Nine is Fine

Today is Dee's ninth birthday! My baby boy is nine years old! Time just keeps marching on...

I interrogated him about his "Favorites" this morning so I could record just what life is like for a nine year old boy these days.

Let's get his favorite of favorites out of the way first: FOOD. (This kid is a bottomless pit.)

Food: tamales, chocolate chip pancakes (every Saturday morning), Oreos, baked potatoes, hamburgers
Drink: cream soda
Place to eat: Tepenyaki, Wendy's (no more kids meals for this guy! He likes to order off the adult menu now. "Plain hamburger, fries, and root beer with lots of ketchup on the side"
Veggie: "COOKED carrots. NOT raw."
Fruit: Green apples
Candy: Airheads

On to other more "trivial" things...

Color: black and red
Toy: Skylanders, Legos
Thing to wear: pajamas (particularly Skylander jammies)
To do: play video games (currently obsessed with Skylander Swap Force)
Thing about school: "Nothing, I don't like school."
Movie: Turbo, Monsters University, Despicable Me 2
Person: "You, Mom!" but I think he would say Dad if I wasn't around. ;)
Place to go: Pocatello
Thing to do outside: "Shoot bows and arrows", ride bike
Thing to do with family: Go out to dinner
Holiday: birthday and Christmas
Song: "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim (only because it's the music for a Skylander commercial). We also have recently discovered that he harbors a secret love for anything by ABBA. (But really...who doesn't love ABBA??). He also likes music that has a lot of electric sounds in it (ie. Tron soundtrack)
Church song: "I am a Child of God"
Thing about the world: "That it invented TV."
TV show: Family Feud
Thing to sleep with: one regular pillow and two pillow pets all propped on top of each other. Coverings in THIS specific order: sheets, bed spread, army blanket, Mario blanket, Pooh Bear blanket (has to have the soft side UP and Pooh Bear head up), and to top it all off, an electric blanket on HIGH.
Thing about self: "That I have Skylanders. That I'm alive. That I have allergies."
Thing about being 8: "Playing with my friends."

Best friend: Gage G.
Other friends: Jack, Stephen, Xavier, Damien

What do you want to be when you grow up: A hunter or a salesman (of everything)
What would you do with a million dollars?: "Buy everything. Buy all the Skylanders. And if I have money left over...an iPad."
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?: "College"
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?: "A graveyard. Or Hawaii."
What about a mission or marriage?: "Never."

(Someone please tell me this kid's priorities will change before he's thirty and still playing Skylanders in our basement.)

This kid cracks me up. He really is so very good at heart. He has a very obsessive nature where he hyper focuses on one thing for a long time (Ahem...just like his mother). Right now that obsession revolves around Skylanders and where his next meal is coming from, but I hope that one day it will come in handy.

Dee has such a gentle heart and is very tender with his sisters. (Unless he is need of a good wrestling session and Dad's not available.) Dee has gotten very good at cleaning his room. He loves to help in the kitchen. Dee also loves playing team sports and is discovering a "like" for reading. He's usually up for trying new things and I love his adventurous spirit.

Dee asks me constantly if we can have tamales for dinner, but they take so darn long to make I always tell him no. I just couldn't turn him down on his special day so ALL DAY Saturday was spent making 100 plus tamales. We had tamales for his birthday dinner on Sunday and now we have several packages frozen to be enjoyed throughout the next several months. A win for all of us!

For his birthday cake he asked if I could make the "Undead" Skylander symbol. I gave it my best shot; this was my first time making and using fondant. We'll call this decent.

Since Dee is allergic to milk and I was all out of his special "butter" I used coconut oil to make the frosting for the first time. My mixer is not working so well so there were lots of little chunks of coconut oil in the frosting. Oh well. It sure smelled amazing.

He sure seemed pleased so that's all that really matters.

I forgot to buy candles too, but I think the matches go well with the "Undead" thing we have going on here.


Now if only Amazon would deliver his gifts that I ordered a couple of weeks ago...

Nine is fine. Hopefully ten will be even better! Happy Birthday Dee! We sure love you!!

There's Nothing Funny about Potty Training

Little Cee woke up this morning and decided it was really, truly time to potty train. Actually, she's had that in mind for awhile. It's just now, we're all on the same page. And home long enough to do it.

