32

Today, I turned 32. Some highlights from my birthday celebration!

1. Maggie's kindergarten class singing Happy birthday to me!
2. Maggie telling me that she will love me no matter how old I get.
3. Waking up at 6:30 a.m. to a precious little boy. I couldn't be mad at him for waking me up so early. He's too cute!
4. Going to the pumpkin patch. Not doing one thing that I chose to do, but having a blast with my family and watching them have fun. Wow, I'm old. Steven called me Clark Griswold for choosing a family event for my birthday celebration!
5. Having the waiter make me a special dessert at Olive Gardent tonight. It was 2 thin mints covered in whipped cream and a cherry. Interesting...
6. Maggie telling us that her favorite smells of all time is the smell of wet paint and new books.
7. Watching Steven climb on to the giant blow up thing with Maggie because she was scared to go by herself. He was the only dad out there on the bouncy thing.
8.Knowing my husband tried to keep the babies asleep a little longer this morning so I could sleep. He got up at 5:30 and fed Patrick so maybe he would sleep a little longer.
9. Seeing two cutie red heads on a ginormous pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. Trying not to cry as my heart was very grateful for our 2 little ones.
10. Having coffee/donuts for breakfast with good friends!

Walt Disney Celebration

As most of you know, I love me some freebies. Through MomSelect, I recently received some freebies from Walt Disney Parks to celebrate their "year of celebration".

We had a blast with the disney balloons and supplies that they shared with us.

If you would like to host some Disney themed parties, be sure to check out this website. There are some great ideas.

http://www.momselect.com/mickeymomsclub/

most annoying phrases ever

Whatever tops the list. However, my most hated phrase is number 3. I hate the phrase "it is what it is". Well, duh. Of course, it is. It's just an excessively annoying phrase. I'm glad others agree with me!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hErAragoh5UQoqxyQPWIJ4dVkC8QD9B6EM2O3

Freeze time

I wish I could freeze days like today. I wish I could stop time and keep days like today on back up for those days that aren't that great.

I have 2 beautiful kids who look just like me and Steven. They are joyful and happy and LOVE each other so much. Our little boy lights up and smiles like crazy when Maggie comes in the room. I was sitting on the bed talking about something unpleasant when Maggie ran in my room. She jumped on me and started kissing me and tickling me.

Then, we went in the other room and our little boy smiled and cooed. I fed him his bottle until he snuggled in my arms and fell asleep. Maggie took pictures of everyone in our house and everything in our house while I was feeding him.

Amanda stopped by tonight and everyone rejoiced. Maggie was ecstatic to see her. Willie ran to the door and barked about seeing Bella before they even walked in. I was overjoyed for someone to hold our little boy so I could put finishing touches on our dinner.

We had bible study tonight. I feel like I get so much out of it. We have a great group that prays together and opens up about life. I'm thankful for Sandy and Tanya.

The weather is so nice. It's cooled off and it's fun walking to school in the morning. She loves going to school and has made some great friends. She has a friend who is her BESTEST friend. They are so much alike, but even get along and don't fight during playdates.

Wait, I'm off topic.

Today was a great day. I love my family. I'm thankful to Jesus for giving me many ordinary days like today.

The brick

This morning, Kim and Owen came to our front door right before I took Maggie to school. They said that someone broke into the church last night.

The lady who broke into the church threw 2 bricks through the toddler room window. Then, she slept there and wrote a note on the bricks that she threw through the window. It said, "I'm sorry. I was tired and cold." Then, she signed her name.

She went into Steven's office and wrote a note apologizing again.

She was at the church when Tiffany got to church this morning. Tiffany thought that Steven was meeting with her. While Tiffany went to the church office, the girl went out the front door.

While Steven was meeting with the police, he remembered that he had a checkbook in his office. We keep it there sometimes in case we forget a check to write our tithes. Steven couldn't find the checkbook. We tried and tried to remember if the checkbook was still there or if we had run out of checks. We couldn't remember so Steven had to go sort it out with the bank today. He also had to go and have the window replaced.

And I "know" that the right thing is to feel sorry for her, but I honestly am having a really hard time with it.

This is the 3rd break in that we have experienced since we moved here. The first one was a break in to Steven's truck window.

Then, someone broke into my van window.

Now, the church.

Frankly, I'm tired of paying for broken windows.

I know that I should just be grateful that my family is safe and nothing has ever been stolen. It's just annoying.

So, I'm trying to feel something besides annoyance for the brick throwing girl. I have never felt that desperation before so I can't fully understand what she was feeling.

I don't know how to neatly tie up this blog. Hmmm.....how about "hurting people hurt people"?

Or "it is what it is"?

Nah, I hate both of those phrases.

HWMT

I've told Steven over and over again that we will never be a Husband Wife Ministry Team. But, I opened my big mouth and look what happened!

http://northgatemanteca.podbean.com/2009/09/14/091309family-portraits/

Rainbows and Butterflies

We had a very busy weekend. The most important part was that we added a new member to our family. We got a little boy who is 2 months old on Friday night. He has been a joy and been so easy. Eats and sleeps and coos and smiles at Maggie. It's been so fun. Maggie has adjusted well, but she got a little frustrated tonight. I think that it was probably a mixture of her frustration with her "projects" and working out her feelings for the new little guy in our home.

Tonight, Maggie was trying to make Daddy a new recipe for his return from hiking all day. She got pretty frustrated because it wasn't working right. She is always coming up with recipes and "inventions". Lately, she's been frustrated because her inventions don't work.

I was trying to explain to her that inventors have to work and work on an invention to make it work the right way. This was seeming to make sense to her, but then (drama queen) got upset again about everything.

She said, "you know, when I was in your tummy, I was kicking and trying to get out. Then, I came out and I really thought that everything was (i'm so not making this up) going to be like a lot of rainbows and butterflies. But, I never see butterflies."

This was followed by lots of tears. I was trying to comfort her and then, our little guy reached over and grabbed her hand and held her hand. She stopped crying to smile and him. It was so sweet.