A Lesson on Courage

Logan blurts out the other day that he has FOUR girlfriends! I'm a bit taken back because he hasn't really talked about girls lately. He then proceeds to tell me that he will not tell me who they are. The next day he informs me that there are only 2 girls in his life now and one is a first grader in our neighbors class. He obviously can't contain his excitement any longer and tells me her name is Kirsten. Oh, Ok, that's nice buddy! That night for sleeps (talks before bed) and the following 2 nights after that alllllll he wants me to ask him about/talk about is this Kirsten.

On to yesterday, we were getting ready to go to Cub Scouts and we have to talk about how to be brave/courageous and different situations that pertain to it. The FIRST thing he says is, "Well I'll have to be brave Monday (this is when they'll see each other in the car rider line) when I talk to Kirsten for the first time." Yes, you will buddy! Good answer I thought. "What am I gonna wear? I know, Make sure my jeans are clean and I'll wear them with my new favorits striped shrit and a white shirt underneath." Ok, how cute is that! He's already trying to look presentable for the ladies! I can tell that these kinds of thoughts have been running through his mind all day...what to wear, what to say, how to act, what will she say back...I'm just not sure I'M ready for this stuff. It does take me back though. Ahhh the days of puppy love. When everything was just hunky-dory...not a care in the world except what if he/she doesn't like you back.

So basically all day for the past few days I've been getting snipets of conversations about Kirsten. How she is supposedly gonna scream when Helen Grace tells her Logan likes her, how she was RIGHT behind him in the lunch line yesterday and he could tell she was nervous and even how his buddies told him to wave to her...hand up by face with fingers waving and a sweet little grin on. But the funniest part came last night on the way to Cub Scouts.

"Mom, I know how to MAKE someone fall in love with me."
"Oh, yeah? How's that buddy?"
"You just have to stare at them like this (an unblinking/expressionless look is on his face) and then they're hypnotized."
"OH! What about someones personality? Like being funny or kind to others?"
"Nope! you have to hypnotize them."
"So your dad has me hypnotized?"
"Yep! But the other way to make someone love you is by giving them things. Like shells. Kirsten collects shells and I don't really collect them anymore. I just collect coins now so I think I'll give her some shells."

So basically, our son is planning on talking to the girl first, has a CLEAN outfit picked out to make sure he's stylin' and is bringing her a GIFT!! What a little gentleman!

And that, my friends, is a lesson on Courage

Book Party

Since little sister's birthday comes not long after Christmas we decided to have a book party. She has soooo many toys and well, I love books! I wanted to get her little library started. I made the invite and I was very pleased with how it came out!

We had the party at my folks (nana & pop) home since it's a tad bigger than ours. Just a smidge. Both mine and Josh's families are close by and between the both of us we've got a lot of relatives! We ended up doing only a family party. It just gets to be so many people if we try to do family and friends. Believe me, I am very thankful for all the people in our lives but all the commotion can stress a baby out.

So I had this brilliant idea to just decorate with pics from her first year and balloons. Good idea right? Not so much. You'll learn why in a minute but first her are a few decor pics. This was a timeline (newborn, 3 mon., 6 mon., 9 mon., 12 mon.) of her stages. 9 and 12 months not shown here.


Since the computer crash of 08 I didn't have ANY pics of her from before 9 months. What does this mean you ask? Well, I had to take pictures of pictures (thank goodness I had some printed), load them, edit them and print them in black and white. I had a BLAST (sarcasm implied). I used these all over the cabinets and balloons like the ones below were every where. Seriously, I had close to 30. You should have seen me fighting with these things as I left Party City. And to top it off, I think a wind storm was blowin through about the same time.


For the goody bags I used scrapbooking supplies that I bought when Logan was a baby. Does he have a scrapbook you ask? No, no he doesn't. But I swear one day I 'm gonna get around to it. I got Books, a Book mark and a Beach Ball from the dollar store to fill them with. Catch the theme?On to the party...I was soooo glad my brother, who now lives in New Mexico, got to be there.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures. Oh, I have dark hair now by the way. She got lots of wonderful books and she's finally starting to enjoy reading! It was very hard to drag Logan away from all the cousins but he did sit for mmmm about a minute. Oh well, I guess a 1 year old birthday isn't really that exciting to a big 7 year old.

Nana made the adorable cupcakes and the box and blocks were a gift from Mimi. They made a great addition to the decor. Thanks Nana and Mimi for helping!


Time for cake and for the reason my decorations weren't so splendid. Little sister was TERRIFIED of balloons! I mean, they're just like floating balls on a string! I don't get it. And they were EVERYWHERE! If she came near one she would stare for a bit like, "What are you gonna try balloon!?" And then wham! A wave of terror would wash over her face. Dear Lord I hope I haven't scared the child for life. I can see it now. Five years down the road and B's invited to a party. I'm sorry but will there be ballons there? She won't be able to make it. Keep us in mind for next year though! And then who forgets to cut the balloons from the back of the high chair? Not me! I would never do that to her! Must have been her dad. HA
PHEW! Now that those strange floating objects with ulterior motives are gone time to enjoy the cake. She really didn't dig in like I expected. Very lady-like about the whole process. Is this not the cutest little face you've ever seen?

Well we did drag Big Brother away for 1 more pic with little sister. This is the same shirt I made for him to wear for the day she was born. I didn't want him to feel left out of the party so I said he needed to wear his special shirt again since he is the big brother and all.

You have no idea how hard it was to get a semi-decent shot of all the cousins. I was sweating afterwards and had to be excused to step out into the wind storm and cool down. Man, that's a good lookin group of kiddos though! The best part was that they all got along and there were NO tears. rare.

We had so much fun and are so glad we have family close by to celebrate these special occassions with us. The day after I set up all her books (for some reason I always do this on birthdays and Christmas) so we could see what she got. Here's the birthday girl with her loot, new eebee doll from big brother and adorable new shirt from aunt kiki and uncle jeff.

Books are gifts that just keep on givin.

It was also her daddy's birthday but he got a little shafted this year. Sorry babe!
He did have a nice carrot cake just for him at the party though!


One last shot of the birthday girl

Til Next Year...

The Wonder Year

I can't believe how fast our little B has grown! In one short year she has discovered and learned many new things and is now considered a toddler. Where does the time go?

Life Lessons

Help Those in Need Enjoy Life

Steal a Moment with Someone Special

Be Kind to Animals

Build Lots of Tents

Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Grow Healthy

Measure Your Success
Make A Mess

Always Remember that

Mom Knows Best

Don't Be Afraid to Make New Friends