Lifelines

After dinner the other night, we ran up to DQ for a “Welcome HOME!” treat for Brit.
Certainly no one was complaining from my camp.
We LOVE ice cream!!!

(Though DQ is my least favorite, especially if we have to actually get out of the car. If I’m getting out, I want gourmet ice cream like Graeters or Cold Stone. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way for me then as every darn sweet-toothed soul in Westerville was in the drive-through line which had been our original plan. So we had to go in. And then we had to go back out and eat on the GRASS because there wasn’t enough room for my massive family in the place!)

Brit is home from Maine!
And though she got off to a rocky start as a camp counselor, she ended up not wanting to come home which made us all strangely happy for her.
She had such a great time, in fact, that she’s picking up three of her international male friends (from Scotland, England and Australia) tomorrow night at the bus station and they’re staying with my mom all weekend long!

I had fun looking at her pictures tonight but have NO IDEA how she managed to live (and sleep) with gobs of middle schoolers for three whole months.
No tv.
No privacy.
NO WI-FI!!!!
(Can you hear me gasping for air just thinking about it?)

And yet, she plans to return next summer and do it all over again!

Good for you, B.
We sure missed you but I’m super glad you had a blast.
Welcome Home.
XO

We celebrated my mom’s birthday this evening!
Ma, I hope you had a wonderful day spent with your grandkids and a fantastic evening spent with our zoo :)
May all your wishes come true–we love you!

My mom splurged on a SIXTEEN DOLLAR face painting for my daughter.

(I say it like that because I would have laughed in the painter’s face had they told ME the price. But I wasn’t there and my mom, she likes to spoil.)

I’ll say this though–sixteen bucks buys you a mean little cat face.
(Meow. HISS!)

And Greer loved every pretty minute of it!

This is the last of the party stuff, I swear.
But there are cute moments here that I don’t want to pass by so I’m spending the allotted 16 minutes of free time that my baby will allow me to finish up Greer’s birthday :)

Once she had blown out her candle, the others wanted a turn, too.
Smart little cookies–who would pass up a chance to make a wish?
(Not me. Not EVER me. And evidently not THEM, either!)

Emma, thanks for joining us for Greer’s birthday! She said it was her best EVER and I’ve no doubt that’s because she had her sweet (ornery :)) friend by her side all night long!

BIG fan of the “tuptakes.”

Sweet, sweet, sweet…

Presents!
Jenny and Emma, thanks for the Polly Pocket gear (and the super cute flip-flops)!

William sent his love :)

There were only six kids in the house but it felt, and sounded like, 13.

“Noooooooooo!”
That means “Get your meaty little paws off my gifts, PUNK!”

Last but not least, just one more set of wheeled thingies to take up space in my yard and garage.
But it’s the summer of “Go Outside And PLAY!” so we deal with it.
Plus, look how happy she is!
(To come: photos of how NOT happy she is when she falls and busts her wee tushie.)

She was sleeping so peacefully when we returned home from dinner on the night of Greer’s birthday.
(Yes, I’m STILL doing these birthday photos. Luxe is a MASSIVE time hogger! :))
She was sleeping TOO peacefully for this Mama who needed, um, relief in the form of a feeding.
Once I start ruining my tops, her minutes of peace are numbered.

So I got her out.
I woke her up. (I NEVER do this but we needed to get the party part of the birthday started and I couldn’t do that with her dangling from my boob.)
And then I indulged in my Mamarazzi addiction shamelessly.

She stretched:

She startled:

And check out that BEAST of a yawn (like I’M keeping HER up at night or something!):

Then she grew pissed (this one has a short fuse, like Yours Truly over here):

She told me to back off.
(I did not listen.)

And then she was rescued from my photographing tirade.
(My mom is STILL hijacking my good times :))

My mom came over as soon as she heard we were home!
And to her credit, she did not blow a gasket when she learned that we just walked right out of there, baby in tow :)
(She’s getting better these days–or perhaps I just am truly unable to surprise her anymore?)

Love this pic of my ma and my girls…

And it is!

This morning I have woken to sweet kisses from my kids, phone calls from my family, and lots of wonderful birthday wishes from friends via my in-box and Facebook wall.
Thank you, everyone!!!
I’m always so touched by how thoughtful those around me are and it truly means a ton to know that so many are thinking of me on my special day.

But there’s one birthday wish that stands out for me right now, one that brought me to tears when I received it in the mail yesterday.

My little sister made that card for me from her camp in Maine and made sure that it arrived in time for my birthday.
It’s actually not unusual for Brittani to spend such time and direct her creativity in this way–she’s always made me banners and wall doodles and sometimes cards.
(But usually she likes to give me ones that are snarky, where on the front they say how fab I am and then when I open it, I read I’m so fab because I have such a GREAT sister. You know the kind of card, right?)

Anyway, maybe what made it so special to me is that I think my sister is pretty miserable right now.
She’s far from family, dealing with her first major heartbreak, has no alone time and yet…makes me a card for my birthday.

It just really touched me, and honestly, my heart is aching for her in general right now.
I miss her and think of her every day, wondering how she’s doing and hoping, praying rather, that she is enjoying her time away.
Sniff.

Anyway, she doesn’t have much free time or much access to technology but I just wanted her to know, in case she checks in, that it meant the world to me.
Best Card Ever.
(And B, we all miss and love you!)

Other birthday news:

I’m 34 today.
And unfortunately, I’m still pregnant.

GAH!

Of course I’m wishing for a birthday gift, (”You want a HUMAN?” says Charlie to which I hissed back, “YESSSS!”) but am not currently holding out much hope for a baby today.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe never.
I’m starting to feel like I’ll be pregnant while out picking pumpkins in October.
(And I’ve not even hit my due date! Can you imagine what will happen if I PASS the damn thing? I never have. And I’m not planning on starting that trend now. Drastic measures will be enacted SOON.)

Off to do birthday things…like make lunches and declare naptimes!

Geez, it just all seemed so much more exciting, this birthday business, when I was seven :)

My mom called tonight just as I was returning from a hellacious grocery store trip (and even MORE hellacious pet store trip for Chas) with all four kids in tow.

She was calling to tell me to be at the airport by 8:45 tomorrow morning to see my sister off.

Which would require me starting to wake my family at about 6:30.

Um, NO.

I love my sister dearly but I was just going to go to the airport to say goodbye as a way to start my day as I thought it would be later.
I was thinking, say, more like NINE forty-five.
Then we could be out and about for errands or whatnot and would be happy with the early start.

NO ONE would be happy with THAT early of a start.
I was willing to get my family’s collective @$$ moving early but I just can’t pull a Sunday 6:30 wake-up call.

Not when we can say goodbye TONIGHT!

Because I’d taken so long at the grocery and pet store (over TWO HOURS, actually) dinner was really, really late.
Like nine-ish.
So I called my sister and asked if we could come over right after and “see her off” tonight instead of at the crack of dawn.

She’s my sister.
She knows my morning issues.
(Like big crowds, I’m not a fan.)

She was heading out for a bit (apparently we aren’t the only ones who want to say goodbye!) but we raced through dinner so that we could catch her before she left.
And we did.

We visited only briefly as my gang was completely nutso and I knew she wanted to get going but I’m so glad we all were able to see her one last time before her departure to Maine.

We love you, Brit!
Have a wonderful two months and when you get back, I’ll be 34 (!!), Greer will be 5 (!!!), and there will be another one here anxious for a bit of their auntie (!!!!) :)
I’ll be in touch when we have news!

Be good, be safe, and most of all….HAVE FUN!

XO