I found that little cord...

I finally hooked my camera up to my computer again, and found SO MANY photos that I wanted to share!  I don't have time to show them all, so I thought I'd share just a quick summary of the last month or so.

These two kiddos wrapped up another year of school! 
(For those of you paying very close attention, those are glasses frames you see on her face, but no lenses in them.  They were a favor from a friend's birthday party, and she wore them nearly every day for about two weeks.)

Compare to the same time last year....

If anyone knows the secret to make them stop growing, let me know.

Also on the last day of school, this little girl had a dance recital.

I also finally gave in to letting this little girl loose with some paints - thanks to her Daddy's encouragement.  She didn't make a mess like I feared, and really enjoyed the process.  

Also, when I wasn't looking, she turned five. We had a sweet little tea party at home with some friends, and I really enjoyed the smaller celebration.  I also loved all of the 'tea party food' that we served - and I think she enjoyed most of it, too! 

Although we had planned to picnic at a local park on the 4th of July and watch fireworks the that evening, our picnic got rained out.  We changed our plans to a back porch picnic, then a den floor picnic due to the rain, but did end up getting to see the fireworks. 

We're spending our summer days playing outside, cooking (because I'm serving a lot more meals now that I'm not packing lunches), and spending time with friends and family.  I also recently wrapped up my part-time, work-from-home job, so I'm hoping to add a few more things into our days - library visits, blueberry-picking, and other fun summer activities.

How are you spending your summer?  Can you believe how fast it flies by?

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We took a little trip this weekend and had a lot of fun - including the zoo, basketball, Mickey and friends, grass stains, and birthday cake!  Happy birthday, Daddy!  (And thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!)

Jonah's EB Auction

OK, folks - it's starting tomorrow night!  Be there or be ... Well, you know!

You don't want to miss Jonah's EB Auction! 

There are lots of awesome items up for auction (I've got several on my radar), and here are the details (shamefully lifted straight from their blog):

What: An ONLINE auction to raise money for EB research and advocacy (all proceeds go to DebRA)
When: Thursday February 24th @ 8pm until Sunday February 27th @ 8pm
Where: Right here at www.jonahsebauction.blogspot.com!  You can bid on lots of fabulous items from the comfort of your own living room!! If you want to see how bidding will work (or get a little practice bidding for your favorite item!) you can do so here.

And, as I've said before, if you haven't met Jonah, Patrice, and Matt - get thee to their blog posthaste!  When she's not getting Radical, showing off her too-stinkin-cute Jonut, and fundraising for DebRA, you can find Patrice here, too.

Valentine's Day!

We did things a little differently around here for Valentine's Day 2011 - no gifts!  And we still had a lovely day!

In the past, I've gotten the kids books or music - usually something small - to celebrate.  I think I spent the most ever for Valentine's Day last year - I spent about $35 on two beanbags for the kids' rooms.  It was usually around $16 for childrens' books in previous years. 

Today, I spent about $25 - on all four of us!  I brought Chick-Fil-A lunch to school, Daddy met us there, and we all had lunch together.  It was actually a nice bit of family time, since we get to eat a table away from the activity of lunch in the classrooms.  The kids are always excited to have us come for lunch, I got a day off from packing lunches, and Daddy got a cookies-n-cream milkshake for his treat!  (CFA was running a buy-two-combos-get-a-shake special today!)

Also - the weather was gorgeous today, and the next session of 5K training began this evening.  My goal is an all-running 5K in the spring, and I ran 1.25 miles tonight - no intervals!  That's the longest distance I've ever gone without intervals - woohoo!

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and running shoes today....  Miss M came home from school sounding very hoarse and even a bit squeaky (sad face).  Mister J has had a nagging cough, too.  So, with both kiddos sick, there was no basketball practice for Mister J tonight.  Miss M will be home with me tomorrow, and we've had to cancel our after-school doughnut date with a friend.  (sigh)

That's just life, though, you know?  Thankful that I've got these three to share it with - the ups and the downs.

Welcome, 2011!

This New Year's was the first time our kids stayed up to ring in the New Year.  A couple of days ago, Mister J asked if he and Miss M could "stay up to say Happy New Year," and we agreed.  So we planned a kid-friendly celebration - 'party food' for dinner and a cake for dessert (Miss M's request, because every party needs a cake!).  On Friday afternoon, we received an invite from our friends who were also planning a family-friendly celebration and invited us to join.  So - we packed up our six-layer dip (oops - I forgot a layer!) and chips, the cake (funfetti with chocolate funfetti frosting), a pitcher of sweet tea, and grabbed a pizza on the way over.

