Thankfulness

We started this "Thankful Tree" tradition back in 1998.  Here is our 2007 tree, which tells more of the story.  Every day each person who is in our home at supper time writes something he or she is thankful for on a paper leaf and we stick it on this "tree."  You have to think of something new every evening. This year Luci is old enough to understand, so she will have to think of new things each day. Since we have trouble getting her to be quiet, I'm sure she will be able to fill up 25 or so leaves (until Thanksgiving, then we get out the Christmas stuff!!).

What I found really special about tonight is that Luci wanted to write her own "thankful" bit!  She had a 15-word piece she wanted me to spell out letter-by-letter, which boiled down to she's thankful for the seasons God has made.  So we shortened it to "Seasons."   Then she drew a "fancy line" and signed her name.  (I wrote the date.)  I think I am going to be saving lots of leaves this year!

I had to include this photo, too.  Luci wanted to pose "all silly."

I'm so glad

that we have a SIX year old girl! Today was lots of fun. Here are some shots from Luci's Princess Party. Guests were encouraged to dress up.

Luci said she wanted a wedding cake but she wasn't really getting married...I don't know...this looks a lot like a wedding dress to me! 

Jack tagged along with Kalyn.  So cute!

MOTB (mother of the bride...uh, I mean birthday girl!)

Mulan, Belle,  and Snow White showed up, too!

Kalyn, Kenzi, Luci and Hannah

Bryan took the photos.  That's all the explanation I have for this one.

Luci insisted on a game of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey."  I tried to talk her into "Pin the Tiara on the Princess," but she had her mind made up.  To her, a good birthday party includes this game.  I don't know why she had that bee in her bonnet, but it was loved by all the girls.  They wanted to play it TWICE.

Kalyn

Hannah

We had a tea party complete with some China from Luci's Nana and Great Grandmother!  All of the moms were nervous but I assured them that I love their little girls much more than the tea cups.  And everyone did great.  The girls acted like ladies while they were at the table.  They had mini quiches and sausage balls and spring rolls to nibble.  Sweet tea (not hot!) and lemonade were poured by a couple of the moms.

See?  A wedding cake, but it's not, and a Bride, but she's not.  I'm confused.

At the end, the girls made it out to Luci's treehouse for a photo.  All went well until the neighbor's three Labrador retrievers showed up.  Then it was SQUEAL!  SQUEAL!  SQUEAL!

pictured:  Kenzi, Mamie, Kalyn, Luci, Hannah, Gabby and Rachel.

All that's left of the not-wedding cake.  This is the first time I have been able to use my "fancy cake plate."  John says I just need to make more cakes.

Luci's first-ever friends birthday party was a success.  She and I are both happy.

Oh no! Now I'm not six!

We had to reschedule Luci's birthday party because of a day-long threat of tornadoes.  We headed down to the safe room around 11 am this morning during one warning and I spent my time there calling mamas to reschedule for tomorrow.  After the danger had passed, I came back up and un-set the birthday table.

Poor Luci does not understand.  She just knows that TODAY is her birthday, TODAY is her party, and TODAY she turns six.  She wailed, "Oh No!  Now I'm not six!" and has spent some time in tears.  A lot of time in tears.  She thinks she is not six until she blows out the candles on her cake.

So, enter leftover cupcake with pink icing.  I stuck six candles in it and we sang, "Happy Birthday" and she blew them out.  Almost a happy girl now. 

I asked her what she wished for, and she said, "More cash."

Oh dear.  At least every other birthday she has will be easy to buy for--just insert dollar bills into the cards. 

iii SIX iii

Luci is six today, and so excited! Today is her first birthday party with friends. It has a Princess theme. Here she is in her Jasmine outfit, from the movie Aladdin.

Luci has on lipstick but that's it for makeup.  Gorgeous.  You can still see her tan lines from our time in Florida.

The cake request?  A wedding cake, but not a real wedding cake, Mama, because I am not getting married!!  It had to have three tiers.  The top tier is a cupcake.  And we are not pointing out the flaws, because I can see every one, thank you.  :)   I used India Tree food coloring for the pink and chlorophyll for the green.  The roses are from Wilton and have no artificials in them! 

Vacation!

Wehad a wonderful time at Vero Beach.  We were at Disney's Vacation Club Resort.  We planned this vacation as a "Hooray, John's Retired!" vacation, since he planned on being fully retired on October first.  But as the summer wore on, John changed the date to November fifth.  We kept the vacation date and had a blast.  The best part?  I didn't see John on the phone with work the entire time.  (He may have called when I wasn't looking, but I didn't see that--so different from every other time we've had time away from home.)  We really had his attention.  I loved that, and so did the kids.

Our condo had two bedrooms plus a fold-out couch and chair in the living room.  Plus, with the full kitchen and washer/dryer, you can vacation pretty cheaply.   The programs for the kids are a lot of fun, and quite a few of them are totally free.  Some cost a little bit, and some are expensive.  This trip we stayed with the free and low-cost items, plus John and I had one night out on a date, so very little money was spent all together. 

We had a great time just being together and taking it easy.  Disney World is fun, but we are always scattered, running and TIRED.  Vero Beach was just fun, swimming, and games as you will see:

What Do You Do at Vero Beach?

