From now on, I think that I will be all about paying a venue for my children's birthday parties

The venue:  JoAnn Etc.

The reason:  KK's birthday

The theme:  Crafts!

 Here we have the excited party girl, bursting out of her skin with the desire to craft.

 The desire has been met.  She is now lost in painting happiness.

 After an hour of meticulous painting and sticker placement, the birdhouse is finished.

Next up, decorating cupcakes!

This party was awesome.  I gave money to JoAnn's and they provided a party.  The girls were able to do a craft, decorate a cupcake, eat pizza, and they had employees orchestrating the whole thing.  I didn't have to do anything!  There was no stress, no frantically cleaning my house only to have it trashed by the party-goers, no pressure coming up with a party theme and then figuring out how to pull it off and what to put in the goodie bags, and it was really reasonably priced.  It was the best birthday party I have every thrown.  I think that I am now hooked on paying other people to do my birthday parties.  Fortunately I don't have to throw another one (with friends) until 2012.

Of Tigers and Monkeys

A conversation overheard yesterday:

R:  I have a pet tiger.
Tiger:  Well, I have a pet lady bug.
R:  Tigers eat lady bugs.
Tiger:  No they don't.  Tigers eat monkeys.

On Saturday we had a baptism

Since this little girl turned 8 this past Monday, it was time for this girl to be baptized.  My, oh my, was she excited!

 We dressed her like a white little princess,

 took some pictures, and headed to the church.

 Where we proceeded to take some more pictures.  Here we are, the proud and beaming parents and one very excited girl.

 The dad/baptizer and the girl of the day.

 Here I am after the baptism, clutching two of my children and mentally willing them to stop growing.  This baptism was a rough one for me and I cried my little eyes out the whole way through it.  I just can't believe that my little baby girl is as old as she is and I haven't even had a say in it.  (See, if you look really close you can see my lovely puffy eyes.  All I can say is that I am glad that waterproof mascara has been invented).

My cute little family.  I am so proud of my girl and I am so happy that she decided to be baptized.  She is a special one and great things are ahead of her in her life.  I will just have to make sure that I am always wearing waterproof mascara so that I am ready for whatever comes her way.

Joy of Luck: Day 3

Lucky Symbols

I'm sensing a theme here

Tiger:  My tummy hurts.
Me:  It does?  Why does your tummy hurt?
Tiger:  Because it wants to play Wii.
_______________________________________________

Tiger:  My head hurts.
Me:  It does?  Why does your head hurt?
Tiger:  Because it wants to play Wii.
Me:  Really?
Tiger:  Yes.  Look it's happy now.  I smile at you.  Now can I play Wii?

Sad and Happy

Mommy, take a picture of my sad face.

Now take a picture of my happy face. 

 Mommy, I want to do it again.  Take a picture of my sad face.

 Look, now I'm happy!!

To think this is the kid who used to avoid having his picture taken at all costs.

Joy of Luck: Days 1 & 2

Gift

Prompt: What inanimate object/thing/concept is something that you take for granted on a daily basis?  What would someone who is not as fortunate as you are say about your “luck” to have such a thing in  your life?

Since the weather has been warmer this past week, I have spent more time outside in the neighborhood chatting with my neighbors.  My neighbors are very nice, but it is apparent when I talk to them about life and whatnot that a college degree is not something that they have had the fortune to acheive.  This has made me very grateful for my education and the opportunity I had to go to college.   I am also grateful for Doug's college degree and education and the chance that it gives us to have a better life.  This is a picture of our graduation tassels.  They hang on the bulletin board in my kitchen so that I can look at them every day and be grateful for what I have.  Sometimes I forget what a gift these truly are.

Green

Glimpses of spring in my garden, pushing with all their might through the dismal remains of winter.  This is a sight that truly makes me happy and gives me hope.

It's Great to Be 8!

About 1 year old

 About 4 years old 

Birthday Girl Today 

Make her stop growing, please!!  Just for a little bit.   It's going by way too fast.  Next up for the girl:  Baptism on Saturday.

Joy of Luck

Willette Designs is doing another free photography class and since I had so much fun with the last one, I decided to do this one as well.  This class is called Joy of Luck and it runs for two weeks. We'll see how it goes.  I am actually already behind one day, but I am sure I can catch up.

