doctor's kit, to supplement the one Aunt Lindsey had bought Cheyenne for her third birthday.  The kids had worn out a lot of the pieces, so they like having the shiny new one.  I was less excited when I went to bed last night, forgetting that the kids had turned my bed into a hospital, complete with lots of babies and their strollers, as well as all the pieces to the doctor's kit.  But, hey, they're engaged in imaginative play, right?

The camera angle was all wrong to really capture it, but hopefully I'll always remember the shy delight (and smirk) when Marilla put on the hair accessory Aunt Ashley had made for her.  It was a look for the ages.  This barrette lives in the Magical Box of Things, of course.  Rilla loves putting it in.  Combined with her mother's unfortunate habit of not doing her hair every day, it has graced some interesting hair styles!

That's all for tonight.  I kind of forgot that I have to be up at 6:00 a.m. for my physical therapy appointment, that will be rolling around soon!  I've had therapy for a few weeks now, to help the ski injury to my knee when I was 19.  All that hiking in Utah last fall sort of aggravated it, and then I kept twisting it.  It's doing pretty well, considering only 1 of my 4 ligaments is functional!  The PT seems to be helping, and I'm enjoying the exercise there.  (The last 15 minutes of my appointment, where I sit with electrical stimulation and ice on my knee while I READ A BOOK, make it a lot easier to get up early!  :-)