Party like a Princess

In addition to the regular craziness of life, plus leaving to go on vacation next week (and then leaving on a second vacation with the three kids by myself just 10 short days after returning), I'm also trying to plan Isabelle's 9th birthday party. Sigh.

How do you plan a birthday party for an only child with a brother and sister? With a full blown idea board, of course. She likes things in a "visual" format, so she can see how it's all going to come together. Fortunately (for me...and my wallet) I can DIY a lot of this myself (I think...besides, who needs to sleep?), and a friend is scoring me a super-sweet deal on the white tents. (Ha ha. I laughed as I typed that. I'm putting white tents up in my backyard for a 9 year old's birthday party! It's official, I've lost it.)

Did I sigh already? Yes? Okay, I'm doing it again. Sigh.

Party like a princess, folks. It's good to be Isabelle.

Kindle me this...

I try to not get geeked up about too many things, but for Mother's Day I got a Kindle. To say the least, I was stoked. I have "casually" dropped hints ("Wow, it would REALLY be great if I had a Kindle." "Hey, you know what would be great to have right now? A Kindle." "Isabelle, tell your Dad to buy me a Kindle.")...see, casual...that a Kindle could, on occassion, be something good to have. Finally, the family came through. I'm also working on "casually" dropping the hint that I want an iPad 2, but I don't see that turning out the same. Oh well. Beggers can't be chosers.

At any rate, the Kindle is just as fantastic as I imagined it would be, and then some. I could honestly entertain myself for hours just from the sample downloads of stories, never mind actually getting the full thing. And my Kindle has the Wi-Fi 3G capabilities, so I can download a story anytime, anywhere, without having to plug in to my computer. A bookstore at my fingertips? Dangerous. Which leads me to my real point. (Hey, it only took two paragraphs to get here!)

I now view everything in Kindle purchases. (If I don't buy this coffee, I'm $4.35 closer to another book purchase. Sheesh.) If I just went stark raving crazy and purchased every book I came across that I wanted to read, we'd be poor in a week. I've got to find a way to just not click the "Buy" button at will. I haven't found anyting over $10, but I feel as though I'm fighting an uphill battle. You can only read one book at a time, I tell myself. LIES! The Kindle allows me to have something ridiculous like 3,000 books at the push of the button, any time I want them. I can change books ten times in an hour, and never have to leave the sofa. I'm telling you, this is brilliant.

And dangerous. And I probably need to set up an off-shore account for my Kindle purchases to hide them from Todd. Kindle = my new crack.



P.S. Thank you, family. I'm very happy with my new device.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a slight bit belated but a huge Happy Mother's Day to all the fabulous moms that are sleep deprived, pulling out their hair, crying tears of joy (and sorrow), cheering, scolding, hugging, counting to 10 to find another dose of patience, washing uniforms in the middle of the night, packing team snacks, sitting at the family table doing homework, rocking a fussing baby in all hours of the night, watching another episode of (fill in the blank favorite movie or tv show), changing shirts (yet again) cause you were spit up on...all in the name of trying to raise the best kid(s) we can. As we all know, we will make mistakes; it's recognizing those mistakes and trying to do better the next time that's the best gift we can give our children. Take it one day at a time, but never underestimate the strength of your child and yourself.

For my mom and the three wonderful children that I am so blessed to have call me "Mom," I love you guys.

Fresh New Beats

You've heard, right? About the Beastie Boys releasing their first new album since Jesus walked the earth. (Okay, not that long, but feels like it.) It came out yesterday...check check check it out.


But, wait. What's this? Eddie Vedder is also releasing a solo album this month? Stop. Too much. Pearl Jam is my all-time favorite band (BB running a close second), so this is too much for my little near middle-aged heart.

It's the early nineties all over again. But with three kids. And a minivan. (Ouch)

Soccer Sunday

I have tried to resist posting much about soccer on here, as words cannot describe how much is played in our house. It's 7 days a week. No lie. No exaggeration. Today Isabelle is on her 6th straight day of soccer. See? Ridiculous. But today, well, today was a big day in our house.

SOPHIA SCORED HER FIRST GOAL!!!

(Here's a secret...it took Isabelle three seasons before she scored her first goal. And we all know how good she is now.)

So here is an extremely brief photo recap from an extremely proud mom. Even if I don't post about it here regularly, they are my superstars.