We had a great time!  The kids enjoyed some time to play with friends, the adults enjoyed conversation, laughs, and a round of Cranium.  Big J made me hum one of the music clues - even though he's the musically-inclined one in the family - so of course everyone at the table knew the song I was humming except him.  That's ok, we got a good laugh!  There was also the sketched clue that I drew - everyone wondered why I could possibly be drawing a hairy heart.  The answer was actually heartburn, and those were flames....

We counted down to midnight with the kiddos, said our goodbyes shortly after, and had the kids in bed around 1:15am. 

2010 really flew by for  me.  I think it's one of the "fastest" years I've ever had.  I feel like it was just October, and suddenly Christmas was here and now it's a new year.  While the days have flown by in a whirlwind, I have spent a bit of time thinking about some changes - really, just one change - that I want to make in the new year.  We are working on it already, but I really want to focus even more on our family and our relationships with others.  I want us to be more intentional about taking care of ourselves (individually and as a family) and about reaching out to others.  This really isn't something that comes easily for me - because it usually means saying, "No," to exciting opportunities - but I want a good balance in my life, and I need to regain that by coming back to the center, to what's really important.  For now, that means making our home a comfortable, uncluttered space that works for us, intentionally planning family time, making time for dates with my hubby, and (hopefully) catching up on our scrapbooks.  Those are all pretty tall orders - each of them will take work - but I'm looking forward to it.  And because they will take work, that probably means that posts here will continue to be infrequent and unpredictable.  They'll have fewer photos to no photos as all (I totally forgot to take photos of any of today's preparations or of the time we spent with our friends). 

I do hope that each of you will continue to stop by the blog and see what we are up to.  Mister J has a 3rd loose tooth.  I'm continuing 5K training in the spring (to improve speed and endurance) with an eye on even more training in the summer.  Miss M is in her 2nd year of dance, and wants to be a Daisy Scout so bad she can't stand it (but that's not until next school year).  Mister J continues to work hard for our family and recently helped us reach Baby Step 3. I'll keep blogging about all of this - and more - but probably less about lunches and other 'non-milestone' events.  All in keeping with my desire to be more intentional about time spent with my family.  I'll keep you posted on our progress in 2011!

Happy New Year!

More, More, More!

Just a brief post tonight - it's late, and it's been a busy day! 

We recently celebrated Mister J's birthday, so I owe you a post about that.  And I wrapped up my 5K training with a run on Saturday morning.  Yes, both of those happened in the same weekend.  Also, while planning for said Very Busy Weekend, I decided that the front room (formerly the kid office, and originally intended for a dining room), needed to be painted before we put up the Christmas tree.  Does the 'birthday and then paint a room' thing sound familiar?

I'm also planning to post about some neat things we've done with the kids during this 'season of giving' - things that I hope we will continue throughout the year.  And - there's a giveaway coming really soon!  (As excited as I want everyone to be, it's limited to locals only - sorry!  But it'll be part of a really neat post I have about something we did with the kids - so please read anyway!)  (ETA neat thing #1 and neat thing #2/giveaway)

And, besides the promised blog posts, what does this week hold?  Well, tonight we had to pick up the last boxes of Boy Scout Popcorn and go to the official "end of 5K training" celebration.  Tomorrow my boys will be going to a skating party with the Cub Scouts.  I'll also be shopping around for new light fixtures tomorrow and picking up a paint roller (as in purchasing, and as in using...).  Oh, and it's dance day for my sweet girl.  Wednesday - Christmas get-together.  Thursday - I'm going to the launch party for this cool blog!  And Mister J has a school project due on Friday.  After that - rest?  I'm committed to spending the weekend with my family.  Just the four of us, nothing scheduled.  It's COLD here this week, so maybe we'll just snuggle up on the couch and watch movies/nap.  That would be nice, eh?  Note to self: find a good crock-pot recipe before your next grocery run (which comes right after you clean out the fridge...).

Have a great week, everyone!

And you can mark that off of your list...

Whee!  Yippee!  Woohoo!  Today's run was the goal race for my 5K training It was 33 degrees when I left my house this morning, and I didn't even notice the cold.  I was crazy excited!  Also, there wind that we've had the last couple of days was gone, so it just didn't seem as cold.

My goal for the training was to run a 5K in 45 minutes.  Today's run results - 43:34 (14:02 pace) - which is pretty consistent with my results from the Thanksgiving 5K. I was thrilled to find these posted just a little while ago!

