Birthday Mania

Almost done.
Birthday mania.
Seriously.
We kick it off with Nick -- his birthday is Dec. 22nd -- yep, RIGHT before Christmas. Then we do Christmas and move in to the January month of celebration. Nick had a "puppy/spiderman/Mizzou" party. We make a grand effort to keep Christmas out of it. No Christmas wrapping paper, everyone wears MIZZOU stuff...we open presents in a different room away from the tree. (That's also because the tree usually swallows up the room we normally do that in.) My hope is for him to never say "My birthday is at Christmas and that stinks." So far so good. We'll see how long that lasts.

Kyle turned 7 on the 10th. He wanted a "Ben 10" Party. And like his older brother, he really, really wanted a sleepover. Note: boys have sleepovers. GIRLS have slumber parties. Just an important piece of trivia for you. Important. Anyway - we usually let them pick -- some party at some place, or a sleep over with a limited number of guests. At first, we thought WE were getting the good deal not having to pay for some elaborate party at some venue ... but now I'm not so sure which is REALLY the better deal. The boys LOVE the sleepover. And Kyle was VERY excited to have his first one this year. I think it was also a first for some of the boys he invited - and they too were quite excited. We had the traditional ice cream sundae bar with tons of toppings and the (gross) spraying of whip cream straight into the mouth.
The next day we then had family over for more celebrating.

Jack turned 10 on the 17th. That's right, their birthdays are exactly 7 days a part. So yes, we had BACK TO BACK sleepovers + family night parties. Yep. Insane. Jack wanted a "basketball" themed party...and he started the ice cream sundae bar tradition and kept it going. He always invites the 3 boys who live on our street - and they now expect the big sundae bar. They too had quite a great time. Lots of Wii games. (Check out the video on our family website here.) Both parties were quite loud and both kept us up late. Though I think the 9-10 year olds were more "disgusting." (Louder burps and more potty talk to reign in.)

Can you believe we have a 10 year old? We can't. We have a kid who has a word to describe how long he's been around: a decade. We've been parents for a DECADE. Wow.
That freaked us out. So imagine how it's gonna feel in 2013 when we have a TEENAGER *AND* a "DECADE" kid! Ack!






Did you think I was done talking about birthdays? Um, no. My dad's birthday was January 12th. As far as I know, he did not have a theme party. Unless it was "TVs" or "politics." So, his bday is certainly lower-maintenance.


And this week is Ryan's birthday. And believe me, by the time we get to his birthday, we've had the whole family over like 3 times... plus 2 other parties in the house...and well, Ryan has very little interest in "partying." He's ready to chill. We're actually kind of excited because I have the day off and all 3 kids will be in school. We will go to lunch, maybe a movie - and not have to worry about sitters or anything. Just chill.

Birthday mania. Nearly complete. And actually, pretty fun.

Test post from phone

18 Years.

18 years ago today, Ryan and I went on our very first date. He had called me several days before to ask me out. I remember laughing to myself because he felt compelled to say he was "Ryan GERDING" - as if he feared I might not recall who this person was who was calling me.

I recalled. I recalled because I had that "moment." Someone once described it as "Your souls know, and pop out and wave to each other." So, maybe it's not quite love at first sight (or maybe it is) but I remember it as a quick fleeting moment of "huh - something significant here." I had only had it once before. I still remember that exact moment. A group of us were all walking together to a class - I was hanging back with some girls, he was a bit ahead with some guys. He was talking. Very animated. And at the moment when he was gesturing - I think re-doing a football pass - his hands were up, and I was looking at him talking, not hearing, that was the moment. A brief "slo-mo" of that "Hey, you paying attention here? This person is significant."

And then life passed. With several opportunities for our paths to cross again. And it was like fate was trying ... but we kept messing it up. But fate was set, and eventually it just came down to a phone call. A phone call that set fate's "big picture" in motion.

Now here we are, 18 years later. 13 years of marriage. Nearly 10 years of parenthood.
I do believe some things are just meant to be.

Three Weekends of Fun

When I was going on and on about the great weekends I was having - I should have started one weekend back. We went to Indiana to spend time with my family. We managed to squeeze in a Purdue game and a trip to Chucky Cheese, too.

Here are some pictures from that weekend:

And the Fun Continues...

Friday's fun spilled into Saturday.

1st - we got to sleep in. (See a pattern here of what's "great" to me?) We had no soccer games or sports of any kind ... and puttered around. We really spent the morning doing NOTHING. And sometimes, "nothing" is just right. ("Nothing" with the MIZZOU game on. Wooo - a win!)

Then we started getting kids geared up for Halloween fun. We like to drive to Blue Springs to Trick or Treat at Grandma's house - and we start early w/the family Trick-or-Treating so we can be back in time to hit the neighborhood.

At Grandma Pat's house in Blue Springs ... we had my two skeletons & a zombie, a chick magnet, and Auriel (?) and the lobster from Little Mermaid. Some cute kids looking SUPER cute. All the kids got big treat bags full of fun "ghoulish" stuff. And of course, everyone got a load of adorable pictures. (Oh, and Grandma was dressed like a black cat! And rocked it!) Oh - a funny moment..it was time to go, and we were trying to stick to tight schedule ... and Nick was still enjoying the snacks Gma had put out. I actually started saying to him - "Come on Nick, if you want more candy we gotta go." Him: "But I want to eat this" Me "But don't you want to go get more candy?" I then realize, my sweet child is sitting there, trying to eat VEGGIES, and I'm nagging him to hurry up to we can go get ... Candy. Mother of the Year.