First you need a good water slide.

and a 14 year-old dare devil who WON the slide contest with the fastest run!

You simply must go to a tea party (and the un-birthday party! I can't remember which one Luci is headed to here).  All week the counselors would greet Luci with, "Hi, Luci, also known as Belle, and also known as Ariel the Mermaid!" Because she was in the pool whenever she wasn't dressed as Belle. 

You go to archery lessons...

and watch Mom's arrow fall to the ground IN FRONT OF the target!  Yes, that's my arrow on the ground--that stick-looking thing in the middle of the picture.  Thanks for recording that, JT.  You are so sweet (not!).

You make new friends!  Here Luci is with new friends from Kentucky and Florida, at the campfire one evening.

And, you must eat SMORES!

Peek-a-Boo!  Taking a bath in the "indoor swimming pool."  That's what Luci calls it.

You go to Mickey Chef Classes.

You watch Daddy fall asleep before supper.

You wonder if the 18 year old will ever get out and get some sun.

You get embarrassed by your Dad.

Especially when he gets chosen at the campfire to act silly during one of the songs (come on, John, first place in the SMORE line is hanging in the balance!).  Campfire that night was an "un-campfire" because of the high winds.  We were on the porch of the main building for this frivolity.

And you still wonder if Bryan ever got any sun.

You watch Mom go bonkers trying to play Boggle.  And catch Luci sneaking into the freezer!  Can you see her arm behind me?  She ate more that week than she ever had.  Lots of swimming will make a girl hungry.

And watch Luci conk out before bedtime.  This, along with the good eating, rarely happens at home.

You get to make crafts with Miss Rita!  This was one of Luci's creations.  Miss Rita is the one who inspired this post.

You get your whole family to build a sand castle!  Luci had this as her only "must-do" for the entire week.  She'd been talking about it for a whole year.

You bury your brother in the sand.  And look!  Bryan did get out in the sun after all.

What a great sand castle! 

We love it at Vero.

One of these days...

I'm going to ask someone,

What was your rationalization for choosing your local public school for your children?

Today the woman who asked me that about our choosing to homeschool didn't even have children.  She's older than I am and has a dog and a cat.  

And she's critical.

Fancy Vittles

Okay, so on our Disney Cruise, every time we sat down to supper (because I don't call it "dinner"), I wished for a Cracker Barrel menu.  That's my kind of food.  Watching shows like "Iron Chef" (even the American version) make me queasy.  Some of the restaurants in China were a challenge for me.

Here we are at a resort and John wants to go out for dinner and leave the boys in charge of Luci.  We will only be a hundred yards or so away.  The boys can take Luci to play Disney's version of Bingo while we go out.  Yippee for them!

But me?  I don't like seafood, and John's taking me to a seafood buffet.  So I asked if I could see an alternative menu--there are only three items on it that are not seafood and contain sides such as "Truffle-infused Macaroni and Cheese," "Crimini Mushrooms," "Meyers Rum Spiked Boniato and Plantain Mash."  Did I mention that I prefer plain foods? 

Those entrees cost almost twice as much as the seafood buffet (which is very nice and has things on it that I actually recognize).  So I think I will go ahead and have the seafood buffet, too.  Because as much as I am not crazy about sea food, I am less crazy about spending money.

Logistician Extraordinaire

That's me.  I am the planner in our household.

We are on vacation right now.  Vero Beach.  Had the whole trip planned for months. 

Reservations, hotel on the way (it's a 14 hour trip), saved up gas money, map (TomTom does that now--I used to get a AAA triptik).

The lists were all in my head until Friday night (we left Saturday morning).  Everyone was given a list of things to bring to me to put in the suitcases: so many t-shirts, shorts, swimsuit, underwear.  Meals for supper were pre-cooked, frozen and packed in the ice chest; just buy a few things like milk, eggs and sandwich meats when we get to town.  All John had to do himself was put his laptop and shaving kit in the van.

Last night, JT asked me if I had nail clippers. 

I told him, "Go ask Daddy."

JT was incensed!  "Mo-o-o-m!  He has no clue what you packed!"

"Yes, but he has a shaving kit.  There might be some clippers in there."

"oh."

Dreams

Luci woke up crying early Monday morning. 

What's the matter?  Come sit with me in the recliner.

I dreamed you got rid of me.

I would give anything to stop her bad dreams.

Daisy, Daisy...

I'm half crazy, all for the love of you...

Uniforms were passed out today.  She's thrilled, can you tell? 

It's a new record!

Luci kept her clothes on FOUR days this week!  Fully dressed each one of those four days.  Usually she peels off her clothes the moment we get home from karate and the other places we go (you'd think homeschoolers stayed home.  We don't!), but four days this week she kept her clothes on past suppertime.  Way to go, Luci!

JT and Luci washed the van for me today.  It was the first day in MONTHS that the temperature was below 90*.  They were told to not squirt each other on purpose.  Luci showed up at the back door, sopping wet and boots full of water (squishing as she walked!) to tell me that "JT did not squirt me, Momma. I did this all by myself!"