Delaney's Birthday Party

We had a royally good time at Delaney's 3rd Birthday Party. Grandma and Papa got here the night before and were promptly put to work helping to put finishing touches on everything. Delaney was delighted for everyone to come and play in her castle and the bouncy castle we rented. (It was huge! 17 by 17! Nate and the kids played in it for hours on Saturday and Sunday before we returned it.) Delaney also approved of the princess cake I made. When you're 3, more is more, so I added lots of flowers and decor.

It's hard to believe she's 3 now. She used to seem so little and now she's all legs and arms and growing taller and stronger and more opinionated every day. She's a very sweet little girl, anxious to please and be acknowledged.

Random Notes of Interest...

Good friends...
I spent the day today with good friends Kimberly and Heidi. We had lunch and got our toes done. One of my favorite moments was watching Kimberly, who is rather petite, get tossed about in the pedicure chair. She seemed to enjoy it though. It was great to have some time to really catch up, talk about our husband's strange habits (just kidding, honey - we didn't' actually do this, I just added it so the afternoon would seem really girly. Really.), and compare notes on food. We actually spent a lot of time talking about food. Even after we ate, we still talked about food. I guess we're just that kind of girls.


Funny animals....
Nate accompanied Jackson's class on a field trip to an ostrich farm recently. Check out this guy...

Nate said they all looked like hand puppets. I think the Kindergartners all really enjoyed it. As the only male chaperon, I think Nate's job involved a lot of managing little boys in the restroom. He actually studied the class picture the week before the trip (I know, he's so good!) so he'd be able to be helpful. Jackson was so excited for his dad to be on the trip.

New Word...

Decessery - the friendship between Jackson and Delaney. I am unsure of what actual part of speech it is as it has been used in many different ways. The term was coined this morning by Delaney during a family snuggle. Nate and I have decided it really is short for Delaney accessory, as in she thinks her brother is her accessory.

Interesting Conversations...

Jackson and I continue to have the most wonderful conversations as he is supposed to be falling asleep at night. We've talked about how the baby will get out of my body (I gave more of an anatomy lesson than I really wanted to), how deep the ocean is, why it's dark at the bottom of the sea, why the Titanic sank and didn't have enough life boats, etc. If you ever want to have a really great and interesting conversation with this kid, you just have to get him ready for bed, turn off the lights, and lay down with him for a few minutes. I'm not sure what it is. I don't think it's a procrastinating technique; I think its more that he's finally just still enough and his mind starts to wander, but his body can't follow.

Delaney Turns 3!

Delaney started her big day with pancakes, followed by nail painting, painting with new water colors, and then errands. And...she did it all in her Cinderella dress. I made a big point that I was painting her nails only because it was her birthday and that we don't paint little girl nails all the time. She reminded me that Grandma paints her (Delaney's) nails. Thanks Mom. I told her that Grandmas were also special occasions.

Everywhere we went, people ogled over her princess dress and asked if it was her birthday. She quickly caught on and began to let people know that "I was already 3 when I woke up this morning." It was Jackson's school's Open House that afternoon, so she even got to wear the princess dress to his school and show off for all the big kids.

We had purchased a scooter for her, but when we opened the box to put it together, we discovered it had already been purchased, assembled, used, and returned to the store. It was scratched up and peeling. Nice. So, on her birthday I took her back to the store to get a different one. She was delighted to ride it around the patio with her brother that evening. (Jackson gave her the required helmet and pads, which she loves to wear!) I took her to Chuck E Cheese for lunch (ugh) also. She had a good time. We'll have a party for her in another week (I'm sure we'll blog that as well.) It will be a princess party, of course.

Here's a short clip of Delaney enjoying her new scooter. She calls the tassles the scooter's hair. Hey, by the way, don't look too closely at the back patio - we're still getting settled-in in the back yard.

Visit with Rachel, Sophia, and Stohls

Rachel and Sophia were in southern California this last weekend visiting Rachel's family. We got to visit with them at the Zimmer Children's Museum and then for smoothies near UCLA. Rachel and I compared bellies - I'm about 2 mos. ahead by the calendar and a lot more ahead just by girth. The little girls took a little while to warm up and then had a lovely time.

Kitten we can't have....

Cute kitty, no? I think maybe we've found her (? - I have not wanted to get to know the kitty this well since we're not keeping it - this seemed like too personal an inspection for a casual encounter) a home. Shayna? Cute, huh? Anyway, here's a little video of the kitten as well. She purrs the whole time a human is present. For all the petting she's gotten from the kids (even Jackson wants to keep her now), no one has been bitten or scratched. She's super sweet.

Things we can't have...

As I write, Delaney is in the garage, playing with a kitten that is trying to adopt us. So far, Delaney is the only taker with kind intentions. The dogs knocked a number of things off the sofa table (there might even be a slobbery wet spot on the sofa) trying to get to the kitten on the front porch. The kitten, of course, can tell that I'm allergic and do not want to touch it and therefore has spent anytime I'm physically accessible, trying to rub against me. It makes me itchy just to think about it. Nate gave the kitten some water this morning out of kindness, but isn't really interested. Jackson, he could care less. I would like to get the kitten out of the garage so I can close the door - it of course has found every small space to hide in and under. In the meantime, Jackson would like me to read every new book that just came in the book order, but its nearing dinner time and I continue to battle laryngitis (for the fourth week in a row!). You might say, if its dinner time, why are you blogging and not making dinner. Well, the theme of the blog is things we can't have....so far the tally is...

1. The kitten and Delaney would like to have each other - not going to happen.
2. The dogs would like a kitten snack or maybe just a chew toy - not happening.
3. Jackson would like me to use the last of my voice to read to him - this actually sounds nice to me as well, but I've got to make dinner.
4. I would like to sit around a little longer and procrastinate, pretending that this is free time, with nothing waiting on me to do - all of these things are possible, but I've got a 2 year old playing with a stray kitten, dogs begging to eat said kitten, a five year old venturing to start his homework on his own and a growling tummy that reminds me its dinner time - pretend free time, not happening. I'd also like a glass of wine - that's not happening either.

Anyway, if I can help you make something happen, I would love to. I'm tired of things that aren't happening and telling little people what they can't have.

By the way, if you would like a kitten, its pretty cute.