PPT

As mentioned in an earlier post, this was a birthday party year for Liv. She asked if she could invite her whole school class. My first thought was...um no. I didn't want to be responsible to look after and feed 30 kids and I definitely didn't want to introduce 30 presents into our home when we have been working so hard to de-clutter and organize. Liv's cousin Kamryn mentioned that she should have her party at PPT. Liv had only been there once and it was somewhat intimidating since she was one of the youngest ones there and all the teenagers and college students dominated the place. We looked into it and found out that it could be rented with a minimum of 15 people. Sweet. Olivia made this proposal: What if I invite my whole class (and cousins and a couple of friends) and tell them that instead of bringing presents, they bring $5 toward admission? Perfect. I wondered how the request would be met by other parents (I worried that it was tacky, and then I realized that I didn't care). When we agreed to her proposal she was thrilled! She couldn't sleep that night as she prepared how she would present this invitation to her class (she is so my daughter). That whole week we heard, "I'm so excited for my party" about a hundred times. She made a guest list the morning of the party (and then realized that we neglected to give the invitation to a few...oops), put it on a clip board and took it to the party to check people off as they came. I had no idea how many to expect. I was thrilled that there was a good turn out. I think they had a good time. But don't take my word for it. See for yourselves:

Darin's awesome run: It was a treasure.

The foam pit was super sanitary. It took every muscle to get out of that thing. Baby Briggy loving Lexi. Every time she came near he hung onto her shirt and hugged her. Devon finding out just how bouncy the trampoline is: The whole gang: It was the perfect party. Liv had a blast. All her friends had a blast (except the boy who hit his head on the wall AND lost his watch in the pit). After our time was up we gave each of the kids a donut and a Capri Sun, thanked them for coming and headed home. No clean up. No gathering up the presents and finding a home for them. Just happy (exhausted) kids.

Recipe for the Perfect Tea Party

You will need:

A Manly Outfit (a safari hat, a cape and a belt)

Fabulous Friends with Fancy Hats


A Delicious Spread

Tea (or red kool aid) served in a beautiful teapot...

by the Gracious Hostess

The big 1-1

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl! The day began with a friendly wake up call from the boys. We got ready and headed to breakfast at IHOP.

Liv's teacher had a surprise waiting for her on her desk when she arrived. We have been blessed with amazing teachers again this year! Darin and I went to the school to share some birthday treats in the afternoon along with Darin's traditional gift of flowers for the birthday girl (a tradition I borrowed from my friend Christa). The girls in the class were quite taken with Briggy. They were very sweet with him.

After school Liv had clogging. She was bummed that she had to go on her birthday, but I knew it would work out for the best. When I picked her up we headed out for my present to her...a mother/daughter pedicure! I know it sounds like a selfish gift, but I knew she would enjoy it more with company. She loved it (I did, too!). We decided that mother/daughter pedicures will be our new birthday tradition. Now we will pamper our feet twice a year on each of our birthdays. It was great knowing that she appreciated her gift much more after working hard at clogging.

In the evening we quickly ate dinner, then had cake and ice cream and opened presents. We didn't think ahead enough to organize a party (it's a friend party year), so we quickly called some family that lived close so she would feel like she was celebrated on her birthday. Her friend party is planned for next Saturday, and she is very excited about it.

No boyfriends!

Everything she got was for her hands or her feet.

Fake nails (the glue on kind from the grocery store. I like that they are so short)

Her beautifully pedicured feet:She also got new socks (very exciting) and some new black boots.

The birthday girl with Grandma Moses and Grandma and Grandpa Dahl:

She had a great day. I am so impressed with the young woman she is becoming. I am proud to call her my daughter.

Scatterbrain

I feel like this describes me perfectly right now. My brain is most definitely scattered. I am not in blogging mode, but I have many memories to document, and that adds to my scattered-ness. So, knowing that I have events to document it would make perfect sense that I would blog about something other than family memories, right? That seems about par for the course for me lately. Maybe blogging about randomness will help me to find some focus. Here's what's been on my mind lately (in no particular order):

- Our house is officially on the market. I have no idea where we'll end up. We just felt (strongly) that it was time. We love our home. It has been the perfect place for our family. We have outgrown the house and it's time to find the next perfect place for our family.

