The Gift of Sight...and some party pictures

Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother's Day started off on a bit of a dramatic note when I decided that I was going blind about fifteen minutes after waking-up this morning. Despite cleaning and putting on my contacts, my vision was still blurry and altered. Instead of thinking of rational possibilities for such issues, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that a brain tumor had damaged my sense of sight during the night while I slept.


Later I realized that I had accidentally put my husband's contacts in my eyes rather than my own. Once that situation was resolved and all worries about potential blindness at a young age were subsided, the rest of the day carried on nicely. Isaac was good as gold today while Evelyn was over the whole "Look at me, I'm 1!" bit and was more on the cranky side (despite the fact that I reminded her several times that it was her birthday today and she should be happy).


As promised, here are the pictures of Miss E's first birthday party. We had a "Garden" theme and held the festivities in our backyard. She loved the attention and seemed to be quite happy with her party. When I laid her down for a nap that afternoon (it was a morning party...the best kid party time in my opinion), she was smiling a big cheesy grin. It was a good day, my friend.

Despite my best efforts to hot glue a sign to our gate to the backyard, the strong winds ripped it down pre-party.

The winds were no match for these decorations...which were nailed to the fence. Out of a dozen balloons, we only lost one.On the menu: carrots and dip, Ritz crackers (Evelyn's favorite), croissant sandwiches (the party tray from Sam's Club...an excellent value),pink lemonade, and Dirt (brownies topped with ice cream, crushed oreos, and gummy worms)Getting ready to par-tayThe cake

Oh, the cake. It became my worst enemy. Despite the fact that it was yummy, the end result did not match the picture in my head. I was going for a flower pot sitting on grass...with a pale pink base. I accidentally used a bit too much food coloring on the icing when attempting to make it pink...thus the hot pink effect. Also, I decided to save time by using canned icing rather than whipping some up myself. Canned icing...although tasty...is much too thick and runny for what I was needing. I wanted the flowers in the pot to be made from gumdrops because the March issue of Southern Living made it appear to be quite the simple process. It is not. Tobe and I made a late night run to Wal-Mart...while on our date night..to purchase .97 cent daisies to sub in for the failed gumdrop flowers.Unwrapping presents...the least favorite part for Evelyn A pink and green soccer ball from Daddy (courtesy of Mommy's mad shopping skills)
The girl loves her hats....and her daddy! Digging in the sandFamily shot....where no one is looking at the same camera. Classic.
Testing the cake
Although the pictures make it seem like Evelyn devoured the cake...she never actually put it in her mouth. She simply smashed icing between her fingers, in her hair, on her body and all over the highchair. There was talk of spraying her off with the garden hose, but I quickly vetoed that idea. We did an initial bath in the kitchen sink before scrubbing her really well in the actual bathtub.

This little boy...what can I say about him? First, he spent the morning hours pre-party hanging out with his PopPop. During that time he ate a dozen doughnut holes, inspected every boat and fish at Bass Pro Shop (their favorite location to go "play"), and came home wearing his first cap. I have never laughed so hard in my life as I did when I saw him walking up the front sidewalk sporting this head gear. Poor thing. I do believe he inherited Tobe's and my ability to not look good in hats.

This boy was wonderful yesterday. I was nervous as to what his behavior might be considering sister would be getting all the attention. People inquired as to whether or not to bring him a present as well, which I politely asked them not to because I did not want to set the precedent that he or Evelyn get presents at the other's birthday party. We had many discussion last week leading up to the party about how it was Evelyn's party and that she would be getting presents. We talked about how Isaac's birthday will be here soon and then it would be his turn...but for this week it was Evelyn's day. Apparently all that discussion sunk in (or I just beat him down with my constant talking), because he was a happy and helpful big brother yesterday. It also helped that his friend Morgan was there and he barely noticed there was a party going on as he basked in the glow of playing with the beloved Morgan....but he was wonderful anyway.
As I close this post, I want to wish all the mothers who read this blog a very happy Mother's Day. My own mother and I were able to enjoy a yummy breakfast just the two of us at our favorite local bakery. What a treat.

In case you are needing a treat for yourself on this Sunday evening, I have two recommendations that have greatly blessed my life lately:

1. The Sesame Street Old School Edition DVDs....if you watched Sesame Street in the 1970's you must watch these DVDs. Your childhood will come rushing back to you in a nostalgic blur. I checked this out at the library "for the children" and can't want to get the other episodes. Excellent children's programming.

2. Ben and Jerry's Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream....it will change your life. Enough said.