I'm Tired of Talking About Being Sick

The Little Man has been known to have his own preferences when it comes to his wardrobe. We know he likes accessories and all things superhero. He also has a dislike for seams in his socks, and recently come to despise jeans, and we all know that he would prefer to just be naked from the waist down.

He wants to wear cozy's only every day. I know what makes up a pair of cozy bottoms (sweat pants or pajama pants), but I haven't figured out what he means when he tells me he wants to wear a cozy shirt. One would think sweat shirt, but he has yet to put one on. So, I have allowed him to dress himself on days when it doesn't really matter. This has led to large amounts of picking up each and every night, as he empties all his drawers to find the perfect cozy shirt.

Also, you may run into him at Super T totally mismatched.

Although, you may not even notice because his own mother may upstage him while wearing workout gear fresh with sweat, no make-up, and hair that is still wet...and not from a shower.

Since today was a day that it didn't matter what The Little Man wore, I sent him upstairs to get dressed in his favorite cozy's for the day. He came down a short while later.

P: Mom! I am all dressed!
me: (looking in his direction, and noticing he actually matches) Oh! Good job, buddy! You look cozy and ready to go.
P: Ya! I am all ready.
(pause for a quick second)
P: Oh wait! I'm not ready! I forgot to put on my underwear!

As he quickly zipped out of the room, all the hopes I had for him growing out of the no underwear thing, quickly dissipated.

Captain's Log: Day 11

The Girl is still sick. She is actually having a good day today, but I have learned not to trust the good days anymore because sooner than we like, the bad ones return. The Doctor had no insight into the situation and just said "it just looks like one strong virus".

I am not going to go into the depths of my feelings about that comment.

Also, I had to collect a stool sample today from The Girl.

It hasn't been the best day.

One true blessing that has held me together during this trying time is a gift a friend gave me for Christmas. This book has given me all the words I need to say while in prayer, and I feel like I have nothing to say or give.

If you ever feel like your prayer life has gotten stale or you are wondering what else is there to say? Run to your local Christian book store RIGHT NOW and get this book. Maybe it's too cold outside? Well, order it up online somewhere. The Morning Adoration will bless your socks off, and it's only the first few pages.

Being in constant communication with my Father is pretty much the glue that has held me together on our Bad Days, and I can't seem to wrap my brain around anything but negativity.

Here's a snip-it for you:

Father God,
"For who you are and what you have done, accept my praise, O Lord:
I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless your name for ever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Great are You, Lord, and most worthy of praise; Your greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works. Many shall speak of the might of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds. I will express the memory of Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. You, O Lord, are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. You are good to all, and Your tender mercies are over all Your works. (Psalm 145:1-9)

"For who You are and for what You have done, accept my thanks, O Lord:
Blessed are You, O Lord, for you have heard the voice of my prayers. You are my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in You, and I am helped. My heart greatly rejoices, and I will give thanks to You in song.
(Psalm 28:6-7)

"I commit my day to You, O Lord:
O God, I know that all things work together for good to those who love you, to those who have called according to Your purpose. Those you foreknew, You also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of Your Son, that You might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
(Romans 8:28-29)

"I will obey You today and trust You for all my needs:
I will trust in You, Lord, with all my heart, and lean not on my own understanding. In all my ways I will acknowledge You, and You will make my paths straight.
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

"O Lord, guard my heart against the temptations of the world and renew my heart and spirit:
I will be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving I will let my requests be made known to you, O God. And Your peace, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.

"Whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, I will let my mind dwell on these things.
(Philippians 4:6-8)

"Lord Jesus, I eagerly await the day when You will come again:
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to me."
(Romans 8:18)

Good, good stuff.

And that's just a sampling of the Morning Adoration.

There is nothing like being able to pray God's own words.

It's just what this anxious, hurting, frustrated mother's heart needs.

The Boy Who Cried Barf

Seems as though, with all the attention going to The Girl during this illness, The Little Man might be looking for someone to look his direction every once in a while. I feel bad for him. He has been a bit neglected.

