Rachel's Practically Perfect Pink Party

The whole group!
There they are again!!

Rachel's cupcake looks like it might need more decorations.

Princess M

Rachel and Princess K

CJ and Princess E, the love of his life.

This might very well be an engagement picture.

Drezden and his fine work of art.

Rachel with Princess E and Princess A making Valentines.

Princess C prefers purple. Princess S and Princess E had great ideas, too!

Aiden and CJ were the proud big brother helpers.

We sure appreciated some extra personal assistants to help with the cupcake decorations.

CJ and his future sister-in-law, Princess S

Purple Princess C

Princess C and a very excited Princess S

Princess A loves her pink nails!!

Rachel has been wanting to have a pink party for months now. She has it in her head that the party MUST happen asap. Her birthday isn't until this summer, so it wasn't like she was "due" for a party. That said, her sweet little princess heart was set on having this party.

We are moving this summer (an entirely different post that is soon to come. I promise.), and we'll more than likely move just a couple weeks before her birthday. Since I knew she's not likely to have a real birthday party, I decided that we could compromise and have a Valentine party. She was satisfied with that, so I started calling all her local princess friends' personal assistants (their moms, but don't tell the princesses. They are convinced that their mothers really are personal assistants just like Rachel is just sure I'm here to be her personal assistant as well).

We let all the princesses know that they should wear their favorite pink ensembles and come prepared for the pinkest party ever. Little princesses can absolutely be counted on to wear the pinkest of the pink everything!!!!

As they arrived, they got to create craft foam Valentines. From there, we moved to having them each select a lovely pink bracelet and then their favorite shade of pink nail polish. We had pink toes, pink fingers, pink carpets, and well...a whole lot pink.

After our pampering was done, we moved to our pink cupcakes. Each guest got some pink frosting and was allowed to decorate her pink cupcake any way she wanted. We also had conversation hearts and pink M&Ms for decorating cupcakes. Lastly, we enjoyed reading "Pinkalicious" while dining on our most delicious cupcakes.

It was the most perfect pink party there ever was!!!

The Great Snowstorm of 2010

Aiden's friend, J, came and played with us for a while, too.

Drezden only got to go out for a few minutes, but he had a blast enjoying the snow with his sister.

Rachel had way too much fun in the cold.

CJ decided he was cold

Aiden's "Giant Snowball"

I've missed a couple weeks of blogging due to chaos at our house. Chaos? I know. Shocking that there would be any kind of craziness in our neck of the woods. Things are usually so ho hum around here, right? Ha!!



At any rate, there is certainly plenty to catch up on. Perhaps the most exciting thing was a visit from Old Man Winter. It wasn't a very long visit, but still enough to leave behind some lasting memories. The kids were so delighted.



The snow started on a Thursday morning, and just kept coming and coming and coming. I could tell the kids would be released early from school, so I ran to WalMart for some boots and gloves for the kids. For some reason, in the middle of February at WalMart you can find a thong bikini and pool accessories, but not snow gear. Go figure. So, I settled for rain boots and some clearance gloves. It was a good choice to buy the gloves, too. We were the only ones on the block with any gloves and ended up outfitting the whole neighborhood. One would think that would make me the coolest mom EVER, but my children say it really doesn't. It just means their friends don't have to wear socks on their hands. Figures.



At any rate, you can see that we got a LOT of snow that day. It turned out to be the snowiest single day in recorded history of our area. That's cool, I guess. It was also a great photo day.

Aiden's Big Announcement

Aiden has been bugging me for weeks about wanting new shoes. He goes through these weird phases where he gets an idea in his head and won't let it go. I told him we'd discuss it after he got his room cleaned. Apparently he REALLY wanted new shoes because his room is clean. Well, at least the parts I can see are clean. I didn't check under his bed or in his closet for fear of what would jump out and attack me.

I took him last night and we started at Payless. He found a pair of Converse hightops he wanted, but each one took no less than ten minutes to put on. This is a kid who never even unties his shoes. He just takes them off, dumps them where they are, and hopes to slip them on in the morning after going nuts trying to find them. Our mornings are crazy enough without adding another ten minutes per foot to it. So, I put my foot down. (Get it? Put my foot down. I know. I'm so punny.) I insisted that I would not pay for those, but he could use his own money to pay for them, and suggested we go to Target.

