Another Birthday! Mine.

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318362118561380370" />
March 27th... for the 34th time in my life. This birthday was fun and unique. Usually it seems we spend our birthdays with family. This year Alan and his Dad are working hard on finishing that new room upstairs in our home. I'm not one of those "let's just celebrate next week" kind-a people. It's gotta be on the day, or it just isn't the same. Ya know? So, while the boys were building, us girls were playing! Jodie came to spend the day with me. Olive Garden and Hobby Lobby! Doesn't get much better than that! Then Jen planned a fun birthday "party" for me. We had a craft night at my house... starting at 9:00pm once everyone's kids were in bed. Jen brought posh jewelry and cakes. Alan made us a couple pitchers of mojitos, and we crafted the night away. Erin and Traci sewed, Jen and Jodie and I bought paper, canvas, modge-podge and made ourselves some wall decor. Sarah and I also painted wine glasses. It was fun. And I ended the night making myself a fun pair of birthday flip-flops! Thanks Jen for the fun part-ay! And thanks girls for making it such a great birthday night. And thanks Jodie for coming to visit and hang out for the day.
Hmmmm. I suppose if I "celebrate" with my fam in a few days, I could get another day of cake and gifts. Sounds good to me after all! :)

ps. and thanks Alan for the mojitos! Yummmm!

Facebook Wins

Alright fellow bloggers... is Facebook taking over, or what!?!?!? =) Stay strong! Stay the course! (hee hee. Don't know when I became the Coach)

Soccer Stars

Soccer season is here, and we are lovin' every minute of it! Here are a few pics I took of the kids last Saturday during their games. Selah had her best game ever. She scored 5 goals, out of the 10 her team won with. We were so proud of her! Last year she only scored 1 goal the whole season.

Last week her team tied their game, and she played on defense, and she is really good on defense. This week the coach had another girl in on defense, and I kept thinking to myself... "put Selah in on defense! This girl isn't stopping the other team's balls" But Selah did great on offense today! She was so excited! Last year when she scored her one-and-only-goal, she totally turned her head in the other way of her cheering crowd (to hide her smile and embarresment as we were screaming and hollering for her!) It was rather cute, actually. But this time, she smiled and looked right at us, and kept going. Not throwing her hands in the air and jumping for joy, but definitely [quietly] relishing in the moment.

Bryson, also quite the little "all-star of the team" (as his coach put it on Saturday). He and his fancy footwork are fun to watch. He is very confident and somewhat aggressive on the field. Of course Alan and I are bursting with pride (and hinging on embarresment as he scores 12 goals). He is usually the kid that emerges from the cluster of boys with the ball under foot. We hear parents and coaches telling their kids to "get the ball away from Bryson"... "don't let Bryson get it." After watching him play, parents will look at us and smile and make some kind of comment about how good he is, or how kids his age usually don't have dribbling and ball handling skills that well developed at this age. On the way home Alan and I were talking about the fact that half way through the game we were cheering for Bryson to "pass the ball" or "get to the goal." He will sometimes stall just to "play keep away" rather than get to the goal to score. Also, we are trying to teach him to pass and be a team player rather than take the ball down the field himself each time. I'm thinking that will be our goal with him this season... teaching him to play "as a team" and not just take the ball and run the show. Well... maybe he could still do a little bit of that too.

Spur of the Moment Fun

Thursday morning we dropped Selah off at school, and the kids and I went to the IMom breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. Afterwards I was hanging around talking with friends about different craft projects we are going to be making and doing together. My friend Sarah said "do you wanna make pillow case dresses today?" "Yyyyeah!" I said! So we put the kids in the car, and drug them in and out of Ross, Target, and Hobby Lobby. By the time we got to her house, we had 4 projects in the works. The pillow case dresses (I found pillow cases for my girls for $5 each at Ross), plus we'll make shirts/dresses out of yellow chick print hand towels we found at Target (that one is Sarah's creation, which I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out!). We also bought bags and fabric to make our kids little canvas bags. I made Bryson's bag a baseball theme, and the girls' dance. Sarah and I also made ourselves a fun tumbler glass and had them monogrammed with our name. The lady that does my monogramming happens to be Sarah's neighbor, so we called her and she was available to monogram all our stuff. We had so much fun! I use to sew alot as a kid, so it was so nice to sit down at a machine again. I've been planning to get a new sewing machine for my birthday this year, so this was a good "tease" for my upcoming gift. We only got the bags and the tumblers done that afternoon at her house, but we'll get together again soon to make dresses.
Sarah and I both own our own business that we run out of our house... both having to do with art/craft items that we create. She makes jewelry, silhouettes, and she use to sew alot before she moved to Oklahoma. We joked about how we got to spend a day working on a project because we "wanted" to, not because we "had" to in order to fill an order. It was a very fun spur-of-the-moment day.

