Happy Belated Fourth of July to You!

And a happy FIRST birthday celebration to you, Miss Molly!!!








Grandpa made sure you got to partake in the lasagna/garlic bread/salad festivities of your party!! When you are able to choose your birthday party meal, we will let you...until then...lasagna it is!! You will find that no one makes better 'sagna than your Gramma G!! Thanks Mom and Pa...'twas a tasty treat!

Poor Mom, she always ends up with something on her head at these deals! I will hafta dig up years' past pix...we've got colanders, gift bags, other weird hats on this poor Gram's head! She is a good sport! This is Piper's new hat that her momma scored at Gymboree earlier in the day!

Nora Bean isn't sure what she thinks of all this first birthday nonsense! It's definitely overrated!

Levi and Piper...pure cheesecakers!

Mollsy was not sure what she thought of opening presents...but you'd think with her skills at shredding toilet paper and magazines/books, that she would've been all over this...maybe next year? I ended up opening them mostly-ish...she cried for a good part of this ordeal...

I be lovin' this dress....woo yeah....Beck found one for Pipes in Edinburgh that day and I had to have one for Miss M for this fall...it's a cute little Carter's corduroy number that will look divine with little brown Mary Jane's...it's a full little dress that will look divine on our little chicklets! Umm, what am I doing? yeah, that is what I do...sweat during gift opening...it's a lovely sight!

Ok, so here we go with the first birthday cake smash...we sang, off key as is our custom (even though we CAN kinda sing)...all the while, Miss M kept trying to burn her fingers OFF...'tis why the cakey is far from her...











Hmmm, not sure about THIS. umm, why IS mom letting me do this? This is EXACTLY the way Will responded on his first birthday 12.5 years ago...ewwww.












O yeah...and away we go! she picked it right up...neatnik didn't last for too long!








and it's only right that it's chocolate...white is far too "neat"...















at this point, E. had helped her to smear it around a bit...nice! she did do most of this on her own! She was a mess!




We spent a very soggy Fourth of July celebrating a lovely young lady! Mollsy wasn't born till July 9th, but I figured having my family all together for the holiday was as perfect a time to do the honors as ever!



...and also, my big bro Tom is heading out to California next weekend, when I would have probably done the party...so after the guilt trip of "How could you miss your niece's FIRST BIRTHDAY party"...this was our solution. I rather liked the combination...not that America doesn't deserve her own day...for she does...but Molly is a worthy co-celebrant. (that is not a word)




Mom, Beck, Melanie, Molly, Nora and I went down to Edinburgh, IN early yesterday morn to visit the Outlet shops, to gather b-day booty for the Divine Miss M. It rained all morning. but 'twas a good trip! Molly got lots of nice clothing!




David, the kids and I all went to our annual fireworks hot spot at Starbucks downtown after the party and a quick nap on his part...good pals Dale, Ramona and girls called to tell us they were meeting us down there...Yah!! It really is quite an interesting smattering of peeps that wind up down there...



Well, I have more pix to post but since I've been MIA on this blog for a few days, thought I'd better get something on here so my hounds don't get worried! (love you, hounds!!) Hope your 4th celebrations were rich...I need to post the pic from the 1976 4th when my bro, cousins and I were in the bi-centennial parade up in MI...with our little flags (flags that I have now, thanks to my Gram G, and I made sure ended up in at least one of your pix from yesterday) and Holly Hobbie clothing...in front of Gramp's Model A? car...(I'm talking to myself on my blog, k? sorry) See ya back here soon!