Birthday Brunch and Playdate

Two of my dear friends had/have birthdays this week and next and I was honored to host a brunch for them.  It was much fun. I made these too cute cupcake pops that I saw on Martha here is the link to the recipe (http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cupcake-pops) The food was good, everyone brought stuff to share.  You can see a picture of the birthday girls blowing out their candles and their little girls!  These are only a few pictures to see more go to: http://gallery.mac.com/hamunson#100032

a fun new thing to do...

I was in need of a birthday gift for someone who LOVES purses, so I thought I'll make her a purse.  I have never made a purse before, I didn't know where to begin, so I designed one in my mind, went to the fabric store and before I knew it I had made a purse.  I fell in love with the purse, so I have made several more for friends.  I bought cute fabric for the liner too, and had some extra fabric, and decided I'd make Hava a dress!  Yes, I made a dress for my Hava.  So here are my latest creations!

my joys

Oh, I do have so many joys in my life.  However, the two that come to mind are nearly both one year old, one boy and one girl.  Every evening when Daddy comes home from work, we play, mom makes dinner, daddy gets the kids ready for dinner.  After eating, which is fun just in and of itself. Mommy draws a bath, Daddy gets two babies ready for their bath and they scamper in the nude from the changing table to the bath.  Every night this nude scampering of babies is my highlight, I love to watch them as the water is filling up, they both await it and I assume they are figuring out how to splash the best to get most of the bathroom wet.  Much laughter in anticipation of the bath takes place, and then it is time to get in the bath...watch out, chances are all four of us are very wet!  They love playing together, and Hava absolutely hates getting out of the tub!  When she sees the towel she says "no!" and puts her hand over the drain.  One of the many wonderful things that takes place on a daily basis, and I know I look forward to it each and every night!  Not to mention, bedtime is soon after! :o)

Easter 08

We did a little easter egg hunt with the kids.  Inside the eggs were Peeps.  I thought they'd love them, both babies didn't like the peeps, so Gary and I helped them out with that.  They did a good job finding eggs too!  I was pleased to see how excited they were.  Gabe found 4 eggs and Hava found 8.  The easter bunny put Gabe in the basket too!

Gabe - My sweet baby boy

Gabriel is also getting big, he likes to talk too.  Hava and him can understand each other and they have fun doing so.  Gabe is very close to walking (still) and enjoys being with Hava.  He has sensitive little eyes and finds himself squinting lots.  Gary and I prefer the "squinty face" and love to see those new big teeth!  He is a fun little guy and has quite the personality to boot!

Hava - my sweet lil girl

Hava is getting so big!  She wears her hair in piggy tails these days, she loves to hug her brother and has much to say (although I don't know what she means many times).  She is a good big sister.  Today we had our snack time on the deck.  She was a fun one out there to watch and shoot!  I have a hard time narrowing it down, I love every picture, I picked my top 5 favorites of her!

Such a great day!

Last night my girlfriends and I celebrated my birthday.  What a fun night we had.  It was filled with VIP treatment at Bellanotte Restaurant in Minneapolis, due to some networking at a fashion and food event in March.  Great fun, good conversation and oh, my, did I say, amazing food.  When we arrived we were taken back to our table which happened to be the best table in the place.  We were greeted by Wendy who in my opinion has a sparkling personality and a heart of gold.  She welcomed us with hugs and a huge smile, then chose some super tasty appetizers for us (crab cakes and calamari) after ordering a glass of wine we all chose our meals.  I had the Atlantic Salmon with a lobster cream sauce...mmmm! It was amazing, all the girls were very pleased with their meals.  Then we ended it with a chocolate lava cake and creme brulee.  Truly a good meal.  The best part was the good conversation between amazing friends.  Friends that have come through so much and are still there for each other, and willing to go the extra mile for me, and one another!  I am blessed to have been placed in Roseville, so that I could meet the bulk of the girls through a great bible study, and more blessing from being introduced to two other amazing ladies through my husband, both introduced into my life by marriages one into the Munson clan! (lucky gal I have to say!)  We laughed really hard, told stories other tables may not enjoy so much, and just plum had  a luscious time.  I long for more memories like this!  I am sure that we all spent more money than we'd like, but to me, the company, superior food and memory is worth every last penny!  Each of these women blessed me in a way I can't describe last night.  I have had a major aversion to my birthday over the the past 10 or so years, but after last night...I know my birthday aversion is gone!  In order for this amazingly fun evening to take place my sweet mother-in-law had to take part by being at home with her beautiful grand-babies, so again I am blessed to have such a trusting Nana for me to go out and know that my babies are taken care of, upon her arrival she handed me a most beautiful potted flowering plant.  My husband had two dozen flowers delivered to our home that arrived just minutes before he did for lunch yesterday.  Mom, Dad, Merry, Spencer, Meri and Dick sent me greetings via the phone and mail.  I am loved.  I am blessed.  I am aware of it! Thank you all for making my day super special.  I am honored to know each of you the way that I do.  I look forward to more times together!  I will post a photo of the girls at the table when I get it from Hannah!

Fun times

We had some visitors today!  Jess and Jonesy came by to play with the babies.  Hava was overjoyed by the fun she had!  I am pretty sure that is what she is talking about. 

Nathan & Becca Black - Virginia

Nathan and Becca,

Well, I took their first ever photo together on the night they met and fell head over heels in love!  At Rosie & Bobby's wedding in New Mexico.  I have been so lucky to shoot their engagements during a visit to our home on a trip between Texas and Wisconsin.  They are living in Virginia and I was honored enough to shoot this beautiful couple again!  Thanks for keeping in touch.

Snow Day

Yup it is April 1st and it looks mid-winter!  Just one more reason to move! :O)

Here are the kids enjoying the snow!

Washington DC part 2

The remainder of our trip was wonderful!  So much fun to visit wonderful people and enjoy beautiful people.  We spent the rest of our trip seeing a bit more of DC including the Pentagon, and that was SUPER cool.  It was different than I expected, we had a great tour guide, Kelvin who is a member of our friends bible study.  I'd love to show you pictures I took there, but you are not allowed to take pictures.  We had a nice dinner with Bobby, Nate and Becca.  I even got to take a few wedding photos (I'll post those too).

Our last day was spent relaxing on the edge of the earth in 70 degree weather overlooking the massive Potomac river.  It was amazing, relaxing and perfect!