six: a kitty party.

The birthday deal in our house is
you get a party every other year.

On the "off" year,
the birthday kid gets a special dinner and a family get-together, but no big party.
{in other words...mom gets the year off from planning a party.}

This year was Avery's "on" year.
And because she is a fan of all things kitty,
it had to be a kitty cat party.

But the thing is,
Avery's birthday is around the last day of school.
Which, of course, is a totally peaceful, relaxed, uneventful time of year.
{insert stifled sarcastic laughter and eye rolling here.}

So even though her birthday was in the beginning of June
we just had her party on Friday.
{side note...if you can swing it, i'm a big fan of the friday afternoon party.
saturdays and sundays are always so crazy that it's hard to find
a free weekend to throw a party.
but with a friday afternoon/evening shin dig,
the weekend is still yours to enjoy.}

So...the end of the school year had left me feeling a little tapped out,
so this party had to be easy.
I decided this party would be small - just the girls from her class.
Instead of making them, I ordered invitations from etsy.
The games and activities were going to be simple, too.
The boys made us a kitty face for
pin the nose on the kitty.
Old school!



Avery loved it.
Lucy...not impressed.

The boys made mouse eggs for a mouse hunt in the backyard.
{the eggs were filled with stickers, except for one which had a toy mouse.
the girl who found the egg with the mouse got to go first on "pin the nose".}





I made a toy mouse garland
and got a lot of slack on instagram from all of the cat haters out there.
{you know who you are}



Colin made the goodie bags for me out of lunch sacks.



I stuck a hello kitty lollipop, kitty sticks, and a kit kat inside.



I ordered a dozen little stuffed kittens from Oriental Trading
and the girls each got to choose one.



At the party they made kitten collars out of ribbon, office tags, and stick-on jewels.

My friend Liz has the coolest little printer for the iphone:
it's called the Photo Cube,
and you plug your phone into the printer and it prints right from your phone.
It's awesome.



The girls posed for pictures with their kittens
and I printed them out and they got to take home a photo in their goodie bag.



Also, to keep things simple for me,
I ordered a cake for the first time in my kids' lives.
I thought I would be sad not to make their cake.



I wasn't.
It was awesome.





It was probably the easiest party I've thrown.
It was simple and the kids had fun.








Six is a fun age.

{37 things}

I know it's the in thing to do to choose a word for the year.
I like that idea, even though I've never really been able to nail down one single word.

But this year I think I chose two words:
peace and purpose.

I have a nasty little tendency to be fearful.
Some fears are little and silly.
Like riding a ferris wheel.
The thought of being on one almost puts me into full panic-attack mode.
The big one at Disneyland?
I'd rather go bungee jumping while holding a tarantula.
But some fears are bigger and uglier and more joy-swallowing.
This year I want those joy-swallowing fears to be replaced with just peace and joy.
{i like what psalm 34:4 says.  radiant joy sounds so much better than fear.}

And then purpose.
I don't want my head to hit the pillow even one night and think that I wasted a day.

Yesterday I celebrated being another year older with a cake made by my favorite bakers.



Thankfully it only had 10 candles for me to blow out instead of 37.



I made a list of how I'd like to fill my days in this 37th year.
I hope this list is going to help me make every day purposeful.
Even on those days where it's only about mopping the floor.

1. go to the alameda flea market.
2. deliver cookies to a friend.
3. write twelve letters.
4. wash my windows.
5. do 100 jump ropes without messing up or stopping.
6. read through the entire bible.
7. have people over more often.
8. read ten books.
9. plant flowers in my backyard.
10. explore a new city.
11. print out my 2012 photos.
12. go away for the weekend with my husband.
13. run a 5k.  even if it's by myself.
14. have coffee with friends once a month.
15.  take a nap on the beach.  or at least close my eyes for 10 minutes.
16.  watch live music.
17.  read pride and prejudice.
18.  organize my closet.
19.  finally learn to do a kipping pull-up.
20. take a yoga class.
21.  get a massage.
22.  read a magazine in the bathtub.
23.  paint my bedroom.
24.  paint colin's room.
25.  hang curtains in the kitchen.
26.  mop the floor twice a week.
27.  take my vitamins every day.
28.  call my grandpa more often.
29.  finish my crochet blanket.
30.  make pillows.
31.  recover my bench.
32.  go to a giants game.
33.  sit outside by the fire pit in the summer at least once a week.
34.  work on avery's baby book.  {poor 3rd child.}
35.  start a quilt.
36.  go to bed by 11.
37.  put something in the blessing jar.  every day.