And here's me - even before I knew the results - celebrating with my running buddy!

So, a few things I've learned in the last twelve weeks:
1) I love to run
2) I'm tougher than I thought
3) Running with a friend is way more fun
4) I get a little crazy when the endorphins kick in
5) Running changes everything!

Happy Birthday!

Our sweet, sassy, tomboy, girly-girl Miss M recently celebrated birthday number FOUR!  Every year, I think, "Has is really been that many years - already?!?"  As I've seen written elsewhere, the days are sometimes long, but the years are short.  Very short.

We invited several families to join us at the pool to celebrate, and midway through the party my dear little girl said to me, "Mom, this is the best birthday ever!"  This was especially noteworthy since it was a very low-key celebration, but I can't argue with that.  We had a great time with our friends and family!  Mister J showed off his swimming skills to the grandparents, and Grandma R even taught him to float on his back!  Wow!

I know what you really want to see - the photos!  So I won't keep you in suspense any longer!

Tried a little something different this year - cake balls!  Much easier to transport - and keep cold on a hot day!  I used chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting, and white coating according to this recipe.  Yum!

I think she liked them!  I liked how they turned out, too, even though I'm not a fan of white chocolate.  Mom and I made about 90 (we made them smaller than the instructions called for), and we only brought a dozen or so home.  PS - if you are going to put candles in them, do it while the coating is still soft.  If we hadn't, the coating would have cracked.

After we got home from the pool party, we opened gifts.  Miss M got several nice gifts, including this Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl doll.  She's been asking for this particular toy since before Christmas, and we even had a "Jessie" theme for the party. 

After dinner, we had an actual cake - a yummy strawberry cake!  I had a great time baking for the party, especially since I haven't done a lot of baking lately. 

We had a great time celebrating Miss M!  It was truly a wonderful day! 

(I have more photos from Grandma RL's camera, but they are on my desktop computer.  Will try to update and add more photos later!)

This turned into a Very Busy Weekend, but I didn't post all about it here.  If you want to see what else we did, check out these fun posts:
Makeover
Wheels

Happy Fathers' Day!

Happy Fathers' Day to the one who...

...isn't afraid to get in the kitchen and teach the kids how to make the best scrambled eggs!

...is patient enough to let the kids help plant the garden!

...takes the time to go to Daddy-Daughter Date Night at Chick-Fil-A (and let the son into the photo before they leave)!  (PS - Here's what mom and son were doing)

...works hard so I can be home with our children!

  Happy Fathers' Day, Big J!  We love you!

And Happy Fathers' Day to our Dads (Grandpa H and Grandpa R), too! 

Mother's Day 2010

I spent my Mother's Day doing what any mother wishes for - resting.  Literally.  We came home after church, had an easy lunch, and then I fell asleep watching Superman with Big J and Mister J (Miss M was napping).  Big J even took the kids out of the house for part of the afternoon so I could enjoy some quiet time of my own.  That evening we had dinner, put the kids to bed, watched a little TV, and I went to bed a little earlier than 'on time' - which I rarely see anymore, anyway. I know it may sound crazy, but it really was a wonderful, perfect-for-me day. 


My sweet kids had insisted that I open my gifts from them early.  I opened my gift from Mister J on Saturday - he insisted - a handprint flower he made at school.  I just love it - I am a sucker for handprint art!  I opened my gift from Miss M when she brought it home from school on Wednesday.  Inside the bag was a cute little basket - made from a strawberry basket with ribbons woven into it.  The tissue stuffed into it should have given it away, but when I said, "What a nice basket!" Miss M didn't tell me to keep going.  I should always know there's a little more to the story when Miss M is involved!

When we were at church on Mother's Day, I saw the mother of one of Miss M's classmates wearing a handmade lapel pin.  I thought, "Oh, I bet her little girl made that for her!" - and still didn't put two and two together.  On Monday, Miss M was playing with the basket and brought me the yellow tissue paper that had been stuffed inside.  There was a gift hidden inside the tissue - a handmade lapel pin very similar to the one worn on Sunday by the mother of Miss M's classmate!  At least it'll make for a cute story to share the next time the mom and I have a chance to visit!

My 'big' gift was something I did on Friday - I went to The Pioneer Woman's book signing!  It was fun to take a little road trip and meet up with grad school classmate S and her friend K for dinner, the book signing, and dessert!

