Abby's 8th Birthday

My beautiful Abby is eight years old now. This year I promised her that she could have a sleepover with a couple of friends. Josh was working the weekend that we normally would have celebrated her birthday, so I said that it would be an ideal time to faux celebrate her big day. Alex had a sleepover once around this age with his friend, Kyler. I figured that it was about time Abby got to experience the same thing. Of course, a couple of friends turned into three friends and she couldn't have been more excited. They came over on Saturday and stayed until Sunday morning. The girls all had fun. She invited Breylynn, Braylie, and Gentry (all her best buds right now). We had pizza, cupcakes, and popcorn and a movie before calling it a night. They played outside and were all very tired. The last girl clocked out about 10:30. After a delicious donut breakfast (homemade of course), they finished the fun times with some chilly morning outside playing after eating me out of house and home. I think it was a hit and Abby was very grateful for the good times.

We officially celebrated this past weekend. Every birthday that we celebrate with the kids gets so much easier on my stress level. I stopped caring how crazy clean the house was and making sure than every kid got those blasted gift bags I always used to be so intent on making. I finally realized that it's a birthday for one kid. Not every kid that comes. I provide cake and ice cream and plenty of playing. That's good enough for me. Sure, Evie will get a big kindergarten party one day with some fun things, but I've got a couple of years before that happens.

This year, Abby is Star Wars crazy. I'm hoping that this sticks (just like Alex, of course). She wanted all things Star Wars, so naturally this meant a Star Wars cake. At first, she was convinced she was getting a Death Star cake. And then a Star Destroyer cake. Many ideas were thrown around as I tried to convince her I wasn't a cake miracle maker and I convinced her that BB-8 (the new droid from Episode 7) was perfect. She was so excited!  He turned out pretty great...and huge! Grandma, Aunt Mandy (and kids) and Uncle Jake, Aunt Stephanie (and kids) were all there to help us celebrate. She got lots of Star Wars goodies, including a quilt that I made for her. She doesn't sleep under her bed cover out of some fear she developed when she was around two years old. So a nice heavy blanket helps her sleep better. She loved it! That made me happy. She got a Rey costume, some toys, a glitter lamp and a Hello Kitty speaker for her Ipod (which is always on now), and a lightsaber. The cousins all played and a great time was had by all.

As for my little 8-year old, she's quite a girl. She is sweet, kind, caring, and sarcastic - which she got from me unfortunately. She is consistently insistent on wearing her hair down with zero chance of me ever getting it into a pony-tail or braid. She's very tomboyish and wouldn't wear a dress if I paid her to do so. She's creative and a great little artist, having won two contests so far and is still desperate to get a puppy one day. Turns out that she is also a bit...hmmm...frugal? She keeps saving money she gets for Christmas or birthdays, etc. To date, she's almost got $160 and no intent to spend it. I want her to be a kid and spend a little on herself from time to time, but I'm glad she's learning how to save. I'm super proud of the girl she is and can't wait to see where she goes as she grows. Happy Birthday Abby! We love you!

Abby's friends at the sleep over. (Gentry, Breylynn, Abby and Braylie)

BB-8 the cake.

So proud my kids love Star Wars.

Abby "Rey" the Jedi. I think she was upset that I wouldn't let her wear it to school.

Zoo Trip 2016

I am fairly certain that we have yet to miss a single year going to the zoo. Many times, we try to go with Mandy and her kids and we've missed doing that for a couple of years. So this time we tried to go for our first zoo trip during spring break. I was slightly concerned that it was going to be busy, but thought that a Monday might mean that we'd be fine. When we got there, Mandy and I had to scoop our jaws off the ground when we pulled into the parking lot. It was jam packed! Apparently, the first amazingly beautiful day of spring break meant that the entire city was going to show up. It was a bit intimidating, but worth it in the end. We had a half hour wait in line just to get in the zoo. But, once we were in, the crowd wasn't the worst. Not great, but still. I look forward to going again in the summer with Josh. He's been wanting to go and the new elephant exhibit is supposed to be open. That will be fun to see.

It's strange, because one of the first things that really surprised me was the fact that I don't need a stroller or wagon anymore. It's a bit strange thinking that my kids are all to a point where they would rather run amok than be hauled around. Now, that being said, towards the end, Evie wanted me to carry her pretty often. We had a great time and the best part? No giftshop. I know that sounds strange, but the kids always...always...want to go look through the giftshop and get something in the end. Usually, I don't mind because they use money that they earn for the most part. But this time, I told them we'd only go to the zoo if we skipped the shop. They agreed and it was lovely. We walked through the shop (as it's the only exit from the zoo) and it was packed like a can of sardines. Scary. The important thing was that the kids had fun and so did I. Yay for zoo day!

February 2016

February came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. And it wasn't even spring! As explained in the previous post, I had surgery on February 4th to have my parotid gland on the right side of my face removed with the tumor that was attached to it. The beginning of the month was pretty much just a long healing adventure. Actually, I'd say that most of February was a healing adventure, but that's ok. I'll take it. My learned a lot about prayer. Alex prayed for me every single night before he went to bed. He held my hand in his and closed his eyes and prayed for me. It was so touching! Evie has been praying for me at dinner after we bless the food. It's got to be the cutest thing ever! Abby has been a little shy about it, but she told me she prayed when she went to bed. This alone was worth the surgery. I love it! Here are me and my babies after I got home from surgery.

 

The kids have been at school, obviously. But the hardest part of my day (which most would scoff at) is keeping Evie entertained. She's entered the exact same phase as Abby did at this age. She is in love with horses and riding her unicorn stick-horse around the house in her tutu. I seriously need

Guess who has to ride with her daily? 

 

 As a comparison, here is a picture of Abby and Evie at almost the exact same age. Crazy!

 

I also spend a lot of time - and I do mean a lot - playing in the sunroom of our house pretending in the play kitchen. Sometimes I spice it up by serving lunch out there. You know...with real food. 

 Alex finally healed enough and was released from his crazy face-meets-cement accident to play basketball again. He had to miss two weeks and pretty much over half his games because of his teeth and concussion. He now has to wear a mouthguard for all sports, so he looks like a little chipmunk when he smiles. They actually won a few games. Go team! This was his last game of the season. Sadly...or not so sadly depending on how you look at it...he doesn't want to play basketball anymore. He prefers soccer. Three years of basketball may be it for us.

 Evie has hair! It has only taken three years, but now when we blow dry it and make it shiny, it looks like a real head of hair. I hope by Kindergarten it gets fuller. It's very thin compared to Abby's hair. But she definitely has her Daddy's blonde hair.

 I have spent a lot of time this month working on what I lovingly called, my cancer projects. I did some work around the house to get it ready for our next round of trying to sell it. But I really enjoyed sitting on the couch, watching TV and working on my latest art project. As I am a huge fan of the show "Emergency!", I really wanted to do some fan art. I also hadn't drawn people since college. It was fun and turned out pretty good. Not perfect, but still fun.

Other than that, February was midly uneventful. We didn't do much. I had a lot of time spent trying to get my body back on track from the surgery. It kicked my butt! Spring seems to have come early though. It's been extremely warm for this time of year. The kids have enjoyed a lot of time outside and I'm thankful for that. I can't wait for summer! I hope that everyone had a great month!