a couple more bd pics

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“We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 ComtemporaryEnglish Version)

Party time

I was able to make it to church again yesterday, and today I'm hoping to get to a picnic today with my Bible study group and our families.

Cameron's birthday party went very well. And we had some great parent helpers....along with my husband, who really was Superdad!

Here's Cameron playing Deal or No Deal.

Some of the younger kids actually won some stuffed animals from the Crane Game.

Cameron's 8th Birthday

Happy 8th Birthday Cameron!

Above is the book his Aunt Dana sent him. He was up at 3am, wanting to open his first gift. We sent him back to bed, needless to say.

Here is Cameron with his Pokemon cake.

He was very excited to get some new video games.

He's been very sweet, helping me out whenever I need something that I can't get when I'm in my wheelchair.

His birthday party is on Saturday, so expect to see more pics then.

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to the best husband in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanted to post this yesterday.

Party Time

Because of my anxiety surrounding anything to do with numbers, and time and schedules, I was incredibly nervous about having Ella's birthday party. I did get the time wrong, and showed up with my kids 40 minutes early, in the middle of another party. And the pizza was never ordered, (not my fault) which started to put me in a panic with 20 hungry kids, but even the pizza ended up coming came just in time.



The people at Rolly Pollies are incredible. I heard it was their 4th party of the day, and believe me, you'd never know it. The two guys who ran the place had so much energy and didn't show an ounce of frustration. They did everything....from hanging out with the kids, to serving all the party stuff. I would highly recommend this place if you live in the area.
If this cake looks familiar, it's because it is the exact same cake Ella had last year. She wanted the Backyardigans again, and although I presented her with several other character options that she enjoys, she had no interest in Dora, WalE, Tinkerbell, Dinosaurs, WonderPets, etc. So Pablo, Tasha, Uniqua, Tyrone and Austin it was....again. The kids had fun hanging from the rings, holding on for dear life to the zipline, climbing the net, and dropping into the foam squares.

In other news...the medical kind...I'm feeling good today. A little sluggish, but I feel sounder in mind. I've devised a calendar system to help me keep my schedule straight. And I'm now trying

out some vitamin supplements and other "brain" foods and drinks.

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Joel 3:10

Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong.

HAPPY #3

Good morning birthday girl with your WILD CHILD hair!Here's her first gift...a Dora blanket from Aunt Dana. Ella insisted on making her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich...what a big girl!Ella loves dinosaurs and enjoyed playing with the one her grandma bought her and sometimes she even shared with her brothers. Someone from my husband's work gave Ella an ice cream cake. It was so yummy! (And yes, there are 5 candles on the cake. Ella had them all in her hand and insisted they go on the cake as well...we only lit 3 of them though.

Tomorrow is her actual party. Around 20 kids are invited. Should be an exciting time!

Amazing

Happy Birthday to the most amazing mom in the world. She has tirelessly and without complaint helped me every single day with...........well......everything. And I am so grateful. Thanks mom! Happy Birthday!!!!

My four year old!

Happy birthday to my adorable Max.

You have the most incredible eyes and amazing triple dimple.

You're such a great big brother to Ella and a wonderful friend for Cameron.

You have these funny quirks that just make me shake my head in disbelief.

You're hilarious with all the funny voices you like to use.

You love to pick me flowers...and then carefully arrange them and tape them together.

You're so confident in your manhood, you'll willingly play princesses with your best friend Abbie, wearing a pink dress and tiara.

You will bob around the pool for hours with a life-jacket on.

You love to do I-Spy books with Sara, and anyone else who has the patience to look for all those tiny, obscure items.

You're great at painting, glueing, coloring, etc.

You'll devour anything and everything with cheese...especially macaroni and cheese.

But best of all, you're just this amazing, loving, funny kid, and I can't wait to see what the years ahead have in store for us.

Celebrating

Yesterday Cameron had his birthday party.

26 kids! He invited his whole class (all but 5 came), plus some neighborhood kids and a couple other friends.

