A Disclaimer

I feel the need to explain how much I LOVE my children's birthdays. I know I go a little crazy celebrating them, but May 26 and Aug 29 are my two very most favorite days of the whole year. I often hear my ob/gyn's voice in my head, "You need to prepare for the fact that you may never have children," and well, it still makes me teary to think that I might have missed out on this chance to be the mother of these two little girls. I am eternally grateful, and just can't help going a tiny bit overboard in celebrating the day that each of these girls came to earth! Nothing we've done this year for E's celebration has cost very much money, but I hope that she will be a five year old that knows that her family loves her SO MUCH!

But Wait, There's More!

M's school had their annual carnival this afternoon, so E took advantage of the hairstyling booth to get a fancy 'do for her party. They even sprayed it with purple & pink and with a glitter spray. She came home and put her special body glitter on her arms and neck and some glitter powder on her face. She was sooo excited!

The other two shots are just SO her...completely in her element!

Ballet Princess Party

The day finally arrived when all of E's party wishes could come true! She had such a great time at the Auburn Dance Academy today with some of her friends. The staff there did a great job making it fun and memorable for us. The girls got to wear ribbon skirts, play games, learn a dance, and of course, do a pinata and eat cake and ice cream. All we provided was the pinata and cake/ice cream. They even did fruit plates, Capri Suns, and goody bags! It was by far the most relaxed birthday party I've ever given, and I'm so grateful to have won it at E's preschool auction last month!

My First Zumba

I finally made it to a zumba class! WOW! It was a lot of fun and I'm happy to say that somewhere, waaaay down deep in my brain, I vaguely remember how to dance. I don't remember the last time I sweated so much...we're talking dripping down my ponytail onto my back here! Funny, if I were working out on my own, I'd never work that hard, but there's some pride involved in being in a class setting, isn't there?! I still had to take it down a notch a few times and just mark things out, but I hung in there and I am looking forward to going back next week.

The music was mostly latino, and made me crave chips and salsa. There was some hip hop type of music, too, and I wasn't listening to the words much, but I did catch a great line: "I throw down the law, just like Moses." I almost started laughing (but I would have had to have breath to do that!) out loud.

Note to Rebecca D: I first read about zumba on your blog. I kept thinking of you today, too, wishing you were there. I bet you do all the "whoo-oo's," doncha?! ;) That class would be a blast to take with a friend...as long as it was a friend you could laugh with and not at!

Happy 5th Birthday to E!

Our little girl turned into a "handful" today! We had a fun day, made even better by the fact that M didn't have to go to school, since it was Memorial Day (which is the holiday that E was actually born on...this is the first time it's coincided with the holiday since her birth). Daddy had to go to work, but we 3 curly girls found plenty of ways to celebrate all day long.

We pretty much let E plan our day. The morning started with our favorite "Big, Puffy Pancake" followed by cartoons. Then we headed to the Super Mall, where the priority was anything but shopping! First, the girls rode the carousel. This was the first time that E was tall enough and brave enough to go on without me next to her!





We did poke into "Claire's" and find some fun stuff on big-time clearance (everybody needs a hair elastic with rainbow braids attached, right?!) and then they had to hit the candy machine with the quarters they brought from home. It was lunchtime, but we'd left our lunch in the car, so we decided to just tide ourselves over with a cool treat from Dairy Queen.





We then visited an overpriced but still fun toy store, then with minimal kicking and screaming, I pursuaded them to go into the Children's Place with me. I lured E in by saying, "Hey, look at those sunglasses!" I wanted to go in there b/c I had a 20% off the total purchase coupon that was good this month b/c of E's bday. They weren't thrilled to be in there, but perked up when we found the bright blue sequined tennis shoes (Mary Jane style) for $4.99!

We walked through the rest of the mall, right on past many stores with alluring Memorial Day sale posters displayed and kept going until we hit the remodeled play area. It is a great improvement over the last one, but it was really crowded. So crowded that I didn't even take a picture and we didn't stay very long. I must say, one thing I love about my kids is that when I say "Time to go" they rarely hassle me (when it's time to leave a park, etc. When I want them to turn off the tv and leave home, well, that's another matter. But at least in public, they play along with me!) about it.

