Happy Birthday Greta!

 Greta had a great 9th birthday celebration.  Her Papa Bill and Arlene came to visit and took her out to dinner to her favorite chinese restaurant, Chopstix, two days before her birthday.  The next day she had a slumber party with two of her friends and her big sister.  It was a busy day that started off with swimming at The Centre, an indoor pool with slides and other fun stuff to play on, and then back to the house to play.

The dinner she picked out was corn dogs, edemame, sweet potato wedges, and watermelon.  She thought a lot about her birthday dinner because she wanted it to be balanced between junk food and healthy food.  Everyone was too full for cake after dinner so the presents were opened and then they went off to play.  A few hours later, after everyone had on their jammies, they all enjoyed a late night snack of cake and ice cream.  I had my concerns about giving them sweets so close to bedtime but I guess all the activity exhausted everyone because when lights went out so did the girls.

I can tell this is going to be a good year for Greta.  She has matured into a  confident, funny, and thoughtful young lady. Greta has found a sense of contentment and understanding that she has never had before.  She contiues to be very artistic and a noticer.  She notices  beautiful things that others miss.  Plus, if she notices something beautiful about someone she will compliment them... even if it is a stranger in passing.  That is a wonderful gift to give people.

Slumber Party Guests:  Heather, Gigi, Greta, and Paige

Greta 9 yrs old and Gigi 11 yrs old

Heather and Greta

Greta and her Bestie - Paige



Greta designed her cake and I iced it.  She loved the results!





Thinking about her birthday wish.



I hope your birthday wishes come true.

Track Meet

Gigi qualified to compete in the district track meet. 

She takes her sports seriously and had been talking about the possibility to be in the track meet for over a week.  She was home sick the day the list was posted at school but one of her friends made sure to let her know.

I'm not surprised that she qualified, this kid has a bit of a competitive streak in everything but keeping her room clean. I was surprised that it was in the triple jump (and she won third place).  I had never seen the triple jump before and after watching her compete, I know I will never try it.  ha ha

Here are a few pics if you missed it.

Happy Birthday Gigi

Gigi is eleven years old now.  Eleven?  Eleven!

We always have two birthday celebrations - a friend party and a family party.   Gigi wanted a small party with just her closest friends at the house to play and eat dinner.  It was the best party.  There was minimal stress and lots of food and laughter.  Her family party was on the actual day of her birthday.  Per Gigi's request, I made fake mac 'n' cheese (mac 'n' cheese made with sweet potato instead of a ton of cheese) and alien heads (brussel sprouts).  Her cake was a "Better Than Gigi" cake - chocolate cake soaked in caramel sauce and layered with whipped cream and crushed Twix candy bars.  Yum!

Here is my Gigi summary:

Gigi is a super intelligent child with a wonderful sense of humor but is very messy and leaves a trail of destruction every where she goes.   She is Little Miss Sunshine and Pigpen all rolled into one.

She loves to snuggle and thrives on the approval of the adults who are important in her life.  She is able to shrug off the girly drama and is a self-proclaimed tomboy nerd who loves Pokemon and Skylanders. 

Even though she doesn't realize it, she enjoys competition.  Right now her passions are school, piano, softball, and basketball.   Her need to excel causes her to have a fear of failure and the unknown.  I am constantly reminding her that Gene and I don't expect her to be the best - just try her best.  She told me last week that she doesn't love one sport in particular... she loves the rush she gets during the game.  That is good insight for an eleven year old.

Thank you God for this kid.

My prayer for Gigi is that she continues to hold onto her inner joy and always remembers that she is brave and courageous.  Lions and Bears - G.

Things to Celebrate

The time has come... Gene is on his way to Iraq. We are overcome with feelings of sadness and also determination. This will be his first deployment where the girls understand time. The other two times he deployed Gigi was two and I was pregnant with Greta. Then the second time he deployed Gigi was three and Greta was a baby. I have to look at the blessings... he has been home for more than two years. That is something that many military families don't get to experience too often. We also have a wonderful collection of friends of neighbors, old and new.

Now it is time to be strong and inventive. There are so many suggestions on how to mark the passage of time, jelly beans in a jar, crossing days off of the calendar, but Gene and I thought... what speaks to our family. CAKE of course. So, on the third Friday of each month we are going to celebrate. Yes, it will be a party with a Countdown Cake. Gigi was so excited she announced that in February we will have to bake a Red Velvet Cake and May is cheesecake. Consider this your invitation!