Happy Birthday Eva!

 I never have birthday parties because I get so stressed out that it turns into one big angry mess.  But this year, Eva guilted me into it by telling me that she had to tell all her friends at school that "my mom won't ever let me have a party on my birthday."  Okay, fine, I gave in!

I didn't let her invite the whole class (because that really would have made me crazy), but she got to have a few friends over.  In the pool (mostly) we have Eva, Ella, Isaac, Tristan, Rebecca, Emanuel, and Claire.

We barbecued hot dogs and the kids ate them on the tarp.  Tristan was addicted to the Doritos, and designated my Uncle Rod to be at his beck and call when he needed more.  :)

We had to record the fact that I actually had a HAPPY face on the day of a party at my house!  Maybe we can do this more often.  This picture was taken while I decorated Eva's cake.

Eva wanted the same Ice Cream Cake Brian had on his birthday.  She isn't a big fan of frosting, so this was the perfect cake for her!

Grandma Papa let Eva pick out a fun sprinkler thing for her party.  The kids loved playing with it.

So it might look like I am just capturing Eva in motion as she runs through the sprinklers, but she was totally posing.  She would take a few steps, stop, hold still until I had taken a picture, and then repeat the process.  We might have a model on our hands....

The Muldowneys gave Eva a bird house that she got to paint.  Perfect gift for our little artist!

A bird house must have a bird painted on it so the real birds will recognize it as a home for them.

All finished!

I was totally impressed by this butterfly that Eva painted free-hand.  Not bad for a 7 year old!

This pic has nothing to do with Eva's birthday.  I just wanted to capture the beauty of the wild rose bush blooming outside my back door!  I am loving Spring!