Wednesday, April 20, 2011

"New to You" book giveaway!

In my continuing quest to always get stuff out of my house, I came across some books that I'd be willing to part with. They are good books and all; I just don't feel the need to read them again, or hold onto them. (I'll be honest, a few of them I didn't read all the way, but I'm trying to declutter!) There will be four winners! Tell your friends!

Book Pack #1
This is a group of mommy books. (The links lead to their Amazon descriptions.) You will win Life on Planet Mom, The Mommy Diaries, and,breathe.

Book pack #2 is a kid's pack. You will win Martha Speaks: Play Ball, The Joy of Juggling, and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Children's Edition. You will also get a pack of kids' goodies from Xlear.

Book pack #3 is from Read It Forward. (If you haven't signed up for Read It Forward yet, you should. They give away free books every week! I've been chosen for three in just the past few months!) You will win Frankenstein's Monster and Radio Shangri-La.

Book pack #4 is random. You will win The Girl in Hyacinth Blue (This one had a tear on the cover that I taped.) and Ethan Frome and Other Short Fiction.
How to Win!!!!
I will draw a winner on Monday, May 2 (I'll forget about it if I try to do it before Addie's birthday party!) All you need to do is 1. Become a follower of the blog and 2. Comment on this post with your top 3 choices, in order, of the book packs you would choose. After I pick the winners, you can email me or message me on Facebook where to send your prize! Yay for reading!!!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Addie is one!!!

It seems hard to believe, but on Wednesday, Addie turned one! I don't think it's any secret that I LOVE to plan the kids' birthday parties. I start thinking about them months in advance. In fact, I strated thinking about Addie's before she was born, but stopped myself before I became too crazy!

Planning for Addie to turn one has been different, though, than with Jack
and Harry. And not just because I get to plan a ridiculously girly party! Addie turning one is kind of bittersweet. While I'm excited that she is growing and thriving and perfect, it's a little sad for me to think that I will never plan a first birthday party again. All of her firsts have had that feeling. It's so exciting that she is crawling and pulling up! But, there won't be the excitement of watching another baby reach these milestones. When she takes her first steps, it will be the last time a baby takes first steps in our house. I am determined to enjoy and cherish every one of the "last firsts."

Since I love a birthday party though, her party plans are in full swing. (Expect a post with LOTS of pictures after it :) ) On her birthday, we celebrated by going to the nature center with playgroup, having a picnic lunch with Daddy, and a special dinner with cake and presents at home. It really was perfect,(just like Addie!) so it's hard to feel too sad!

Here are a bunch of pictures from her birthday!
At the nature center

Birth minute

Her first doll

Her first Barbie from her brothers

Her name collage and hair clip holder
Cake time!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Just stay little!

This past week, the universe has seemed determined to bombard me with signs that my babies are not going to be babies forever!
Last Monday, I went to an informational meeting for parents of kids going to first grade. First grade! Jack will be a first grader in just a few weeks!!! How can this tiny baby be getting ready for first grade!?!?

That same day, Harry started tumbling class. He has been asking to start tumbling pretty much since he really started talking. (The first thing he said on his birthday was, "I'm three now. I go to tumbling today.") He loves it, though he does not exactly listen to everything his teacher tells him! He is soooo excited to do "big boy" things, just like Jack!

And TODAY is exactly one week until Addie turns one! How is that even possible?!?! Despite my mental planning of her party for months, I have been slacking on actually doing too much for it. Like maybe if I don't, she'll just stay a baby. This week, I actually started to buy things for the party, so I guess I'm giving in to the inevitable. For her part, Addie is totally excited about growing up so fast. She spends most of her time pulling up and thinking about standing without help. She is tentatively trying to cruise around, and she has figured out how to actually crawl, more than the scoot-drag she has already perfected.

On an unrealated note, this year Jack and Harry were super excited about April Fool's Day. (I'm guessing from school?) Jack kept asking if we could have an April Fool's Day party. Instead, I made a tricky dinner for them. I was really happy with how it turned out! I made these "cupcakes" and this "chicken not-pie". The cupcakes were super easy to make, and really fooled the kids! Jack took a big swipe of the icing with his finger, made a face, and asked why the icing tasted like mashed potatoes. When I was food coloring the mashed potatoes, I was hoping for a pale orange. I added the red before realizing I was almost out of yellow. The final product kind of looked like Play-doh, but it still tasted good and fooled the kiddos! The pot pie dessert was a little more invovled to make. (Rolling the Starbursts into "vegetables" was pretty sticky, and took forever!) But it looked really realistic! The downside was that the lemon candies kind of overpowered the vanilla flavor of the pudding. I still thought it tasted yummy, but Jack and Cory, not so much.

The pot pie mixture:
The meatloaf cupcakes:


Ready to eat!
Jack and Harry digging in!
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