Last night he resorted to having horrendous behavior with the mind set of, "If they won't pay attention to me while I'm good, then what will they do when I'm bad?"

So he went to bed early and lost some of his most beloved privileges, namely a snack and/or dessert.

It crushed his heart.

It crushed my heart.

I had to go in and hug and snuggle him before he went to sleep thinking that I didn't love him anymore.

Oreos are his love language, and I had not filled his love tank.

This morning he used a different tactic.

Since he had gone to bed somewhat earlier than normal, he woke up quite a bit earlier than normal. Knowing he isn't allowed out of his room until seven, he thought up a way to get our attention quick, and hopefully let him out of his room...and maybe let him watch some early morning TV.

Out of his room he came. "Mommy! Daddy! I think the throw-up is going to come out soon."

Yup, we jumped.

High.

Hubs took him to the bathroom where, after talking with him, he discovered that maybe there was no throw-up that needed to come out. Instead, we just had a little boy who wanted some early morning attention.

They learn fast.

Nothing Like Some Sour Milk to Help Your Tummy Feel Better

How many hours do you think a TV can run, in a row, before it burns out? It's been so nice, weather wise, that it is killing me that we are in front of a tube.

For the last six days.

Straight.

I did get the kids out today for some sunshine (and UV rays). They played rocket launch, rock collectors, and some baseball.

The TV really appreciated the break.

I just hope the UV rays kill any little microbes crawling around on their little bodies that isn't supposed to be there.

The doctor said that The Girl should be at the tail end of whatever she has (she said she thought maybe it's Nora Virus). It can last up to seven days. Well, she is using each one of those days up, I guess. I am not even attempting school until at least Monday. I feel horrible for her. One minute she is dying of hunger the next...well...isn't so pretty. I really don't think she has digested one bit of food since Friday of last week. Hubs could tell you better since he has been the main bucket holder.

Ewww.

The doctor did recommend some probiotics to balance her back out again. She actually recommended it for the entire family, especially since we've been exposed to The Girl. The doctor said that she thought that it would be a good idea to stay on them permanently because they do such a good job at fighting off tummy bugs, and all other nastiness that gets into our bodies.


Ewww.

If it gets The Girl better and it keeps us healthy for a while, well then LETS DO IT.

Can I say though, we needed a super pack of the probiotic to get started with since The Girl is so sick, and we've been exposed, that the flavor/consistency/over all palatability (is that even a word?) is HORRIBLE? The lady at the store assured me that the kids would LOVE it. She said, "Do your kids like chocolate or strawberry milk?"

Well, sure they do.

I am not sure why she even asked that, unless she meant strawberry milk that is about one or seven months old.

BLECH.

I tried to get them to chug it.

They looked at me like I was crazy.

So I spoon fed it to them every hour ALL DAY LONG until it was gone.

The Girl has to take it for three days.

She is thrilled.

After that they just eat a chewable vitamin type probiotic.

The lady said the were "very tasty".

I am going to sample one first to see if they are just as "tasty" as the mega pack.

Then I will probably have to think up some sort of trickery to eat the things.

Unfortunately for The Girl, the memory of the past six days is probably all she needs to motivate her to take it.

**Shudder**

Also, I am Buying Stock in Clorox, Paper Towels, and Lysol

Dear Baby Girl,

I am so sorry to see you like this. I cannot for the life of me figure out what has happened. The doctor thinks you might have re-infected yourself here in our home. I feel horrible. I am scrubbing every flat surface and every vertical surface for you (and everyone else who lives under this roof). I am committed to cleaning all door knobs, light switches, your toys, and all faucet fixtures. My cracked hands, that are red and burning because of chemical overload, are a small sacrifice I will make to hopefully ensure you don't have to endure another day like yesterday for hopefully another 9 or so months...

Your stuffed animals, you know Wilbur, Dino, Swirly and Fluffy? they have been given one more reprieve. They fully understand that if you are ill like yesterday again, within this week, they are going to the fire.

