She did receive this great balloon arrangement this morning from her Nanny and Granddaddy and was so excited I had to remind her not to jump around.  Crazy girl.  Just don’t want her to hurt herself of bust open something.

We said good bye to Grandma Judy this morning and now we are taking a few days to relax and recover before school on Monday.

We all want to say THANK YOU!!!

We received so many wonderful messages, prayers and thoughts during this.  It makes such a huge difference to know you aren’t alone in anything and that we have so many people out there cheering for Ellie is awe inspiring.  THANK YOU just doesn’t truly seem like enough.

If you have never heard of Lisa Klypas she is a romance writer.  One of my favorite in fact. (Yup I admit it, I like to read romance.  Light fluffy books that have happy endings and are easy for me to read between work and the kids.  They make me happy and I love them.)   My dear friend Kimberly introduced me to Lisa a few years ago and I quickly worked my way through all of her books.  If you haven’t ever read her books, I highly recommend them.  They are fast feel good reads.

In the fall she released her latest book: Christmas at Friday Harbor (http://www.lisakleypas.com/bookChristmasEveatFH.asp) and I immediately downloaded the audio book to listen to on my way to work.

Then I found out the best news.  She was having a contest of sorts.  She was going to pick fans to become “Lisa’s Divas”.  We would receive copies of Christmas at Friday Harbor to share with friends and also previews of the whole series.  We got a groovy welcome kit complete with a fun tank top and really cool sun glasses.

I was even lucky enough to get a preview copy of the next book Rainshadodow Road.

http://www.lisakleypas.com/sneakpreviews.asp

I felt so lucky to be one of the few to get the books and be apart of this really cool event and the best part is Kimberly was chosen too!  We are doing this together!  What more can a girl ask for?

I made double chocolate cupcakes (I used this amazing recipe http://www.bakedperfection.com/2011/12/chocolate-cupcakes-with-vanilla.html) and my buttercream which I kicked up a notch with some peppermint.

Boy were they good and totally worth the calories I burned off chasing the girls all morning!

Chicken Garlic Tika Balti - my fav

NAN!!!

(Leave it to me to take pictures of the food but not the crew.)

This is the sweater my Nanny-Poo (my Grandmother) in England made for me to many years ago now to mention.  All these years later, my girls are still able to wear it.  Makes me smile to know that what was created with love so long ago is still being enjoyed by a little girl who loves trains today.

I’m helping to raise money by holding a raffle.

If your are interested in winning this really cool – if I do say so myself- bag

made by me and helping a wonderful cause just go to:

http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/General?px=7867019&pg=personal&fr_id=2261

and donate at least $10 to Goldie’s Angles under my name.  I’ll enter your name into the drawing and will have Goldie herself pull the name of the winner out on Oct. 16th the day of the race.

Thanks and good luck everyone!

We went to Odeah Camping Resort ( http://www.odetah.com/).  It was full service.  Tent camping sites with water and electric, a swimming pool and hot tub, a beach on a lake and loads of activities.  Ken and Ellie fished, Ken climbed a pyramid in the lake, and we tried yellow water melon for the first time.

On the way home we stopped by an alpaca farm  (http://www.sixpaca.com/) so the girls could pet and feed a few. I think they enjoyed almost as much as I did.

It was so much fun.  The girls loved it and I have to admit I enjoyed it as well.  I’m thinking we might just have to try it again next summer.

What a pleasant surprise that it ended up being a truly wonderful few days.

It started two days before my birthday when Ken brought me home a beautiful bunch of flowers.  It was such a pleasant surprise and made me smile.

My actual birthday started with a bit of a lie-in and coffee and pasteries.  Ken and Sadie went to work and school and Ellie and I headed to get our toes done and to the beach.

I got a chance to use my very cool new sandfree beach blanket.

We arrived home to a yummy box of Georgetown Cupcakes! Thank you Julie!  Ellie was so excited and trust me I was too.

It continued with a lobster and shrimp dinner and cake of course!

I got to spend my day with my four favorite people and received loads of messages and packages from friends and love ones that humbled me and made me have a smile that couldn’t be blasted off all day.  Thank you all for making my birthday surprisingly wonderful!

Ellie decided she wanted a day at the American Girl Doll Store in NYC for her birthday.  When informed she could have that or a Birthday party she still stuck to her original plan so it was booked.  I mentioned it to my Mom and said it would be really cool if she came up for the day and before I knew it, it all came together.

Ellie and I took the train to Grand Central and Mom flew into LaGuardia and took the bus to Grand Central.  Ellie was convinced it was Amazing Race style and keep asking who was going to win the prize.  Needless to say even though she was with me she apparently was on both teams so she was going to win either way – and I think we all won just being able to be together for the day- but my Mom made it there first but only by a few mins.

We took a cab up to the store (Mom and Ellie’s first NYC cab ride).

Then the real fun began.  A doll was picked and outfitted (Ellie got money from almost everyone for her Birthday to spend so she suited her dolly up).  Allie – what Ellie named her dolly – made a trip to the hair salon and Ellie even had a picture made with her that became a magazine cover.  All of that before we even made it to lunch, whew.

Lunch was awesome!  They have the coolest room and because I told them it was Ellie’s Birthday she had a crown waiting at the table for both her and her Allie.   Allie even had her own seat at the table with her own plate and cup.  We ate very well and a Birthday cake arrived at the table complete with candles and a rousing round of Happy Birthday.  It was wonderful and Ellie was so surprised.  I know she felt special.  Heck I felt special and I wasn’t even the Birthday girl.

Since we still had time we decided to walk up to the Plaza Hotel and check out Eloise’s store there.  It was very cool.  They had a whole room where you could watch Eloise movies and a stage set up to play dress up.  It was fun to explore and of course the Plaza is just a site to be seen no matter what.

We made it back home in time for pizza and Ellie’s second Birthday cake of the day – see previous post for more about that.

It was crazy but wonderful.  Such a cool experience and I think Mom and I had just as much fun as Ellie.  I’m so glad I have both of them and that Ellie decided this is how she wanted to spend her 6th Birthday.