Nine! Nine Years!

I recently figured that it has been more time since I left college than it will be until Olivia goes to college.  Seriously.  She's nine--halfway done with her life at home.  Give me just a minute . . . . 

If I think about that too much, I can't handle it.  Since this was an odd birthday, she was granted a "friend" party, and given Olivia's proclivities, we invited eight of her closest friends to a Creative Party.  (With a capital C and P, of course.) 

Each of the girls made their own apron, beaded their own bracelet, decorated their own little cake. . . 

. . . some with more frosting and candy than others . . . 

 . . . and generally, were the best and most fun group of girls I've associated with.  (I didn't post the pictures of the other participants, since I didn't know how their parents would feel about it.)
Mimi had saved a special book to give to Olivia for her birthday.  Her other friends treated her to all the things she loves:  art supplies, chocolate, games, and more art supplies.She couldn't have been happier.   

 And just for a look back to last week nine years ago:

 And eight years ago:

 And six years ago:

 And four years ago:

Luckily for us, she just keeps getting better--more fun, more helpful, smarter, and happier.  I love you, Liv!

Happy Birthday to Me!

This year I was super lucky on my birthday because there was a new performance group in town.  I mean, really new.  They'd only ever done small gigs before--nothing big-time like my birthday.  But they agreed to do it, in full costume, just for me.  (Because I'm awesome like that.  And because they love me so much.)

You can see how they were interpreting nature through their costumes--channeling flowers with the head tutus and goggles.  

 This smallest performer was both enchanting and energetic.

 I think this oldest performer had been moonlighting as a make-up artist.  I loved the judicious application of lipstain on all the participants.

 There was acting, and singing, and many happy birthday wishes.

 I was especially enchanted by their original musical compositions--songs about flowers and growing.   The harmonies were novel and interesting, almost atonal in nature.

 Plus, again, I have to say:  I just can't resist tutus on heads.  They could have just walked around the room, and I would have been thrilled.

Happy Birthday to me!

Lucky Number Seven!

We started Naomi's birthday with an idea I found somewhere on the blogosphere, running through the crepe paper barrier.

She loved it.  (Please ignore the honest pictures of the messy room.)

My sister Annie joined us for polka-dotted presents and hamburgers, Naomi's favorite.

We followed up with a teeny-tiny party.  This is quite possibly the easiest birthday party theme on the planet.  Make teeny tiny food, turn traditional party games (bingo, pin the tail on the donkey, don't eat pete, treasure hunt, bowling, etc.) into their teeny-tiny counterparts, and send out teeny tiny invitations.  Perfect. 

 I used the three ounce cups from Wal-Mart and cut regular straws into teeny-tiny straws.  Buying mini vanilla wafers and mini Chips Ahoy cookies saved me tons of time, and the kids loved it.

 I wish I had taken video of ten kids (including five boys) in my teeny-tiny house for the two hours of the party.  I laughed nearly constantly over the chaos.  I always thought I'd be a boy mom, but it turns out I have forgotten how crazy boy parties can be.  Whew!

So, Happy Birthday, my favorite second child.  I can't believe you've grown from this. . .

. . .to this. . .

. . . to this. . .

. . . to this . . .

. . . to this.

One Year Later

I know I'm starting to get old now, because years are just passing in a blink.  for example, is my baby still this size?  

 Is she even still in this car seat?  Is her hair still this color or this crazy?

Nope.  This is my baby now.  And she's usually quite a bit more cheerful than this.

 Her grumpiness could be due to one of two reasons.  #1:  Her cake was a complete disaster.  Complete disaster.  The teeny layers overflowed and were soggy and gloppy, and the large layers sunk so low they were almost nonexistent and were dry and hard.  Same batter for both layers.  Fail.

 #2:  That fire was getting awfully closer, and her family was singing pretty terribly.  That's enough to scare anyone.

 This is how she normally looks.  She's almost become an entirely new baby this last month.  Her whole life has been driven by "How close can I stay to my mom?" and "What is that she's eating and how can I get some?"  But apparently, she has also been looking around this whole time and filing away all the different things she was going to do as soon as she was mobile.

 And this last month, she decided to start taking care of business.  Goal #1:  Make sure all the diapers, books, dishcloths, DVDs, clothes, and piano music are all dumped on to the floor every day.  Several times a day, in fact, if some poor misguided fool attempts to put them back onto the shelf where they "belong."

