Hey folks, sorry I've been AWOL.   I've been sick.  My parents were in town for a visit, etc. etc.  But, alas, here I am.

We had a wonderful birthday party for all four of the kids this past weekend.  All their friends from Lifegroup came and we hosted it at a local "inflatables" place.  They all climbed, jumped, slid, screamed etc.  (Myself included)  It was a blast.  Instead of gifts, we did a book exchange.  I know that buying four gifts all at once would totally stink, so that's how we handled it.  I just tell the kids that the party is their gift and their friends are coming to celebrate them and that's plenty.  Amen?

Besides, the new books they get are always so cool.  And the friends get to go home with new books as well.  We had so much fun planning the goodie bags, too.  The kids learned how to budget as we shopped (at dollar tree) and we ended up spending only $1.00 per guest.  Amazing.

Now that the grandparents have left, we are back to school as normal.  It was a tough day getting back into the swing of things.  Tough for me too.  AND...I travelled across town for my daughter's dance class only to realize it had been cancelled due to the holiday.  We ended up at a local indoor kids' playland for about an hour so they could unwind for a bit.

I am in utter disbelief that I'm about to have a 3, 5, 9 and 11 year old.  It does go fast.  (Sometimes, I wish it would go just a BIT faster)  However, during church this past Sunday, I jotted down some goals for my almost 9 year old.  I am going to write her a letter for her ninth birthday and share my "vision" with her -- of course she can feel free to add -- but I just want her to know that I see wonderful things for her future.  I told her that we are winding down her childhood as she moves from this place into her "tween" years and there are some things she needs to work on and accomplish as we go forward this next year.  For whatever reason, that jargon really works with her.  She wanted to know if she could hang the list on her wall to remind her of the areas she needs to work on.  That's my girl!

Allright, I'm toast yet again.  One day this pace will slow down.  Oh, I forgot to mention that I will be selling my jewelry creations at a booth on Valentine's day.  Much of my attention and free time has been on this endeavor, which is another reason for my blog-neglect.  I will post pics soon.

Later.