Birthdays, FathersDays, Gardening and Fresh Kills

A busy month so far! No more fire and destruction, unless you count the baking time I spent in the kitchen! First up, a birthday for my niece:

Auntie got her the tutu her heart desired:

Assorted party guests, with their "just back from Mexico tans":

Some light crafts with paint, kids and flowerpots:

...and the Official Portrait By Auntie, of course:

Then I had a Christening/First Birthday for another niece:

Some dignified pictures in the church:

The "thank God it's done!" family portrait:

and then off to the First Birthday Party. This little girl had a FULL social calendar that day:

My sister's friend make the stunning cake. Not one for that CakeWrecks blog! This was as tasty as it was beautiful:

Some dignified gift opening...I believe she was gnawing her way to a Rosary:

On to Father's Day, spent with even MORE niece and nephews and assorted dads, moms, sisters and brothers. Of course, I felt compelled to bake something for the kids:

The angel food cupcakes were a big hit, which made up for the very unattractive Pineapple Upside Down cake (bleech) that I make each year for my Dad, who somehow thinks this thing is quite tasty:
I got some great random shots of the kids:
and then there is this lovely shot:
The official "up against the wall" shot:

Then I caught one of the little buggers attempting to taste test the cupcakes:
some "miniature golf" - get it??? HAHAHAHAHA...MINI? HAHAHAH..ok, nevermind.Finally, I caught up with some gardening, and SOMEONE was hanging out the whole time:

Twice, she brought me snakes while I was weeding. Damn showoff. The "morning snake":

The "afternoon snake":

Both snakes were spared death and re-released to the wild. Then, the coup de grace the next morning on my doormat. OH. MY. GOD:

Be grateful for this little bit of censorship. Apparently, the cat has gone Kosher on me. She only disemboweled and ate the front half of this monster. Picky.