Happy Birthday Madelyn

Happy Birthday Madelyn!!!

Today is my niece's birthday and she turned 3.  Her birthday party was at Gertie's, so we had our fill of all-you-can-eat pizza! 

It was yummy!

 She had a really cute Tangled birthday cake.  My piece had a great big yellow wad of hair in it!  Gross!  But it tasted like frosting,

so I just ate it anyway.

 There is the yellow hair culprit!  Isn't she beautiful?

 She's opening up her presents...a big huge horse and a dog tea set.

 I love this picture.  Notice her cute little curls in front of her nose, they curl into a heart.  How precious! 

Happy Birthday Madelyn!

We love you!

It's My Birthday...

So, it's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to!

I woke up this morning expecting...well something besides ground-hog day.  You know, something other than the normal dirty dishes, dirty laundry, vacuuming, scrubbing...you get the picture.  I have the right to want something different at least for today...right???  I mean, it is my birthday!  Shouldn't the world stop spinning and everyone get the day off...just because I was born 36 years ago!  Well, I really didn't expect the world to stop spinning and everyone stop what they were doing to wish me a Happy Birthday, but I was hoping for at least a little sunshine.  It rained.  So, that big idea bubble I had created for my "perfect" birthday was popped and I had to think up something else.  I tried getting dressed up in something besides my regular t-shirt and jeans.  I even ironed a shirt to wear.  Then I wondered who to go out to lunch with.  I decided to take Mason and Josie, since they were home with me and needed to be fed.  So, we got all dressed and ready to "go into town."  We ended up at 9 Beans & a Burrito, which Mason mis-interpreted it to be "5 Green Beans in a Burrito."  I like his name better.  It was an O.K. lunch, but not really exciting. 

After lunch we went back  home, to the ground-hog afternoon.  My visiting teacher showed up with a mouth-watering homemade chocolate cake and visited with me for a while.  She is so sweet!  (That was not part of the ground-hog afternoon.)  I went and picked up the kids from school, since Carter told me there are teenagers on the bus kissing and everyone swears and I just couldn't handle another day of waiting 50 minutes for them to get home.  (No more bus for us! ~ That is kind of a catchy phrase!  We are now marching with our posters and chanting!)  Anyway, once we got home Daddy was there early because of the rain.  He was frantically trying to figure out what to do for a party because all of his plans were drowned in the rain.  Everything was meant for outdoors.  I have to give him my best praise because he is very good at planning activities for any occasion.  I do recognize his efforts and feel grateful for his sincere desire to make my day special.  It was me with the bad attitude!  (Did I just admit that right here on my very own blog?  Yes, I did.  Nobody's perfect, especially not me!)  Anyway, we decided to go out for dinner, but not until a life-long friend stopped by with some chocolate mint creamies to wish me a Happy Birthday.  That was so nice and unexpected. 

Matt recently told me about times when he was growing up that his mom would take all the kids out for dinner when their dad was gone.  He said she would drive around to whatever restaurant each kid wanted and get them whatever they wanted.  I admire her for her patience with 5 kids!  Anyway, I thought this would be a fun way to have dinner for my birthday.  Thankfully 3 of the 4 kids wanted Sonic, so we only had to go to 2 drive-ins.  I was still so stuffed from 5 Green Beans in a Burrito, that I decided I didn't want anything to eat.  Matt had arranged with Memaw to drop the kids off at Toy Town just before closing so they could go home with her.  He wanted to take me out on a date.  It is a good thing I convinced him 13 years ago that I was worth marrying, because if that was our first date, it would have ended at one.  (One date, not one a.m.)  Matt really tried hard to cheer me up, but I just continued on in my stubbornness.  Anyway, we drove around in the cold rain and tried to think of something fun to do.  I know I was making Matt so miserable and I feel really bad.  I was being really selfish, something I know I need to work on.  Anyway, we finally decided to go home because the kids were waiting up to have cake and ice cream.  When we walked in the door, the kids all yelled "Surprise!" and they were blowing those catching bubbles that stick to everything.  They were so excited it was my birthday!  They had made this sign with their hand prints and cards attached to it.  Memaw helped them.  It was cute.

They were anxious to sing and help me blow out the candles.