She's been using the toilet all day with no accidents! #1 and #2!!! Hooray!

*Please don't let this be an April Fool's joke! Please don't let this be an April Fool's joke! Please don't let this be an April Fool's joke!*

After it took me almost a year to potty train older sister, Elle, I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I HATE HATE HATE potty training. It really has to be the worst part of having a baby. Honestly, I think I would rather go through labor and delivery again instead of potty training. At least with labor and delivery there's a time frame. And drugs. Lots of drugs.

Wish us luck!

In other news, it's Spring Break and we are having loads of fun with Daddy off of work. Last weekend we headed up to Hometown, Idaho and spent a few days with our families. I have mountains of memories of playing with my many cousins as a kid and I love seeing my children making those same memories with all their little cousins. It was fun watching them split off into their respective age groups and busy themselves in pairs or trios.

They got to pet horses in Tiny Town, Wyoming. They "helped" the uncles build a tree house at Ya-Ya's. Lots of running around Grandma and Grandpa's big yard. Decorating eggs. Lots of yummy food. Two Easter egg hunts. A late-night barn dance. An impromptu talent show. And Mommy and Daddy pointing out lots of "this happened there" sites along the way. 

Life is very, very good.

My Yummy Valentine

I've noticed a developing trend in our home on Valentine's Day. In fact, I might even be bold enough to say we have a true "Day of Love" tradition! Ooo! I'm a sucker for a good tradition. Especially a tradition that involves food.

For the past several years we have skipped the romantic dinner out for two and opted instead for a fun family dinner at home. Sure, this means more work for me as the primary food preparer in our home, but I find I quite enjoy it, especially as I feel this culinary contribution is my own special valentine to the ones I love the most. The way to your family's hearts are through their stomachs, right?



Don't you love my fancy china?

Last year my yummy valentine was mini-meatloaves (with ketchup on top shaped in a heart), mashed potatoes (with heart-shaped pieces of cheese on top), and kiwi and strawberry slices (which almost look like hearts if you really use your imagination).

This year I stepped it up a notch and I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to top it (even with heart-shaped cheese).

My Yummy Valentine 2013 Menu:

Drink:

Personal choice (everyone was thrilled to be allowed to drink soda)

Appetizer:

Caesar salad (and regular salad for Dee)

Main course:

New York Steak with a garlic/parsley compound butter

Steamed Snow King Crab legs (so sweet and salty already, no butter necessary)

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Asparagus

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits (made from scratch)

Dessert:

Flan

Valentine's candy

Not to toot my own horn, but the food was DELICIOUS! Joe prepared the steak perfectly--it was tender and tasty--and I made everything else. This was the first time I've ever made garlic mashed potatoes or prepared crab legs. If I had known how easy both of these are to make...I would've been doing this for years! I'm a big fan of crab meat, but because of the expense rarely eat it at a restaurant. This was our children's first experience with crab and they really liked it too. I do believe we will be having more crab legs at home in the future.

The kids trying to figure out how to get the crab meat out of the shells.

The flan was so-so. I used the recipe out of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It was underwhelming and almost tasteless. I'll have to try a different recipe next time. Or find a sweet little old Mexican lady to make it for me.

While everyone really liked the food, it was the table that was the highlight for my children. I spread out a tablecloth (a true rarity at our house) and used some special square paper plates I found at the dollar store. I gathered a few candles for the middle and spread some valentine candy down the length of the table. Not incredibly fancy, but something out of the ordinary.

But the crowning touch was the goblets. The kids were over-the-moon about them. And that's exactly why I bought them for our dinner. How often do you get to drink out of a goblet? I remember being pretty thrilled with the chance to swig out of stemware when I was a kid too. It's the little things that are magical. (And thank you, Dollar Store, for relieving any anxiety over possibly broken goblets. "No worries. It was only a dollar.")

The fancy table inspired the womenfolk to get gussied up. All the girls put on their dresses and "jewels".

It was a lovely dinner for a perfectly lovely way to spend an evening of love with the love of my life and the four little loves that are a result of our love! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

Love is...

At 17 years old I knew what love was.

Turns out, I was wrong.

Then at 22, as a newlywed, I just KNEW what love was.

Wrong again.

Now, I'm 31, still married with four children, and I certainly know what love is.

Love is...