Several of the parents looked at me like I was crazy, amazed that I had a party with so many kids. But 26 kids wasn't that difficult because:

a. It wasn't at my house. It was at one of those inflatable jumping places.

b. I had some help. The place provided a couple people to help keep an eye on the kids. Plus Sara was there to keep track of Max and Ella, and my husband came toward the end.

c. Since I've worked in Cameron's class a couple times a month throughout the school year, I know all the kids...and all their names.

d. I'm a teacher. I'm used to being around a lot of kids...granted I taught teenagers...but kids don't intimidate me. While some parents smile politely while they see kids under their guise misbehaving (which drives me crazy!), I don't hesitate to use my authority as an adult to let them know if they're doing something wrong. I have that teacher "look" and that teacher "voice" and that teacher discipline to separate kids who are feeding off each other. Don't get me wrong, I think Cameron's teacher is a saint, because I would not want to teach 6 and 7 year olds every day. But for a couple hours, it was fine.

Overall, things went very well. Only a couple small altercations and injuries. I only had to separate 2 boys.

The kids seemed to have a blast, and most importantly, Cameron thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Max's birthday isn't until July, but considering his constant concern about when his own birthday was going to happen this past month, I think I'll be hearing about it quite often.

It's his birthday

Dear Cameron,

Seven years ago today I held this little baby in my arms...not sure what to think or feel. I remember the nurse handing you to me, with your boisterous screaming, and I thought to myself, "Okay. Now what am I supposed to do?" You were a very active baby. We have video of the nurses trying to weigh you, and you actually turned over!

Now that you're seven, you're still as vocal as ever, especially when you have some idea in your mind. You are very persistent. And active? Always. You're becoming quite the sports fanatic, watching every NBA playoff game this year, and catching the final scores on Sports Center in the mornings. Yesterday when watching a kid's fitness video, you shreiked with excitement when you got to do push-ups. And your running endurance is most impressive for a first grader.

You continue to do very well in school, and it's great to see you reading chapter books all the time. And lately you've been really interested in reading Bible stories. You're also quite the writer, continually penning journals and stories in school that are pages long. You also are a wonderful teacher to your brother and sister.

Lately, you've been very helpful around the house...emptying the dishwasher, cleaning up toys that aren't yours, hanging out with Max and Ella.

Other interests...2 main ones...video games and Pokemon! I especially like watching you play Guitar Hero. And your Pokemon card collection is growing out of control!

I must say, I like this age of seven. It suits you well. And I look forward to seeing you grow and mature in the years to come.

I could go on, but since your usual rising hour is 6AM, I better get myself some sleep.

I love you!

Love, Mom

35!

Yesterday was my birthday.

But the festivities began the weekend before. On Friday, a group of my friends planned a gathering at a local restaurant. I didn't know it was to celebrate my birthday. I showed up to some balloons, a cake, some nice cards and gifts. It was such a great surprise. This group of ladies always brings me such happiness.

On Tuesday some ladies in the neighborhood got together for lunch to celebrate my birthday. About 11 of us were able to make. It was very nice. I've been a bit antisocial of late around the neighborhood, so it was good to reconnect with people again.

Yesterday my first gift began at 7 AM, when I woke up and realized that all 3 kids slept through the night and were still snoozing. Cameron usually wakes me up around 6 AM, so the extra hour of slumber was surely welcomed.

Cameron couldn't wait to give me the presents that he tried to steathily make the night before. I thought he just drew a bunch of pictures, but to my surprise, he did more than that. He wrote me a poem!

Now if that was the only present I received, and the rest of the world crumbled around me, my day would still have been perfect. I was touched by his kindness, especially because he never expresses such sentiments. I figured he just thought I was the evil mom who made him read all the time and wouldn't let him play video games. He also gave me some pictures and some coins from his wallet.

Max gave me the card that I helped him make the previous night.

Now I'm sure you're having no trouble figuring it out, but just in case you need a little help, to the right is a picture of me, and to the left it says "I Love Mommy"...just a little jumbled...but all the letters are there. He also spent much of the rest of the day making me a picture, then wrapping it up, and giving it to me to open.

Ella was the last one up, and came down the stairs shouting "Happy Birthday Cameron!" It took awhile to get her straightened out.

My husband also came home from his fishing trip, so that was great. While Sara watched the kids, Melvin and I went out to dinner and to a Bon Jovi concert. Bon Jovi was the first concert I had ever been to, back in high school, almost 20 years ago! So it was exciting to get to go again. It was a blast. And although they played a bunch of new songs that I didn't know, they played all the great classics as well.

