Abby's 6th Birthday

Well dang. I might as well give up blogging at this current rate. I keep telling myself that when Evie gets older, I'll be able to do this again. I've officially weaned the little turkey from nursing and I thought that it would make her realize she doesn't need to wake up five times a night. Looks like I was wrong. Again. Anyhow...Abby's birthday.

Abby turned six this year and she was so excited to get to have a fun little birthday party with her friends from school, just like Alex got to do. She wanted something a little different than the parties that I've done for the kids in the past. She didn't want a cake. She wanted cookie dough. That's my crazy little Abby! She wanted cookie dough and frosting. I went ahead and made a batch of cupcakes just in case anyone didn't want cookie dough. Turns out that everyone wanted everything. And I was okay with that. I do miss having a picture of her with her cake though. Maybe next year. I will say that it was interesting. With Alex's current allergies, I always have to change ingredients. So there was that. And one little girl had an egg allergy so all things were egg-free. And Alex's best bud has diabetes, so I tried to cut down on the sugar load by making the punch sugar-free. Whew! But it's all good. :-)

The funny thing was, that I let her invite about ten kids thinking that only a few would show up. That's what happened with both parties that Alex has had. All but one girl showed up. That, my friends, was a ton of little girls in my backyard. We were blessed with a beautiful day so the party was outside. Instead of gift bags, I decided to set up a beauty parlor for all the kids (boys as well...Alex had a couple of friends there too for good measure). They got to paint their nails, get hair clips, sticker earrings and a few other things. They had a blast! I was really happy to beautify all those little cuties. Of course the boys got tattoos and some other random things that weren't sparkly. We played musical chairs to the Frozen soundtrack and everyone had a great time. I'm glad that the next party isn't going to be until Evie is in Kindergarten. Whew!

As for miss Abby, she has turned into quite the little social butterfly. She has a couple of pretty close friends and her BFFs are pretty sweet kids. I'm glad to see her come out of her shell as she gets older. She still clams up from time to time, but it's getting to be few and far between. She is doing wonderful in school and I couldn't be more proud of her. What did she want for her birthday? A horse. Did she get it? Nope. But someday I hope to fulfill that dream for her. Sooner than later I hope. Happy Birthday sweet baby girl! We are so proud of the little lady you are becoming!

The minion cupcakes I made for Abby's school birthday celebration.

The cookie dough distribution. Mmm...it was tasty.

The beauty station.

She was a happy kid that day. She even got to see her BFF from pre-k, Natalie.

Turns out that Evie was a hit with all the girls. They carried her around a lot.

Miss big-pants on the swing-set.

Musical chairs was a hit. I'll have to keep that in mind for the next party.

March 2014

Wow. March has been a doozy of a month. Strike that. It's been a doozy of a year. But that's an entirely different thing all together. I seriously need to reconsider my camera use frequency. I was going through my pictures and realized I have mostly just a random series of pictures of Evie doing nothing but smiling for the camera. In less than a month, we will be heading to California to my youngest brother's wedding. I'd better start utilizing my camera better. It's not every day that you get to go on a five day vacation to California with your family. And I've got two very excited kids who are rip-roarin' ready to see the Redwood Forest and the ocean. I'm thinking Mr. Camera is going to be my best friend.

So Abby and Evie are becoming fast friends. When Abby is gone at school, Evie gets very bored without her. Abby gives her a hug and kiss when she says bye for school and if she forgets, Evie is quick to scream her name until she remembers. IF we ever get a new house with at least two rooms for the kids, then I think the sisters will do just fine being roomies.

Spring has sprung...theoretically. It's officially spring according to the calendar. But the fact that we need coats to walk to school makes me feel otherwise. So getting the kids outside to play hasn't exactly been the norm. The biggest thing they seem to do on the colder weekends is play their Kindles. I must admit that I don't really like the digital age. I had the Atari originally when I was a kid. So I get it. Video games are fun. But I sometimes worry that our kids will lose the ability to imagine because of this digital age. See how they bond with dad on cold days? Ugh.

I don't play the Kindles. Heck. I don't play much these days. So I use my imagination. On my cat. I turned him from a cat...into a cat with purply ears. Imagination. Yep.

One of the new things that has been added to my days this past month is exercise. I broke my foot a year and a half ago. I went to the doc for an xray to see if it had healed due to its consistent pain when I exercise...or walk. Doc said yes. But the pain said no. Turns out that the podiatrist says it is still broken. Good news! I can exercise on it all I want. Yay! Bad news...it will never fully heal. Boo. So I'm supposed to buy $400 custom made inserts so I can take the pressure off my teeny tiny remaining fracture. Yeah. Right. So I'm doing sit-ups, push-ups, arm weights and whatever random things I can do to get fit. No results as of one month later, but I suppose I'll keep trucking. On the fun side, Evie thinks it is super fun to join me. Especially during sit-ups. 

My kids are getting so big! Taking "Selfies" with my kids is becoming increasingly difficult. Mostly because they don't want to smile. They'd rather be goof balls. But that's okay too.

Taking individual pictures of them isn't as easy as it used to be either. Smile for the camera translates to "be a dork". Gotta love it!

So on to the worst part of the month. Yeah. It's bad. About a year ago, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer. She beat it. Fast forward to a month ago. She called to tell us that the cancer showed its ugly face again. Fast forward again to a week or so ago. They called to tell us that she was in the hospital with blood clots in her leg. The docs did everything they could, but no matter the treatment, the blood kept clotting. After several rounds of procedures, with hope for success waning, she decided enough was enough. They removed all meds and now she's in God's hands. I hate writing this, but Cindy has been given a terminal diagnosis. We are just praying for peace and strength through this difficult time. We've been going down to visit on the weekends until God heals her or takes her home. The kids are having a hard time understanding what is happening right now. I've explained cancer and blood clots and told them that Grandma probably won't be here much longer, but after visiting her in the hospital, they just can't seem to grasp it. She seems normal to them. I pray for their peace and understanding. My kids are still so raw from losing my dad (Grandpa) just six months ago. Like I said. Rough year. We love you Grandma! I hope you beat the odds. We all do, because you are wonderful and life wouldn't be the same without you. :-)

Alex with Grandma.

 

 

Abby with Grandma