...tag teaming bath night.
...listening to country music even though you hate country music.
...saving the biggest piece of meat/peanut butter candy/Milano cookie for him.
...watching your husband dance with another girl...your daughter.
...going to Stake Conference with four young children.
...eating sushi when you'd rather have "real food".
...sitting through Les Miserables/Twilight/Pride and Prejudice.
...saying "no".
...saying "yes".
...laughing during *cough* loooove-making *cough*.
...calling to check-in every night.
...siding with your spouse.
...driving a beat-up mini-van instead of a brand new Ford pickup.
...staying home.
...shaving your legs even though it isn't Sunday.
...not having to shave your legs.
...emptying the dishwasher.
...TWO boxes of chocolate just to make sure she gets the kind she really likes.
...making chocolate chip pancakes for the kids while she goes for a run.
...knowing when to let the stupid, little things slide.
...giving your wife, who is applying mascara, a warning BEFORE stopping the car.
...looking past stretch marks and saggy, deflated, post-baby breasts.
...knowing when to keep it to yourself.
...cutting your shower short so there's enough hot water left for someone else.
...replacing the toilet paper roll the "right" way.
...leaving tomatoes off half of the dinner.
...knowing lost wedding bands don't really matter in the long run.
...not using the "D" word.
...bringing in the mail, pumping gas, and shoveling snow.
...trying to replicate his mother's recipe.
...telling your children how wonderful their mother/father is.
...leftovers and Netflix.
...not cutting your hair because he likes it long.
...clearing the table after dinner.
...never, ever, ever giving up, even when the rest of the world seems to be.

That's what I think love is. But maybe when I'm 83, I'll really know.

Jar Love #47: Homemade Sugar Scrub for Mothers' Day Gifts

When I was looking for Mothers' Day gift ideas a couple of weeks ago, my love of jars may or may not have influenced my search results.

Homemade sugar scrub...? In canning jars...??

Yes. Please. And thank you!

The truth: I know knew very little about what exactly one does with sugar scrub. (Do you eat it or wash walls with it?) But after a bit of research I discovered sugar scrub (and even more so HOMEMADE sugar scrub) is all the rage for those poor, cracked, scaly, summer-ravaged feet and hands out there. It claims to exfoliate and rejuvinate even the most abused skin. Ahhh! And I've been suffering in silence all this time.

So I figured I would give it a go. I found a recipe for homemade lemon sugar scrub. Now to find all the "gourmet" ingredients...

Sugar. As in regular, plain, old, ordinary, baking, table, cereal sugar. Check.
EVOO. Extra virgin olive oil. Check.
Lemon juice. Bottled. Check.
Essential oils. Screeeech!

After a tad more research I discovered essential oils can be obtained at your local natural/health food store. One quick "Kids! To the van!" later...I had some essential oils in my hot little hand. Lavender. Mmmm.

Back home and about 2.41 minutes later I had my own resealable jar full of homemade lemon sugar scrub. Fresh, fragrant, and fully capable of exfoliating all that yucky skin off my hands and feet. I tried it out on my scaly legs too and it worked beautifully! Smooth, satiny, and rejuvinated with lemon and lavender!

Side note: Someone mentioned that sugar scrub was good to shave with. I don't know if I was doing something wrong or if I'm just a wimp, but after one swipe with the razor...I have come to the conclusion that you should indeed NOT shave with sugar scrub. OUCH!

Armpit note: Scrub is not to be used on your face either. Facial skin is much too delicate.

After making my own jar of scrub I was hooked. The world must know of the goodness of homemade sugar scrub! I went on to make a couple of quadrupled batches in my big popcorn bowl. My childen kept begging for a taste as I giddily stirred my sugar, EVOO, lemon juice, and essential oils concoctions.

25 eight ounce canning jars later...

...I had Mothers' Day gifts for the moms of the primary children of our ward, thank yous for Teacher Appreciation Week, and more Mothers' Day gifts for our own moms, grandmas, and friends.

The beauty of homemade sugar scrub (besides the obvious eye appeal of it sitting on the counter in a clear canning jar) is how easy it is to make, adjust, and personalize. Don't like lemon or lavender? No problem! Try peppermint instead. Or vanilla. Or use brown sugar instead of white. Or switch out the EVOO for grapeseed oil. You really can't go wrong with this. There are tons of free recipes online for homemade sugar scrubs.

