8 Years!!

Yesterday Preston and I celebrated our 8th anniversary! We are planning a weekend getaway next week, so we decided to stay in for the night. It was actually really sweet. We set up our game table upstairs as a "restaurant" and Preston brought cheap Chinese food in. Joseph was our waiter and was absolutely adorable. In the history of our anniversaries, our celebrations have ranged from meeting each other for an hour in between work and hectic school schedules at an all you can eat pizza buffet, to dropping well over $100 for dinner at a fancy restaurant. This evening was simple, we stayed in, surrounded by our kids, and I may or may not have been breastfeeding at the table and food thrown/ spilt on the floor... it was one of my favorites because of those same things. Here is the table Fireplace courtesy YouTube on the big TV = awesome

This is why we are here

I have a friend who recently miscarried, which breaks my heart. She asked if I could take and pick her daughter up from preschool while she went to the Dr.'s. This is an easy task, but her daughter is in my sons same class, and they get a long so it was a no brainer, no big deal. She was running late, so she asked if her daughter could come home with me for a few minutes, and of course a no brainer again. She offered to pay me for those few minutes and I said that was rediculous. When she came, her daughter still wanted to play, so they both stayed at my house for awhile. OK... now yesterday I spent ALL day in the kitchen making 30+ mini cakes, 4 batches of marshmallow fondant and a big double batch of buttercream frosting for the cake class I am doing tonight. Add that mess to 2 days of prior laziness and 3 kids... yeah, it was BAD. So what does my friend do? She starts CLEANING my kitchen for me. If you know me, you know that it is hard for me to accept help. I felt embarrased that 1) my kitchen looked the way it did and 2) that someone saw it and 3) someone was going to actually volunteer to help me clean it. While I really needed and appreciated the help, I couldn't help but feel guilty. Here she is, straight from the Dr's office, in pain both emotionally and physically... happily cleaning my kitchen with me. We had a good talk and I hoped it helped her feel better and she kept thanking ME, while I kept thanking HER. It was a special moment that 2 mothers shared, who were in need and it was a special experience being on the receiving and giving part at the same time. I can't help but think about how this is what we should focus on. It isn't in the grand moments and gestures that define us, but the simple quiet acts where we truely can help one another.

Kindergarten Man

I know I'm a couple weeks behind here, but my little man JoJo has officially started kindergarten. He goes all day Monday, Wed and every other Friday. He's says he loves it and his teacher is really nice. The first day on his own, we had discussed and went over where to go for breakfast (they do free breakfast for all students). I was talking to another Mom (who I knew prior) as we were waiting for them to get out of class, and she told me she found him standing in the middle of the cafeteria holding a juice box in one hand and a chocolate milk in the other trying not to cry, and said he didn't know where to go. She helped him out and all was well, but it seriously breaks a mommas heart! Preston went and ate with him the next day, but now he said that he wants to eat at home because "your food tastes a lot better Mommy". True that! Thurston started preschool and is going on the same days. So I find myself running back and forth on these days, but it gets my butt up and working. Plus I get a couple hours with just baby girl, and that's really nice.

Thurston's Birthday Bash!

This year the weather was so nice for Thurston's Birthday party. It was a little windy, and too cool for the slip and slide, but for a carnival, I have to say it was just perfect! The kiddos had lots of fun doing ring toss, water balloon sling shot, lawn bowling and just running around on the play set. We were going to set the bottles on the slip and slide and have human bowling, but had to settle for using the strip of dead grass as the alley, worked out just fine! I love how all the kids want in on the action Preston said not to put this on Facebook, so I didn't. Love this little guy!! Pinata These are the cupcakes. I think they turned out super cute and were a lot easier to make than the cake I originally thought of doing. They are Pingu cupcakes, and if you haven't watched Pingu the Swedish claymation cartoon, then you are missing out. It can be found on Netflix watch it now. Kiddos playing games Pingu photo op, I think it turned out great, a little sad I will be painting over it for the Halloween Carnival