single mom-ing it

Dear Riches,

I missed you this weekend while you worked & visited your parents in Arizona. These are some of the things you missed around here: I had to plunge a toilet & you know how I'm ridiculously bad at doing that. I had to vacuum up a fly the size of a BIRD and it was not an easy task since I was gagging the whole time. And just so you know, I am not exaggerating the size of this fly. CREEPY! Kimball helped me though. He kept calling it a bird too, even though fly is almost his favorite word. That should confirm it's size! My friend was sweet enough to drive the kids to school in the morning (just like you usually do for me) and then brought me over a bag of chocolate. She didn't even know that you left me alone with no chocolate for 4 days. You did however leave me with diet coke, so I shouldn't complain. The bag of M&M's slept on your side of the bed, just so I wouldn't feel so alone. Wasn't that nice? We had a crazy windstorm here that blew shingles off the roof and made the fence "wave" according to the kids. I didn't get as scared as I normally do, so I guess I'm growing up while you're away. I dropped the kids off at babysitting group and went to my favorite burrito joint, FreeBirds, and ate all by myself. I normally feel sorry for people who eat at restaurants by themselves but maybe they have been single mom-ing it too and just needed a break. I wished you were with me but didn't feel sorry for myself either. I'm really a big girl now! I went to Ikea and thought of how much you'd hate being there. My shopping course made no sense and I went the wrong direction and had to ditch my cart for awhile to go upstairs and shop some more. You would've shaken your head and swore to never set foot in Ikea again, if you were here. On Saturday I let the girls invite friends over for a Sprinkler Party. I baked pizzas and we froze lemonade to make slushies. They thought I was the coolest mom ever. I am you know. I decided that I can do alot of things without you, I'm not as afraid anymore. But I also decided I don't want to. So please come home already. Taxes are due on Monday and we haven't finished them & the wall paper in the office is a bit overwhelming to take down myself. Life is just nicer with you...... and just so you know, I missed you more than the ipad. And that says alot!

Tater Tot is 7!

I can hardly believe it. SEVEN! SEVEN whole blissful years with this cutie. We had a packed day of fun and by 8pm I was beyond wiped out. We started the day with Taylor seeing her first gift. A swinging (from the ceiling) chair in her bedroom. Am I the coolest mom or what? I always wanted one as a child and knew T would think it was amazing. And she did! She even tried to get dressed for school while swinging in it. Let's just say, it was tricky! I surprised Taylor by bringing her friend who's homeschooled for lunch & stayed for M's lunch too. After school 5 little girls headed to Sonic for shakes, followed by nail painting at the salon, and then on to Sam Moon for accessory shopping. The girls loved it & it was shopping, so you know I loved it! After we took the girls home, we had pizza, corn & fruit. That was the exact dinner Taylor wanted. Odd? Yes. This girl eats corn like it's cotton candy! Aunt Mandy sent a darling package with all the things to make a cake, she called it "birthday in a box." The girls made their own cake with the help of their babysitter on Saturday night. They even made their own purple frosting and decorated it all by themselves. Taylor was so proud of herself! Making a wish...... I hope it was for a house keeper & a chef! Oh, right...... her name's MOM. I'd like to explain this picture, but honestly have no idea what's going on here. This is typical Morgan..... Nail salon getting all dolled up to go shopping! The cake the girls made together. Isn't she purty? Morgan was so cute and for Taylor's birthday she did a bunch of jobs around the house to earn money. She earned enough money to take Taylor to the movies to see HOP. It was a good movie & even Kimball enjoyed it. Success! Kimball was pretty excited about Taylor's birthday. By the end of the night he could sing Happy to you. Did you think I forgot to type Birthday? I didn't. It's just Happy to YOU when K sings it! And yes. That's a GIANT hula hoop. Can you believe she ended up getting two? It's pretty fun, so I may steal one!