Double Digits

K turned 10 this year. I can't believe that I have been a mother that long. In some ways it seems longer. In others, it has flown by.

K is an amazing girl. She is smart and talented, but, more importantly, she is helpful and sweet, jumping up to help me should I even mention needing something. She loves her baby sister, and she shares her dolls, snuggles, plays with, and dresses her. K also has incredible leadership abilities. She can find ways to motivate her brothers when I have failed. I am so excited to see what God has in store for her, but I am going to enjoy the years I still have with her before she enters the big, wide world.

This year, K wanted to host her birthday party at home. I was not sure what to do with a houseful of preteen girls, so we decided to bake cookies. I made the dough ahead of time, wrapped it up in individual balls, and put it in the fridge for the girls to use when the party started. The girls each received a piece of parchment paper and a ball of cookie dough, and I laid out dozens of cookie cutters and a variety of sprinkles for them to use as well.

Rolling out cookies

Having fun

Sprinkles make it better

One of her sweet friends

Cutting out the cookies

Since we were already baking cookies, K agreed to have a cookie cake instead of a traditional birthday cake for her party. When the girls finished rolling out and cutting their cookies, they worked together to create a "cake" for K. It was fun to see what they came up with.

The unbaked "cake". They kind of went overboard on the sprinkles

 The cookie-baking process took longer than I anticipated, and we had to rush to open presents at the end. The cookie cake finished baking while she opened her presents, and the girls sang a quick "Happy Birthday" before departing with their plates of cookies.

Opening presents

Watching her open presents

Overall, I would say the party went well. I think the girls had fun, and I know that K did. If the birthday girl is happy, I count that as a success.

A Busy and Surreal Day

My hubby took the two older boys to a ranch for the weekend. That left me home with my daughters and toddler. I was not planning on doing anything special or unusual. In fact, housework was really the only item on my to-do list. Despite that fact, today provided some rather unexpected events.

I decided to go to the library this morning to return some books and videos and pick up a couple of books I had on hold. While there, I noticed people setting up for an event. After some investigation, I discovered that our library would be hosting a Culture Fest, with tables from various countries around the world. They were just setting up at that time, and I was not going to hang out for an hour with a baby and toddler. I chose to go home instead. I did, however, return after picking up K from ballet. We visited the various tables to try the delicious food of the various countries. Some of the countries represented included Russia (I tried borsch), Peru (I tried some pudding-like dessert and chicken in a sauce over potatoes), Ecuador (They were serving hominy and pork, but they ran out of the pork. The hominy had good flavor, though.), Nepal (They were serving a coleslaw-type salad), Egypt, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico (I tasted their chicken with molé). I told K that we should host a Sweden table next year.

After visiting the tables, we watched a short program with Mexican dancers, it was fun to see them swirling their skirts around, and S seemed to enjoy the music. He sat through the three or four dances without any issues. Little A watched intently as well.

On the way home, we stopped at a craft fair that a church was hosting. We perused the stalls, and K picked out a Broncos apron for Christmas. S chose a wooden helicopter that I am hoping will withstand the abuse of a two-year-old.

We finally arrived home for an early dinner. Then I was able to finish some housework before bedtime. While nursing A, I sat down to watch House Hunters International, and lo and behold, there was one of my teachers from high school. I thought she looked familiar, and I finally placed her. When I heard her last name, it confirmed my strong suspicion that I knew this lady, even after 20 years. It was so bizarre.

After a full day, I am ready for bed. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Minivans and Minivacations

Getting everyone to look at the camera is next to impossible

My wonderful sister-in-law came to visit us for a couple of days this week, and we decided to take advantage of her presence and do a little sight-seeing. We still needed to finish some schoolwork, but we eased up on the workload and took full advantage of the beautiful fall afternoons.

The first day, we visited a local candy shop where they make perfectly lovely toffee, brittle, and chocolates. The store serves ice cream and coffee as well, and the production floor is visible from a counter in the showroom. We ordered the kids ice cream and sent them to watch the day's production while we ordered our hot beverages. I was hoping they would be making toffee since that is fun to watch, but they were finishing up some carmel corn and then took a break. That was somewhat disappointing, but we perused the shelves and found some delicious treasures to purchase.

Little cutie

The following day, we drove up to the top of the Monument for an afternoon of hiking. We chose an easy trail that even S could enjoy. When we completed the hike, the kids turned in their booklets to earn their Junior Ranger Badges. H had not filled all his information out, but the lady was really kind and went through it orally with him.
My sweet SIL left Wednesday morning after being mauled my my kids crying, "Don't go! Don't go!" My heart echoed my kids' cries, but I knew she needed to depart. I hope to see her again before too long, but, for now, the memories will have to do.