Birthday Party Reprise

Emma and Anna's birthdays are 16 days apart which makes for a busy March. We are going to be out of town for Anna's birthday so we held her party early. It was a pleasant affair with a fun group of girls. They were content to do their crafts and color their treat bags. No one even complained when the pinata broke after only two girls had hit it. (I used the pinata on the hoe trick that I learned from Lucy's blog). We went with a butterfly cake. Anna was a very happy birthday girl and could barely wait for the party to start after she got home from school.

The rest of the weekend was low-key. Eli and Jonah held a scout campout in our backyard. Our scoutmaster can't leave town because he is on call for his job so we used our backyard. I loved it because it was so easy for the boys to get themselves ready. They just grabbed our tent and sleeping bags and were good to go. On Saturday we attended a baptism, cleaned the house and then went to a spaghetti dinner at Jack's school. It's our first Saturday in weeks that we haven't been skiing and we all experienced some withdrawals. Luckily we'll get a chance to hit the slopes a couple of times while we are in Utah this coming weekend.

Jack was so sick yesterday. We woke up and started getting ready for church and he was slow moving. I was getting ready and when I came out of my bathroom he was sleeping on my floor, curled up in a ball. I stayed home from church and he slept most of the morning. He spent the rest of the day laying on the couch. He didn't say anything all day, just rested. I must admit it was nice to experience the subdued Jack for a day. The house was so quiet and stayed clean. But today Jack is back, feeling much better and as active as ever.

Me and You

Tuesdays and Thursdays are Lily's just "me and you" days. Everyone else is at school and Lily gets me all to herself. Today we were making cake for Anna's birthday party tomorrow and Lily gleefully realized she could have the bowl, and the paddle, and the spatula because "It's just me and you, mom!"

A Wicked Fun Getaway

Seven years ago my dear friend Kelly and I boarded a short flight to Portland, OR. We both had brand new babies, born just a day apart and they were safely tucked in their carseat carriers, accompanying us on our trip. This wasn't just any vacation. We were charged with the task of finding our friend Betsy a house. She and her family were making a move to Portland from Illinois and didn't have time to take a househunting trip. Betsy narrowed down her list of potential homes and gave us the short list to go and look at in person. We spent a frenzied day going from house to house with our newborns trying to find the perfect house. Mission accomplished. We picked a nice house on a cul-de-sac right by the school. Soon Betsy and family moved to Portland and we were all reunited. Since then we've had lots of fun trips to the Oregon Coast and a few days at the lake in the summer. And for the past few years we've managed to squeeze in a little "retreat" just for the ladies. By far our most adventurous retreat was the week we spent in an orphanage in China in 2005. But since we've added several children to the mix since that time we have to settle for quick getaways. In fact, we are amazed we were ever able to go to China in the first place.

This year's retreat sent us back to our roots as Kelly and I once again boarded that quick flight to Portland. Betsy picked us up from the airport and we drove one mile to IKEA. We were there before it opened so we sat in the car and let the floodgates of conversation open. From there the shopping and talking continued. We ate a rushed dinner at a yummy Chinese restaurant and then booked it to our hotel. My niece just happened to be staying in the same hotel and she arrived as we were literally running to the Max to catch a train into downtown Portland. She and her husband Mike saved the day by driving us to the Keller Theater where we had purchased last minute tickets to see Wicked. We hadn't realized it was playing until a day or two before our trip. Luckily Kelly scored us some tickets and we had so much fun watching the play together. Betsy had seen it in New York but it was the first time for Kelly and I. What a perfect girlfriend play. I can see why everyone loves this musical so much.

The next day was a little more leisurely. Betsy and Kelly swam laps in the hotel pool and I went on a walk around the neighborhood. It was so charming and brought back lots of great memories from the time Jason and I lived in Portland. We hit some more stores for shopping and stopped for lunch at Burgerville for some Rosemary fries. For the first time ever we arrived at the airport on time, well rested and refreshed.

It's hard to get away and leave home but so worth it.

Nine is Fine

Emma turned 9 on March 11. It was a day of celebration. I finally got smart and held all the festivities on one day. She woke up to her birthday banner and a special breakfast of homemade chocolate chip banana bread. After school she had a fun party with her friends. We made a bead suncatcher and played the all time favorite candy bar game and the werewolves of Miller's Hollow. We served fruit, pizza rolls and orange soda floats. The night before Emma and I made these adorable cake pops and we used them for our party favors.

Right after the friend party we had my mom over to celebrate her birthday which was the day before. Jason's mom was in the hospital recovering from knee replacement surgery so we went to visit her so she could see Emma on the big day.

The day before Emma's birthday I took her to get her ears pierced. She was brave and so proud of her new earrings.

St. Patrick's Day

For some reason St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays. There is low expectation from the kids and no buildup. It just kind of sneaks up on us and gives us a good excuse for a treasure hunt. It all goes back to when I was in 1st grade. The lepruchauns visited our classroom during the night and left clues for a treasure. We followed the clues and ended up at an icecream parlor where we each got an ice cream cone. It is a memory that stands out to me and so I want to recreate that moment for my kids. We do a simple treasure hunt every year. The beauty of it is all the work of creating these moments for our family has now been taken over by Eli and Jonah. They got the little kids excited and helped them make a trap for the lepruchauns. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Lily was so disappointed we didn't catch the little guy. But they left us clues and a fun treasure at the end. The kids also enjoyed waking up to green toilets and a green smoothie for breakfast. A simple, fun morning.

Not Something You See Everyday

Yesterday on our way home from church I glanced over to the big field that is by our house. There were three bald eagles feasting on a deer carcass. We pulled over and observed the birds for quite some time. They are magnificent, beautiful birds. I have only seen one a few times in my life. This is the closest I have ever been.