Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma!

Just last week we celebrated

my Grandmother's 90th Birthday

with a fabulous birthday bash

and an intimate family dinner.

I've lived near my Grandmother all of my life,

and I have loved every minute of it.

She is a lovely, kind lady

and is constantly thinking of others.

She has a cheery outlook on life

and makes everyone feel special...

no easy task considering that

she raised 10 wonderful children

(though I'm partial to the third one)

and has more than 70

grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

This picture was taken four years ago,

but she pretty much looks just like this --

except she's starting to get a few gray hairs...

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

When I grow up,

I want to be just like you.

Ode to Toddlers

For the past three days, I have been the parent of six -

thanks to a dear friend who needed to leave town on short notice.

I never really wanted six kids,

but it was fun to see what it would have been like.

{All three of hers are younger than my youngest.}

I came away with an appreciation for those of you

who have that many,

and a lot of fun memories of the "toddler years."

Just for fun, I thought I would list

The Top Ten Things I Miss About Having Toddlers:

#10 - Physical Exhaustion

Sound crazy?

You have to have teenagers

to understand that the

physical exhaustion of having toddlers

is nothing

compared to the emotional exhaustion

of having teenagers.

#9 - Utter Pandemonium

I do get to experience this one once in a while

{picture 6 teenage boys playing Settlers

and eating their way through your refrigerator},

but there's something special

about the kind of pandemonium that toddlers create.

#8 - Conversations with the Television

In our house we yell at the television

{think football},

but we never ever have sweet conversations with the television.

I miss that.

#7 - Pointing at Cows

Between us and the boys' schools there is a lovely field

full of cows.

I love those cows,

but I'm the only one in my family who gets excited about them.

Not so with toddlers...

they love cows too!

#6 - Squeals of Joy

{picture the field of cows here}
One great thing about toddlers is that you always know

when they're happy.

We have squeals around here too

{think big brothers teasing little sister},

but, in general, they are not squeals of joy!

#5 - Happy Helpers

Toddlers love to help with EVERYTHING

from cooking dinner to unloading the dishes to

"helping" you go to the bathroom.

If you've got toddlers and they're driving you crazy in this regard,

take my advice...

enjoy it -because you're going to miss it!

{Trust me on this one!}

#4 - "Like this?"

When you're teaching a toddler,

you show them what to do and they say,

"Like this?"

And then they do it.

It's so fun.

Don't ask me about how to teach a teenager something.

I haven't figured it out yet.

#3 - Being Called Mommy

To a toddler,

any woman who is taller than them and has children

is their mommy.

It was fun to be called that again.

#2 - Snuggle Time

Those random moments

when they come up and snuggle in your nap

for no apparent reason.

Priceless.

{I could probably get Brad to snuugle in my lap,

but I don't think it would be quite the same.}

#1 - Rocking Someone to Sleep

I did it with all three of my own babies,

and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world.

If you have little ones,

never miss a chance to rock them to sleep.

Time slips by so quickly

and you should take advantage of every minute.

So glad I did.

Thanks, Dave & Kyra, for letting me love your kids for a few days. It meant the world to me.

What We Didn't Do in San Francisco...

Last Tuesday

the kids and I

took a little jaunt to

San Francisco

with my mom,

my cousin Debbie

and her two adorable girls.

We were going to ride the trolley cars,

until we found out they were $5 a person-

ONE WAY!

Pleeeeaaasssse...

We've got better things to do with our money,

AND we know how to walk!

So we walked down by the wharf

and did some shopping.

Did I say shop?

I guess we didn't technically do that either.

{Trying things on was way more fun!}.

Then it was time for lunch,

but we didn't go here.

Why would we spend a fortune

to eat in the rainforest

when In-n-Out

was right around the corner?

(And 1/4 of the price!)

Then we saw these cuties.
How fun would that be?
Not $70 an hour fun, I'll tell you that much!

{I guess the trolley wasn't so expensive after all!}

After getting lost about ten times

we finally made it to Chinatown

so we could tour this place.

Oops.

Didn't do that either.

They wouldn't let us in... said it was "too hot inside."

Whatever.

So we did some more shopping,

but still no buying.

These glasses were fun,

but the store made us

claustrophobic

and we had to get out!

Oh, yeah-

The trip did have a purpose...

taking a gander at this loveliest of all Christmas trees.
Thanks for having us, Sandra!

For all that we didn't do, we sure did have a lot of fun! When we finally got home, I was exhausted! {All that driving wore me out!} So I decided to take my fortune cookie's advice...

I came home,
crawled in bed
and read Princess Academy
{have you read it?}

and then the next day I read
Book of a Thousand Days.
I highly reccommend them.
{And I think you should start
with Goose Girl - my favorite!}

I love vacation!!

I'm Gonna Miss This...

The kids have spent two weeks straight

sleeping together in Adam's room.

They've stayed up late wrestling and laughing,

waited with anticipation for Christmas morning,

and even slept in a little bit.

Tonight everyone's back in their own beds.

Too bad.