Praise Target, I tell you. They were having a Converse clearance. He found two pair he couldn't choose between and then a third pair that were more supportive, and he kind of liked. All three were on clearance and the total was still less than the cost of the one pair he'd originally chosen. So, I let him have all three. I'm not really sure who honestly won that battle. He didn't get the pair he wanted, but I somehow walked away having purchased him three pairs of shoes instead of the one we originally went for.

As we were walking through the store picking up the few other things we needed, Aiden decided completely out of the blue and in full voice to make an announcement. I mean it was totally out of the blue.

"Mom, I'm going to be hitting puberty soon, you know." Ummmm. Wow! Thanks for the heads up on that, son. I'll be sure to mark it on the calendar.

He Loves All His Children.

I woke up this morning with a list a mile long of things I need to accomplish throughout the day. Shopping was one of them. We had nothing in the house. I hustled around, got the kids out the door, ran a couple small errands, and finally wound up at Wal Mart with the three littlest ones, the oxygen tank, and a shopping cart the size of a small train. (You know the ones that hold three kids, but are impossible to steer).

By the time we got there, it was well after lunch time and Rachel and Drezden were hungry. Since they'd been so patient all morning, I took them to the McDonald's in the back of the store for some fine cuisine. I had to take the shopping cart in with me because I didn't want to hold Liam or have him crawling all over the place, and their high chairs are all a broken mess.

I ordered our meal, got the kids situated (no small task), and started to enjoy my thoroughly malnutrious meal. As I was eating, I noticed a man I'd seen on the streets come into the restaurant. I didn't recall him out there with the few panhandlers we have, but I'd seen him under the overpasses before. It's the first of the month and so very cold outside right now, so I figured that's why he was there.

He was wearing a flannel shirt, a bright red stocking cap, a denim thick 80's style coat, and some, blue jeans, and some worn out sneakers. The years on his face looked about double his actual age. He looked tired. So tired. But delighted to being enjoying a BigMac. I watched as he carefully placed his burger and fries with a drink on his table, and then to my suprise he bowed his head and said a rather long prayer. By the expression on his face, it was clear he was putting a lot of thought into his prayer of thanks.

I didn't want to stare, so I averted my eyes and focused on my children. Rachel was bugging me to dress her "naked frog from my bag" and Drezden wanted his lego race car put together. You just gotta' love the junk....er, I mean lovely toys...that comes in McDonald's happy meals. I fixed their toys, talked to Liam, and just went about my business.

While all this was going on, I had this very strong, very nagging feeling that I should buy this man some cookies. What?? This is entirely out of my character. I never turn down anyone who asks me for food, but I don't ever initiate somethin like that, either. I pushed the thought aside and continued to go about my business.

The more I tried to avoid it, the stronger the feeling became. There was a voice in my heart that spoke as clear as day. "Get that person some cookies and let Rachel give it to them." Again, I tried to avoid it. I was thinking about what I'd do with the kids, etc. Finally, the feeling overtook me and I gave in. I told Rachel and Drezden to stay in their seats and wheeled the giant buggy through the restaurant to order three sugar cookies. It cost me all of a dollar. I thought about throwing $5 in the bag, but didn't want to offend the person.

I took the bag to our table, sat down, and handed it to Rachel. "Do you see that gentleman over there? I want you to give him this bag and tell him Happy Valentine's Day.". She looked over. "The man with the red hat?" "Yes. That's the one. Go do it." I couldn't believe what I was hearing myself say. I spend forever teaching my kids to avoid stranger danger, and here I was sending her over to a stranger to give him cookies. She was only going about 8 feet away and I was watching. But still.

I watched her every move as she went over, patted him on the shoulder, and got his attention. "This is for you. Happy Valentine's Day." And she tried to walk away. Then I saw it. The smile that came across this person's face was like something I've never seen. Though there were no more than 10 teeth in that mouth, it was a radiant smile. I mean, really. There are just no words for it.

"This is for me?" It was the voice of a young woman. It was at that moment that I realized just what life had done to her. Walking wherever those shoes had taken her has taken its toll. I nodded back at her with an awkward smile. Rachel didn't seem at all awkward. "Yep! That's for you. My mom said so. Happy Valentine's Day." And she walked straight up to me. "Mama, that's not a man. That's a lady." "I know, Rachel. I made a mistake."

The woman stood up. "It's not Valentine's Day. It's my birthday. Praise God, He remembered me. It's going to be a good day afterall." I smiled back, "Well, happy birthday then." "God bless you, ma'am. This is a gift from God for my birthday. Thank you."

