ferocious five

Amelia had her first birthday party with friends this past weekend. It was exactly as I expected it to be since she is the fourth kid and therefore the fourth kindergarten birthday I've thrown.

It was 30 minutes too long. Everything I had planned to do was done within an hour. It involved little girls who all wanted to play with the same things and not share them. One little girl was just dying to see what hidden treasures lay in the basement. The same basement she was expressly told not to go to because the party wasn't in the basement. Sneaky little thing.

Turns out, musical spoons brings everyone together for a really long time when you have a long time to kill, I mean keep the peace, while you wait for parents to arrive.

Speaking of that, I find it fascinating that people take their small children to total strangers homes and leave them there. The door gets opened, introductions are made, "Hi, I'm Catherine, Amelia's mom. You must be....??" Then the child is just left. Alone. With a stranger. When I think about this too much I start to panic. Not a hysterical, terrorized kind of panic, but a general concern for everyone's well being kind of panic. Why on earth would anyone just assume that when leaving their 5 year old at a stranger's house that their child would be taken care of? Just because I have kids doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to your kids, does it?

Well alright, I will be nice to your kids, after all I am a foster parent. I am nice to everyone's kids. Unless they kick in my wall or spit in my face or call me horrific names. Then all rules are off. Just kidding, I'm still nice..... mostly.

I'm still trying to figure out which one of these little punks........



.....gave Amelia a bag full of sass as her birthday present. When I find the culprit I'm gonna........ who am I kidding? The culprit is me, so I've been told by my lovely parents.

My child has been unbearable since the big day. She clearly thinks that once you turn 5 all previous rules no longer exist and even if they do exist they no longer apply. Well Amelia, bring it sister because I still have some fight in me and I'll break you just like I broke all the others who were ripped from my womb and then promptly forgot who they were taking on.

Oh, and yes, you are still crazy cute and full of life and a personality that we love and adore.



I took her to Build A Bear on her actual birthday. I am morally opposed to Build A Bear and have never set foot in one until last Friday. It is outrageous what they charge for a stupid stuffed animal. But..... both Grandma's sent money for her birthday so I figured I can eat my morality issues once in a while and spend someone else's money on overpriced stuffies with the sole purpose of bringing a smile to a child's face. It worked. And didn't cost me a dime.



She loves her Lovebug but if she doesn't stop screaming from her bed at 6 am she'll lose it for 24 hours like she lost Mermaid Barbie and then Tangled Barbie shortly after that.

She picked Macaroni as her birthday dinner. Gross. I obliged, just like a good mommy should. I'll say it again. Gross.



Anyway, who is this hulking creature that graces me with his presence on occasion?



It's been cold outside. As the man likes to say "It's butt fetching cold". And, he's right. It's butt fetching cold out. He's gargantuan in his winter get up. And these boots?



Are you sure you aren't a Rescue Hero?