Olivia's Pinkalicious Birthday!

My Mom and I couldn't help ourselves. We went a little bit overboard for Olivia's 5th birthday! My little girl only turns five once. It is a magical age and we wanted her to have special memories of her birthday! Her only request was a Pinkalicious (as in the book) themed birthday party. So with her request in mind, everything at the party was compliments of the letter 'P' or the color pink. Pink decorations, a pink candy bar (a pink free one for the boys), ponies, and a petting zoo brought to us by Mary from My Pony Go Round. We ate PB&J on pink bread from Smith's, potato salad, pink bunny barf(jello salad), pink poultry sandwiches for the adults, and a variety of potato chips. Keeping true to the story, we ate pink cupcakes from Sweet Surrender. Not only were they yummy, but oh so pretty to look at! Thanks to everyone who celebrated Olivia's special day with us and we hope you had a blast.

Olivia has already begun to plan her 6th birthday... a Purplicious (as in the book) party!

Music in the Park

Yesterday, I chaperoned Jared's band trip to Knott's Berry Farm. Hanging out with 6th and 7th grade boys can really zap a mom's energy. I am pretty sure I earned the cool mom status by the end of the day as they were fighting over who would sit next to "Mrs. Jared's Mom" on rides. Before the fun, they had to perform.



































Very few pics were taken as I could barely keep up with the boys. I refused to ride any rides that would get me soaked or spun.














They thought they looked like wieners.





















Photo of the day!














We ended the day with an awards ceremony in which the kids received a superior rating and first place in the concert band category.





















I am so thankful my kids have opportunities to have great experiences! Next year, I am told we are going to Disneyland!

iNSD Blog Train

Happy International Scrapbook Day!! It's the most wonderful time of the year (for us scrappers anyway)!

I am your last stop on today's blog train. You should have come from Kat 's blog. If you got lost or missed a stop, you can head on back to Scrap Matters to get back on track. I hope you have room on your hard drive for one last freebie.

So in keeping with the theme of our "Moments that Matter" weekend, here is one of my special moments:

Jack's Birth
I love all my children infinitely, differently, yet equally. All of their births were some of the best moments of my life.

I vaguely remember Jared's birth because I was given way too many painkillers. Being my first child, I didn't know what to expect or what he was going to teach me. He was my experimental baby in that I had to figure out how to do everything with him.

Nick's birth was exciting! I had this mom thing down. I was eager for Jared to have a playmate and I was so happy to have another boy!

Olivia was special as she is my first and only girl, my forever friend. I looked forward to a that special mother-daughter bond and all the ups and downs that came with it.

But today I choose to share with you what was special about Jack's birth. He is what we call our "Happy Accident". My husband and I really thought we were done having kids. I was very busy with the three kids, their schedules, and teaching kindergarten. Discovery of my pregnancy was a very bittersweet moment. I was happy but also scared about being a working mom of four children. I dreamed of being a SAHM but knew it wasn't in the cards at that time. I knew it would be a monumental challenge. Honestly, I did cry. I didn't know how I would do it. As the months went on and I warmed up to the idea of a new little boy. I realized what a blessing it would be in my life and found myself EXCITED! I also realized that with him, it would be the last time to experience all those wonderful moments we treasure in our children's lives. He was my last chance to be intoxicated with that baby smell and to be completely needed. That last chance to nurse my baby and to share a bond no other could share with him. I knew I had to relish and savor each of his moments.

My love for this particular moment is because of what my older children had taught me. They taught me so much about being a mom and it's divine and sacred role. They've taught me to love more than I ever thought possible! Being a mom is my most important job! I knew what would be coming my way with Jack and that I wouldn't want to miss a moment that mattered.






































And now, your freebie! I whipped up a little frame cluster using the awesome mega collab kit "Moments that Matter". Grab it fast as the link will be active for only a few days.
























Here is your link

Happy iNSD! Enjoy this weekend of scrapping your moments that matter!