I couldn't believe it. I think that woman did far more for me today than I could have ever done for her. I wished I'd have put the extra $5 in the bag, but maybe next time. I did my good deed. I apparently answered her prayer asking God to remember her.

She saw us in the store later on, and thanked us again. She was purchasing one of those sterno things to keep warm with. It made me remember to be grateful for the incredible blessings I already have. Here was a woman without a friend in the world pouring out her heart in a restaurant offering thanks for a Big Mac. A Big Mac! And it was a lengthy prayer. And here I was, warm in my home having plenty to eat and safety, too. I don't often remember to give thanks, at least not like that.

Happy birthday, ma'am. May you be blessed, and always know that you will never be forgotten by your Heavenly Father. He loves all His children.

Cereal and Ice Cream for Dinner

On Friday, CJ asked me to make cereal and ice cream for dinner. I wanted to please him, but the weather was bad and I didn't have enough of everything to do that. Last night, I decided to surprise him. I bought several of those over priced tiny boxes of cereal, two kinds of ice cream, bananas, hot fudge, chopped nuts, magic shell, cherries, whipped cream, strawberry sauce, and something else I can't remember right now.

When I served them, I'm pretty sure they decided in that moment that I am the COOLEST MOM EVER. Of course, it was a short-lived coolness. Still, for that moment in time, I was pretty cool. And, to think, all it took was cereal and ice cream for dinner.

Pots Rock!

On Friday, I found myself in a particularly good mood and feeling rather open minded. I didn't accomplish a whole lot around the house because Rachel, Drezden, and Liam were all home "helping" me. As I tried to clean the kitchen, they decided to see what they could do to make noise. At first, Rachel wanted to use some glass mixing bowls which I immediately nixed. I hate cleaning up shards of glass with the bottoms of my feet. I must have had some sort of out of body experience because I suddenly heard myself saying, "Hey! Let's make a rock band!" They were so delighted. I handed each of them a pot or metal mixing bowl and a variety of kitchen utensils to bang with. It was so loud that Liam was able to enjoy it even without his hearing aids in.

You can watch the video of their first pot rock concert right here. As you can plainly see, it was all fun and games until someone got hit by a flying utensil or Godzilla Baby came crawling through.

The Big Bully!

Aiden has been especially grumpy the past couple of days, particularly when talking about school. I knew something was probably up, but have learned from experience that it's best to let him bring it up. Finally this morning, while screaming that he just couldn't go to school anymore, he told me what has been going on.

"I'm being bullied, mom". Now my brain goes immediately to some big kid picking on my poor moderately scrawny kid. I'm picturing him being threatened within inches of his life or being given swirlies in the bathroom or having his lunch shoved up his nose when no one is looking. My blood is boiling that someone would bully my kid.

In my effort to be sympathetic, I ask "Can you tell me who is bullying you?". Big tears come. "It's Taylor." Taylor? Who the heck is Taylor? I've never heard of him before. I ask him to tell me more about Taylor. "SHE sits by me in class."

Great! He's being picked on by one of those mean girls. She's probably poking fun at his rather large ears (he gets that from my side of the family) or maybe it's about all of his freckles (also from me, and I LOVE them) or perhaps even his clothes. You know how girls can be. Just mean, right? Again, trying to be sympathetic, I ask "Well, what is she doing that is bullying you?". More big tears. "She's saying untrue things about me that are hurtful". I knew it! Mean girl, I tell you.

"Can you tell me what she says about you that are untrue?" I'm bracing myself for the worst. Maybe she'd say he lives in the ghetto, or his mama is so fat she buys new refrigerators so she can wear the boxes, or or or...well, something just awful.

He buried his head in his pillow and just yelled and yelled nothingness. I finally calmed him down and said, "I need to have you tell me what she is saying so I can help make it better". Finally, he told me what the bullying was about. Are you ready for this?

"She says I have poor penmanship". Yep. That's the bullying he's suffering.

I told him about the cruel stuff I endured as a kid. I grew up in a less conventional home and was always poor. I had Salvation Army glasses, tacky clothes, bad hair, teeth with a big gap in them, and a last name that was rather easy to make fun of.

He finally decided to suck it up and go to school. Crisis averted. But, really? Penmanship? Really? Here I was all ready to stick up for my kid for the long haul when all he really needs is a better pencil sharpener. Nice.