Once you have your jars filled, decorate and personalize your containers to your heart's desire. Again, if you're feeling creatively flat, go online for lots of decorating ideas. For my jars, I used a big circle paper punch to cut out circles of lemony yellow scrapbook paper. I applied it to the jar front and lid top with Modge Podge.

I figured there might be other people out there who are as clueless as I was about sugar scrubs so I added a label as well as a tag with the scrub ingredients, an explanation of what it was, how much to use, and to make sure to stir it up before each use.

I also wrote and attached a little poem to the Mothers' Day jars. I just couldn't let a good pun opportunity pass me by.

Recipe for Homemade Lemon Sugar Scrub (makes 12 oz with a bit to spare):
2.5 cups sugar
1 cup EVOO
4 TBSP lemon juice
several drops of essential oil

Combine ingredients in bowl. Mix thoroughly into a gritty paste. Pour into desired container. Seal tightly. Oil will separate as it sits; make sure to stir again before each use.

I know I'm a little late for Mothers' Day now, but this would make a great baby shower favor, an addition to a new mother basket, a thank you for the church ladies, or a "just because I was thinking of you" treat. And don't leave yourself out! Whip up a batch and spoil your own hands once in awhile. Especially after you've covered them in gardening grime, pasty paint, or crafting crud.

Happy Smothers' Day!

This morning I was lovingly greeted by an enthusiastic 5 year old daughter.

"Happy Smothers' Day, Mommy!"

She quickly corrected herself, but I kind of liked it better the first way.

We mothers, we like to smother. We will smother and cuddle and hug and kiss and and nag and worry and adore and cheer and support and loveloveLOVE you from the very first moment we hold you in our arms to our very last dying breath. And it's high time we received some appreciation for the smotherers we are.

So to all you smotherers out there...Happy Smothers' Day! May your day be absolutely overflowing with reciprocated smothering!

What do you do with all that leftover Easter CANdy?

I know the Easter Bunny's name.

It's Melanie.

More specifically my husband's Aunt Melanie. Every year she hosts the most spectacular Easter Egg Hunt I have ever seen. The kids (almost) get tired of picking up the hundreds of eggs she lovingly stuffs with candy and money each year. Her annual labor of love is amazing! Every year we head home with bags and bags of candy in tow.

And man, do I love candy!

Too much.

So when I have bags and bags of it sitting in my house I'm more inclined to "love" it than is healthy. My kids love it too. Like most kids (and adults) they don't know when to say "enough" until they have tummy aches and other *ahem* issues. I finally wised up this year and figured out what to do with all that leftover Easter candy.

It's kind of silly how proud I am of these jars full of goodies. You'd think I planted those gummy bear seeds myself.

Seeing those freshly sealed jars makes me giddy for several reasons. Nothing was wasted. No one feels obligated to eat all the candy all at once. And some night in July we can pop open a jar of jelly beans (Vintage April 2012) wafting in the heady scents of Easter, savoring each soft, sugary bite, while reliving the good old days of Spring.

I had so much fun packing the Easter candy that I began looking for more things to preserve. I had a bunch of gourmet candy canes leftover from Christmas. I crushed them up with the intention of adding them to hot chocolate next winter. Brilliant, no?

And now I just might be getting carried away...

Chocolate chips, Oreos, more leftover Christmas candy, gluten-free noodles, gluten-free cookies, and gluten-free pretzels. All sealed and saved for another day. Nothing wasted. Nothing wanted.

HAPPY Easter indeed!

HERE is a blog post on how to dry pack.

And HERE is a vlog on dry packing.

A SUPER Super Mario Bros. Birthday Party - Let's A-GO!

Last fall, right around the time school started, two men entered my son's life...

For a six year old boy this was a life altering event. In fact, I am considering cataloguing all his pictures and memories with "B.M." and "A.M." (Before Mario and After Mario). I have hope that there will be an After After Mario, but for now I'm not holding my breath.

The kid is 100% obsessed.

Everything is/will be/should be/has to be Mario.

Clothes. Bedding. Toys. TV shows. Imaginary play. Conversations. Dreams. Halloween costumes. Food. Christmas ornaments.

You name it. The boy at least wishes it was Mario.

As his mother...I HATE IT. I was raised in a home where Nintendo and other video game systems were considered a "waste of time; time better spent doing something to enrich or educate your mind and body". That was my take as a new parent too.

