Birthday Projects

Last week was my mom's 70th birthday! You would never know it form looking at her or even spending a day with her. This woman has more energy than I know what to do with!

The boys and I went down and spent Easter break with them and helped her get a few things done. We installed her vegetable garden which this year is a mix of raised beds, container and straw bales.

We sanded down and oiled her badly dilapidated porch swings.

Papa took the boys fishing. (Which gave mom and me a nice day to be with each other.)

And Ryan got a new dog.

Ok, so this last one wasn't exactly a birthday project for mom - but it did get rid of one of the dogs currently living at her house. Which makes her very happy!

Ryan's Birthday

Ryan turned eight last week!

Ryan opening Rock Hero...which turned out to be broken and we had to take it back to Walmart and had the absolutely worst experience with customer service ever!!! To the point that I will never shop at Walmart agian if I can help it. It took us over 2 hours in the store and even then they wanted us to go back to the same store we got it from accross town. They didn't seem to understand that the other store didn't have any more and that's why we are at this store...Walmart gives me panic attacks...Sorry for the rant!

After we got home with a non-broken Rock Hero and we figured out how to use to use it - that's when the fun began!!!

The next day, we went bowling for his party. It was a blast! Definitely a must do again!

Grandma helping Max.

And here is Shelly and their little sister.

Happy Birthday Andi

Today is my wonderfully sweet, beautiful and talented friend's birthday. She is such an amazing woman!

Here she is with her equally sweet sister-in-love helping to pack up a friends home.

I have already said that Andi is sweet and wonderful, but she is the one I call when I need a quick smile. She is also the one I call when I find out about an amazing garage sale, estate sale or rummage event. The only problem with Andi, is we have the same taste...which can create issues about who saw it first!

Last week, I found a new thrift store and found some absolutely fabulous things to bring home (not that my home needs any new things in it). One of the items was this cake stand/candy dish?

On the way home, I remembered that Target had some very small succulents for sale in the garden department and wouldn't this dish look fabulous filled with succulents? Needless to say, the car veered into the Target parking lot and the succulents left Target and immediately were nestled into their new home.

The entire time I was creating this dish, I kept thinking of my friend Andi and how much she would love this. The next morning I discovered that her birthday was coming up in three days....

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice.

Shortest day of the year.

The first day of winter.

This is the day when the sun just seems to go away, and in certain parts of the northern world - the sun never comes up.

Today, of all days always seemed to me more appropriate to be the end of the year. Tomorrow should be New Year's Day. After all, the sun returns tomorrow. The days start getting longer, almost imperceptibly at first (depending on your latitude), but within a week, it's noticeable that the sun is setting a little bit later every day. Our traditional New Year's Day seems so arbitrary somehow.

This is the day that I always take stock. Examine my life (even more than I normally do) and decide how I want to live my life in the coming year. I don't really make New Year's resolutions, instead I look at how the way I am living my life stacks up to the way I want to live my life. Some years, I'm more on track than others.

Many things have changed for me this year. Some of them I had planned and worked hard at for years. Others have been very unexpected and painful. This next year will have many more changes. Some will be painful - for example, I will be losing my house. But almost everything this next year is an opportunity for change, growth and new beginnings.

I don't know what is in store for me and my family this year, but I'm excited!

Today is also my birthday, the start of my new year...

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,

so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

- Joseph Campbell

Photos of the Day

Photos from Max's Birthday party where the kids where encased in bubbles...

Birthdays

My baby turned 5 years old this week. I guess at this point I should no longer refer to him as my baby. However, he is. When I held him 5 years ago, I didn't think he would be my last child and maybe he's not (although time doesn't seem to be working that way!). Happy Birthday Max!

Ryan's Birthday Party

We had a reptile guy come out for Ryan's 7th Birthday Party. I had some misgivings about this party and still do actually, but the party was a huge success. My misgivings are that every year we are throwing my children these huge, expensive parties. They don't need them. I can't afford them. But their father wants them to compete with other kids their age. What do you do? I don't want my kids to feel left out, yet I think it is a huge waste of money. So, what do you think about big birthday parties for kids?

Okay, enough ranting because it was really fun! Here are the pics if you're interested...