Birthday Cake Belly

On Friday we celebrated James' 47th birthday. It was a quiet affair... just the four of us, a pizza and red velvet cupcakes. Every year I try to make James a red velvet cake, and every year I mess it up. This year, I decided to play it safe. I ordered half a dozen cupcakes from our favorite cake shoppe. Everyone was happy, but Josie was thrilled. Cupcakes are her favorite thing in the world! (at least this week they are...) Here, she shows off her "Cupcake Belly":



We have all been incredibly sick for the majority of this month. It started with Maddie, she let herself get run down by not getting enough sleep, and the rest of us followed in short order. I thought I had dodged the 'crud' but this was not the case. Even James, who normally stays healthy, was down for a few days. It's been just terrible.

Worse of all is watching Josie suffer with a horrible stuffy nose and wicked cough. Her sleeping pattern has been disrupted- so I'm up most nights around 2:30 AM comforting her. When I get up, the dogs get up. So, in the middle of the night our house is lit up like a Christmas tree, the dogs are running around in the yard and I'm stumbling around, looking for the most promising option for temporary relief of coughing spells.

During this time, we also had painters in the house. We decided to lighten up the kitchen and family room areas - as I've stated many times, these areas are in the rear of the house. The yard is heavily forested so the house gets only filtered light for most of the year. Now that all the leaves are gone, we get a bit more natural light, but it's still not enough to brighten my rooms or my mood.

We will be celebrating Thanksgiving at my brother's home in the Richmond area. It's not a long drive from here and it's the first time in while that I don't have to worry about cooking. Josie had her Thanksgiving celebration at school last Thursday and the kids were just adorable. All dressed like pilgrims.

Thats about all from here right now. I would like to wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that you all take the time to visit us here.

My Birthday Dinner

From Birthday Dinner 10/1/08 8:37 AM

I'm coming clean right now... I totally blew my healthy eating plan last night. I haven't had a hamburger for nearly half a year. And french fries? Well, it's been a long time since I've had those too. James & the girls decided that I deserved a treat, so the picture above shows what I had for my birthday dinner. It was awesome!!!

Oh, and the cake was fantastic too! Although the sugar gave me an upset stomach, it was soooo good going down!



Regretfully, I'm back on track today. But, I'll only turn 46 once. 'Nuf said.

Red (letter) Day

This week, Josie's preschool class is learning about the color red, the letter A and designing a 'family tree'. All the kids are supposed to wear something red today - and I found this most appropriate outfit at Gymboree over the weekend. (On Sale, too!)

Today is also my birthday, so James scheduled his meetings close to home. He's taking Josie to school today while I head off to the gym for a cycling class. Then, for dinner tonight, we will have two treats I have been denying myself for months... a Five Guys burger and some chocolate cake!!

Here's a few shots of my stylin' princess before she left for school this morning:









And here's another snazzy outfit she wore last week:




Many thanks to my dear friend, Sue, for the lovely personalized birthday card I received yesterday. (I love it!) and to my family who always remember - much better than I do!!