Tag - Birthdays

Bip turns 3 today!  Now we have to pay for him to get into Disneyland.  No matter, we’re so happy to have him along, at Disneyland and anywhere, any day!

Happy Birthday, Bip!
We are so glad you are our son!

So yesterday was Pumpkin Girl’s special day. Several years ago, Philip started taking each child out to lunch on their birthday. Somehow that morphed into the whole family going out, if the birthday child chooses, to dinner. Since Pumpkin’s birthday is so close to Christmas, Phil can easily take the whole day off to spend with her.

What did she choose to do? Go to IKEA. Love that girl! More Disney Cruises for her.

Off we drove to our local Ikea, which is about 40 minutes away. We ate lunch there, then dropped Pumpkin and Boo off at the children’s play area while we shopped. I don’t really like most of Ikea’s stuff. I’m more of a country furnishings kind of girl, but even I can manage to spend some money there.

Two bags of meatball for Bip who could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus some more of their bag clippy things (cheaper than Pampered Chef and work just as well). I also found this little magazine rack to hold books downstairs. We used to have a book bin in the living room, but I don’t know when and why it went away. This is cuter anyway.

But the best thing we bought was this ottoman with storage capabilities.

(Don’t you love how with a some careful cropping the living room mess is instantly gone? ) It’s got a washable, denim colored slip cover which has blue piping that matches the couch in the background. It also goes very well with the armchairs (bought at Ikea at last-year’s birthday lunch) in our red, white and blue living room.

But wait! There’s more! Life the lid on this ottoman and look inside:

It’s our school books! No, not all of them, of course. Just the ones currently in use. History, science and religion are in the two bottom piles, with my teacher’s guides and workbooks in the top piles. For over a year now, I’ve been using a rolling rubbermaid bin for in-use books. It was strictly functional and not one bit attractive. It often doubled as a coffee table. It got pushed to an out of the way, but still very visible location during the weekend and school breaks. It worked and when you live in cramped quarters, you do what you can.

But now, our Ottoman of Organization can stay right in front of the couch. Our school books are readily accessible when needed and out of sight when not. Bip can do somersaults from it on to the couch. Philip even put magic sliders under the legs so we can move it when we want. I love it!

We all left Ikea very happy. Boo and Pumpkin had a great time playing, I had a great time shopping. We came home and Pumpkin opened her presents (lots of pink!), then we had cheesecake.

A good day, don’t you think?

This time we wish a Happy Birthday to our sweet Pumpkin Girl! She turns 7 years old today and what a fun seven years it has been. She is our chapter book reading, dancing and singing, big brother squeezing, joke telling, big eyed girl. What a blessing she is! Happy birthday, Pumpkin!

It’s Boo’s Birthday.

Nine years ago the most beautiful little baby arrived. And I do mean little – 6 pounds 1 ounce! And though every day since then has had it’s fill of challenges, each day has also been filled with love and laughter.

Our Little Boo is full of energy…and words! If he’s not talking, it’s only because he’s sleeping. And even that’s not completely true because he talks in his sleep. He is excitable and fun to tease, helpful around the house and generous to a fault. He is a loyal friend, a good student and an all around great guy.

I guess he’s really not so little anymore. Today our Boo is 9. Happy Birthday, Boo! Today you are halfway to being a man. But you’ll always be my baby.

Happy Birthday to our Little Bip.

Two years ago today you entered our lives and turned our tears into dancing.

We’re glad you’re here.

Store bought cake (pink!) with princesses added.

Check!

Pin the tiara on the princess game hung on the wall.

Check!

Cards for Princess Charades printed out.

Check!

Cupcakes ready for decorating.

Check!

Princess plates, napkins and cups standing by for lunch.

Check!

Ipod loaded with the definitive Princess Party Mix.

Check!

Two Digornio pizzas cooking in the oven. Check, check!

Must be time for a Princess Half Birthday Party for Pumpkin Girl!

It’s my birthday, too, yeah!

Suffice it to say that I’m still in my 30’s. 

One of my birthday presents arrived last night, one of them new-fangled iPod Nanos.  I’m so hip and happening, I can hardly stand it.  We actually went to the PX on Wednesday to buy one, but they were still all cleaned out from the holidays.  We looked at other MP3 players.  Actually, I looked at them while dh went on and on about gigabytes and storage and what I did and did not need.  I just smiled and looked pretty.  When he stopped talking, I asked him if these very nice, tiny little things were iPods.  Then he decided that I was pretty clueless and therefore, did not need an iPod.  We sent in search of socks while he very patiently explained to me that iPod is a brand name, like Kleenex and Walkman.  And that these iPods play music (which I knew). 

Back at home, I did some research, figured out exactly what my dh was talking about, discovered that indeed, an iPod (the brand) was what I wanted, found a good price and bought it.  Even got one-day shipping for $1.99.  Then I bought a shiny pink iPod case on eBay.

Yesterday, while waiting for the UPS to arrive with my present, I uploaded all my favorite songs from my best of the 80’s CDs on to my computer.   The iPod arrived right before we all left for our Cub Scout Pack meeting, but I had time to plug it into the computer and get it all charged up and ready for use.  I’m actually looking forward to my workout this afternoon.  It’ll be nice to listen to Songs From My Youth instead of watching myself in the mirror.

So anyway, it’s my birthday.  My grandpa will be happy to tell you about the night I was born and that my mom went on and on about how beautiful I was and how he thought I looked like a drowned rat. LOL!  Grandpa’s – gotta love them!

Happy Birthday to our Pumpkin Girl!

What a wonderful 6 years it has been. You have filled our home with singing, dancing and such sweetness and happiness. You make us smile everyday, our beloved little Pumpkin Girl.