Along with your bed.

And pillow.

And anything else that can be removed from your room without damaging the room itself.

I know that this is the type of thing that happens when kids start going to school, and you have to be around all sorts of new germs. I thought about pulling you from school and start homeschooling as soon as you are feeling better. I thought that might be a bit irresponsible.

And drastic.

So you will return to that infestation...um school as soon as your little body is healed.

Your brother misses you greatly, and is praying for you each night.

We hope to have you barf-free very soon.

Love,
Your Mom
(who may or may not have OCD)

The Sworn Enemy

It is time for an updated picture of myself. I really wish there was a way around it, but I need one for my business website. Sister-In-Law did too, so it was a date. I was taking her pictures she was taking mine.

Why are pictures of yourself so difficult to look at? I mean, I know what I look like. I do look in the mirror.

Pictures are just different.

Oh, I hated every last one of the pictures. It wasn't Sister-In-Law's fault. She was doing everything right as far as operating the camera. It was me.

I couldn't think of any poses. Then I looked too posed. Then under posed. Then weird. And what was my neck doing? WOW! Check out the hair. Are my eyes weird? HELLO! SUCK IN YOUR GUT. Let your shoulders down. Is my posture OK? Too much smile. Not enough smile. Is that a wrinkle? NEVER WEAR WHITE.

It was tiring.

It was sobering.

White is not my friend.

I love white.

White does not love me.

Really?

Poor Girl. I didn't know you could get the tummy bug twice in just a few months.

Crazy.

I thought once you had fought it off you couldn't catch that particular virus again.

I didn't realize that viruses changed so quickly.

At any rate, The Girl missed her first day of school. Can I say, though, she did it right? I mean, Monday is a holiday. So she just made an extended weekend just that much longer. She was devastated about missing Fun Friday. I don't know what she cried harder about, missing school or getting sick.

As with any time someone gets sick, we had a marathon of TV shows and movies today. Earlier this week there were all new episodes of the kids' favorite show, The Backyardigans. OK, OK, I like that show too.

So.

Thankfully, we have a DVR and recorded all the episodes. That came in pretty handy today. There was one episode called Garbage Trek that was about garbage and being garbage collectors. It had the Star Trek theme intertwined in it. After it was all over, it was time for The Little Man to take a nap. He was, of course, apprehensive. Finally, he told me that he, "just can't go to bed right now. My tummy hurts."

I pressed him as to why he thought his tummy hurt. I was looking for answers that were along the lines of a) I think I am hungry, b) I think I need to use the bathroom, or c) I think I am going to throw up. I was not expecting the answer of, "I think I watched too much garbage on TV, and now, now I have a tummy ache because of all that garbage."

Really.

I totally get that watching really disgusting things can make someone feel sick to their stomach. But garbage?

On a cartoon?

It's a bit of a stretch.

Meanwhile, my tummy ached from watching The Girl all morning long...BLECH.

Animal Love

As I was putting The Girl to bed tonight, I noticed she had some company. I am used to her needing something in bed with her at night, but things may be getting out of hand.

As a baby, she had a security blanket from almost day one. I was OK with that. Actually, I wanted that. I wanted her to have something that made her feel secure when I wasn't around. At about four and a half years old, she decided that maybe she was too old for a security blanket.

On her own, she gave up her Blankie Boo. I didn't even know she had done so until one day she told me that she had been putting her blankie up on her window seat, instead of in bed with her. She said that whenever she needed it she would just look over at it and know that it was still there in the room with her, but she never went to go get it. She was so happy she could sleep without it. I was surprised she had done this all on her own.

Slowly, she started substituting things out for her Blankie Boo. Most recently, she has been tied to a stuffed pig. She calls him Wilbur, as in Charlotte's Web. Wilbur's been around for about seven or so months. Then about 4 months ago Dino joined in. Dino and Wilbur are fairly small so I didn't mind too much.

