so much to say

well, you know how the saying goes, when it rains, it pours! that's how i've felt these last few weeks (hence the lag in posting!) because i've been swamped creating, celebrating birthdays (4 of the 6 of us have Feb bdays!!) etc, MEANWHILE the kids were home for TwO WeeKs!!! due to snow days from school!!  so, now that life is leveling out again, i'm SO stokked to be back blogging!  so, of course, let me catch you up!! . . .

valentine's day wasn't quite as planned, due to the "severe weather conditions in the east,"  amazon's packaged were tied up at Ups forever!!! so, the cute little heart shaped waffle maker i ordered eons before the 14th didn't arrive until the 16th!  BUT, the kids didn't miss a beat, with homemade fruit topping, whipped cream, pancakes, and a yummy sparkling water/juice combo with fresh strawberries & a heart lollipop for each!  (of course, they ate the lollipops before they ate their food!! but, oh well, you're only a kid once!)

the following day was Ian's birthday, so we went out for a YUMMY dinner to Firebird's with his mom & stepdad & the kids.  by this point, i was pretty tired of cooking/baking, but Hudson's 2nd bday was 3 days later, so we decided to take him out for dinner & i brought along some chocolate cupcakes decked out in all kinds of sprinkles!!  before dinner, though, my mom decided to take him on a little "shopping spree" at Toys R Us . . .

shopping for books (his favorite thing!)

then, it was off to the life-size race car (too bad it was over the budget!!) . . .

and, of course big brother & big sister had to accompany him & make sure the toys he picked were fun for all!!!

then, after all the snow days & postponements, the District FINALLY had their Spelling Bee.  Cameron won his schoolwide spelling bee back in December, so he had been preparing (as well as the attention span of a little 8 year old boy would allow!) hard for the District Bee.  And, well, it PAID OFF!!!  Our little 3rd grader beat out all the other kids for a spot as Runner-up in the District Bee (placing 2nd only to an 8th grade, veteran speller!!!).  the word he missed: barracks.  Poor kid, he over-thought it after spelling much harder words in those final 3 rounds against that 8th grader & spelled it "b-a-r-y-x".  great guess, though. 

here's my favorite pic from the Bee . . . Cameron is giving the old victory arms as he's cheering for himself (man, this kid has my heart) -- i just LOVE seeing how proud he is of himself . . . fearless, confident, and such a sweetheart.  words cannot even express how much i love him & all my kids.

and, how sweet was azelin to make him a sign to cheer him on!! what an awesome little sister.  those 2 are such best friends.

check back in a few days & i'll be able to share the paper creations i've been working on!!!!  (ok, and, yes, i will post pics of my 35th (UGH!) bday happenings too!)

love, natasha