my birthday

morning:  breakfast in bed (cheerios, toast with strawberry jam, tangerine, and a whole pitcher of milk).  according to Weston, it was all his idea, but he wasn't willing to go downstairs when Shelby woke him up.  He protested that it was still night and then came and climbed in bed with me.  He did help me eat some of my breakfast, though.

noon:  lunch with some of my favorite people.  They showed up with their hair sprayed purple because my hair had been accidentally dyed purple the day before.  friends don't let friends go purple alone.

 

night:  i was banished to the laundry room while my family could get my "cake" and presents set up.

in each envelope was a letter from each one of my family and a charm with their first initial to attach to a necklace.  very sweet.

blowing out the candles after my wish (happiness, health and non purple hair!)

Keaton's lego message to his sister:

her birthday

We celebrated a birthday last week, and as always, it was a little bittersweet for me.  I love the person that Shelby is growing into but I miss the little girl she was.

She does not call Keaton her little "grother" anymore.

She does not refer to the jewelry on her wrist as her "tracelet".

Her hair styles are not dictated by the Disney princesses.

BUT--she still is sweet and tenderhearted, nurturing and FUN.

Love this girl.

Always.

President's Day Darlings

Darling #1

Weston woke me up this morning by asking me to go downstairs with him.

I asked, "What do you want to do downstairs?"

He replied, "Eat breakfast, play computer and watch t.v."

"Is that the best plan you can come up with on your day off?" I wondered.

He responded, "Oh yeah--I also want to play Wii.  Then cuddle my mama."

He is such a sweet talker!

Darling #2

Keaton's big plan for the day was to go to Target to buy Big Lego Buzz Lightyear with his own money.  He found me soon after he got out of bed to see if we could put his plan into action.  I told him I would have to think about it.

A few minutes later I went into his bedroom and found a note he wrote to himself:

(Remind

Ask mom can we go to target? to buy lego Buzz)

If this is all part of some sneaky master plan--it worked!  At precisely 12:45 pm we walked in to Target to buy lego Buzz...how could I refuse?

all you need is love & chinese take out

Four years ago, I unknowingly started a Valentine's Day tradition.  Brian was going to be out of town and I didn't want to sit around feeling sorry for myself, so I decided to make my own fun.  I ordered takeout chinese food from P.F. Chang's, and told the kids to go upstairs until I called them down for dinner.  I set dinner on the floor, lit some candles and sprinkled some candy hearts around their plates.  I put  Mulan in the dvd player to watch while we ate our meal (normally,the t.v. is never invited to dinner).  When the kids came down they were delighted.   So, the stage was set for Valentine's Dinner from then on.

(2008)

(2009)

 

(2010)

Last night we watched Kung Fu Panda instead of Mulan, Weston mostly ate chocolate, but the  tradition is still going strong.

snips and snails

i am not exactly sure what snips are, but here is a glance at what I pulled out of my little boys pockets before I did laundry.

my favorite is this little yummy, saved for later.   mmmm...pocket lint adds just the right flavor to any candy.

farsighted

something pretty

"Practical" is probably not the first word that comes to mind when someone is searching for adjectives to describe me.  Sometimes I get teased a little about my "impracticalities".  And that is okay...I don't mind. 

I distinctly remember being at a mall with  toddler Katie and buying her a new outfit because she got the one she was wearing got dirty.  I am sure I did the same thing with  baby Shelby.  However, I know for certain that  Weston's shirt got turned around to hide the spills...and sometimes even put on inside out.   I think that with more children has come a little more practicality and sometimes decisions are based on what is quickest, cheapest, and easiest. 

But sometimes I do things that are not quickest, cheapest,  or easiest.  

I thought it might be fun to make hair flowers for the girls in Shelby's class for Valentine's Day.  When I mentioned it to Shelby, her eyes lit up.  I knew then that we would do it. 

We assembled and glued twenty hair flowers last night.  It took about two hours.  But it was worth every impractical minute because we spent the time together.

(cards were made by my talented friend Annie)

Weston in 2103

I love the cane.

...and is that a neck or a chin?