Today:
3, 28, 36, 37.

another coffee, please.

This was one of those weekends
that makes me wish every weekend was a three-day.
Wouldn't one more day off be nice?
That second cup of coffee didn't put a dent in my sleepiness this morning.

Riley's 11th birthday sleepover was last night,

which meant waking up to a house full of kids this morning.
Sooooo tireddddddd.

They are a lovely group of boys,

and really good kids.

But sleepovers are kind of exhausting.
Boys are loud!
And they eat a lot!
But I'm sure you knew that.

The birthday boy had a blast...

and that's what matters.

I love seeing all of these kids together.
They are good friends.
There are a lot of laughs floating up from those ice cream bowls.
They watched Napoleon Dynamite at bedtime.



So. much. laughing.

Avery hung in there with them till 10:30,
and was pretty much a mess all day today to show for it,
You wouldn't know it from this picture from this morning, though.



You can barely see the top of her head there,
bent over her piece of paper.
She is all about markers and crayons and scissors and paper these days.
Drawing and writing and spelling, constantly.
It makes me so, so happy.

The forecast this week calls for gray and clouds and rain.



Ahhhh....boots and chili weather.  So nice.
Also?
Good nap weather.
:)

eleven.

This was Riley, eleven years ago.
Eleven.



How many times did I kiss that wrinkly little forehead?
How many times did I wash that soft set of blue footed jammies?
How many hours did I spend in the rocking chair with that perfect little person,
at three in the morning, wondering what he would be like as a big kid?

Now, eleven years later, I know him as a big(ger) kid.

I know he's wicked smart.  Like, really.
I know he would rather die than get in trouble in school.
I know that he's hungry from the moment he walks in the door from school
until the moment he's heading upstairs to bed.
I know he loves to laugh and make others laugh.
I know he loves Jesus.
I know he would be an amazing engineer when he grows up.  And I'd totally be okay with that.
I know he has one of the most tender hearts I've ever known.



I know he will choose In-n-Out for his birthday dinner, every time.
Oh how I love him for that.

He wanted one thing for his birthday this year.
He really really really REALLY wanted an ipod.
In his birthday card was the first clue for a scavenger hunt to find his gift.
They ran all over the house finding clues.



The other two kids were just as excited to find the clues.

And when he finally found his gift?



Oh, the happiness.
There was one thrilled eleven year old in the house.

I sure do miss that soft, wrinkly-headed baby.
I miss jammies that smell like Dreft.
I miss fuzzy baby heads and babies that lock eyes with you while you feed them.
But I also love this long-legged eleven year old
that can eat a double double from In-n-Out in 5 minutes.
And, as proof that I love him,
I'm hosting yet another sleepover for 11 kids this weekend.

THAT is love.

hello, nine.

Colin turned nine recently.
And this weekend capped off what felt like
two weeks' worth of birthday celebrating.
Birthday requests for a nine year old
are a lot different than they were when he was four.

He requested a sleepover, a lego set, and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

{i wish i had this kid's hair.}

I love birthday cake.
And you know a birthday cake is going to be good
when the frosting contains three sticks of butter.



{recipe here...i just increased it by half, hence the three sticks.}

It was just a funfetti mix,
but inspiration struck as I was putting the cake together
and I made a Nutella buttercream frosting for the filling.
Delicious, I tell you.
{just mix together nutella and buttercream.}



He had to wait until Riley got home from soccer at 8:15 to open presents.
It was torture.



She really really really wanted to help him open a present.









And then this weekend was his sleepover.
With ten boys total.
Plus Avery.
{and her friend, until 9pm.}
And that adds up to a lot of kids.
Yikes.



But he was so happy to be surrounded by all of his buddies.
Some of these boys are like brothers to him.



And they're a great group of kids.



This picture cracks me up.
In the morning the boys were all obsessing over some game called Mindcraft.
And Avery was right in the mix, as usual.
This girl is NOT going to be intimidated by boys.
Ever.