My Mother's Day started on Wednesday and ended on Monday - I don't think a girl could ask to be celebrated any more!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I recently celebrated another birthday, and was totally surprised to receive a new camera from my hubby and kids. I've spent some time snapping photos, but really need to spend some time learning how to use a DSLR so I can get some really good shots. In the meantime, here are some of my don't-know-what-I'm-doing-but-I'm-sure-having-fun photos....

Big J and Miss M snuggling on the couch. She's was a bit worn out after playing outside in the long-awaited warm(er) and sunny weather.

Mister J hanging out on a lazy afternoon, having fun with his Le@pster.

My silly Miss M doesn't like to smile or pose for the camera. I think she was pretending to be a dragon, or maybe a pirate...

This guy just loves to smile for the camera. And I'm glad to snap as many shots as he'll let me.

More smiles! This was after sunset, and we hadn't turned the lights on yet, so I was playing with the flash. Like I said, he loves to smile for me.

I got her to hold still for the camera! Actually, as you can see, I crept into her room while she was napping today. She had a 'camp out' while Grandma RL visited over the weekend, and she's not quite ready to put her 'bed' away.

I snapped this one over my shoulder in the van this afternoon (while stopped - and when I looked at it, I realized that the headrest was adjusted for Miss M and not Mister J).

I'm just amazed at how different these photos look when compared to photos from my 'old' camera - and I don't even know what I'm doing yet. I can't wait to learn how to really use my new camera!

Valentine's Day 2010

I had fun making the valentines for the kids' classmates this year, though at one point I was tempted to tape a boxed valentine to a pencil and call it a night! To be honest, I did most of the work after the kids were in bed, so I was tired. And, I didn't get Mister J started on the writing soon enough. However, I did had fun picking out papers that looked 'feather-ish'! And I was SO excited when Mister J saw what I was making, recognized it as an owl, and got the corny play on words that I'd made up for the back (Happy V-owl-entine's Day). There were others, but that's my original creation.

The ones on the top are for Mister J's class - they looked more like something a boy would pick out, I though. The brighter ones are for Miss M's class - I still have a hard time giving anything with pink on it to a boy, even on Valentine's Day.

Miss M's class doesn't allow food/candy treats due to the number of food allergies. I'm not a big fan anyway, so we usually give pencils, crayons, of similar. I did give a coupon for a free Icedream from Chick-Fil-A one time. Since it's not food in the classroom, and at the discretion of the parent, I do think these (or the free doughnut coupons from Krispy Kreme!) are a fun choice.

Here are the goodies for their teachers - Miss M has two teachers - which we finished up (gasp!) the morning they were to be delivered. I packed a Target $1 Spot mailbox (red or white) with some dill crackers that I made, used a magnetic photo frame to make a 'chalkboard' card with a handwritten "I (heart) U" and a message on the back, and stuffed it into a gift bag that I decorated with punched tags and curling ribbon. Simple, cute, and inexpensive. This is one of my favorites of teacher gifts I've given.

And here are the lunches I packed that day:

Heart-shaped soybutter and jelly sandwiches, natural cheetos (a rare snack), half clemetine, carrots and dip, and another special treat - a Clif fruit twist. I put the colorful napkin in the box to keep the jelly from oozing on to the Cheetos, so I put a 'regular' one in for them to (hopefully) use to wipe their hands and faces.

Fast forward to Sunday.... It was time to give our kids their gifts from Mommy and Daddy! I was SO excited about this, since I'd wanted to get these particular items for them since last year. I ended up finding them ON SALE, rode them around in the back of my minivan for quite a while owing to the number of snow days we had, and then finally managed to wrap them up (individually) in a large, black, plastic table cover to get them in the house. I had to walk them right past the kids (due to them being home for snow days!), and just told them I had a 'bag of stuff to take upstairs.'

We really don't make a huge deal out of Valentine's Day goodies. The kids usually get a book, a CD, or some other small-ish gift. This gift still fell within what I feel is a reasonable dollar amount, but is a much more sizeable item than usual. Without making you wait any longer - photos of their beanbags!

I was thrilled to find these so I could create a reading corner in each of their rooms. I was super excited that I found them in 'valentine' colors, but that was just a bonus. I thought I might have been just a tiny bit more excited than the kids until Miss M dragged hers downstairs all by herself to read in the den!

Oh - how could I not mention this? Big J and I got a date night on Saturday night and went out for an adults-only dinner! Appetizer, salads, dinners, and dessert! It was delicious, and we didn't talk about the children for an entire meal! Yay, us! And thanks to Grandma RL, our babysitter for the evening!