Tonight, as I tucked her in there were two more friends. Swirly and Fluffy have joined her. They are her new Webkinz toys she received for her birthday this year. They are quite a bit larger than Wilbur and Dino.

When I asked her why Swirly and Fluffy were in bed with her, she just stated simply that she needed to love more animals, and at the same time she hugged them all.

I can't stop that.

I won't stop that.

I realize that Wilbur, Dino, Swirly, and Fluffy are all Blankie Boo's without being a "Security Blanket", but I don't care. If she needs them, she can have them.

She and her future husband can figure out the bed territory thing when the time comes.

I shudder at the thought of how many "animals to love" she will have collected by then.

Well, Hello 21st Century

I finally got Hubs to help me to step into the 21st century. I decided this year would be the year that I leave my paper calendar behind. I was so tired of running into people, and since I didn't have my calendar in front of me, couldn't tell them if I could get together with them at any point in the near future. Heck, without my calendar, I don't even know what I am doing in the next hour. So to say that not having a calendar with me at all times was annoying is a large understatement. Plus, I was leaving a big paper trail everywhere I went with all the post-it's and lists I drug all over town.

Hubs finally caved in and bought me an iPhone!

Since I already work on a Mac and have iCalendar available to me, my life has been made oh-so-easy. I feel liberated, yet organized. I feel like I have my brain back without all the notes and lists. I feel like someone could ask me what I have going on on Friday, and I'll have an answer.

What? You would like to schedule a lunch? Hold on one sec while I put it in my calendar...that is in my phone...which is in my purse...which in on me all the time.

Oh, and guess what? There is this thing called Blue Tooth technology. I can answer my phone from my car WITHOUT DIGGING THROUGH MY PURSE TO FIND THE ACTUAL PHONE. This means I just push this little button thing-y on my steering wheel and then say, "Hello." without having to swerve to miss the car in front of me because I was looking through my purse for the phone. (Not that that has ever happened.)

Guess what? Someone answers me back!

That same someone who called me!

It's amazing.

I'm telling you, the 21st century? It has stuff to offer me.

I Did Say I Needed Some Rest

Well, hello there. So sorry you had to look at that long ugly day I had last week for the last few days. It's been a very busy last few days. I don't think that I would have even slowed down today had there not been some sort of intervention of the viral kind. Don't you know that is how it always goes. If you make yourself too busy/stressed for too long, you get sick. I think I actually held off the sickies with all my running around and telling myself I didn't have time to get full-blown sick.

But it was there.

Since early last week.

Just lingering in the back of my throat, making it sore.

I knew it was coming.

Today, my body told me and my schedule where to go.

It was straight to bed.

It actually felt good despite my head feeling like it was so full I was almost deaf and that my eyes were going to bulge out of their sockets due to all the pressure.

But it still felt good.

To rest, that is.

And now that the party(s) are all done. I will get some rest. No more celebrations, no more gifts, no more shopping (OK some more shopping will happen, but not for gifts, party favors, party food, party decor or anything party related).

What? You want to see how the party went? OK...here are some pics:

The Girl had a VERY girlie Tea Party to celebrate her birthday with friends. It was pink and tulle and lace and delicate and fun. All the girls were invited to wear their most favorite dress. The Girl got a very lovely dress from her Auntie, Uncle, and Cousins at the birthday party the week before that worked perfectly for the party. It was pink, brown, and full of taffeta. Girlie.

Here she is enjoying her tea


The Little Man was the only boy (besides Hubs) allowed. He was also dressed for the occasion.


We had tea and sandwiches, and then went straight for the cake (or cupcakes). The Girl was VERY excited to be able to have the Birthday song sung in her honor (something we forgot to do at the first party!) and to be able to blow out the candles.

Just look at the smile on her face:






Then we all decorated our own tea mugs to take home. Some girls went VERY elaborate, and some took the more clean, straight line approach. It was very fun and no one ruined their beautiful dresses with the permanent markers. At least no one is telling if they did.

