A monkey. A squirrel. One happy family.

Snitch cake pops in progress. Ella's birthday party at Flipz Gym went off today with very few hitches but plenty of snitches! For those of you unfamiliar with the Harry Potter series of books (shame on you - get to the library RIGHT NOW), Harry plays the wildly popular sport of Quidditch, which is sort of like lacrosse played on broomsticks. He is his team's seeker, his job being to find a special ball called a "golden snitch." When Ella said she wanted a Harry Potter birthday party, I began searching online for themed cakes. Most were so elaborate (giant Hogwarts Castles, sorting hats),  I knew that only a professional bakery could pull them off. But golden snitch cake pops? Maybe those I could handle. Annie's 3rd birthday. I don't know what it is about my kids' birthdays, but I suddenly turn into a slightly less maniacal Martha Stewart. It started with Annie's doll cake, which I topped last year with Ella's dragon cake . These cake pop...

I know, I know. I owe you a report and pictures about the holidays (they were lovely - family filled, relaxing, nary a plumbing disaster, and a surprise overnight trip to St. Louis for the girls so they could play and explore at the Magic House and the City Museum , one of the most magical places in the universe). Not today. I did update the photo album in the sidebar, so if you click on the image of my lovely people over there, you'll be taken to all of our photos from December. What I'm giving you today is a list of Annie's favorite days, which she recently announced to the whole family. Excuse me. Anna's  favorite days, as earlier this week she sternly told us she doesn't want to be called Annie anymore but wants to be called by her "real name." We don't always remember to say Anna, and she doesn't always remember to be mad when we call her Annie. Half the time I call her Ella on accident, Oh, well. We're trying. Number one: pajama days ...