Happy Early Birthday T...

In a little over a week, this beautiful girl, my first and only niece, will have a birthday. As a little early "gift", I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on what this girl means to me.

T (as you know I try to maintain a level of anonymity) is obviously beautiful on the outside. But the reasons I love her lie inside of her. She has such a warm personality. She is welcoming and gracious, and becoming an amazing hostess like her mother. She is such fun to be around when our family gathers for holidays and special occasions. She's a great sister. She always looks out for her little brother, even allowing him to share her room where he felt safe when he was younger. She's such a sweet daughter. You can see how proud her mom and dad are of her anytime you're around them. She's always helping out and spending time with those she loves.

She has such a sophisticated sense of style as well. She never went through a "gawky" teenage phase. She has always known how to dress with class...never tacky or "over the top" like so many young girls these days. She makes sure her family looks good too. (I won't embarrass them by pointing out who needs help either!)

But the thing I love most about her, is that she has a faith that has helped her navigate the challenging teenage years with relative ease, and she has proved her ability to withstand difficult situations. When so many others cave under peer pressure, T stays true to her beliefs. People know she's a Christian by her life. It's her testimony. I hope that my own daughter follows her example as she grows up as well. Happy birthday sweet girl.

Love,

Your aunt

This Must Be Love...

I love my sister. For those of you who don't know us both, she's 15 years older than me, and in many ways...another mother. (Albeit not a "disciplinarian" or anything. If anything...I'd need to reign her in!) We are as different as night and day. She knows no stranger, I'm a little more cautious. She's the life of the party, I'm a bit more reserved. I love to shop, she hates it. She loves Led Zeppelin, I hate them. (I know...I know...I'm in the minority) She's old, I'm young-ish :). The list could go on and on. Despite the myriad of differences, we love each other like crazy and would always have each other's back. There is just one thing that we will NEVER EVER AGREE ON and this is it...She thinks this supposed "monkey" is cute and she loves it. See for yourself and let me know whose side you're on. This must be love...

Snow Day Fun!!

"Hey guys...let's go sledding at 1:oo." That's how the snow day started. We were to pick up 4 of my kids' friends and meet some others at a great hill nearby. So...after donning all of the layers of clothing needed for such an outing, we get into the Honda Odyssey and set out. We turn out of the driveway and start uphill and the wheels start spinning. My neighbors suggested putting in in low drive and trying again. So we did. No luck. Still stuck. We back into the driveway again. They said to try getting over into the part of the road no one had driven on and see if that helps, so I did. No luck. Still stuck. Repeat this step two more times.

So...I tell my girl to text her friends that we may not be able to get out after all, call my boy's friend and say the same, then try one final time. At this point, our mailman had rounded the corner and was heading downhill. I wanted to shout "don't do it"! There's no way that thing will ever make it out, but it was too late. He'd started downhill and guess what...already stuck. At this point, I back into the drive again and decide to go help our mailman. The neighbors and I shovel around the wheels and try to push him out. After three tries, he is at least headed uphill. He walks all of the mail around the lower cul de sac and then goes for the heave ho out of the subdivision. He lays on the gas and makes a go for it. His tail end spins out and guess what? No luck. He's stuck. However, we are able to push him halfway up the hill and out he goes.

Meanwhile, I look back to see my boy (who is VERY disappointed that we can't go sledding with his friends) trying to shovel the street. He's got a nice long stretch done. I remark to my neighbor "oh look...he's going to shovel the street so we can get out". Hmmm...he's making progress. My neighbor says he might be on to something. We join him in his efforts. We make a pretty good dent in the street just up from our driveway. My friend who had planned to have us walk to the top of the hill and pick us up calls to say she's almost here. I tell her what we've done. I urge her to wait at the neighboring subdivision to see if we can bust out of here or not. And guess what?!?...good luck!! WE MAKE IT TO THE TOP!!

So...off to pick up the friends. We honk with excitement as we pull into the sledding area. Our friends are all there and having fun. The kids jump in. There's free falling, spin-a-renas, crazy crashes and collisions. There's racing, and snow boarding, and faces covered in snow. There's laughing, there's screaming, there's giggling with glee. Eventually they tire of sledding and find a giant mountain of snow prime for igloo making. This igloo had "apartments" and sun roofs by the time they were done. It was like a penthouse igloo. No kid was ready to leave when we said time to go, but alas...us parents can't take the cold quite like the kids. We headed to Bread Co. for some hot cocoa and cookies. Many of the kids are still here playing. The girls recreating "Bon Qui Qui" skits and the boys playing video games. Music to my ears. I love these days.