I cooked A LOT of cinnamon rolls and A LOT of bacon that morning.
Boys can eat.
I can't imagine what it will be like when they're teenagers!

Riley's birthday is in October and he's already talking about his own sleepover.
I think I'll need that much time to mentally gear up to do this again.

back to school.

I wore my waterproof mascara today,
because I was sure I'd be a sobbing mess this morning.
I sent my littlest person off to kindergarten.

Yeah, the boys started school too, but I knew they'd be okay.
They have great teachers...and tons of their friends in their class.
They're good.
But I wasn't sure about Avery.

Riley looks SO tall to me here.



And she looked so little in line.



She walked into her classroom and never stopped smiling.



And my waterproof mascara wasn't even necessary.
I was okay because she was so happy.

I went home to my quiet house and finished my coffee,
folded some laundry,
put quinoa in the crock pot,
and headed to Target.  Alone.  Without my little partner.
Wah.

But I'm happy for her.
Kindergarten is so much fun!
And it's kind of nice to have some time to get things done.
But I was pretty happy when she came home.
She decompressed on nickjr.
:)



School starting means craziness,
but believe it or not it makes me happy to see my counter like this:





After school I was in full birthday treat mode.
A certain 3rd grader is turning nine tomorrow.
Pumpkin muffins are his standard class birthday treat request.
And Avery and I made him a birthday banner.





Everyone in this house just keeps on growing up.
I'm not okay with it.
But it's fun to watch it happen.

a whitewater adventure.

Back in June, right before Gary was about to turn 40,
I had already spent several weeks wracking my brain
thinking of something to get him.

He loves the outdoors and adventurous-type things,
so I wanted to do something along those lines.
I just figured we'd all head to Santa Cruz together
and he could surf.
There has since been a shark attack there.  YIKES.

But a couple of days before his birthday a Groupon came up
{i love groupon}
for a rafting trip on the American River.
Yes!  Perfect.

Saturday morning we headed up the cute little town of Coloma.
It's so pretty there.



I think forty looks good on him.
:)



After a safety talk from the raft guide about how to NEVER stand up in the river
and if you fall out of the raft DO NOT PANIC,
I decided that I would probably immediately panic and stand up in the river
if I fell out of the raft.

I was nervous.

My only goal for the day was to stay in the raft.

And I did.  Booyah.

This was the scariest part of the trip.
We saw two rafts flip over here.
And please note that in the following picture I am clearly saving Gary's life.



We were soaked to the core.



It was so much fun.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.

After rafting we headed to a bed & breakfast not too far away.
I'm usually not a huge fan of the whole B&B thing.
I don't really like to eat with strangers and just want my own space.
But this one was amazing.
We almost never saw another soul.

And the view from the pool was the bomb.



It's hard to see but the American River is right down there.
We just sat by the pool for a couple of hours.
Turns out...rafting is exhausting.
But boy would you have great arms & a strong core if you did that all the time.

That evening my favorite 40 year old and I went to dinner and
shared some peach pie for dessert.
We figured we had earned those calories.



The next morning
my fear of the B&B was put to rest
when our breakfast was delivered to our private balcony.
I think I could get used to the breakfast part of the bed & breakfast.
Oh...good morning again, beautiful view.



We also did a little exploring.
Coloma is where gold was first discovered in California
and was the birth place of the gold rush.







We saw a guy jump off of that bridge the day before.
Cra-zay!



On our way back home we stopped in Folsom to walk around.
I love Folsom.  It has a very cute downtown.
{remember johnny cash?  folsom prison blues?  i guess that's its other claim to fame.}
I did my student teaching there 14 years ago.
{i'm feeling old.}
There was a huge antique store.
Gary was a trouper and walked the whole thing with me.
{that's true love.  he hates antique stores.}



I have almost all of these Nancy Drews.





I kind of loved this chair.



And then Gary had a chance to showcase one of his very favorite
talents in the entire world:
taking the back roads to avoid Sunday Tahoe traffic.



I cannot tell you what a kick he gets out of beating the folks on the freeway.
It's a little scary.

He loved his 40th birthday rafting adventure.
I have a few more years until my 40th,
but I've already got a few plans.
Mine involves a Big Apple,
a Central Park, and a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity.
Yep.


*************************
And don't forget!
Enter my giveaway here.
There are goodies to be had.
:)