But I also remember what it was like being a kid and wanting to be involved in what all your friends were into. In this day and age, first grade boys LOVE Mario and Luigi. As superficial as it seems, much of my boy's friendships seem to be based on all things Mario.

So it was no surprise that this year, as Dee's birthday came closer, he had two requests: 1- "Can I PLEASE have a birthday party with my friends?" and 2- "MARIO!"

As the years go by and my parenting style adapts I am working to do some things the way my children want versus the way I want. If it were up to my we would avoid the mainstream and pop culture when it comes to things like bedding, toys, clothes, and birthday parties. But it's not up to me. It's Dee's birthday party. It's his choice. So...*sigh*...Mario...it is. (This isn't to say my children get everything they want. But it's time for me to let go of some of the control and let them form their own personalities and tastes.)

Confession: I complained to begin with. I may have even tried a bit of coaxing and bribing to not have a Mario party. But after I let go and let live the brain juices started flowing. A Super Mario party would never have been my first choice, but it was so much fun to plan and prepare for!

**Note: After cruising around on the Internet I figured out that none of my ideas are wholly original. There are a lot of fun, creative moms out there. This is just my take on a Super Mario party. And many of those moms are doing the same thing so I'm not referencing any of this.

I hit up my local party store for Mario themed invitations.

Just a little mom-to-mom helpful hint here: This was our very first friend party. Dee wanted to invite a few boys from his school class. Since we didn't have all their addresses he took the invites to school and handed them out as class was ending. This was a horrible mistake. I happened to be there that day and watched--along with the other classmates--as only a select few got the invites. I would have loved to invite them all, but this was just not possible. It was heart wrenching and I could see we had gone about this all wrong. I talked to Dee's teacher about it afterwards and she advised the best method was for the child to come early to school and pass them out before class starts. That way the kids are still pretty distracted and not as many are getting their feelings hurt. Now I know what to do next time.

Dee requested a pinata for his party so the week before I worked on making a Yoshi egg pinata. Somehow I find myself making pinatas a couple of times a year. Store pinatas are really expensive! You can make your own for pennies on the dollar. While it can be messy and kind of a long process, it's really simple and a lot of fun. (I posted a how-to back in 2010.)

I filled the pinata with candy and some plastic coins I also found at the party store (400 count for $9.99).

Cracking the pinata open was one of three games we played at the party. For another game I decorated Easter eggs (I just pulled them out of storage) with white dots to look like more Yoshi eggs. I used plain white computer paper and a circle punch I have. While I watched Leno one night I punched holes and taped three on each egg. Then I filled the eggs with various numbers of coins. For this game we hid them around the house (it's too cold to go outside) and the kids ran around finding as many eggs as they could, putting them into brightly colored paper bags with their names markered on.

The third game was a balloon game. I bought green, brown, black, and white balloons to represent the turtles, goombas, chain chomps, and ghosts (respectively). Before blowing them up I stretched them open and dropped in various amounts of plastic coins.

I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to do with the balloons. In my head I imagined the boys going through some kind of obstacle course to pop the balloons with their feet or bums. But on the day of the party it just wasn't going to work. There wasn't enough room with all the people in the house. My brother in law took over and taped them all on the wall in rows, drawing questions marks on them. The boys took turns throwing darts at them and collecting the coins after each turn. It worked perfectly! (Thanks Kip!)

At the end of the three games we helped the kids count their coins. First place got to pick one of two plush Mario figures I had purchased and used as table decorations. Second place got the remaining figure and third got a tiny little pair of plastic Mario and Luigi figurines that were left over from the cake decorations.

Speaking of the cake... I HATE decorating cakes! I always have the greatest ideas, but my cake skills are sadly lacking and by the time I'm done, the cake looks NOTHING like what I had envisioned. The entire process stresses me out way more than is healthy. Seriously. As I started on the decorating Saturday morning it wasn't long before my husband quietly collected up all the children and herded them out the door for awhile so Mommy could freak out all by herself. Note to self: Next year, avoid spontaneous combustion and leave the cake baking and decorating to the professionals.

However much hair got pulled out, the cake finally did get finished and while it once again isn't what I had envisioned, it's acceptable.

