meme's birthday and mardi gras masks

My mom came to town to celebrate her birthday with us. We had to get ready… Hannah loves to plan a party. There were decorations to make and a cake to bake. We set off for the grocery store. It's always a BIG deal to get the "fun cart" - a cart with a race car attached.

They pretend they're actually steering and they really like it when I pretend they're steering. The grocery store is a fun place.

We got home and made a cake. Hannah helped with the icing and did the sprinkles.

Meme liked it.

On occasion, when I'm trying to get a picture of both kids, I'll yell "Freeze!" This is what freeze means to Hannah:

I think I'll stop yelling "Freeze!"

Present-opening was a team effort.

Last year was a big birthday, so this year was pretty quiet. But all in all we had a nice time celebrating Meme.

My brother and his wife, Uncle Will Will and Aunt Crystal, sent H+J a whole box of Mardi Gras goodies. {You may know that Crystal is a bona fide cajun girl. We can only pretend.} They wore their crowns and called each other king and queen:

And they had a great time decorating their own masks (even ones for Bitty and Raffie, too!}.

It was cold, so while they worked, Joe made them hot chocolate.

Hannah gave me beads and a ring, because I needed to be fancy too.

Today I sat them down for pictures, the masks first. Much easier than having the kids sit still.

Bitty and Raffie:

I attempted a group shot…

…but all I got was goofy.

Just a normal photo op at the Buck house!