The Girl decorating her own mug:


The Little Man and his marker...Notice he is sans the jacket...trying to keep it marker free.


After that, we were a bit ahead of schedule. So I did what I do best in these types of situations (you know, when you have 18 kids looking right at you waiting for some sort of entertainment) I flipped on the tube for some Disney Princess tea party magic. It was the Tea Party Sing-a-long DVD. I think the girls thought it was all part of the plan. There they were singing right along with Ariel, Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White in their tea party attire.

After we had choir, we settled in for some gift opening. This is when I realized, I could have saved a whole heap of cash and just bought The Girl a few packs of gum and she would have been in heaven.

Seriously.

That was her most favorite gifts.

Gum.

Oh well, if I would have done that I would have missed this moment with The Little Man.

Here he is lapping up all the glory that is involved with being the only boy in a sea of girls:

Literally minutes after the last guest left, we headed to the hills to enjoy some quiet family time with hubby's family at their cabin. It was a much needed retreat from the chaos that was the last month and a half. I fought viciously to keep the sickies at bay until I, at least, got home. Thankfully, I was able to keep the upper hand for a few more days.

I was blessed with this the night we got there:

Gorgeous.

Although I thought I was going to still try to fight through the sickies today and get some clean-up and re-organization accomplished, God gave me another reason to just stay put:

Just in case the pounding head, slight fever, running nose, chills and all over miserableness wasn't enough...

I needed a day in bed anyways.

I Guess I Make It Seem Far Too Easy

Not that I think I do more than any other Stay At Home Mom, but I thought I would share with you my day.

6:30 wake
6:40 actually get up and get dressed
6:50 get The Girl out of bed and help her dress for school
7:00 eat breakfast
7:20 help The Little Man get dressed
7:30 do The Girl's hair for school
7:35 pack snack for school
7:40 load car up with kids, backpacks, snacks, and homework
7:50 drop off precious cargo at school
8:00 arrive at gym
8:05 drop off more precious cargo at gym childcare center
8:10 start climbing stairs
8:55 get off stair climber and try to wipe it off the best I can with the silly little wipes they give you which completely underestimate how much I sweat
9:05 pick up precious cargo at gym childcare center
9:06 explain to precious cargo AGAIN why we will not be stopping at the gym's Cafe for a snack
9:10 get loaded in the car for the drive home
9:20 arrive home and get a show on the TV for The Little Man as well as a snack prepared
9:30 jump in the shower
9:45 dry off, make-up, hair, the works
10:30 start putting studio together for client shoot later this afternoon
10:50 stop putting together studio to load precious cargo into the car
11:00 arrive at school, go through car pool lane, pick up more precious cargo from school
11:10 get home, check email
11:15 make lunch
11:30 serve lunch while photo client arrives with children
11:35 start photo session with 1 year old twins
11:37 start sweating profusely while chasing and photographing 1 year old twins
11:40 use cutesy voice, high shrills, fake giggles, and a lot of baby talk to get 1 year old twins' attention
11:45 break up small tiff between The Little Man and friend
11:46 still trying to chase down the twins with my camera
12:00 sit down, grab some lunch with twins and twins' mommy (all of whom I LOVE dearly), feed twins, feed the mommy, break up more tiffs, and help start a movie for the older kids
12:30 try to chase the twins with my camera one more time
12:35 decide we (me and the twins' mommy) are happy with the photos we got
1:00 help twins, twins' brother and sister, and twins' mommy get packed up and loaded into the car
1:05 read to my own children and put them to bed for a quick nap before gymnastics
1:15 pray and bible study. Thank you, Jesus.
2:45 call to make an appointment for The Girl's 6 year check up...ooops, just a little late
3:00 get kids up, dressed, fed a snack, and taken to the potty
3:15 out the door for gymnastics
3:30 arrive at gymnastics, usher each child into their own class
3:33 run out the door and drive to Super T because I just remembered that The Little Man is responsible for snack tomorrow
3:40 answer cell phone. It's Hubs. He wants to know when I am going to Super T next because he would like some butter. Someone is in luck!
3:50 check out at Super T with all the necessities for snack, and Hub's stick of butter
4:00 arrive back at the gym to watch the kid finish up their classes
4:30 head home
4:35 check homework
4:40 start cooking dinner
5:00 while dinner simmers, proof a photo session which is due at the end of the week
5:45 finish cooking dinner, serve it up on plates, call in the fam for some chow
6:00 YUM!
6:15 finish up eating, help The Little Man finish up his dinner
6:20 help Hubs with the rest of the dishes
6:30 clean up kitchen
7:00 clean up photo studio equipment
7:30 grab a dessert with the kids
7:45 send kids upstairs for baths and bed
8:00 read with The Girl
8:15 prayers, kisses, loves, GOODNIGHT!
8:16 Go into my room and change into MY pj's. Try to decide what I am going to blog about. I feel like I was so busy, I didn't take the time I needed to really find the humor, beauty, love, silliness, etc. in the day