After cutting and eating the cake, I started to feel better.  I think that as I started looking past myself, I was able to learn a valuable lesson that day.  Life's not about Me.  It's not about My birthday.  It's not about what I want.  I know that if I would have been given a plethora of gifts, I would have felt guilty or embarrassed about the money spent and all the attention given.  I think all I was searching for that day was to feel loved, and it was freely given by those who mean the most to me.  That love is more satisfying than any tangible gift.  It fills every ground-hog day that I wake up to.  It is my family.  It is what I always hoped for and dreamed of as a little girl.  It is to be a wife and mother.  Is there any greater gift?  I have been truly blessed.

Thanks to all my family and friends who did their best to help me feel loved today!

Batteries

Josie came to me the other day and asked if she could listen to Daddy's IPod.  I told her that it needed new batteries.  (I meant it needed to be re-charged.)  She found some and brought them back to me.  Do you think they'll fit?

Happy Birthday Margie

HaPpY BiRtHdAy

Margie!

Kris asked us to watch Riley and Madelyn so he could take Margie out to dinner.  We always have fun when Riley and Madelyn come over to play.  We made a homemade Carrot Cake for dessert when they returned from dinner.  We didn't have any candles, so we used a match instead.  It was delicious!

Hope your birthday was a good one!

We love you Margie!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

I wanted to get the kids together for a picture of them in their Easter outfits, but that wasn't really an option Sunday morning.  You can see who was for the idea and who was against it, and who didn't even bother to show up.

Still tantruming, even though I had already

given up on the picture idea.

We had Stake Conference today that was a broadcast from Salt Lake.  It was nice.  We especially loved the Adult Session on Saturday night because there is always such a spiritual feast.  Our ward choir, as small as it was, all sang Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd and it was so beautiful, the words of the hymn and music are beautiful, but I'm not sure how we sounded.  Anyway, Matt and I enjoyed the spirit of that meeting.

After church, we went home and finished lunch preparations.  Part of that fun was using Rhodes rolls to make fun shaped rolls.  Here is a little snowman that Mason made.  This one should be safe from the dogs.  (Check out his last snowman.)

We made all kinds of things with the dough:  sheep, tulips, chicks hatching out of the egg and a few misc.

Josie made a lovely dough ball that she had fun

smashing on her nose...

...and pounding it on the counter with her fists.

This was a fun strawberry that we found in a carton. 

It made a beautiful topper for our fresh fruit salad.

Margie, Riley and Madelyn came also

and Riley made a cute little frog.

Here is Matt's carrot and Riley's frog.

These are the delicious rolls all baked, buttered and ready to eat.

After lunch, all the cousins lined up, youngest to oldest, and anxiously awaited the egg hunt.  This seemed to be more exciting than yesterday.  I think it had something to do with plastic eggs and candy, instead of hard boiled...

Receiving their instructions from Matt.

Then off to gather up the eggs.  Most of the eggs were empty and it was hilarious watching some of the kids.  Mason ran as fast as he could to the eggs.  Upon reaching one, he would pick it up, give it a good shake, and then either set it in his basket or throw it out into the grass for someone else to grab.  You can use your imagination as to what eggs he was throwing "away."

 

Carter found one in the tree and just as he was about to grab it, Aunt Margie came running and lifted Madelyn up to steal it from the tree.  It wasn't very nice, but Carter was a good sport and didn't say anything.  It is rough being the oldest of the grandkids...life doesn't always seem fair, but you just have to step up and take it like a man.  Just remember the huge chocolate dinosaur egg from yesterday Carter.  :)

Coming back inside with their baskets of treasure.

Sorting out all their loot.  Empty.  Candy Filled.  Discard.  Keep.

Whoa, some were tricky.  They felt light, but were filled with a marshmallow peep!  Gotta check every single egg!

Look at that jelly bean!  It is a ginormous one!

We enjoyed our Easter weekend.  The kids had a lot of fun.  They really enjoyed the 12 white eggs that tell the Easter Story that we did for family home evening.  Each egg contained a scripture and a tiny item representing the scripture.  They poked the tiny nail in the palm of their hand that represented the stakes that were nailed into the Savior's hands and feet.  We tried to imagine the pain that the Savior went through for each of us in the Garden of Gethsemane and hanging on the cross.  We felt gratitude for our Savior and a stronger to desire to follow Him and look to Him in our times of trials and struggles.  When we reach to our Savior, we do not have to feel the pains and sorrows the way he felt them.  What great love He has for each of us and what great love we have for Him. 

One of my favorite scriptures found in the Book of Mormon.

Moroni 10:32

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love god with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."