Ava is 6!!!

This year Conrad & I decided to do something crazy! We invited 50 people over to our home to celebrate Ava's 6th birthday, Halloween style!

The girls & I went to the Dollar Tree & bought neon Caution tape, spider webs, paper lanterns, plates, witches, skeletons, you name it! Everything to transform our garage into the perfect Halloween den! We even played spooky music!

With so many children, I knew we had to have an agenda to keep the kids entertained. First up was making a treat bag for a backyard candy hunt! The kids had fun finding treats in the grass & plants, & fortunately it was warm outside. The little ones got lollipops. After loading up on candy, it was time to load up on pizza. I have to say, I love Little Caesar's. We were able to feed everyone for only $65. Gotta love that! With tummies full, it was time to play the limbo, listen to scary Halloween stories (though the kids informed us that they weren't scared at all -ha!) & play a unwrap the candy bar game (layer the candy with wrapping paper, pass it around & the person who unwraps the last piece of paper gets the candy). Last but not least, we had a costume contest. Our little neighbors across the street won by far for their elaborate hair & makeup.

On Ava's actual birthday (the day before) we had a wonderful, quiet day. The girls happened to be off of school for a Teacher's Inservice Workshop. We went to the gym, then went to McDonald's (tradition) to get Halloween Happy Meals, then finished buying all the party stuff. We ate hamburgers at Ava's request, followed by chocolate cake.

Some fun things about Ava are:
Her favorite movie is Barbie Charm school.
Her favorite color is still blue.
Her favorite thing to play is dog & owner.
Her favorite season is summer.
Her favorite song is Queen's "Bicycle".
Her favorite stuffed animal is Cookie, the black & white dog.
She loves "D Time" (cuddling with daddy)
She's lost 6 teeth.

She is one of the most beautiful & loving people I have ever met. Her heart is pure gold. Happy birthday sweetheart!

Hooray for Fall!!

Whatever happened to the "I" in "I love you?"

Over the last year I've noticed an increase in the trend of people writing "love you." As I've used this phrase frequently on facebook to many of my friends, it's never bothered me until recently. More and more I've noticed it creeping its way into families, or to the opposite extreme, to casual acquaintances. The last straw was when it was bed time and the girls were saying their goodnights to us, and Conrad told them, "Love you." I wanted to scream out, "The 'I!' Don't forget the I!" (I believe I did say something about it too, lol.)

I know it's just a letter, a small word, but it is the most important part of "I love you." It's what gives those words meaning. To me, when you say that to a person, you're telling them, "Out of the whole world, you are loved by ME." That's what makes it special. I mean, imagine how dumb that Valentine mug would look if it just said, "love you...love you...love you..." haha, you get the idea.

I understand "love you" is a way to casually let somebody know you really care about them, or that they're special to you (What's wrong with writing just that??), or maybe people write it because they're afraid of rejection, but from now on I vow to include the "I."

If I'm bold enough to say it, I need to be brave enough to say it completely.

From Drop Box