I Wasn't Planning on This Post...

Well, here is our 2nd haircut for the week. Not a planned one, either. Charis has been asking me all week since Selah got hers cut. She says "I don't want my hair long!"

At first thought, I can't believe that this girl, who is 110% girly-girl... who has to change her outfits 5 times a day, one of which always includes a tutu... the girl who puts on lipstick all day long, as well as other make-up if the time is right... loves lotion, nail polish (got a pedi and mani last week)... sets out her clothes on her floor at night, complete with matching bows and tights... and if not set out, the first thing she says to me when she climbs in my bed in the a.m. is "Mommy, can you please get me dressed!... the girl who will not wear jeans or shorts (has to be a dress or a skirt)... this girl who "gets" the importance of a cute appearance (hee hee), who says to me some days "Mommy, why are you wearing that???"... this girl CUT HER OWN HAIR!!!!!!!!

But on second thought... she is my strong-willed child. Independent from the get-go. Takes care of herself and her brother and sister better than the rest of us. This is the girl who I can't force her to wear something unless she wants to wear it. (sniff, sniff) This is the girl who I know to consult before I buy her any clothes. This is the "leader" who is strong, independent, confident, and who takes care of the task at hand. Which, yesterday, (apparently) was her hair! "Too long!"

Okay, now, in reality, it wasn't that bad. I actually didn't even notice it until today at lunch. She cut one side, about to her ear. There are still a few whispy's hanging down, so not too noticeable, I guess. And at least I can still get those sides up in a bow.

Funny thing is... she cut it, and hid the hair behind the bedroom door. (now that might be something I should worry about!)I found some puppy hair there too. Notice in the pic, her puppy also got some lipstick while at "Charis' Beauty Salon."

Hopefully this won't happen again. And maybe... MAYBE... she'll get herself a bob for summer. Maybe.

(squeal!!) She Looks So Big Now!

We couldn't take the tangles any longer. We cut about 7 inches off of Selah's hair. We didn't want to cut it short, but for her this is "short." It's been down to her waist since she was about 4 years old. Now it looks so healthy and pretty. And she looks so big now! From the back she just looks so much older. At least she still wears those cute big bows in her hair. Now that will be the day that I cry!

Here We Go Again!

Well, it's been almost a month since I've posted anything. Which is just about when my spring business started up again. Go figure. Our days are now filled with playing outside on the driveway with neighbors, painting (I have a stack of about 40 platters right now), Facebook (uhhhh, it's so bad!), and here's what our weekly schedule looks like:

Monday: Me to the Y (exercise)
Bryson baseball practice
Tuesday: My ladies bible study (Beth Moore, Esther)
Bryson baseball practice
Selah soccer practice
Wednesday: Me to the Y
Selah soccer practice
Thursday: Charis dance
Selah dance
Bryson baseball games
Friday: Me to the Y
and our family NIGHT OFF!!!!! This will probaby be our night at home to hang out and grill out and chill!!! (oh, and it's Alan and I's "Netflix" night)
Saturday: Selah soccer game
Bryson soccer game
Sunday: Church, rest (forced 30 minutes to lay down and "rest"), then work on projects around the house and yard.

It's all good! Good thing I'm nuts about sports, or I'd be one unhappy Momma! Alan is going to help coach Bryson's baseball team... our friend is the head coach, so that'll be fun too!
We are looking forward to spring and we're having so much fun... making memories! As I've said before, I'm the "stay at home mom that never stays home!"


ps. Next I need to plan (gotta do that part first) and then post a weekly menu plan for our meals. With being so busy, I really need to get more organized so we can still eat good. I'll get right on that!!!!!??????