After the house is quiet and it's starting to feel like I have a light at the end of the tunnel (or day, however you want to look at it), Hubs and I chat. He casually mentions something to the tune of how I had just "coasted through the night".

Coasting.

That sounds just lovely.

I'll have to see if I can squeeze some "coasting" time in tomorrow.

My Home: The Science Lab

With Christmas and The Girl's birthday practically slammed together, we have a TON of new toys. Many of them are science oriented. For example, we got a Grow Your Own Rock Garden kit, a Raise Your Own Praying Mantis kit, a Grow Your Own Carnivorous Garden kit...are you starting to see a theme? That doesn't include the Learn to Make Light, Fizzy Foamy Science, and the Learn all About Weather kit. We have enough science project kits to get us through until next year. In fact I have told The Girl that some kits would most definitely have to wait until summer time.

When I read that the Praying Mantis kit would hatch 150-200 baby Praying Mantis cuties, I thought that was a kit better kept outside. Thankfully, I got no lip from The Girl on that one. She didn't even think about how if it was too cold outside they would be living inside, and who knows maybe some of them would be living outside of the "kit". No, she said she would rather have them in the summer time so she could release them into her garden when they were big enough. She said we wouldn't even have to worry about the other bugs killing the plants. The Mantises would take care of them.

That's exactly why I suggested we wait until summer time.

EXACTLY.

Today, I thought we would take a look at our Carnivorous Garden kit. I wanted to see if we were going to have to feed these plants right away or what the protocol was exactly for these weird plants. That's when I found out that this particular kit has you growing these plants from seed. I also learned that it takes about ONE YEAR for the Venus Fly Trap to get big enough to really see the "trap" part. I thought it would be wise to get started on that kit right away.

After digging deeper into that particular kit, we learned that carnivorous plants are quite finicky little creatures. During months 3-6 of their growth cycle (yes, I said MONTHS) they need to have a specific amount of light each day and stay within a specific temperature range.

M'kay.

I am not sure how this is all going to play out, but Hubs has suggested that I just go out and buy a special plant lamp thing.

M'kay.

Don't get me wrong, I think this will be so totally cool, and such a great learning experience for everyone involved. I just have a feeling that with the amount of time that is involved here, I might be the ONLY one involved. Three and six year olds tend to lose interest in things after, I don't know, about 30 minutes.

I am hoping that since The Girl has successfully gardened for the last few years, she will have an understanding and appreciation of the time table we are working with, and will be patient with this experiment.

Like I said, I think it will be really cool...If we can do it.

Until then, I am currently germinating carnivorous seeds IN MY REFRIGERATOR for the next SIX WEEKS.

Can I offer you a cold beverage?

S-I-X!!!

My baby girl is six today! Unbelievably, I have not lost my mind over it. I am blaming it on the whirlwind of activities/events we have had going on as of late distracting me from my normal feelings of sadness that I usually encounter around my children's birthdays. Usually, I can't get over how old they are, and I freak out that all the good years are flying past me at a rate that does not allow me to properly enjoy them. Then I am sad because I feel robbed.

