Happy Birthday Bug

It was a beautiful day at the river and we loved spending it celebrating Greta's birthday with close friends.

Greta's Rainbow Cake

This year Greta got to invite a few friends to Build A Bear for her Friends Party.

As a Mom, when I am starting to tire of baking birthday cupcakes and cakes, I always think to myself... we only get so many birthdays when our babies are our own. Then, when they have babies, they can think back and will hopefully remember how much love was put into their birthday celebrations. They aren't the most elaborate or largest parties but Gene and I really try to make their day special.

Greta is a sensitive child. She feels everything deeply and loves just as deeply. I hope she always wants to snuggle and hold my hand. She also has an gift when it comes to caring for kids younger than her. There is a lot to say about how wide open and large her heart is. She is beautiful.

The girls always get two parties: a friend party and a family party (which includes friends who are like family). I love to look at the pictures and think about how the girls have grown and how beautiful they are and will be.

Kitty Cat Cupcakes

The Evil Rabbit from Lilo and Stitch Kitty

Lions and Tigers, Oh My Kitties

Scrappy Kitty

Hypnotized Kitty

True Blood Vampire Kitty

Gene and made kitty cat cupcakes for Greta's birthday. Obviously we had too much fun.

Back In School

Getting ready to go on the first day.

First day.

Her very own locker that she can decorate. 4th grade

Yahoo! Greta has Mrs. Van Hulle - 2nd grade

My chickadees have been back in school for a week now. I still cried on the first day. My loving sarcastic husband kindly sung "The Circle Of Life" for me as I attempted to hold back the tears on the drive home from dropping them off at school.

What to say?

My friend told me about this blog. http://familyvolley.blogspot.com/2010/08/things-you-should-and-should-not-say-to.html It is about family stuff but one of the posts was about what to say to a military spouse when her soldier is deployed. That peeked my interest so I had to check it out. Wow, the author did a good job addressing the topic. I've been asked so many crazy questions. I must also say that I wanted to cry. It is always surprising to me how the sadness and loneliness of a deployment is so close in my heart. It doesn't take much to get those feelings going.

So, you may be wondering which one I agree with the most? I won't say which statement bothers me the most because I understand that people really just don't know what to say and they mean well. However, for me, the best suggestion was to invite a deployed spouse over for dinner. That was the toughest time for me. Even though I knew Gene wouldn't be walking in the door for dinner I still looked for him. Plus, kids don't enjoy a meal like a hungry husband coming home from work. We eat a lot of cereal during deployments. But, without a doubt, dinner was the absolute worst time of the day. That is when families connect and share. It was a reminder that I wouldn't be sharing a meal with my guy. Did I mention LONELY?

Just Because

I wasn't feeling well one afternoon so I rested for a few minutes while the girls made their own lunch. This is what I found when I came to the kitchen.

I am such a lucky Mom. I love the attention to detail such as the strawberry on the glass, the place card, and the flowers painted on the bread with food coloring. The best part is that they also cleaned up!!!

Sorting and Saving School Memories

Under the bed in a basket was a jumble of school papers. Memories from several years of school for my daughters had been tossed carelessly in this basket. Not any more. They are neatly filed in a storage file folder. The best part is that each hanging file is adorable and the brilliant student, who is also adorable) from the school year is clearly visable.

There is a labeledhanging file for each grade - up to fifth grade. Isn't that a great way to keep track of those special papers? I love it. The files for the grades that are still in the future are premade and just waiting for the school picture.

BTW: This idea was not my own. I borrowed it from a blog but I can't credit the artist because my memory fails me.

Old Mom Snapped

The girls want their old Mom back. I love it!

I had a crazy Mom moment... that kinda lasted all weekend. It was spurred on by a pair of underwear left on the bathroom floor for days. I couldn't even count how many times I asked my sweet little babies to pick up their dirty clothes. Then it happened... SNAP! This snap could be heard all through the house. It was a snap like no other.

SNAP! I had a brilliant idea (Imagine that in an evil villian tone of voice.)

The girls obviously demonstrated that they had too much stuff to take care of - so how did I fix that lil' problema? I took everything out of their room. Yes, I took out all their toys. Yes, I took out all their clothes. Yes, I even took the pictures off of the walls.

I realize that this might be bit extreme but I snapped and I can't go back. They did get some of their clothes back today. Just a few. The rest went to Goodwill. My heart is so giving that I am letting them have opportunities to earn back some of their toys. The rest has gone to Goodwill.

They made a list of their favorite possessions. Owning those items on the list is a privilege and involves caring for them. Every few days they will get the opportunity to earn one back.

Does this sound crazy? What can I say? SNAP The beautiful part is that they seem to appreciate what they have available. They also decided to donate a lot of items to Goodwill that I didn't even suggest. I have noticed that they are using their imagination more often during playtime. The most amazing part... they are playing so well together. At this very moment they are seeing who can make the most disgusting fart sound. See my point? That is great sibling playtime. I am even getting more hugs and kisses... and we have never had a shortage on hugs and kisses in this house.

Oh ya'... when I SNAPPED Gene came in and quietly said that he wanted to help me clear out the room so I didn't just come across as a Mom that has gone crazy. Thanks for having my back Dear. One more Oh ya'... I found this anonymous note on the coffeemaker the afternoon of the dreaded SNAP.