-I am more of a perfectionist than anyone would guess (including me). I think that sometimes I'm guilty of the mentality that if I can't get something done perfectly it's not worth doing at all (I know it sounds weird).

-Getting our house ready to sell has kicked my fanny. It has been a lot of work, but very rewarding. I really am capable of making it look awesome, I just haven't done it consistently (see above). The problem is, the more I clean and paint, the more I see that needs to be cleaned and painted. If it takes a long time to sell, then at least we can enjoy it in its current state until it's time to go.

-I like people. A lot. I can't imagine a life of solitude, but I think some solitude is necessary to find out who we really are. I found myself in Belgium. It was only a summer, but it was a summer filled with self discovery.

-I am learning a little too late that caring for my family provides me with plenty of opportunities to stay busy. I definitely over-committed my time this school year and recently had to bow out of my Treasurer duties (even though I haven't officially passed the baton yet). One phrase that I learned a year or so ago that I am trying harder to remember is: "When you say 'yes' to something you say 'no' to something else." My family needs me to say 'no' to the extras and 'yes' to them much more often.

-I love to dance. Once the boys' friend was over and saw me jamming to the Disney "Move It" CD. He said, "Your mom is crazy". I wasn't offended at all. Secretly I think he meant "cool" instead of crazy.

-I miss working out. I am anxious to feel on top of my life mentally so that I can take better care of myself physically. I know that working out would actually aid in feeling on top of my life mentally, but I have some weird hang up about it for some reason. I'll get there. I did do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred for two days in a row. I highly recommend it.

-I have really vivid dreams and sometimes I wish I didn't. One of the strangest dreams I've ever had was that I was a donkey. I was walking up a hill with my donkey friends and suddenly my teeth stuck together. When I tried to pull them apart they all shattered in my mouth. It was disturbing to me so the next morning I did some research on a dream interpretation website. It turns out that dreams about teeth have to do with stubbornness. (Weird that I was also a donkey. I must have felt VERY stubborn about something.) A dream analyst would have a hay day with me.

-If you would have been at my house yesterday between the hours of 1 and 3pm you would have laughed at me. I got a call from our realtor that someone wanted to see the house sometime between 3 and 4. I didn't think we would have any interest since we didn't have pictures up on the MLS yet, so I thought I had a day or two more to get it looking spiffy. I got off the phone and screamed. I was surprised and excited, but also filled with panic--knowing there were areas that were definitely not ready to show. I felt like a chicken with its head cut off. I had absolutely no focus and didn't know where to begin. I called Kellie to tell her the news. She didn't even wait for an invitation. She just showed up and started clearing and cleaning. Sunny also showed up to clean bathrooms and do some finishing touches while Kellie took my sad baby and loved him so I could continue in my frenzied state. They saved my life. When it was time to leave my face was red and I was exhausted. I don't think I've ever accomplished that much in such a short time. It felt like someone pushed the fast forward button on a remote that controlled me. I felt like I was on an episode of "I Love Lucy".

-I just cried as I re-read that last paragraph. I have some pretty amazing friends. I will miss all of them terribly when it's time to leave. I know we're not going to be far away (I don't know where we'll end up, but it can't be too far), but I know that where I live I would have several friends show up if I sent out a call for help. I've seen it and experienced time and time again in this neighborhood. It's scary, yet exciting, to think about starting over.

-Folding laundry is one of my talents. I actually enjoy it, too. I think it's therapeutic...until I get behind. Then it's a chore again. Right now it's a BIG chore. I kind of neglected the regular day to day chores while I was working on projects and now it's a tad out of hand. I have been chipping away at it, and it's a little less daunting, but I need to get back to my one load a day.

-I love my husband. His calm balances my spazzy. His realistic side balances my incessant "what if..." speculations. He is just a good guy.

That's all for now. I think that helped.