Thanksgiving

  Nothing crazy has happened!! Nothing terrible, or detrimental to our bodies/minds/health! I am pinching myself right now.

   Well, except Connor has the flu and threw up 4 times yesterday... but he seems fine today!

Our Thanksgiving was small. But it was good. It was my 30th birthday Thursday too! I worked, unfortunately. The store closed at 3, and it took us an hour to clean it up and set it up for the next morning. I had Wednesday off, so I spent that day making Thanksgiving dinner and pies. I put the turkey in before work Thursday to slow cook all day, and left instructions for Rob to throw the prepared side dishes in the oven a couple hrs before I got home.

  We didn't plan on celebrating my birthday that day, since there was enough going on as it was. But when I got home there was a party hat hanging on the door for me, with a 'Birthday Girl' pin. So I popped them on and when I opened the door the kids started screaming Happy Birthday Mommy at me so loudly I almost went deaf! The kitchen was decorated with streamers and balloons and a heart shaped chocolate cake. The kids were so excited!

   I, however, tried to hold back tears when we lit all 30 candles and turned off the lights and it was still bright as day in the house.

   That was a slightly depressing moment.

 But Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, and so were the pies and cake! We all snuggled together and watched Turbo after we ate, and then it was bedtime.

  Now I have to go to work in a few hours and I'm sincerely hoping it's not another crazy day. I'm hoping people spent all their money yesterday and don't want to come out today too. I'm tired. And I'm very thankful I'm not scheduled to work tomorrow!!

Not a professional. Shouldn't have tried this at home.

   Remember that birthday cake I was planning? Remember how it was going to be amazing?

 Well. It didn't quite reach that level, in my opinion. I was very disappointed with my otherwise phenomenal cake-baking skills. (Yes, those were my eyes you sensed rolling, thank you)
 
  The cake itself was crumbly and fell apart in a few places, and frosting would NOT spread without taking chunks of cake along for the ride. The fondant was a disaster. There was no saving it. I planned this:

 

Cute, right?? And not difficult! I've done crazier stuff.

This is what happened.

 

 

I'm astonished. And ashamed.

 

But when my sweet Connor saw it he said , "WHOA!!" and giggled. So I guess he was happy and that's all that matters!

 

 

    
    

Five Years!

 

There he is. The first 'little' love of my life. 5 years ago today he was busy making me the most miserable human on the planet. And then he made me the happiest.

Now he is the sweetest, most affectionate little man who wants to grow up to be a doctor and a daddy.

He makes me so proud to be his momma.

I still tell myself he's too young to remember it anyway.

   Today I am planning Connor's 5th birthday cake. I don't say birthday party because we've never yet had a birthday party and still won't this year. My poor children have no idea what they are missing! What a mean mom I am. Sadly, there aren't many kids Connor's age around here. Our neighbor has a little boy his age, and I could invite his classmates, but since school just started today I think that's a little awkward. "Oh hello! You don't have any clue who I am or who my son is, but please bring gifts for him to our house in two days. Thanks!" So instead I make extravagant cakes to make up for the sadness of party-less birthdays. My twin cousins, who are absolutely adored by the boys, will come for the cake. And then they'll stay to babysit while Rob and I sneak out (yes, on my sons 5th birthday, did I mention how mean of a mom I am?) for a rare date. Trust me, if Connor could choose a birthday with my cousins or a birthday with mom and dad, he would choose my cousins. That's how much he loves them. And I'm old news anyway. And a mean mom.

   But I make great cakes.

  This one's going to be a robot.

   And it is going to be amazing.

Playing catch-up

 I just got in yelled at by my sister for not posting an update for so long! So I figured I better sit down and feed the masses tell the 6 of you how our summer has gone! ;) Our trip to Minnesota and Iowa was fun! But I will never, ever do it again without my wonderful, helpful husband! Mom was with me, with the (pre-travel) agreement that we would take care of the kids together and it would be great! Umm.... well. After about 5 days I could sense my poor mother's nerves falling to pieces. My kids, sweet as they are, are a lot to handle. It's a demanding and draining job. I was so so so relieved to pick Rob up from the airport after being without him for 15 days. I learned just how much I depend on him on a daily basis to keep me sane. I admit, I did cry a little bit when he came down the airport escalator. I'm not sure if it was just the profound relief, or watching Connor and Max run into his arms, screaming "DADDY!!" while Maggie kicked furiously in her stroller. I wish I had videotaped that moment.
  But it was nice to see our families. I used up all my camera memory on my new niece in Minnesota within the first few days of our trip. What a sweet little thing! She loved me right away, and the feeling was mutual.
  We were so anxious to get home, we drove through the night and made it back at 4:30 in the morning! I was so happy to see my bed! I've never been so exhausted in all my life.
 
   There's been a whole lot of nothing going on since then and that's OK WITH ME!

  Now I'm feeling a little excited, because after talking to Rob about it, I'm going to get a part time job! I'm looking forward to getting out of the house a bit. I got an offer from The Children's Place in a nearby mall, but turned them down after getting an interview at Starbucks. I worked in a coffee shop for three years in MN and I miss it every day! So I interviewed today and was told I would get the job! I'm very happy! It will be nice to spend my day talking to grown ups again, not to mention a paycheck, tips, and free coffee! I'll not only get free coffee as I work, but a pound of coffee to take home each week! I'd work for free for all of that!
 
   Connor starts another year of preschool on Wednesday. He had orientation this morning, and he's excited to start. We put him in a different school this year. The school he was in before was alright, but they lost Connor one day in the beginning of the year. They searched the school, but couldn't find him, until another parent walked in and informed them there was a little boy walking all the way down at the end of the strip mall. Along a busy street. All alone. That was kind of a big deal. Then at the end of the year we found out his teacher thought he was Autistic from her facebook page. It wasn't mentioned to us until I asked about it. Of course we had his doctor examine him. She said there's absolutely no reason to think he's Autistic, and suggested a different preschool. So far we are very happy with the system and the *ahem* professionalism.

   Maggie is finally walking! She started walking a little bit in Minnesota, with 3 steps at a time. That's about as much as she would do for a long time, until one day she just started walking all over! That was probably a month ago now. She would have been 13 months old.
 
            Connor, drying in the sun.

                      
               My little kangaroo.

                   Those eyes get me every time!

 
               My favorite cake so far. So cute!!