Bullet Point Birthday

I'll post more photos later. Hopefully this weekend sometime.

- Ayla got herself up at 6:30 this morning to help me finish decorating her cupcakes for school. For the record, I only let her decorate the extras. I didn't think anyone at school would want to eat frosting applied by a knife that was repeatedly licked clean. Not that they would know, but still. I do have some standards.

- Does anyone else not buy their kids a birthday present? I figure the made to order (almost) cakes, sleepover & general fuss make up for it. Not to mention the fact that they get plenty of gifts from family.

This year we had to have strawberry cupcakes, pink frosting, sprinkles (found some hiding in the way back part of the cupboard) and rings on top. Since there were no rings lurking in the back of the cupboard I drew the line there.

- By the way, those cupcakes? To die for. It's a good thing most of them went to school. I'm thinking they will be even more wonderful come strawberry season.

- It's a good thing birthdays only come once a year. I think that's all the extreme excitement I can handle. I just hope that today lives up to her expectations!

- Here's one more photo from last week's early celebration.

A photo speaks a thousand words, no? I love their expressions.

- In other news, we are now missing the wall between our bedroom and bathroom. It's the result of an extreme mold problem & a suddenly ambitious (read obsessed) husband.

Baby Brains

Someone has got to figure out a budget around here.

First Birthday Celebration Of 2010

We know how to make birthdays last. We start celebrating one week before the big day.

500 HUNDRED envelopes! Thanks Uncle Seth. This makes mommy & Ayla happy. No more raiding of mom's supply.

In the dining room AKA: pancake/DS/craft central station.

And for the grand finale a session of "I Bet You Can't Do This"

Only one person got hurt.

A Whole New House

Inspired by one new chair.

Some dear friends of ours are planning to move & they were nice enough to give us a comfy chair for our living room. I just took this photo & yes that's Craig & yes he's supposed to be at work right now. Unfortunately every February his neck & shoulders seize up to the point that he can hardly move. Poor Craig. Poor me. I had a date night all planned for tonight. Right down to food in the crock pot to deliver to the babysitter! Ahhhh. Anyway, trying to get him into the doctor today. Why does it happen every February? A virus that stays dormant until late winter & then settles in his neck? Hopefully we'll get some answers.

The best part of our "new" house (according to the kids), is the reading nook behind the couch. Even Kaia gets in on the action once the kids are in school. I'm not sure why Ayla had her coat on. Our house was warm, but that night she insisted on wearing her coat to bed. When I realized she was near a meltdown I gave in to the odd request. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to fight them. Wearing her coat to bed didn't hurt anything after all.

Anyway, back to the rearranging frenzy I've been on. The coffee table is now in the kids' playroom. It's the perfect height for them to sit on their knees & spread their board games out on it. The side table is now a bedside table for me. I also moved curtains, plants, books, candles, made another reading nook for the kids at the top of the stairs & got some new photos in frames. So thanks for the chair, Jerry & Darla! It's been an inspiration just like you have been to us all.

Showing My Age Big Time

This past weekend Ayla's class sang the Star-Spangled Banner at the high school basketball game. (It was as cute as it sounds.) Anyway, wow. Did the guys really look like that when I was in high school? You know, like little boys? We didn't have a clue where we were going once we got to the school. So, I just faithfully followed my husband who found us a seat right between the pep band & all the students. Yep we were the only old folks in our section. It was actually a very entertaining place to sit. I didn't watch the game, because I was too busy teenager watching. At one point I leaned over to Craig & told him I would never, ever live through those years again. Not for a million dollars. It's not like I had a horrible school experience. I didn't. I'm just so thankful those years are behind me. Watching all those boys & girls trying to fit in & figure out who they are was a bit painful to watch. It made me glad my kids are still fairly young. I kind of dread those years for them. I am starting to see the appeal of home schooling more & more. I can only hope I'll eventually have some kind of clue about how to guide them as the days and years go by........