So now I'm 35. Why does that sound so much older than 34?

36!

Happy Birthday to my husband today!

In his own words, he's "crossed over to the dark side." Meaning, he's now closer to 40 than he is to 30.

Last night to celebrate we all went to the Mall of America to the Rainforest Cafe and on the amusement rides. (Okay, that was more for the kids, but still fun for all of us).

Today we let him sleep in while I took the kids to church. Then we all went to our favorite breakfast place. Tonight Cameron and I are taking him to NBA City and to a Timberwolves Game.

The man works too hard and needs a little fun!

Number Two

Today was my little baby girl's birthday.

Cameron woke up before 6 AM, so excited for her special day.

This afternoon we had a lowkey lunch and cake party with her young friends from my weekly mom's group. She was very excited about her Backyardigans' cake!
When Cameron came home from school she opened a couple more presents.
Then we were off to the Mall of America for more celebrating at the Rainforest Cafe.
And we ended the night on some rides.

My mother-in-law called this morning and asked if I was ready for more since my baby has grown up.

Ha! Ha! I laughed. I am quite content with the three that I have.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ella!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. We sent her away for a much-needed massage, and some much-needed time away from my crazy munchkins! She later took the two boys to the movies, and at night we went to the Holidazzle Parade. I can't say enough how much I appreciate all that my mom has sacrificed during these past few months. She'll be going back home to my dad in a couple weeks, but we sure will miss her.

Happy Birthday to the best mom ever!

Happy BD bro!

Happy Belated Birthday to my little brother...Scotty Potty. When he asked Cameron how old he thought he was, Cameron told him 16. Thirty-one is his actual age, but it doesn't surprise me that my son thought he was a teenager.

And today Cameron asked me if I had bought Uncle Scott the plane ticket to come visit us in Florida...which is apparently what he told Cameron he wanted for his birthday. I told him "No!" quite emphatically, as plane tickets are way too expensive.

Cameron's response, "But that's what he said he wanted, so you should buy it for him."

Interesting philosophy.

Happy Not Birthday

Today Max officially turned three.

He decided that 4 AM was a great time to start the celebration.

He spent the morning randomly tossing his birthday toys over his head, not caring what it was or who they hit.

Every time someone told him happy birthday, he’d scream, “It’s not my birthday!” and get really, really mad.

Whenever anyone called to wish him well, he’d again deny the occassion, and throw the phone down.

If you asked him how old he was, he’d say every number except his actual age.

That’s my Max for you.

Party for Ogres

The weather report said sunny in the morning with developing isolated thunder storms by the afternoon, with a chance of severe storms. I kept telling myself that it was NOT going to rain. It was too hot and sunny all morning for a cloud to creep into the sky. I refused, no matter how many times I checked the Yahoo weather forecast, I refused to believe it was going to rain. I organized everything outside. I filled up the water balloons. I hid the scavenger hunt clues. I refused to cancel the inflatable wizard castle. It just was not going to rain. Not during Max’s birthday party. Those developing clouds were going to pass over. That grey blur in the distance was just an illusion. It was not going to rain.

It rained……HARD!

But that’s not all that went awry.

Before the guests even arrived, the Inflatable castle, that I spent way too much money for, flipped over, because the guy didn’t stake it down and a gust of wind caused it to topple. The company was supposed to send someone to fix it, but they were taking too long. A neighbor and my husband were able to get it up and running again….until the lightening started.

My husband was in charge of the grilling. However, he was on-call, and had had so many deliveries this week, including more today. He managed to come home for about an hour to get some of the hot dogs and hamburgers grilled, in the downpour. Except this was the first time he had ever used our brand new gas grill (we’ve always had charcoal), and he underestimated the power of the flame. The hotdogs were perfect, but the burgers were charred. Then he got paged again, and we were left broiling the remaining burgers in the oven.

The rain did seem to let up a bit, so I decided to go ahead and inflate the castle again. However, while some kids were jumping around in it, the thing just cut off, collapsing a few of the kids inside. We managed to get all the kids out safely, but the rain started again, so that was the end of the castle.

