The Best Birthday Gift Ever!!!!

Ok, as birthday's go... only children generally have it made. The entire family waits all year for your birthday and usually goes all out. My birthday has been a huge celebration for as long as I can remember but as the years have progressed the emphasis on the day has generally regressed, not by my choice but just becuase that's what happens when you get older and have your own kids. Honestly, I have been a little melancholy about the lack of empasis on my birthday in the recent past and have reduced my expectations dramatically. This year, I expected a small gathering at my mom's with cake and a few presents but no big deal. Well, that is what was on MY calendar but a few other people had much bigger plans.

After delivering food to people in the pouring rain and looking like a wet dog I came home to house all decked out for a party and lots of chairs around a couple of tables. I was especially curious to see the portable baby booster as one of the seats around the table. My curiousity lead me down and path of pondering... WHO might Jim have invited to my birthday that has a BABY!? I could only think of one person but the possibilities of that person arriving at my house were near impossible since she lives many hours away and has 4 children. As I redid my hair and make up from the drenching they had been through I kept peeking out the window to see who might be arriving at my house. Finally, I peek out to see Jim driving up the driveway with my dearest friend Katie in the front seat of the car waving with her super happy smile and 2 of her 4 beautiful babies in the back. I instantly turned into a pile of mush with tears flowing from my eyes at the happiness I felt. What better gift could I have asked for than for one of the most special people to have ever come into my life to arrive at my doorstep for my birthday. Katie was only able to stay about 18 hours which is far too short but I will cherish every minute spent laughing with her face to face and seeing our children play like old friends for the rest of my life. 34 is not a big birthday but it will be one I remember and cherish always. Thank you, my precious friend, for this gift.

This is Ava, Katie's 4 yr old. Nolan cried harder than any of us when his new pal Ava left.

The Magic of Macaroni- hosted by Nolan

Today, Nolan came home from preschool with an adorable craft. It is the lifecycle of a butterfly depicted with macaroni. We will let Nolan tell the rest. Enjoy!

How many 5 dollar foot longs are you?

This morning as we were getting ready for our day Quinn said "Nolan, you are as big as 2 five dollar foot longs!!!". We all had a good laugh and tried to decide how many 5 dollar foot longs it might take to be my size! The answer is 5 and a half, in case you were curious. :)

Emergency! Chase of the Chihuahua

{Picture 1970’s TV show "Emergency"}
This morning as we were driving down the street we noticed a lady running down the sidewalk in her church clothes and several cars stopped in the same spot. It caught our attention but couldn't figure out what was happening. We kept driving and about 5 blocks later we saw a small brown and white long haired chihuahua making a break for it down the sidewalk of the very busy street. We pulled over to see if we could get the dog to come to us, which didn't work. Things only got worse for the chihuahuah as he decided he should move from the sidewalk to running IN the road. Jim straddled both lanes of traffic with his hazards on, laying on the horn, swerving from side to side to stop people from passing and hoping to corral the dog back onto the sidewalk and it worked! Jim scared the dog enough with the horn to get him off the road and down someone's driveway where 4 cars of complete strangers managed to catch the dog and return it to it's tearful owner. Looks like this Chihuahua's Milo and Otis days are over.
Nice work good Samaritans of Des Moines, give yourselves a pat on the back.

The Lynchs Take On the Lone Star State

I am just getting around to writing about our super trip to Texas last week to visit my family. The drive down has never been easier. It takes between 11-12 hours to get from here to there which can seem like an eternity with cranky kids and a sore tush. This time around the boys were amazing. They never asked when it would be over, never complained that it was boring, and just were generally amazing. It felt like family time instead of just passing the hours until we got there. We noted on the way down that driving south in March is like watching spring in fast-forward. With each state we passed there was a little more green grass, a few more buds on the trees, and a lot less snow. By the time we got to Texas there were even flowers growing. It was so fun to see the boys get excited about it.

It is amazing to see how much fun can get packed into a 3 day visit. We got to see my Aunt Brenda who we have not seen in way too long. I have so many memories of her from my childhood and all are so fun. I just generally think of her as a super fun person. I love seeing the kids having pillow fights, tickling and teasing with Aunt B. It seems that they have decided she is super fun too.

After 2 days of rain and "cold" temps we were able to get out on the lake with my dad. It is the only thing the boys asked to do while we were there. Nolan kept telling me, "Tell Poppa I can go on the boat now because I am so so so big!". It was chilly and windy but there is something so special about being on the lake with my dad and the boys seem to think so too. We caught no fish but nobody cared because we all got to go fast in Poppa's boat.

To top off the whole trip we spent a morning at the Dallas Arboretum which had several playhouses designed around children's books. There was a Peter Pan; Red Fish, Blue Fish; Treasure Island; Eragon; The Bamboo Cutter's Daughter and many others. Poppa and his friend, Joyce, had the forsight to get the books to read to the kids before we went so they knew what the houses were about. It made it all so much more intersting. The kids had so much fun running from house to house, climbing, and reading the summaries and I loved being in the midst of so many beautiful flowers. Winter is long but when spring is this beautiful it is well worth the wait.

All Things Better

Well, the sickies are almost completely gone and I am feeling much better. Unfortunately, the sickies caused me to break one of my all time favorite rules... that the house must be clean before going on vacation so that when you come home it seems as if the cleaning fairy came and cleaned your beautiful house. As we were leaving for Texas Jim was busy with work & I was sick and had various mom things to take care of before leaving, and the boys... well you know they are not going to say "Mom, how can I help clean the house before we leave?". Cleaning the house was NOT going to get done. When we rolled into the driveway late on Monday night, a car to unpack and tired kids to get to bed I was very very sad to see that the cleaning fairy had not come to visit at the Lynch's. After getting every other immediate need met (ie: groceries, laundry, etc) I am happy to say that the 1st floor of the house is totally clean, purged of winter sandiness and grime. The 2nd floor is tolerable All that makes me one happy mama. Now, I can go enjoy my cup of coffee and play outside for the rest of the morning until it's time to dirty the kitchen with lunch preparations!

Happy 1st Day of Spring everyone!!!

Sickies.....

Why why why does one always have to get sick the week that family is in town and you are preparing to go out of town!? When you find the answer to that let me know so I can prevent it in the future. Ick!