(Editor's Note: We had a very busy long weekend--punctuated by my laptop's BSOD ("Blue Screen of Death") which created all kinds of panic--so the B-man has still not had time to craft the final post for this blog.  Not trying to tease you...just trying to get through the days!)

In the meantime, let us show you how we celebrated the birthday boy over the long weekend...

After a very close basketball game on Saturday that featured B's VERY FIRST basket ever (and at quite a crucial point to help the team seal its victory!), the BG took him and three friends (plus one game-loving mom-of-friend) to an Escape Room.  Unfortunately, they were not able to "Escape Detention" in time...but it sounds like they had a blast trying!


While they were doing that, I ran by the party store and picked up some decorations to make the table look a bit more festive, since the four kids came home to play for a bit after their adventure:


I even cobbled together a crepe paper "sign"-- when Camille arrived later after a playdate, she asked, "Why does it say 'lo' on the door?"  Sigh.


You might have noticed six packages of Oreos on the table.  Indeed, B wanted an "Oreo challenge" rather than a cake (although I needed a donut--with Oreos on top, of course!--to secure the candles):


Sunday was the birthday of one of his friends so B got to enjoy some Dave and Buster's action on the 14th.  Then it was time for his actual birthday yesterday.  The BG decided to make use of a bunch of bubble wrap he had on hand-- he went in and put it all over the floor while B was sleeping.  I had picked up a "door curtain" at the party store so that went up, too!


There was no school yesterday so we took a family errand adventure.  These two loved finding these giant flowers!


We planned our errands around the culminating spot: the young sir wanted a Potbelly sammie and shake for his birthday meal:


He closed out the day with his musical theater class rehearsal and, upon getting picked up, found some fun prezzies we bought for him while he was in class.  All in all, it was a successful birthday!

The theme of my last 18 hours has been TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES.  I can't even go into it or I might lose my appetite again...oh wait, that might be a great thing!  :-)  Suffice it to say nothing that I've tried to do electronically has gone well, including the editing of this video that I took hours ago but is just now able to be posted.  But hey, in case you've ever thought, "I wonder what those kids actually sound like?!"-- here is your answer!

For whatever reason, the idea hit last night to dig out some dollar store foam rollers I bought ages ago and roll up Miss C's hair.  She wasn't quite sure what to think but she was game:


I was pretty pleased with the results when we unrolled it this morning!  She's not too sure...she's asking for it to be put up in a "curly ponytail"!

(I didn't even think about how it's supposed to rain all day, so it's not going to stay curly for long...)

I definitely remember lots o' foam roller nights growing up.  Lest you think it's only the girl child who is repeating history, check out this photo from breakfast-for-dinner last night:


Why WOULDN'T you put the knife down and saw with your fork?  I mean, that makes so much more sense that sawing with the knife.  #nonthreedimensionalthinkersunite!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I haven't actually gotten the stuff done.  I'm just typing it here so that it will then happen today.  Right?  RIGHT.

I keep thinking I'll outline here everything on my mind/to-do list but then that makes me get nervous  all over again about dealing with it all. But I pulled on "real" clothes (to be clear: of the athleisure variety) as soon as I got out of bed so I can feel more productive than I might if  I were still in baggy pajama pants.  Fake it til you make it?

My Wednesday morning small group at church (all moms, ranging from early 30s to 60s) recently started reading Max Lucado's Anxious for Nothing.  I left the first week feeling even more stressed because we only had time to discuss what made us anxious; thankfully, we got more to the "Rejoice in the Lord always" part yesterday!  It's interesting to see how some people just aren't wired to stress about things, whereas others are more like I am. A friend mentioned that as soon as she hears one of her kids cough, she's instantly thinking five steps down the road about all the things later in the week she's going to have to cancel because she's going to have to be home with a sick kid.  Yep, that's me.

Hopefully this electronic space tomorrow will be full of a sense of  accomplishment, and this house empty of mess.  I will tell you, however, that these are the final days of the blog. I started writing it when the B-man was born.  I wrote faithfully 5x per week for all these years.  Can you believe he'll be TEN on Monday?  TEN.  According to the blogger dashboard, this is post #2,785.  That's almost THREE THOUSAND days I've spent fretting about what I'm going to write about the next day, and then that many days of spending time in the morning putting it all together. It's been a(nother) part-time job; one that has brought me so much joy...and not a little anxiety.  It seems fitting to celebrate TEN years and then take some time to figure out what my next creative outlet might be.

Oh look!  I can cross off "announcing the end of the blog"-- I didn't even expect that to get done today!

Hugs to the few of you who have stuck around! 

Miss C is very into her dolls these days. I just asked her to tell me some things she's done with "the girls" lately and she responded with the following list of activities: go see fireworks, set up a school and teach them, put together an entire Christmas morning experience (this was earlier this week) complete with wrapped presents, and just all around "have fun as a family."

Of course, sometimes Evelyn, Elsa, and Elena also all fit in her bed (along with Babydoll):


Kinda reminds me of a photo from (gulp) more than 5 years ago!!

May you be surrounded by all kinds of little creatures today!  :-)

As I type this, the BG is unloading the dishwasher.  That's not weird in itself (he totally rocks all the kitchen chores on the regular!) but it is 7:45am.  Yep, we have a 2-hour delay for ice and actually got out 2.5 hours early yesterday because of the impending arrival of said frozen precip!  So there's been a lot of extra family time at home over the last few frigid days.

That being said, this pic is from our Sunday lunch-- but hey, it's of the family!

It's supposed to get up to 60 degrees by the end of the week so that will sure be a change.  Cold air follows, though, and will remind us that we're still in the thick of winter and all the fun of wondering when the next snow day might be!  Now that college football is finally over, winter weather is the "sport" to follow!

PS to AKHG: As you can see, Miss C was more than happy to take you up on your offer for her to wear Ellie's left-behind puffball headband!  :-)