Red-headed mermaids and MOMs

I suppose every mother has a moment where she realizes that she is officially a MOM. Not just a woman who has birthed a child, but a full-on MOM. The kind who can change a diaper in her sleep, miraculously produce (or improvise) a tissue or wipe, sense that her child is up to trouble and reprimand them while carrying on an indepth conversation with another person....you know...a MOM.

I had one of those moments the night before Ellie's birthday party. She had been spending the week with her Mimi & Papa (Spencer's parents) and I was talking to her on the phone. My mom and I were in the process of making her 'mermaid' cake and I had already frosted the cupcakes for her hair yellow. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Guess what? Mom and Besta are making a mermaid cake for your party tomorrow!
Ellie: OOhhhhhh!!! With red hair???
Me: ......no! with yellow hair!!!!!! (trying to sound very excited about the yellow hair)
Ellie: (in a sad low voice, trying not to cry) but...mom....mermaids have red hair.
Me: .........oh.....silly....mommy was just kidding.....of course she has red hair.

And there it was. I had become a woman who scrapes off yellow icing and makes new red icing.

Here are some pics of the party

(Your Caption Here)

This picture is too funny and we couldn't decide on a caption...so we decided to let you do it. Send us your caption (by way of comment) and the best caption will win something yummy....:-)

Laziness and Electro-shock Therapy

Ellie's 4th birthday is coming up. After discussing some different options, she decided she wanted a mermaid party These occasions always bring out conflicting sides in me. The creative side (by far, the weakest of the sides) wants to do super-fun things like transform the living room with blue balloons and shiny paper, have the kids wear mermaid costumes, etc. The cheaper side (which gets stronger the longer I'm married to Spencer) wants to do all that for no money. And then there's the lazy side. This is the freakishly strong side that beats the other sides into submission. The lazy side entices me with things like: "Have the party at the park so you don't have to clean your house" and " Have hamburgers and hotdogs so Spencer can help in food preparation" and "Have the party near a lake so you don't have to come up with lots of elaborate games to entertain the kids (both young and old)". So.....we're having a party at Maclay Gardens lake/beach where we will be serving hamburgers and hotdogs (and a mermaid cake)...can I blame it on having a 6 week old? ....I can?....Oh good.....

Speaking of the 6 week old...Clark is a cutie and we can even squeeze a smile out after he eats. Most people comment that he's starting to look more like Spencer as he gets older (I agree). He sleeps at night, usually only waking up once or maybe twice, and goes right back to sleep....what more could I ask for right? Well.....greedy human that I am, I wish he liked his car seat. He hates it. It's as if the car seat is testing out electro-shock therapy on him whenever he is forced into it. He much prefers to be held- all the time. Now, this may not be a problem if I loved being at home. I, however, love GOING OUT. I enjoy the park, the mall, going out to eat, friends' houses, even grocery shopping. This week Ellie has been going to VBS every morning which has allowed me some time to run errands(mostly related to her birthday). I was hoping maybe he just needed to "get used to" his car seat and going out. Nope. Is this God's way of lettting me know I need to be OK with being home?