We then moved our fun back to Lee's Summit...with a stop and Grandpa & Grandma's. When the boys rang the bell...Grandpa made a ghoulish laugh through his door speaker. Nick's reaction was funny. When they came to the door, Grandma was dressed like a Witch and welcomed the boys into her cauldron, er, I mean home. Nick read "5 Little Pumpkins" (a tradition) and did a great job!

After gathering up some treats - we returned home, and I quickly got into my costume while Ryan loaded the cooler, his "Puking Pumpkin" and other stuff and took them across the street to the neighbors house. We get everyone together to trick or treat, then go back to their house to have a party.

I dressed up as a Desperate Housewife. It was a last minute costume idea ... I wore jeans and a low cut shirt and a sequined shawl ... I wore red hose and red stilleto heels...lots of "diamonds" and heavy makeup. I then put a few curlers in my hair...tossed on my robe...put a bottle in my pocket (to drown my sorrows) and made my makeup look like I had been crying: viola: Desperate Housewife. While we were trick or treating - one dad in the street with us that we didn't know looks at me and goes "Please tell me that's your costume." HA! He took a risk saying that, didn't he?

I've left out one very important point with all of this: Normally, I don't get to go trick-or-treating. Normally, I have to work. (I work nights) And normally, it's SWEEPS - so, I'm not even allowed to ask for the day off. This year, with Halloween falling on Saturday, I actually got to go along for the fun .. and I was so happy! I HATE missing ANY kind of holiday fun -- I'm all about traditions and doing all the things you're supposed to do to soak up the holiday. So, I really really enjoyed walking the neighborhood..house to house and seeing the kids trick or treat...and seeing the people react to their costumes...and interacting with all the other families doing the same thing. It felt good.

After trick or treating, we dropped off all our loot at our house and headed across the street, where all our neighbors had gathered - in costume - (many adults too) to enjoy the rest of the night. Tons of good food ... and fun ... At one point all the kids gathered into one room to dance - and with the funky holiday lights and tile floor, it really looked like a dance club! Soon all the kids were doing the Thriller dance ... and yes, some adults too.

Eventually the party moved outside, around the fire pit. And soon kids were falling asleep in various places inside the house, as adults continued having fun into the night. I think Ryan started carrying kids home and putting them in bed around 12:30am ... and we didn't call it a night 'til about 1:30. And I know there were still a few at that fire pit long after that!

I couldn't have asked for a better Halloween. The weather was perfect. The kids had a great time. We had fun with family and friends and have tons of great pictures to show for it.

And here it is Sunday .. and not only did I sleep in, the time changed! In my favor! And I'm doing nothing. Well, I writing this - and it's taking forever because I'm "documenting" and being interrupted by kids playing with playd0ugh and showing me EVERY creation.

Soon we'll go to a soccer game - and it'll be fun because the weather's nice. And I'm going to do some cleaning (no, really, I'm looking forward to it!) And Ryan's planning a nice dinner ... and well, I think this whole weekend's gonna be a winner!

Oh, and did I mention it's my birthday tomorrow?

Best Day Ev-ah!

I had a GREAT day Friday. And I mean GREAT!

Got to sleep in, always a bonus. Checked the numbers and saw not only a great day..but that we won the first night of the book! Nice way to start.

Then I was off to "pick up a few things." I started at Target...LOVE Target . Treated myself to a Starbucks while I shopped. That really got me moving. Got everything I needed for kids' fall parties.

Then I went SHOE shopping. One of Ryan's co-workers gave him this Payless coupon...50% off everything .. and I went to town. I came home with 6 pairs of shoes, one purse and a bracelet. HAPPY !!

I then set to organizing party treats. Ran into one bump in the road there - wanted to bounce around to some Pink, but the iPod was dead..and Ryan had the charging cord w/him. FAIL! Made due and still enjoyed my quiet time puttering. I love party prep.

It was actually nice to just drop off all my donations and not stay to go through party stress.
Had a pleasant day at work ... got a couple of newbies who are coming along WONDERFULLY.

Then - I had asked Ryan to keep the kids up so we could have our own little family party. We still needed to carve pumpkins since we were out of town last weekend ... and after missing parties, I really wanted some "fun" time with the kids. I figured Ryan would think I was crazy...

BUT: When I came home, the kids were dancing to Thriller in the basement and watching DVDs from past family Halloweens. Ryan had picked up Halloween cupcakes, popcorn and made a huge batch of hot apple cider in the crock pot! He'd even put a fire in the fireplace. To my surprie, he was on board and embracing my idea! Jump up and down!

We had a great time choosing our pumpkin designs, carving pumpkins and enjoying snacks. Then after we'd taken a bunch of pictures of our Jack-o-Lanterns, we turned off the lights and read stories with flash lights! Yes, we were up REALLY late ... but it was totally worth it...and we all had a good time. No fits or whining or grumbling. Just fun.

Yeah .. that's all I need. Good family time ... and new shoes. ( :