Christmas Round Up 2009

These first few photos have already shown up on the blog header or Facebook, but I just wanted to showcase them again as part of an actual post.

Sunday before Christmas - the sanctuary was decorated with poinsettias in front of the altar, in the windows... it was beautiful. There was still snow on the ground (from the Friday before) so I bundled up Mister J and Miss M in layers before we headed off to church.






The same day, in front of the Chrismon tree. For photos made with my cell phone, they turned out pretty good!












Christmas Eve after two back-to-back church services (in front of the Chrismon tree again). We went to the Children's Service, and then stayed to hear Big J sing with the choirs for the Lessons and Carols Candlelight service. Beautiful (the service and my kids!)







Picking out our Christmas Tree. Mister J loves this part of the holidays - he's always super-excited to go walk (um, run) among the trees, darting in and out, looking for the right one.










Miss M fell asleep on the way to the tree 'farm' this year. It had been quite a long day for her, and with no nap. She stayed asleep as I got her out of the mommy-van, walked around in the cold, and picked out the tree. She woke up when we were getting loaded up and ready to leave.





Our Christmas tree, after all of the lights and decorations were up, most of the gifts were wrapped, and before Santa came to visit. nb - Yes, that's a broken slat on the blinds. I've decided not to fix any more until a) the kids are old enough to stop breaking them or b) we decide it's time to buy new blinds.




The kids' Christmas tree, with Big J's favorite - blue lights. They enjoyed having a smaller tree this year. I'd originally planned to put small trees in each of their rooms, but decided this wasn't the year to put up my ceramic tree, so I didn't have a tree for each bedroom. Instead, we hung a strand of lights in each of their bedroom windows. They are the perfect amount of light for bedtime, and I love them so much that we may just leave them up!

My maternal grandmother on the day after Christmas during the big family celebration at my aunt's house. Out of respect, I won't publish her age, but I will tell you she is mother to six children. She sent her husband off to war when she had one small child and was pregnant with twins (children number two and three). Oh, and she mothered them all without the aid of all of the time-saving gadgets we have today. She was also a teacher, artist, and taxi-driver to two grandchildren. After that, she traveled the US with my grandfather - they drove to Alaska and many other far-flung (at least from our home state) parts of the country. She's really had a very rich and full life. And on this day, she got to sit back and relax in what she called "the Queen's chair" - there was only one better seat in the house, and it was mine. Right across from her.

Best job of giftwrapping a truly hard-to-wrap item. EV.ER. Big J said it looked like andupside down flower. I considered turning it over and camouflaging it among a big bunch of balloons. At least the gobs of colorful tissue paper distract you from the golf club handle sticking out of the top. (And I must say, "Thank You, Bargain-Shopping Husband!!!"


We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa R for a few days, and took some of Mister J's science experiments along (he'd received them as birthday gifts). This is the Mentos/diet soda geyser - and it was FUN!

Setting it up.... Secure geyser tube to diet soda, count our seven Mentos, pull the string/stopper to drop the Mentos into the drink and.... RUN!

We all bundled up to go outside and watch this, and even did it twice! So glad we planned ahead and picked up two bottles of soda from the grocery store. This one was so much fun that we'll definitely be buying more soda and Mentos!

Happy New Year!

We're hanging out at home this evening, and enjoying every minute of pizza-making, Wii-playing, and crazy glasses-wearing! Hope where ever you are, and what ever you are doing, you are surrounded by those you love and filled with joy. Best Wishes for a fantastic 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, family and friends!

It's Christmas Eve, and I am so happy to be relaxing, waiting for my sister to arrive, and writing a holiday post.

The tree is decorated - I love the soft glow of Christmas tree lights!
The gifts are wrapped - I love seeing all of the different colors and patterns arranged under the tree!
All of the cards we have received are displayed in our 'gallery' - it's so nice to get cards and photos from all of our distant and not-so-distant family and friends.

My Mom has been here for several days already, and has been a great help with the gift-wrapping, cooking, child-wrangling, laundry, mailing, shopping.... That's a gift in itself! Big J has also been off this week, helping out with the kids, the cars (oil changes, new tires) and other tasks around the house, and was in charge of snowman construction over the weekend. Merry Christmas to me!
Now, though, it's time to sit back and enjoy all of these preparations in the peace of the evening before we go to bed and await Santa's arrival. The children have been in bed for a few hours now, though I know that they didn't go to sleep right away.
We attended two Christmas Eve services today, beginning with the Children's Christmas Eve Service. Any child that wants to participate in this service can, which is wonderful! Miss M was an angel and Mister J preferred to stay in the congregation and sing. After a quick dinner (Thank You and Merry Christmas to all who were on duty at McDonald's this evening!), we were back at church to hear Big J singing with the choir during the Service of Lessons and Carols. It's a much longer service, including candlelight and Communion, and the kids hung in there! After getting the wiggles out, they were very excited about the 'fire!' at the end ;)

We looked at Christmas lights on the way home, had some Christmas goodies for an evening snack, and let the kids watch a little TV while we wrapped the last couple of (hard-to-wrap!) gifts. Then, it was off to bed in their new Christmas jammies!