I have to say, it isn't so bad that I am missing this part of the whole birthday process.

It may catch up to me later this week, but until then, I am going to enjoy the celebration.

(If a Mother gushing over her child totally annoys you, you'll want to check out now while I write my Six Year Old a letter).

Baby Girl,

This past year has been amazing! You have grown into quite the young lady. I cannot believe all of the things you have learned, and all of the things you have taught me. I love the girl that you are. You are so caring and compassionate to others. You give yourself 100 percent to your friends, your brother, and your cousins. You are never afraid to meet someone new and love on them. You are wild and funny, and if someone is hurting, sad, or frustrated you take it upon yourself to change their perspective. You love animals and babies, and while I watch you as the caretaker of all God's creatures, I can see your patient tender heart.

You are so special, and God has got such big plans for your life. I can hardly wait to see what is in store for you. Just remember, "Keep moving forward, open up new doors, and try new things." Don't be afraid to make a mistake because that is how we learn. And always ask for help if you need it. I want nothing more than to learn along side of you.

Thank you for loving me and teaching me each and every day,
Mommy

PS Here's your video for the year.

A Tale of Two Parties

Any mom of a child who has a birthday close to Christmas will relate to what I am going through. It is DIFFICULT to keep up the energy level needed to get through all the holiday wonderfulness, and then plan and execute a party for your child with said birthday.

I decided that this would be the year when The Girl would need to have 2 birthday celebrations. I felt as though it would be easier to do a family celebration with all the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins who, thankfully, want to be apart of the celebrations, and then a party where she could have all her friends come. I thought this would be easier since our family is very large and the idea of have a party with 50+ people there sounded oh, I don't know, INTIMIDATING.

And also expensive.

The Girl turns 6 tomorrow, and besides trying to pull myself out of denial, I have been trying to organize these two events. Today was the first get-together. The whole fam met up for lunch at one of The Girls favorite spots that can also make up a table that seats 23. Not many choices in that department, but thankfully the place she chose made my life easy by allowing us to use their banquet room as well as having ice cream and brownies available for dessert as part of the meal cost. Since everyone buys their own meal, it also makes this party the most affordable of the two. She had a great time eating with her cousins, having ice cream, and opening presents.

Next Saturday is the "friend" party. She has decided that she would like a GIRL ONLY tea party (another reason I decided to split the celebration into two separate occasions considering she has MANY boy cousins). For this occasion I will be leading a craft and serving tea to 21 little girls. TWENTY ONE! The Girl's class has a rule that does not allow her to only invite her closest friends. They are all friends, and they all get invites.

It will be crazy.

It will be fun.

It will be the last event of our Holiday Extravaganza. I will be going into hibernation for a while when it is over.

Rest is what I need.

Top 10 (or more) of 2008

We ushered in the New Year in much the same fashion as we did last year. It was calm. It was peaceful. It was safe. It was wonderful. I thought I would keep up a tradition (if you can have a blog tradition), and post my most favorite pictures of 2008.

It's supposed to be my top 10, but I COULD NOT DO IT! So I decided to let a few sneaky photos slip in and place them into their own category called "Snapshots" to make it look like I am still following the rules. Which is silly considering I make the "rules" so there is no need to justify breaking them.

Whatever.

Anyways here they are, my top 10 favorite photos from 2008:

The Little Man striking a pose for Easter.


One of my favorite shots from his 3 year pics:


Loved these pictures of my Girl this summer:






My two having fun:


My favorite Weeping Willow (oh ya, and my kids too):


Working on Little Man's smile:


My babies:


The Girl: A close up:



Some "Snapshots":

Recent family picture:


The Little Man and all his fashion sense, plus boots on the wrong feet:


The Little Man at the pool (drats on cutting off his little hand):


The Girl at our 4th of July Party:


I don't want to not include these, but the "rules" are the "rules".

Happy New Year!