 Goal #2:  Get into the toilet as often as possible and with as many items as possible.  Bonus points for soaking the whole bathroom in the 15 seconds it takes mom to investigate the splashing.

Goal #3:  Climb on to the couch and from the couch to the side table and from the side table to the computer desk.  Push as many keys on the keyboard as possible.

 Goal #4:  Find small seats to nest in and small objects to eat while nesting.  The less like food the object is, the better.  Scream whenever mom tries to help you sit forward in the Bumbo.

We love this baby.

She's Three!

This girl just turned three!  Which makes her very big, of course, as she is willing to tell anyone who asks.  She and I have had a few disagreements lately, because she thinks three is big enough for bunk beds (which her sisters have), school (not yet), and picking up Maddie to put her on the couch or the table (too many heart attacks to count).  For months, she's been asking people, "What's your number?", and although that sounds like a creepy pickup line, she actually is trying to ask how old they are.  She's incredibly proud to have a "new number."

We celebrated in style, as befits a crazy little three-year old monster.  We started off the day with ebelskivers from this Williams-Sonoma recipe.  (Amazing!)

Then we waited with baited breath for Nana and Big G (my mom and dad) to arrive, since they had promised to be at our house for the party.   

 Once the Wheeler family (including Bella's "best buddy" Chloe) arrived, it was time to celebrate in earnest.  Dinner of "macamoni cheese" and chicken salad (you really should try this recipe), and topped it off with some strawberry cake (from my sister-in-law Kasey--super delish!).  Bella loved having her number on top of the cake.

Pinata time!  This pinata was made as our family night activity the night before, and the big girls loved helping me put it together.

 Bella got the first swing at her pink star.  (It was supposed to be a starfish, since that's what she wanted, but I couldn't make a face look right.)

 The blindfold didn't last very long.

To be honest, since we made the pinata using corrugated cardboard and duct tape, it took both dads swinging with wild abandon to even put a little crack in this thing.  I was so worried about it being sturdy enough, I forgot that pinatas are made to be broken.  

But the candy inside was a huge hit.

 Then it was time for the part I was most excited about.  You know the movie "Tangled", right?.  And do you know about those fabulous wish lanterns?  Well, I didn't even know they were real until I read about them here.  And then I decided that they would be the most amazing and spectacular end to Bella's third birthday.

Here are the problems I didn't consider in the fantastic realm of my imagination before I put this plan into the prosaic realm of reality.
1)  I live in Utah.  Dry.  Desert-y.  Likely to burn.
2)  I'm married to Mr. Cautious-I-Don't-Want-To-Risk-Burning-Down-The-Entire-State.
3)  On August 9th, it doesn't get dark until after 9:00.  Way too late for a three-year old.

 So, we started the process at 8:00.  In the light.  And Mr. Cautious decided to hook a fishing line to the bottom of the wish lantern before we lit them on fire, in order to keep the lantern nearby instead of letting it go.  And the first one bobbled along madly on it's string before it decided  to tip sideways (in a completely ungraceful and un-Tangled-like way) and burn itself to cinders up in the sky.  Decidedly anti-climactic.  So we tried again.

Jeff lit the paraffin patch while John held the fishing line.

 We made the kids stand back.

 Once the air inside the lantern gets warm enough, they begin to rise.

 And this time it rose perfectly.  The fishing line was not a problem at all.  The girls (and I--I won't lie about that) were jumping up and down with excitement.

And then we realized that the lantern was going far further than it should because the line had stretched and broken after exposure to the warmth.  John was horrified.  I was mostly delighted, but a little bit horrified because I could picture the whole state going up in flame.  But it was amazing.  AMAZING.  So much fun.  My girls are still talking about these awesome lanterns. 

 They come in a pack of 10 here, if you're interested.  And I'm planning to light and send up more of these, when I can find the perfect place.

 Yet again, I cannot believe that one of my babies is getting so big.  Three years ago, she was a little black-haired cockatoo with the best and easiest personality I've ever seen in a baby.

 Two years ago she was still happy, but she'd discovered a little bit of her own craziness.

 One year ago, she was a silly monster, doing as many naughty things as she could think of.

And now, I honestly think she might be the funniest three-year old I've ever met.  She loves to tease and push everyone's buttons, but she's incredibly good-tempered and absolutely charming.  I love that Bella Boo.