Claire and her cupcakes!

With Claire's obsession with Cupcake Wars, we decided to get her a piping bag and kit so she could have fun decorating them in a fancy way. She taught us that on the show, the people use an ice cream scoop to get the batter into the pans. So, Claire went to work and used this new technique (which worked pretty well I must admit!).

 Claire had a blast using her new piping bag and did a really good job!

Claire's very first cupcake she decorated with her piping bag. Not too bad for her first try!

Claire and Karsen - business partners!

Claire had her friend Karsen spend the night and they had a blast. Friday evening we went to watch Jeff play hockey, although the girls did way more running around than actually watching the game!

 They worked hard to get candy from one of the machines.

 After the hockey game, the girls wanted to get ready to do a lemonade and donut stand the next morning. They worked well together to come up with an idea for a sign and then spent a lot of time creating it!

 Even though it was hot, these girls were troopers and made sure to wave at every single car that went by.

 After an hour and a half, they called it a day and packed up. They quickly discovered how well they did by counting all of their money. They made $38 together! So we went to the store and let them pick out whatever they wanted with their money. What a fun day!

Happy birthday in Heaven Snuggle Bunny!

This posting is a little late. On September 6th we did a balloon release in memory of my Dad and Claire's Snuggle Bunny for his birthday. We each took a moment to write our message to him and then did the release. Claire had no hesitation and went right to writing her letter to her Snuggle Bunny. We miss him every single day and talk about him daily. It warms my heart that Claire has so many memories of her time with him and I thank God every day that my Dad chose to get treatment down here so we could have that year with him! God is so amazingly good!

Special time with Auntie Shannon and Ellie!

Jeff surprised me with a trip to New York for my 40th birthday! Shannon and Ellie flew down to watch Claire. He woke me at 4:30am and had me watch a slideshow with a picture that said Keep calm and call your sister. I fought him on it for a bit and then gave in. While I was talking to her on the phone, she came down from upstairs! While we were having the time of our lives in New York, Claire was having a blast with her cousin at home! They did lots of swimming, and even decorated the house and did a dance show for me when I got home! So blessed to have such an amazing husband and such an amazing sister who allowed this all to happen!

 

Claire loves Cupcake Wars on Netflix. One of the judges owns a cupcake shop called Sprinkles. We were able to find one of her shops in New York and were able to do a video call with Claire so she could see the shop! Her and Ellie each picked out a cupcake and we brought them home for the girls!

Before heading to the airport, the girls wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. We stopped on the way to let them play for a bit before having to say good bye.

Holiday weekend fun with friends!

 We had a wonderful evening last night with some great friends, the Moore family. Here Claire is trying out the pool before they arrive to be sure it is good for swimming! She has joined the swim team and began practice last week. Since then she has grown to love having on her swim cap because it works well to keep the hair out of her eyes. We are very thankful that she loves wearing it!

 It sure is a rough life!

 Emily, Jackson, and Claire playing. It took me about 10 shots to finally get one where they were all looking and together. Who wants to pause for a picture when you are having so much fun? Not these three kiddos!

 Claire and Emily had a blase using the squirters on their tubes to spray Belle. Belle had fun with this also and kept trying to eat the water!