Buckle up

I'm preparing for a rollerskating party of gigantic proportions. Tomorrow we celebrate D's & E's birthdays with 9 of their closest friends. I haven't stepped foot in the roller rink for decades, so I'm a little excited about it.

I've also been warned it has a distinct smell of sweaty feet. I don't really remember that from my youth.

Then again I do remember the rink having a distinct odor, but couldn't really place it. Apparently it was sweaty feet.

I'm on the final round of getting everything we need. This afternoon I'll be picking up Fun Dip, Nerds and some glow sticks for the goody bags. Everyone knows you can't have a skating party without some Fun Dip.

This year, since we are in our own house, we bought the girls their very own bikes. I can put that on here because they don't know I write about them on the internet.

We bought them the exact same bike. I've been looking for baskets to put on the bikes to make them unique.

Did you know they don't actually make baskets anymore. Sure, I can get a boring brown one that looks more bread basket at some fine dining establishment. I can't get white one, made of plastic with cute flowers on it. Like the one I had.

Unfortunately, when I look for bike license plates, they have almost every other name listed except the ones I need.

I'm thinking I'll have to go with bells or something. As I was looking, I came across this - a seatbelt for bikes.

In what world do we need a seatbelt for a bike but not a basket.

A sad world is what it is.

She's taking it to the floor

I was busy working off the portion of the bear cake that I ate and Zoe quickly wanted in on the action.

She loves the Wii Fit board, but doesn't quite understand the mechanics of how it works.

During one step aerobics session, she wanted to get on the board.

As she stood there, she clapped in time to the rhythm.

I see dance recitals in our future.

Maybe, just maybe, a dance off.

Or two.

The reason for the Wii Fit

My mom and I decided that we had always wanted to learn how to decorate cakes. Instead of buying all the supplies and then paying for a class, we decided to buy the Wilton's Course 1 book and try and teach ourselves.

On Saturday we met at my mom's house to practice our first lesson: using the tips.

She made little bear cakes to practice on.

We sat around her dining room table (Zoe, Grandma Lily and Grandma Kathy) to try our hand at decorating a bear. We decided on the panda design and got to putting the decorating bags together and dying frosting black.

Zoe had already started in with her frosting and her bear.

As I sat down at my spot, I saw this. Apparently you don't need to actually put the frosting on the bear to eat it.

After realizing that some decorating frosting needs to be thinned and that an hour after you begin to decorate using a 16 tip and tiny stars you will have a hand cramp that will make you want to eat the cake you just decorated for comfort.

Without further ado, my bear.

His eyes look a little cross, but apparently I was supposed to use tip 4 and decided to buck the mold.

The view from the back. So cute with his little tail.

Me with proof that I could decorate a cake. Since my hand is still cramped from all the decorating and the Wii Fit, I'm not sure when I'll get to the next lesson.

My decorating partner, enjoying my bear. Notice the black frosting! It came off Sunday night in her bath.

I'm so glad we got a Wii Fit just in time to start cake decorating.

It helps those stiff muscles really relax.

I am unbalanced

This weekend N and I came across a deal that couldn't be passed up. We bought a Wii Fit.

On Friday nights we're usually in bed around 9:45. Not last Friday. We stayed up until 11 o'clock playing with the Wii.

I honestly thought it would be more fun than challenging. While it is incredibly fun, it's really hard. I did some hula hooping. For 3 minutes. I didn't know I had so many muscles in my hips.

I even convinced N to hula hoop. He's already a pro.

We spent the weekend playing around with it and trying the yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games.

N is very good at all the balancing. I am terrible.

I was called unbalanced more than once this weekend.

If that wasn't pleasant enough, I was also weighed and measured. According to the Wii Fit my correct age is 35 (which is 4 years older than I actually am).

Apparently I'm out of shape and unbalanced.

The good news is that I can totally entertain the crowds at the next sock hop.

Friday Five Faves - vol. 10

I'm not quite sure where this week had gone. It seems to have flown by. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining it's Friday, I'm just praying that this feeling stops so the weekend seems long.

Here is my 5 fives in no particular order:

1) Zoe's talking. This week she saw N's car in the driveway and yelled, "DAD!" Then she goes, "no, daddy at kool." She knew he wouldn't be home and she knew enough to say he was at school.

There are times I still look at her as the 2 pound baby I first met and it brings tears to my eyes to see the girl she's becoming.

2) N's kool. For the last year N's been on a wait list for the degree program at school. Yesterday he found out that he's been accepted. He will begin the degree program in the fall.

While we are completely excited that he can pursue his dream of earning a degree, we both know it's going to be hard work. We're both a bit worn out on this schedule, but it'll be worth it in the end.

I couldn't be more proud of the fact that he's worked full-time and gone to school full time for the last year. He's worked very hard to get where he's at. I know God has some amazing things in store for him.

3) LifeWater by Sobe. I normally don't like flavored waters. I like it ice cold, plain, NO lemon and NO ice. N on the other hand hates water. That is until he discovered LifeWater. His favorite is the black & blue berry, which I think is appropriate if you know N's line of work!

I had a sip and was impressed. It's really great flavored water.

I'm more impressed that they have N drinking water regularly now!

4) Pretend. Zoe is into pretend. She loves to feed her dolls, host tea parties and make spaghetti and meatballs out of Play-Doh. We play pretend all day. Last night she had her head on my shoulder, patted my back and then made a burping sound. She looked at me and said, "MOM!"

5) Flowers. This weekend is the last chance to order flowers from the Washington Bulb Company. Every year they host at Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon, WA. They have the most gorgeous tulips I have ever seen. I ordered some bulbs while I still lived in Puyallup and was blown away by the size and beauty of them.

If you order by the 15th, they will give you 20 free bulbs. Granted you won't actually see the flowers until next spring, but I can assure you they are worth the wait.

Have a great week all.

Just like Daddy

Happy Birthday Grammy

When N and I got married I inherited a whole new family. I can honestly say that I love and cherish each one of them.

Two people that helped shape N into the awesome guy he is today are his Grammy and Grandpa. I never had the opportunity to meet N's Grandpa, but I do have the awesome opportunity to have a relationship with Grammy.

For some reason, knowing how important this woman is to N made me a bit intimidated by her. It wasn't until Christmas 2006 that I had an opportunity to just be with her, to talk with her and get to know her better. I immediately understood the relationship she had with N and how she had come to mean so much to him.

Grammy is a woman of Godly character, genuine love and continual joy. You cannot help but want to be around her. I am so grateful that God has put her in our lives and that our girls have her as a role model.

Happy Birthday Grammy/G.G.! Our lives are richer because of you. We hope your day is as full of as many blessings as you are to us. Love you!