gifts and regifts

As a conclusion to Amanda's birthday...she had a wonderful day and enjoyed so much being the center of attention. We ate chicken for dinner, with ice cream sundaes for dessert.

Opening presents was tons of fun.



Amanda loves this cute hat and outfit set that Grandma gave her...especially since it is pink. (As a side note, she wore the shirt today - note the pink color - with the green "dot dot" pants that she has on in the above picture. It was quite the color combination. We went all over town wearing it.)


Here is the "regift" - a dollhouse from the Borders. Everybody loves it! Amanda has told me several times, "my new dollhouse needs a stroller and swimming pool." Where does she get these ideas?

The boys spent the greater part of the evening building a TV and satellite dish for the house with Legos. I reminded them they needed a satellite in space for their company and a rocket to get it there, so those were built as well.

Another favorite gift is the matching jammie set that Nana made for the three of us - me, Amanda and Merry. We will wear them on Friday nights together when we have "sleep with Mommy" nights. (That's the night that Derrick has "sleep with Daddy" night with the boys - They don't have matching jammies. They don't know what they are missing!)

Amanda is 3!!!!!

Happy birthday to my little girl! She is my "Beautiful" and Derrick's "Precious." She's Andrew's "Mandy the Pandy" and Scott's "A--mannnnnn--da." We love her. Her joyful spirit fills our home.

Amanda has enough energy for three or four kids. And she is aware of people's needs and is generous to serve. That enthusiasm can get her into trouble, as when she, for instance, *decides* that I need to brush my teeth, so she opens my toothpaste and squeezes it everywhere to get it ready for me. But she does try to be careful and is learning how to channel that energy.

This girl loves to run! Her curls fly behind her, giving her so much bounce.

She also loves her dog and will follow him just about anywhere (including into the neighbors yard without shoes on.)


Amanda makes life an adventure and I'm excited about the journey that raising her will take us on. There is never a dull moment when she is awake.


Here are the kids waiting for guests to arrive to Amanda's Pink Party last week. I'll post those pictures in a separate posting.

Amanda's Pink Party

Warning...these pictures are very PINK!!

Amanda had so much fun at her pink birthday party last Saturday.

As everyone arrived, we just played in the backyard. It really is Amanda's favorite place to be. She loves to swing, slide and play in the sand. I was a little disappointed that it was too cold to pull out the water table, but it probably was dryer that way.

I gathered the guests and gave Amanda a present -- her very own copy of "Pinkalicious." She was so excited!


Of course, we read it immediately. For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, it is about a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink. It is such a cute story and has been one of Amanda's favorites since she read it at a friend's house.



Even the boys were interested...

After you read a story like that, the only logical thing to do is go inside and try some pink cupcakes. Many cupcakes were eaten, but I don't think we produced any pink children.





Amanda also loved her other book-gift from us - The Pink Everything Book.

It was a very fun and very sweet three-year old party!

moving

I've mentioned this before, but we have many friends who are moving. In fact, there is a moving van in the driveway across the street right now as I write this blog. Our neighbor who we've grown to love is moving to Florida to be closer to her daughter. We have several friends moving because of jobs. All over the country - Colorado, Texas, Missouri. And, while our hearts grieve that they are moving, we are so thrilled for them for the opportunities they will have. We watch them leave with both tears and smiles.

One common theme that runs across all of these moves (and all moves, I guess) is the need to get rid of stuff. As I mentioned here, it has inspired me to clear some of my own clutter.

But, because we are the ones who are staying and not moving, we have been on the receiving end of many wonderful gifts. We are so grateful. It is as if pieces of these people will stay with us in our home, and we will remember them as we use their things and smile as we remember what wonderful friends we have.

Just last week, Alisa brought us a huge tire that her husband had rescued from the dump a few years ago. I'm sure he planned to make a tire swing, but it never moved to the top of the to-do list. They decided that they didn't need to haul it 1000 miles to a new home. So it became ours.

Derrick cleaned it, drilled holes and hung the swing. The kids LOVE playing with it.



I include this picture to show how precarious the installation was. I was so nervous, but luckily the ladder was steady and Derrick did not fall.
Tomorrow is Amanda's birthday and we'll give her another "moving" gift -- a "new" doll house from the Borders. I'm so excited to watch her play with it and remember our good friends. I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Half Birthdays and Birthdays

One of the most symnetrical things about my kids is the boys celebrate their half-birthdays in the month that Amanda celebrates her birthday and vice-versa. That means we can have celebrations throughout the months of March and September - exactly six months apart.

We celebrated Andrew's half-birthday. I love any excuse to make a special dinner and a cake (plus, it really helps with my weekly menu planning.) Tonight's special dinner was Chicken Pot Pie and Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake with Fudge Frosting...yummy!

Dinner is all you get for your half-birthday, but real birthdays are cause for more celebration. And we have one just around the corner. In our typical style, we are spreading the celebration over a week. I finished the party invitation tonight. Pink is the theme. Everything pink. (Shhhh...don't tell the boys, but they are getting pink silly string as their party favors.)

cleaning & clearing

Transitions are all around us. We have many friends who are moving. Many. A few are moving across town. Most that we know are moving away from town. We are sad to see them leave, but are excited for their future plans.

So, we are living with them through their seasons of transition. We have boxes in our basement that are stored for a friend whose house is on the market. We have helped pack; we have painted; we have cried; and we have shared some great memories.

One of the positive effects of friends moving is that it has inspired me to declutter my house...specifically the office. I cleaned out Scott's first grade work last week. Would you believe this is what I recycled?
And, this is what I have now. Actually, this is both kindergarten and first grade.


And in the process, I came across this sweet picture that Scott drew at the end of last year. He brought it home one Friday and I thought it was so pretty...


...then he explained that it was a picture of a tank blowing up another tank, with back up artillery.

I guess art really is in the eye of the beholder.

almost three

My sweet baby is almost three. She is officially a "big girl" and makes sure everyone knows it. Even her room is so "big girl." I took these pictures this weekend, when her room was clean for company.

I took this shot from the door looking in. On the left is her dresser and old changing table (now used as a bookshelf and spot for changing her babies.)



If you look carefully, you can see all five of her favorite babies. In the highchair is "Baby." Isabella is on the floor and Merry is in the stroller (currently her favorite baby.) Sleeping in the cradle are Baby Princess and Ella S. Christine. Rarely are so many babies in one place. The only baby missing is Penelope, her first baby. She must have been on a field trip to the kitchen or the boys' room.

This is the other side of the room - her big girl bed, although she only uses it for naps. She currently prefers to sleep on her brothers' floor at night.

OCPS News

Scott's on the news this week!! His school broadcasts a five-minute news program every morning to all of the classrooms. Since each room has a smartboard, they can relay the announcements in this fun way. And, since it is a primary school, the second graders are the oldest in the school. Therefore, they are the anchors and reporters.

Scott is reading birthdays. He is doing a great job reading all of the names.

They have also had technical difficulties this week with the microphone, so Scott has taken the job of holding the sign and saying "testing...testing" into the mic. It really suits him.

I pulled Andrew from his class, so he could watch it with us in the Media Center.