The Party Aftermath

Am I the only one that feels like a hurricane has hit my house after a party? Deflating balloons, streamers on the floor, empty candy buffet dishes and half eaten cake and cupcakes.
 
This month my beautiful daughter turned 10 and we had a HUGE party. She requested a One Direction Sleepover birthday. At one point I had 17 girls from 8-11 in my house. Thankfully not all of them stayed the night. I was down to 9 girls by time the girls went to bed.
Setting up a party is really my favorite part, so this month I am sharing my BEFORE “Kids Were Here” photos


Continue on the blog circle to see what Rebecca Wyatt’s kids left behind this month:

Cookie Boss

Dear Ellie

This month has  been full of Girl Scout activities.  We got our delivery of Girl Scout cookies and you hit the streets to start selling. You are about half way to your goal of 1000 boxes. You are definitely the cookie boss that Girl Scouts encourages you to be. I am so proud of the people skills you are learning the more you talk to people and sell cookies. 

 

Then later in the month I arranged for our troop to meet at the Humane Society of Yuma. You discussed dog safety, made a custom dog tag, toured the dog kennels and cuddled kittens in the cat condo. The purpose of the visit was also to allow you girls to see how you could create a service project.

As we draw closer to your 10th birthday I am seeing lots of growing pains. We have our ups and downs, I am sure the next 8 years will be full of many more. My job as a mom is to help guide you in the right direction.  Yes, sometimes I might nudge (or even shove) you back on the right path.  I will always be your safe place and your constant rock. Always waiting in the wings for you, even if you can’t see me and don’t think I am listening.

Love,

Mom

Please follow along to Kristin Gourley for her letter to her daughter.

Noise Everywhere

This month’s theme for Life & Lens is noise. My first thought was to have photos of all the noise in my life, but then this quote came to mind:

“BOY n. noise with dirt on it”

And I just finished up some adorable Valentine mini sessions of my little guy and a few little friends. In my circle of friends at church we once counted and there were 18 boys born within 18 months of each other. To say that noise is everywhere when they are together is an understatement!

Continue over to Kristin Gourley to see her interpretation of noise for the Life & Lens blog circle.

Kids Were Here - The Dog Edition

I joined up with some other moms a few months ago for a new blog circle called "Kids Were Here" but this is my first actual post of the series. The idea is to document the evidence left behind to show the impact kids have on our homes and lives.

This month I decided to take a twist on this to show off our new dog/puppy Goldie

She is a Humane Society rescue and about 5-6 months old.  The paperwork said “Lab Retriever Mix”. I thought that she was just an underfed lab with her size. Once we had her home and we really got to watch her, I think she has more of a terrier in her mix, than lab or retriever. This is our first dog, and being that she is a rescue we are still adjusting to having her and she is still adjusting to being in a loving home. She seems to have a touch of puppy boredom combined with separation anxiety. She has been making her mark on the house, quiet literally.

My dog is also apparently a master escape artist. When we first brought her home we had a kennel inside. The first day she was home alone she managed to squeeze out a not fully locked gate. Then the next time she managed to jump out of the kennel (it had an open top). We stopped trying to barricade her after that but she is destructo puppy. So we decided she would need to be outside when we are gone and she can't come with us.  She dug under the fence the first time we left her outside. So we fixed the hole and blockaded the area. Well she used the blockaded as leverage to jump OVER the fence last night while we were at the grocery store. We removed the item that was used as a step and thought we would be good for the morning. NOPE! She dug under the OTHER fence (that was hard packed dirt not just loose gravel like the first side)
So now we will be crate training her.  Anyone else have a learning curve with a new dog?

Please continue on to the blog circle, up next in the circle is Kim Schory

Happy Birthday to You

Dear Anthony,

Well another year has passed and now you are 12 years old. It really seems like just yesterday the doctor put that screaming baby on my chest making me a mom. You have always been, and will always be my best birthday present.

This year you were at your Dad's for your/our birthday.  It always feels strange to be away from you on those special days. I am glad that you got to enjoy cake & ice cream with your Dad and friends in California. This weekend we will celebrate with your friends in town. You have chosen to have an Angel's Baseball Birthday party at the batting cages.

It is fun to look back and see how much you have changed in a year. In fact, here are 12 things from before you turned 12:

1. You started horseback riding with 4H
2. We saw snow in Julian - TWICE!
3. You got to see Tony Stewart race here in Yuma
4. We ran the Color Me Rad 5K (out of our family you finished first)
5. You got an Outstanding & 3 First Place ribbons at the fair for your horse project
6. You finished 5th grade!
7. We went to Waylan's Water World (more than once)
8. You volunteered for VBS at your Dad's church(not my photo)
9. We vacationed at the beach with your cousins and Grandma & Grandpa - you went on the boogie board, flew Grandpa's big stunt kite, tried to rock climb and went to the Santa Monica Pier.                                           
10. You started 6th Grade
11. You started playing "Fall Baseball" and your team won one game
12. We bought our first house & moved

In all honesty it was a GREAT year and I hope that next year is even better.

Love,

Mom

Stop by Deidre's blog to continue reading more letters to our sons.

Recap of October

We had a whirlwind of a month and I didn't post a single thing.  I have photos galore to share so I will break them into a few posts.  Just a few highlights of the craziness:

• 6 Baseball games  - I didn't realize how time consuming having a child on a sports team can be. There was many nights we didn't get home till almost 10pm. 
• Girl Scout Camping Trip - This was her 3rd trip up to Julian with the Girl Scouts, but it was my first year. We had a blast at the Apple Days Festival and brought home a dutch apple pie and two bags of freshly picked apples.
• Impromptu San Diego Zoo Trip - We had to drop off the big kids in San Diego on a Saturday morning, so we made a day of it and went to the zoo.  The little guy was a trooper and did a lot of walking on those hills.
• 5th Annual Boo Bash - The set up and prep for this party takes about 2 weeks.  The last few hours always seem to go the fastest. The kids all have a blast and that makes it all worth it.

oh, and we bought a HOUSE!! We closed on the 23rd, two weeks early. It is now a whirlwind of ripping out carpets, hiring painters and putting down new floors before we move in.

My Major League Son

Dear Anthony,

Anthony, this is my first letter to you, yet you are my oldest. You have always and will always have a special place in my heart. I do hope that you enjoy these letters along with your brother and sister.  Right now you are 11 years old and just started the 6th grade. Your favorite baseball team is The Angels and your favorite football team is The Steelers.

This year you asked to play baseball. We had tried playing t-ball years ago, but you didn’t seem to have the passion for it.  We never signed up for a second season.  You have played various sports during the summer with your Dad.  Now you are getting closer to the age where there are school sports you will be eligible to play.  I decided to give baseball another try and let you sign up with certain expectations, (Doing homework, keeping grades up, going to practice without complaining).  You practiced with your Dad, Bill and at your Grandparents before try outs.  Then we got the call that you were recruited by the White Sox!

We didn’t anticipate getting so many monsoons this month.  I think it has rained more this month than it did all of last year. You had numerous practices cancelled for rain and the first two games got cancelled as well.  You finally got to play your first game last Wednesday.  You played a great game, even if your team didn’t win.  You even got a hit on your first time up to bat!  I have a feeling this is going to be a great season.  I know that you are playing with all your heart and that is what matters to me.

Love,

Mom

Please continue to Anna Bein and read the rest of the letters in the blog circle