While much of what I am enjoying would be considered the 'stuff' of Christmas - the food, the lights, the giftwrap and ribbons - I was struck this evening by the simple beauty of some of the things around me. We had snow last Friday. As I sat in the balcony during the Service of Lessons and Carols, I could see the last of the day's light reflecting off of the snow and through the translucent glass of the sanctuary windows. Then there were all of the different sounds and styles of music from our choirs and special musicians. The Christmas story. Taking Communion with my little boy. The soft glow of the candlelight as it spread through the congregation. Tonight, it really feels like Christmas to me.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. May you have a blessed holiday, wonderful moments with family and friends, and the simple beauty that means 'Christmas" to you.

Happy Birthday Mister J!

Mister J is six years old. SIX YEARS OLD. This birthday hasn't been as hard for me as when he turned 5 - but 6 just seems SO much older!

We had a small, family celebration on his actual birthday followed by a party on Saturday morning. Here are just a few snapshots of our celebrations.

Sorry for the blur, but I'm so glad I caught this "Yeah!" moment as Mister J opened this gift and realized what was inside the wrapping.

Mister J wanted a "Mad Science" party this year. It was WAY cool! I've never seen kids so still and quiet for so long! (Highly recommend it if there's one in your area!)

Mister J is 'helping' the "Professor" with one of the experiments. This one was to show the difference between magic and science.

The Grand Finale - a rocket launch (of rockets that the "Professor" built while explaining how they work) which took place even though there was a heavy mist falling. They went up into the clouds (truly - we couldn't see them) before floating back down attached to a parachute. (That's Grandpa R on the right. He dressed up like a mad scientist and helped out during the party.)

Food On Fridays

Today I'm joining the Food on Fridays blog carnival over at Ann Kroeker's blog.

I'm not sharing a recipe. I'm not adding photos - at least not yet. I'm just making a list of the things I've made this week.

I packed: 11 lunches - 2 children x 5 days, plus a lunch for me on Thursday (I had lunch with Mister J on his birthday).

I baked: 6 loaves of bread - 2 pumpkin chocolate chip, 2 banana no nut, 2 sweet potato (oh, and I baked those sweet potatoes that I put into the bread); 15 chocolate cupcakes; 2 9x13 yellow cakes (did I mention that it's birthday week here?).

I mixed: 1 batch of vanilla buttercream frosting (we haven't made the frosting for the 2-layer 9x13 cake yet, but will be mixing 3 pounds of frosting).

And Big J cooked most of tonight's dinner - it was delicious!

Birthday with Grandpa H

While the fall brings its fair share of holidays, it also brings a couple of birthdays in our family. Last weekend, we went to the beach for the weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday. LOTS of photos, of course - here are just a few of my favorites.

Helping Grandpa with his cake. At this point, I think the candles have been blown out and the kids are helping 'clean' the candles - all that pesky frosting sticks to the base of the candles!

The weather was nice - only a little bit cool - and we got to play on the beach while we were there. Mister J enjoyed playing in the sand, running from - and getting caught by - the waves, and eventually soaking his pants even though he'd pulled his pant legs way up.

Miss M had a hard time holding still. She played in the sand and ran up and down the beach. I have a cute little snapshot of her ... feet. Most everything else has her blurry or with her back to me - typical Miss M, and I love those shots because they will always remind me of her energy and fun-loving spirit.

Our last day at the beach was Ice Cream Sundae/ay! We were cleaning out the fridge in the condo on Sunday morning and realized that the ice cream would not survive anyone's trip home. Well, you can't just toss perfectly good ice cream! So, we let the kids eat it for breakfast. I think Big J thought I was off my rocker, but Miss M and Mister J thought I was Mom of the Year! I wish I'd been quick-thinking enough to get my camera instead of my cell phone, but I think Aunt L has some better pictures on her camera.

We had a great time, Grandpa H! Happy Birthday!