Birthday Girl

Our sweet Caitlyn turned EIGHT years old last weekend!  I can't believe how fast she's growing up!  Since her birthday was on a Saturday this year, we took full advantage of the day by visiting the pumpkin patch, which has expanded even more since last year!  First, though, she wanted to open her gifts. :) Apparently she and her friends have decided that they are all going to dress as purple witches for Halloween this year, so she was SO excited to see the beautiful Halloween costume she received in the mail from her Nonny and Poppy!  It couldn't be more perfect!  She was also thrilled to receive a brand new, beautiful "real" guitar!  It is gorgeous, and just right for her!  She has already gone through two toy type guitars that just weren't made well, but this one is much better quality and we're hoping to also check into the guitar lessons she's always wanted!

Our trip out to the pumpkin patch was wonderful!  It was a gorgeous day, and since Meghan and I had been out there the day before on a school field trip, she was excited to go again and show Caitlyn all her favorite things.  Austin was particularly cute, running around and playing with the others just like a big boy!  I took so many photos of all my children, but since the blogger uploader is so frustrating and it took me so long to format these I'm only including my favorites of the ones featuring my birthday girl.  Maybe I'll dedicate a future post to the rest of my pumpkin patch pictures.  :) 

We were gone for most of the afternoon, but I had just enough time to make her birthday cake before the delicious dinner she requested (chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes with cream gravy, and corn!)  Uncle Robby stopped by with a birthday gift but, due to another commitment he had that night, was unfortunately unable to stay for dinner.  Cait absolutely loved the Justin Bieber CD he gave her, though, as well as the cute puffy Halloween stickers!  :) This year, for the first time, Caitlyn designed her cake entirely by herself.  She drew a sketch of it for me and told me exactly how she wanted it; all I did was bake it and decorate it according to her specifications and it turned out so pretty!  My baby girl is really growing up! 

Oh, what a morning

My backyard looks like it's covered in snow.  

Darren was home from work for the past six days, four of which I spent in all day re-certification courses for work, but it was so nice having him here that it was really, really hard to send him off to work this morning.  Things were actually moving along well for us and we were even just the tiniest bit ahead of schedule, but...things quickly went downhill as soon as he walked out the door.  

The new hairstyle I was attempting on Cait was clearly just not working, but, being the hardheaded determined person I am, I just had to try a few more times until finally I admitted defeat, re-wet her hair, and went with something simpler.  (Which meant that Meghan's, in turn, was even simpler, because I had wasted so much time on Caitlyn's.)  As I was putting shoes on Austin I realized Dylan didn't have his glasses on, so I made him stop playing his new DS until he found them.  But, he couldn't find them and I won't even begin to describe the drama that ensued when I told him he couldn't have his DS back until the glasses were found.  (I finally found them under a box of trading cards under his bed.  !!!!)  

It wasn't until I was helping the kids put jackets on that I realized I had forgotten to pack lunches last night!  (My only defense is that Darren and I were SO wrapped up in LOST!  We've almost finished season two and OH, boy.  These past couple episodes are killing me!  The questions!  The suspense!  I have been so tempted to take just the quickest peek at Wikipedia to clue me in just a little, but I really don't want to ruin the surprise of anything.  I love guessing what new twists the plot will take!)  So anyway, this morning.  I logged on quickly to MyLunchMoney dot com and found, to my relief, that we still had enough in our account to cover lunches for today.  Caitlyn was disappointed to see on the lunch calendar on today's menu...chili fries.  (Seriously?!  Chili fries?!)  But, as she said to Meghan, "Well, at least we also get a pumpkin cookie."

We finally made it out the door and had already finished saying our morning prayers by the time we were halfway down our street.  Glad to have survived the chaos back home, something made me reiterate, "Okay, remember you're all buying your lunches today, right?  And we all have our jackets.  Does everybody have their backpack?"  To which Dylan quietly replied from behind me, "Except me."  What?!  Oh, you have got to be kidding me!  Checking my phone, I saw that the time was already 7:44, much later than we're usually leaving.  We turned around and RAN back to the house, grabbed the backpack, and started off back down the street.  We made it to the school yard with just enough time for the girls to play for a few minutes before the bell rang, and I sent Dylan off with (hopefully) everything he needed.  (Thank goodness I had at least had the foresight to check for pink socks last night, necessitating a trip to the store for a pair of pink anklets for him to wear today.  It's pink sock day today for breast cancer awareness week; tomorrow is pink accessory day and I'm thinking of trying to make him a friendship bracelet with multiple shades of pink embroidery floss I have in my stash, but I haven't make one since middle school and I'm not sure I remember how!)

I was so glad to be back home with my little ones.  Quiet.  Relative calm.  Passing by the dining room window, Kristen says to me, "Um, mom?  Come see."  Giant balls of white cotton stuffing, all over the backyard.  Which is why it now looks like it's covered in snow.  Mounds and mounds of fluffy stuff ripped right from the big comfy quilt I had just bought yesterday (second hand, thank goodness) for the puppies.  What!  The!  Heck!  Those pups...urgh!  My mom assures me they'll outgrow this stage.  For their sake, I sure hope so.  ;)    

So...how is your day going?  :)

A Super Mario Birthday!

At long last, here are (finally!) some pictures of Dylan's Super Mario Birthday cupcakes! I still can't believe my boy turned TEN years old on September 21st!!!  I was sad that he had to go to school that day, but he really enjoyed his birthday anyway.  We made him a special breakfast and I packed him a fun lunch with a little card tucked inside, and, since Darren took the day off, we were ready to open presents as soon as the kids got home from school!  He was SO excited to see that we finally got him a Nintendo DS Lite, something he has wanted for a very long time!  He also got some really neat Star Wars Lego gifts, which he loved, and some nice cards in the mail from far away family.  We grilled cheeseburgers, his requested birthday meal, and enjoyed his Super Mario cupcakes with ice cream.  All in all, a wonderful tenth birthday!    

My ten year old birthday boy before school!