Quick Takes Volume 6

One

I've managed to pull together most of what I need for Madeline's birthday party.  I'm beginning to wonder why I never thought of having a pool party for her before.  I'm actually feeling rather relived that I'll have the party out of the way before soccer season starts.

Two

Following Bryan's lead and going along with his birthday gift idea for Madeline has turned out nicely. Of course, we did hit a rough patch on Monday night when we took her to LLBean to surprise her with a mountain bike.  Turns out my practical and cheap daughter didn't want the pricey bike her Daddy wanted to buy her. (This is not the first time he has had one of the ladies in his life respond ungraciously to a gift that he put a lot of thought into.  And yes, I was the other person to react badly to a gift several Christmases ago.)  We all had an evening I'm not proud of as a result.  After explaining to her why Bryan wanted to get her a nice bike, she decided that she really would like to have the very nice bike.  Practical child that she is, she was content with the bike she had even if it did have some problems.  I hope she grows up to be just as practical as she is now.  She's loving her new bike.

Three

I'm almost at a point where I can start planning my religious ed classes.  I got the ball rolling by submitting my copy orders for the first two weeks of classes yesterday.  I have less than two weeks before the first class starts.  I need to get moving on the lesson plans.

Four

The girls and I celebrated my mother's birthday with her on Wednesday.  We took her out to Olive Garden and then went back to her house for cake.  She was delighted with our gift of Mario Kart and Bananagrams.  The girls revel in beating my mom in Mario Kart when she visits and my mom is now hard at work in perfecting her Mario Kart skills so she can beat the girls when she visits next.

Five

I just finished making cupcakes and a cookie cake for Madeline's party.  I tried to level with her and get her to agree to wait on the cookie cake for her actual birthday, but she had to have a cookie cake for the party.

Six

Enter the Already There book giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy.  I have two copies of this book to giveaway (one signed copy and one unsigned).  The giveaway ends this Sunday.

Seven

The realization that my baby is going to kindergarten next week is setting in.  What on earth am I going to do with myself after next week?