Morning snuggles, because it's really hard to get up in the morning when it is so dark

I feel an apology is in order

I feel bad for railing on poor Joseph from the play I saw last weekend.  Maybe he had been going to the gym.  Maybe he had already lost 75 pounds and was well on his way to reaching that goal weight.  Or, maybe he just doesn't care about his jiggles and he is secure in himself because he knows he's got some pipes and was having the time of his life up there on that stage.  And so, Joseph, I apologize.  Your jiggles are your business and not mine to critique. 

Any Dream Will Do

This past weekend, this pretty little girl and I gussied ourselves up a bit and headed downtown for a little cultural enjoyment.  We went to see a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Since I am in no way musically trained, I thought that it was fabulous, but more importantly my girl loved it and loved singing along to the songs that she knew.  I also loved how awed she was by the theater.  She kept saying, "I can tell why they call this the Palace Theater.  It looks just like a palace."  My only criticism is that if you know you are going to be on stage without a shirt for basically the whole show, don't you think a few trips to the gym might come in handy, and maybe lay off the cheeseburgers for a little bit (Ahem, Joseph)?  I'm just saying.  If I can see your man chest parts jiggling from the nosebleed section where I was sitting, then I can only imagine the jiggle show that was being put on for those up close to the stage.  Jiggles aside, the show was a lot of fun and I am glad that I could share it with my girl (a girl who could care less whether someone is jiggling or not).

Just a small, little request

Um, I would just like a teensy, weensy little peek at my future.  Just a bit of a glance, if you will.  I just really think that it would help me a smidgie with my current here and now.  That's all.  Thank you.  Oh, and it would also be nice if the wart on my chin magically disappeared tonight.

Rainy Day Blues

Today I learned, or rather was reminded, that you should always look for the positive in every situation.  And so on this dreary, cold, and rainy day I am trying my hardest to find the positives in life so that I can get through this day.  Here's what I can come up with:

1.  My head isn't pounding as hard at this moment as it was last night, or the night before, or the night before.
2.  Two of three kids are at school.
3.  The third child is happily and quietly playing Wii.
4.  It isn't raining as hard today as it was yesterday.
5.  Only one day left this week until the weekend.
6.  I get to take my sweet girl to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on Saturday.
7.  I get to go out with my mom and sister tomorrow night (which is purely a coincidence that it is on the same night as the school's spaghetti dinner :)
8.  I don't have to go to the school's spaghetti dinner (which means that Doug doesn't have to go to the spaghetti dinner :)
9.  The dreary, dark skies makes my floors look less dusty and dirty.
10. I came across this quote today and I love it!  "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle"  --Plato.  It is so very true, don't you think?

Today

It is raining. . .and raining. . .and raining.  And tomorrow it will be raining.  But today, it is raining.  I am not a fan of rain.  It ruins my hair.  If I had some natural curl, or kink, or really any sort of texture whatsoever I might not mind the rain so much.  But I don't, and so I really dislike the rain.  It makes me look like a drowned rat with 5 strands of hair.

Aside from the rain, I am thinking about dust mites.  It turns out that this is possibly a huge cause of my poor girl's cough.  There are other causes too, but this is a big one.  This means that I need to encase her bed in protective coverings and have the air vents all cleaned out.  My girl saw a picture of a dust mite in the allergist's office yesterday and was pretty grossed out by it.  I don't blame her.  It is pretty gross to think about.  But this is why I love my girl.  Instead of allowing herself to be overcome by her revulsion, she turned to me and said, "I think I am going to pretend that it is a lady bug.  Lady bugs are much better to think about."  She's right.  Lady bugs are much better to think about.

Drama

As I walked through Joann Etc. with my girl she gushed and gushed over everything we passed, especially all of the crafting kits and then exclaimed, "Mom, if I don't get something crafty for my birthday I am just going to be so incredibly disappointed!!"

Helpless

This asthma thing is a whole new world for me.  I have to say that I never really gave it much of a thought.  In fact, I am still kind of in denial that it is really something that I need to think about.  I think that I keep waiting for it to just go away.  But then every night as I lay in bed, I listen to my sweet Woo cough and cough her little lungs out.  Because unbeknownst to me until recently, coughing is a huge symptom of asthma and my little Woo is constantly coughing day and night.  It makes her sad and she isn't sleeping well and it makes me feel helpless.  Aside from her inhalers and the humidifier, I don't know what else I can do to help her.  I need to do some research.  I am also taking her to the allergist next week.  I think that is going to be very interesting and informative as well.  She is a dreamboat and I just want her to be happy.