So for almost the entire party, we had about 20 ogres wandering around the house, along with their parents. I improvised with some of the games to convert them for indoor. And all my adult friends who came were very helpful in keeping the kids in line when trying to play the games, open gifts, have dinner and cake, clean-up etc.

I’m sure the kids had a lot of fun, but personally, I was very disappointed. I had spent a lot of time and energy planning this party, and I even made a schedule for exactly when everything was supposed to be happening. But because we had to move it all inside, it just seemed hectic and out of control to me.

But Max did participate in some of the games, (even though he kept telling me all week that he didn’t want to do any of them). And even though he kept screaming to everyone that it wasn’t his birthday and Sara had to trap him from running away while everyone sang, Max did blow out the candles on his cake. My friend Angela made some delicious gluten/dairy free Shrek cookies for the people with food allergies. And the Shrek “ears” were a huge hit!

But next year, I think we’ll skip the big “at home” party and find an alternate, indoor location.

I wish.

Each day Cameron has a writing workshop time at school where he draws a picture and writes 2 to 3 sentences. I usually ask him each day what he writes about. It’s often about how “node” (naughty) Max and Ella are, some even that’s happening in the house or about some robot he’s drawing. I knew that he would write about my birthday, so I prompted him on what he should say. How does this sound:

Today is my mom’s birthday. She is 34 years old. But I think she looks 24.

Think his teacher will know I told him to write that?

35!

Friday was my husband’s birthday….35 years young!

Because we were snow bound for a couple days prior, I had a lot of last minute shopping to do while he was at work…and I had the three kids.

At the grocery store, the kids were surprisingly good. They each picked out a birthday balloon for their daddy, which kept them quite happy going up and down the aisles of Cub Foods. Cameron chose the biggest one, Max chose a Dora one, and I chose one for Ella…it said “It’s not your age, it’s your attitude.” Cameron’s balloon ended up where most of our helium balloons ascend to, hovering at the top of our 20 foot ceilings in our family room (the last time this happened, the balloon remained there for over 3 months...I hope this one is not of such high quality).

For most of the day, the boys worked on making picture presents for their daddy.

Max made a really great picture with all kinds of paint, markers, googly eyes, and puffy balls….and then he decided to cut the whole thing up. Cameron told him he must be making a puzzle, and Max was very excited about getting to carry around a Ziploc baggie of paper shreds for his daddy. Cameron took a lot of time to make a miniature Melvin, complete with blue scrubs, and he wrote him a note that said, “Daddy you are the best daddy in the whole wide world 35 years old guy.” It was all very cute.

When Cameron wasn’t creating pictures for his dad’s presents, he was working on another present for him…..completing pages in his “math homework book” (a workbook Melvin bought him one time). I couldn’t even take a shower without that boy interrupting me to ask me how to do the next page…and the next page…and the next page. I think he completed about 20 pages in all.

Before Melvin and I snuck out for the evening, we lit all 35 candles, and the kids helped him blow them out. After singing happy birthday to his dad, Max managed to continually sing it to the rest of us as well.

Once Sara was able to brave the snowy streets and arrive at our house to watch the kids who were all strung out on cake sugar, Melvin and I headed to our destination for the evening.

Did we go to some fancy schmancy dinnery place? Or some chic new club? Or to some terrific bluesy concert? NOPE!

We went to the Waterpark of America! This may sound strange to some of you, but we go to water parks a lot (especially since we only live 2 ½ hours from Wisconsin Dells and we now own a condo there). However, we NEVER get to go on all the cool slides because of our kiddos. Even Cameron is still afraid of the bigger slides, and Max and Ella are way too small for them. So for his birthday, Melvin and I celebrated by slipping and sliding around the largest Indoor Waterpark in America.

It was very fun.

But I have to admit that I did feel a tinge of guilt because ever since this place has opened Cameron has been asking to go there. If he ever knew that we went without him that night…he’d really would probably break down in tears. But the guilt was not enough to keep us from going without him and enjoying ourselves.

So to end this post, I’ll do as I did last year for his birthday…with a cheesy acrostic poem.

M—Melt my heart
E—Everything I need
L—Living and Working for his family
V—Very fine
I—Invincible
N—Needing his wine.