They wanted to stop in this enormous Black Market Minerals store (rocks, etc) but we were running a little short on time.

We left the mall, and ate our lunch in the car on the way to the YMCA for E's next requested activity: swimming! Sorry, no pics of that, either! I wanted to take one of the girls in their goggles just 'cause they look so cute and funny. I got some for E today that have a pink strap and pink lenses and she loved being able to see underwater! It was great to be in the water with M and see what a good swimmer she is becoming. I get to watch her lessons from up above the pool, but she's even better up close! ;)

We swam for about an hour, then headed home. P got home about an hour later, and then E could finally open her presents! We went for quality this year, not quantity. M got her a snowglobe from Things Remembered that has a pink ballerina and plays "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" since she is having a "ballerina princess" themed party next Saturday. It's engraved to say, "E... May 26, 2008 Love, M..."



We got her a pink CTR (Choose The Right) ring. Her primary teachers make a big deal out of who is wearing their (cheap, adjustable, highly rust-able) CTR ring, and it's always a panic to find the thing. If she just leaves it on all the time, maybe we'll have better luck? (Besides, she makes me laugh...the other day, she did something good and said, "Mom! Guess what?! I just chose the right...and I didn't even have my ring on to remind me!)




The big deal present was the Barbie My Size Throne. (No, it's not a potty chair!) This thing's got it all...detachable jewelry, crown, skirt, mirror, a place for a tiny Barbie doll, and it plays a royal tune when she sits on it. It probably even has a wand somewhere that instantly cleans your room, too. The very best part was the original $65 price tag, and then the after-Christmas markdown tag of $10! I would have never considered buying it, but I couldn't resist the deal! Funny thing...she was with me when I bought it in January and she's known it was in the garage until her b'day! She's talked about it ever since, so I am glad that it lived up to her expectations. It will probably only fit her for a year, but she will get a lot of mileage out of it. I just wonder how long we'll have to refer to her as "Your Majesty?"






When I asked E what she wanted for dinner, she promptly responded "Applebee's!" She didn't have to ask me twice, esp b/c I was expecting her to say something homemade! We went early and avoided the crowd. She got a hot fudge sundae for her b'day treat from the restaurant.



E is having a bday party with her friends this coming Saturday, but she still wanted some sort of cake today. Her favorite food is strawberries, and she's fascinated with whipped cream out of a can, so I had suggested we make strawberry shortcake. She loved that idea, but when we were in the cake mix aisle, she spied the Funfetti mix and had to have it. So, we had Strawberry Funfetti Cake. Oh, and it had to be baked in my heart shaped pan. Isn't it lovely?!





How I love this girl. She is a gift and I'm so grateful for all I learn from her and all the joy I experience because of her. Happy Birthday, Curly Girl #3!

The Best Dam Park We've Found

P actually took one of his days off this week and we spent all afternoon at Mud Mountain Dam. It was the BEST. The weather was perfect and we practically had the place to ourselves. It's a gi-normous park with tons of grass, picnic shelters, 3 playground structures, 2 (clean!) bathrooms, and the main attraction: this wading pool, which was a little chilly for M's taste, but crazy E didn't mind at all. The weather was a perfect 75 degrees or so. We were there for 4 hours (or was it 5?)and can't wait to go back. We're hoping that the trail that goes closer to the dam is cleared next time (still trees down from the winter's storms) so we can check that out, too.

On our way home, we visited Nolte State Park just to have a looksee and we definitely need to go back there again. It had more of a swimming area and looked perfect for a canoe (if we had a canoe, that is). And, there's a gravelled 1.4 mi trail around the lake that we need to check out, too. There were people fishing, so when grandpas come, they could take their granddaughters if they wanted to (but good luck getting them to eat 'em).

Yes, we DO live right by a lake, but it was fun to go exploring today and find some more cool stuff. We LOVE living here!!! (Remind me of that in the winter...)