Impromptu Tea Party-Girls Only

The Princess

The day before Brooke's birthday Savannah decided Brooke was to be treated like a princess and could choose to play anything she wanted. Being the girly girl she is, she obviously chose to have a tea party. The fact that my Brooke loves all things pink and tea parties does make me smile. She is the toughest and most aggressive little girl I have. She will surely be my beauty queen/athlete daughter. It was so cute (and rare) to see my girls getting along so nicely that I couldn't pass up the moment to roll Madelyn out there in her highchair and allow her to join in on what I think will be the first of many sister tea parties at our house. I imagine they will evolve over time to be progressively more mature and sophisticated. But for now, how precious was this site on a gorgeous Spring day?

The Hostess with the Mostest

Brooke is 4!

My sweet middle daughter is officially four years old. Brooke has been anxiously waiting for this birthday to arrive for some time now, even telling us she's five. Something about the number five is magical to her. But now she is actually four and seems to be pretty proud of it! We had a pretty low key birthday for her this year. We went to a precious little girl's party just last weekend which was an "Eloise at the Plaza" theme (I wish I had brought my camera. It was absolutely divine! My nanny, Eloise, would have thought it was the bees knees!). Before we arrived I had to explain to Brooke that Mariah was turning five and that is why she was having such a big party. And when she turns five we can have a blowout extravaganza too! But our little family affair was just as special. The night before the big day I made cupcakes so we could have them with Daddy. He would be at rehearsal late the next evening. I made a delicious batch of chocolate chip cupcakes and I had to share the recipe just in case someone looking on google for a really good double chocolate and dairy free cake recipe could use it! I realize I currently have like three followers (one being my mom and the other my daughter) but still. You never know! Here's the recipe:

Seriously Good Double Chocolate Cupcakes (or cake)

Can be made with Dairy or without

2 cups sugar

3/4 Cup cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk (I used rice milk)

1/2 cup oil (I used coconut oil)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup chocolate chips ( I use Ghirardelli semi-sweet since they are milk-free

And here's Madelyn trying icing for the first time

Awesome Giveaway

I was searching this morning for some type of giveaway for the incredibly awesome Go Gaga diaper bag. I did discover a giveaway for the strap on Supermom Central's blog. Of course I entered (praying to win......"Lord, I know I never win contests such as this, and there's obviously a lesson in this lack of winning, but I really like this bag. Amen.") Well, I then stumbled upon another sweet giveaway on this blog. Seeing as I am always wearing my baby....(I thought they were supposed to be disconnected from you after birth....I digress)....I thought this giveaway would be a delight to win (repeat above prayer). Here's the link
http://supermomcentral.blogspot.com/2010/04/giveaway-lillebaby-baby-carrier-and-i.html