Happy birthday, Penny Jane!

Ahhh, how things change.

Penny's first birthday:

Penny's second birthday:

Last year we were hunting for sunscreen for the guests. Today we were making sure our pants were tucked into our boots so we didn't get snow in them.

We had a party planned for today, but because of the snowstorm we had to cancel it. Most of the guests were coming from either Denver or Colorado Springs, and snow accumulation here are really unpredictable; we didn't want any of our guests to get stranded on their way home. So the party is rescheduled for Wednesday, and today we just had our own little family celebration. PJ chose a double fudge cake and pink vanilla icing with sprinkles, and the girls helped me bake them, of course:

I'm not sure what made the difference, but WOW were the super light and fluffy. They were so airy that we ended up with 36 mini cupcakes and 23 regular sized ones! And I even forgot to follow the high altitude directions; usually when I do that they sink in the middle and are really dense. Weird.

After they were all out, we headed outside to frolic in the snow:

It was really nice out, despite the fact that it was still snowing. It must have been hovering just at 32* because part of the driveway was already melted and the snow actually packed! No powder! So that means we got to build a real snowman:

After I'd frosted them, I let Penny Jane decorate with the sprinkles. It was so cute watching her apply them tiny finger-pinch's-worth at a time:

And then, of course, this evening we did the candle and singing:

She blew out the candle all by herself on the second try!

So now I have a two year old. It's already proving to be a very different experience this time around. She is just *more* than Abby was in a lot of ways, behavior-wise. She's already throwing tantrums, already much more feisty than Abby was at this age. Three was the tough year for Abby. I think it's going to be this year with PJ. But with a face that cute:

giving you kisses (and occasionally licking you) how bad can it possibly be?