Five years of sweetness!

I remember watching Bush's 2004 State of the Union before hitting transition while laboring for my sweet boy's birth. On his fifth birthday he hasn't shown any interest in the events going on in our nation's capital. Here's hoping his ninth birthday will mark another peaceful transfer of power!

Dad's 60th birthday suprise

Crunch Time

Tomorrow morning my little guy and I will be flying home to Oregon to suprise my Dad on his 60th birthday. My mom and siblings and I have been plotting for months for my visit, and we're gleefully anticipating Dad's reaction to seeing me casually meander into the room during his birthday celebration tomorrow night. He'll be meeting our little guy for the first time, so this should be a lot of fun.

Before we get on an airplane tomorrow morning, though, there are a myriad of things I need to get done. First and most importantly, I have to complete the scrapbook I'm making Dad as his birthday gift. I'm really excited about this scrapbook, which is titled "60 Reasons We Love Dad" and is a cooperative project with my seven younger siblings. Well, six of my seven younger siblings, since my youngest brother never did get me his part of the project.

I also need to:
*write a shopping list of everything DH could possible need over the next four days
*go shopping
*do laundry (tons of it)
*contact the airline and find out exactly how much stuff I can check in (bag, stroller, carseat, etc.)
*photocopy our little guy's birth certificate--so I can prove to the airline that my five month old is under the age of two.
*finalize plans to get together with my sil and her family while I'm in town
*pack--allowing for multiple changes of clothes for the little guy and me, too, in case he manages to spit/puke/poop/pee/drool on me during our flight
*write up a meal plan and a rough schedule for DH while he's caring for the kids over the next four days
*get the next two days worth of school prepped for him

Seven Years of Twins

The end of the world, as I knew it

Thirty years ago today, my life changed forever.

My brother was born, and his arrival marked the end of my existence as an only child. At four and a half, I was old enough to realize that things were different. But a child of four cannot comprehend what a difference having siblings will mean.

For me, my seven siblings have been one of the three greatest gifts my parents gave me. (The other two were their love for each other and a love of God and his Word.)

When I was young, I didn't always appreciate having siblings, especially since they were so much younger than I. But as we've grown up, I've been so grateful to have sisters and brothers who were raised in the same home, laugh at the same in-jokes, and share an appreciation for camping, the Oregon Coast, Bob's teriyaki chicken (all except our vegetarian brother, who makes a mean stirfry), books, 24, and Tillamook cheddar.

So I'm wishing a happy 30th birthday to my brother today. He ruined my life--and made it ten times better.

The Joys of Chuck E. Cheese

Moving to Utah in November of 2004 was a huge change for our family. We left behind in our home state of Oregon both sides of our extended family. It was a difficult transition, and we missed our families terribly, especially over that first Christmas. When the first birthday after our move came, our youngest's (at the time) first birthday, I was at a loss for how to properly celebrate without having his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins joining us.

Fortunately, my resourceful dh had a plan: Chuck E. Cheese!

At first I thought it was silly. We didn't have any good alternatives, though, so we went ahead with dh's plan. And we had a great, great time! The noise level was loud but not unbearable, the food was suprisingly decent, and our kids had an absolute blast playing games and going on rides.

Since that first birthday away from all our friends and family our options have grown: we have good friends here now, and we've even had family visiting over a few birthdays. But our kids still love going to Chuck E. Cheese, and we go at least every other birthday. Last night we spent Valentine's evening in a delayed celebration of dd's 8th birthday, and once again our children had an amazing amount of fun. I have to admit that I love it just a little bit, too, because of the good memories I now have of family celebrations we've made our own.

Oh, and our then-youngest is now #4 out of 6, and is a very happy four year old. He's pictured above on the little carousel, having a ball at "Shucky Cheeeeeeese"!

Turning eight

Turning eight required some flexibility on her part, but the substantial pile of gifts eased 8yo dd's pain in having to delay our traditional outing to Chuck E. Cheese. Dh's sick day extended into the evening and tonight we're expecting a snow storm, so it looks like we'll be spending Valentine's Day evening spending hundreds of tokens in the blinking, blaring kiddie arcade.

Because I was planning on us having pizza out, dd and I had to run out for some last minute birthday dinner supplies. She requested hamburgers, tater tots, and sweet pickles, and picked out a chocolate heart-shaped cake and Neopolitan and Root Beer Float ice creams. I pretended to be healthy by serving dinner with lots of veggie sticks and dip.

We watched Magic in the Water during dinner and after presents, and my poor Bug cried when the monster died. Much rejoicing when it was resurrected, though, and even more rejoicing over the Hello, Kitty diary from her auntie.

All in all, a very good birthday for the girl.

Birthday breakfast

Today's birthday girl requested waffles for breakfast, a treat usually reserved for Saturday mornings when dh mans the waffle iron while I fend off the ravenous crowd. With today being a normal weekday (despite dh needing to take a sick day and sleeping on the couch), I had planned on our usual cold or hot cereal. But who could turn down this girl for anything, especially on the morning she turned eight?

Whole Wheat Waffles

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp baking powder

1.5 tsp salt

3 cups milk

4 eggs, beaten

1.5 sticks butter, melted (12 Tbsp)

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquids, stirring together quickly until mixed well. Bake in waffle iron, taking care not to overcook.

Tip: Kitchen scissors are great for cutting up waffles for short people.

Hope realized, with meatballs

This weekend marked my first visit ever to Ikea. I've spent years drooling over the catalog, and then counted down the months until the new local store's construction would be complete last year. After waiting so long, I was almost afraid that the actual experience would be a let down. But it was even better than I had anticipated: inexpensive, practical, colorful, and stylish--the perfect store.

Since my 7yo daughter becomes my 8yo daughter tomorrow, many of my purchases were for her birthday: a colorful hearts comforter cover, a piggy bank, assorted small toys, and a pink and purple assortment of small storage boxes for her treasures. I picked up some white curtains for her at another store, along with some purple ribbon to stitch along the bottom. It doesn't look like we're going to get her room painted, as we had planned, but we can at least make it pretty for her.

My other Ikea purchases were all problem-solvers: an apple cutter, to replace the one that vanished; a tea ball for my solitary morning cuppa; a magazine rack to corral the growing pile of PC Magazines dh brings into the bathroom.

Oh, and the green plants at the top of this post, bought despite my proven black thumb. Winter has been particularly difficult this year, and I'm more than a little cabin fevered. They are on my kitchen window sill, and promise that despite the white and grey outside my window, Spring will be here soon.