Before Christmas I ordered a LOT (as in a collection) of 18 Mario figurines off of Amazon.com so I could make Dee's Christmas ornament (I like to make my family's ornaments based on what they were doing or into that year. Obvious choice for Dee: Mario) and then have some left over for his cake. They were the perfect size on the cake. I also purchased some star candles which posed as the Star Power.

After Dee blew out the candles he had the choice to keep all the figurines for himself or hand them out to all the kids who were begging for them. What a good boy; he shared with his sisters, cousins, and friends. Those figurines were a hit! The kids were running around playing with them for a good hour after the games and cake were done.

Along with cake we served some of Dee's favorite treats. A birthday tradition we seem to be making is taking the kids to Winco which has an AWESOME bulk foods section including tons of candy. The birthday kid gets to pick a few of his favorites and we serve them at the party.We don't eat a lot of sugar most of the time so when birthdays roll around I say it's fair game.

When it came to plates, silverware, and cups I just couldn't justify spending as much as the party store wanted for Mario themed paper goods. Instead I purchased brightly colored plates (red, green, and blue), white napkins, and red plastic cups and called it good. I also purchased two bright blue table clothes from the dollar store. It was lovely to be able to just gather up the table cloth and throw the mess away when the party was over. Definitely worth $2.

We decorated the house with brightly colored balloons, streamer, and a pendant banner, all of which I purchased at the Dollar Store. I did splurge on some Mario themed stickers at the party store. I'm a little embarrassed to tell you how much I spent on them so I won't, but Dee really appreciated them and doubly so as they are now reused as wall decor for his room.

Before the party I cut several moustaches out of black felt (one sheet of felt at Walmart for $0.20) and gave them to each of the boys as they came in the house. I tried several ways to attach them to their faces, but found tape to be the most effective. Even then they didn't last long, but it was more about the novelty than anything.

As the boys left they received a little clear bag which contained Mario stickers, a note pad, and a little black bouncy ball that resembled the chain chomp balls from the game. If I had had more time I would have added a little tag that said something like: "GAME OVER. Wii thank you for coming to celebrate Dee's Super party!". Little boys could care less about stuff like that, but I thought it was cute and it still bugs me that I didn't have enough time to do it.

I realize this post has gotten irrationally long so I'll share a tutorial on my personal favorite part of the whole party... le pièce de résistance...The Piranha Plant Table Centerpieces! another day.

Until then...

Happy Super Birthday to my super little plumber who I think had a most excellent time at his Super Mario birthday party!

seven

In celebration of the birthday boy, here are seven things about my oldest and only son, Dee:

1. His favorite clothes are pajamas. He often changes into them as soon as he walks in the door from school  or church. He would wear them all day every day if only his mother would let him.

2. He was born in Southeast Idaho, but didn't stay long. In his short seven years he has lived in four states and five houses/apartments. Luckily he makes friends easily and enjoys hanging out in moving trucks on those long drives with his dad.

3. His favorite food is spaghetti. Not necessarily because it tastes good, but because it is Mario's (Super Mario Bros.) favorite food. *motherly sigh* He also likes green apples, salad, blueberry pancakes, cinnamon bagels, orange pop, tortillas, homemade chicken noodle soup, and sorbet.

4. He rarely ever sleeps past 7:30 am. In fact he will often wake up at 4 am just to play Super Mario Bros. In character.

5. When he was around 14 months old and just learning to walk he toddled over to the oven that had been left open so hot food could be pulled out. Before anyone could stop him he placed both hands on the hot door and burned his palms badly. That is the most pain I've ever seen my little son in. He had humongous blisters that covered his entire palms. He had to be sedated at the hospital so they could clean and bandage his hands. The bandages made him look like a little boxer and complicated crawling. As sad as it was, it helped him to learn how to walk and taught him a very valuable lesson about staying away from something that is "HOT!".

6. He loves to go on long drives but mostly because it means we will probably stop at a convenience store. He has this thing for convenience stores.

7. He still sleeps with a Winnie the Pooh Bear blanket that a co worker gave me at a baby shower. He has to have it placed over him ever so particularly every single night. I've never been a big Winnie the Pooh fan, but I think I might cry the day he says he's too old for it.

Seven years ago this crazy, wonderful, little boy changed my life forever. And I will be forever grateful he did. I love you Dee! Happy Seventh Birthday!