I always say (when the kids have birthdays) that I should be getting a present since it was such a painful day in my life LOL! So today when I went to my parent’s house to go to lunch, and was given my birthday present, I gave mom a present too. I told her happy birthday and that it was her day too since she birthed me years ago. I think I’m going to do this every year. I don’t think it’s about giving a big gift, just acknowledging the day for the mother too. Us moms remember those days of birth so clearly.

Mom mom gave me something on my wish list. The shark sweeper! I have been considering buying one for a while and am excited to use it.

Well, there are eleven whole minutes left of my birthday…. so I guess I’m heading to bed. Goodnight.

It’s been a wonderful birthday! I spent the day doing things I wanted to do… I went to the slip n slide at church just long enough… then went to mom & dad’s house and me and mom went to Sante Fe to have lunch. It was empty, quiet, and delicious. When the waiter asked if we wanted dessert mom said, “do you want dessert since it’s your birthday?” and I said, “no. I’m full.” So we paid and were leaving, mom stopped off at the bathroom and I stood outside to see the entire wait staff going around the corner where we were sitting singing “happy birthday.” I kinda hid behind the wall and snickered. Glad I escaped :)… but the waiter saw me afterward and wrapped up my cute little dessert for me to take home! We then went to JCPenny to check on some things, I found a lamp marked $100 and it was marked to $30. I price checked it and it was $14. I bought it. duh! It’s really pretty. Got my toenails done. (I’m hoping to have a chance to take pictures of all this stuff and add them later.)

Thank you all so much for all the birthday wishes today!

This weekend was pretty nice! I got to accompany Matt to take his final. Got to shop (tax free) at the mall… got to be there for his test results which were awesome! Had one of the teen girls over to do her hair for her. Had a fun cook out and swimming. Church was great. Me & the girls ditched class and ran to the donut shop, they read our lesson in the car and we had time to finish up while eating our donut holes back in class. I’m such a rebel. We had a nap today and tonight we had a potluck dinner at church. I picked up some pizzas while picking up a car load of teens. Talk about noise! I made delicious pork chops grilled for lunch…

This week I plan to utilize the grill.

I’m going to make the sticky chicken meal again (thanks Kim!)

Sticky Coconut Chicken

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used boneless skinless chicken breasts)

1 cup canned coconut milk
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Marinade chicken in coconut milk, ginger, pepper and red pepper flakes at least one hour (I let mine marinade four about four to five hours). Grill on barbecue.

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

While the chicken is grilling, bring above ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. But once it starts getting really thick, immediately take it off the heat! Glaze both sides of chicken the last few minutes of grilling and serve chicken over rice.

We’ll have burgers one night. Grilled.

Steak one night. With corn on the cob. You guess it. Grilled.

That leaves one night open… I’ll leave it that way to make room for a pizza or maybe leftovers.

Visit Orgjunkie.com to link your menu up and view hundreds more!

My birthday is this weekend! Hopefully I’ll get a day or two off from cooking :), doubtful.

One last thing… today (Aug 4) is Izzy’s favorite therapist’s birthday!

Whew, that’s a lot of stuff for one post huh? We’ve had a busy day ending with a birthday party. I’m posting this all late Sunday night… but tomorrow is Amanda’s 18th birthday! I can hardly believe that I am the mother of an eighteen year old! It really seriously seems like yesterday that she was a little baby, then a little girl… then a pre-teen… you get the picture. It really goes fast. If you have a little one and you think it doesn’t go fast, let me tell you here and now it does! You will blink and be singing happy birthday to your eighteen year old child.

Amanda has been a relatively easy child to raise. She has a very sweet spirit and is quiet in nature. She is an incredibly hard worker in school and has made us so proud so many times… getting the golden falcon for having all “A’s” throughout junior high… being in the State and National Honor Societies… Having the highest gpa… making over 30 points in a single basketball game and winning MVP of the tournament… so many things she has done in her life to make us proud. She has a silly sense of humor that you only see if you know her well enough for her to show it to you.

Happy Birthday to Amanda. I love you!

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Crystal tagged me for my five favorite things!

1. family! Immediate to extended… they are my favorite peeps.
2. friends! I have the best friends. I’m a blessed girl!
3. church! We have an awesome church.
4. blogging! I love to blog and love my bloggy friends (I’m meeting another IRL Monday!)
5. sleep! My nap was cut short today to get ready for the party tonight… but it sure was nice!

I won’t mention purses or sonic ice… long lunches talking or praying at bedtime with Matt… shopping trips with my mom or snuggling with Izzy. Well, I guess I mentioned it all… but I just have so many favorite things. Thanks for the tag Crystal. I’ll tag anyone who wants to list their five favorite things!

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One of my oldest bloggy friends (Sheryl) gave me the sharing the love blogging award. Thanks Sheryl!

I’ll pass it on to Amanda since it’s her birthday and all… and to my other birthday friends… Jenny (July 30), Marcia (Aug. 6)! I pass it to you too if your birthday is this month or in August! Happy Birthday!

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Last but not least… menu time!

Monday is Amanda’s actual birthday, but she’s going out to eat dinner with Lorenzo and seeing Mama Mia… so we’ll just have a normal meal here. Most likely quesadillas. With grilled chicken and guacamole.

Tuesday grilled burgers and broccoli cauliflower salad

Wednesday we’ll have spaghetti & garlic bread.

Thursday grilled chicken and baked potatoes…

Friday Matt has requested gyros. yuck. but okay.

OH. One more thing. Guess what I got today?

Happy Monday!

Izzy is six today! Six years old. Not the way I imagined her sixth birthday when her life began six years ago…

Isabelle is a beautiful, smart, loving, precious little girl that could not be loved more by more people.

I’m thankful for the six years I’ve had with her so far. I thank God for her life. I trust God with her life.

It’s not only Amanda’s (OhAmanda) birthday, she is also finding out what kind of baby she has cooking in her tummy… pink or blue? She has a fun contest going on over at her blog so head over and guess what it is.

I took Izzy to Bear this morning and now we have to hurry and get her fed and ready for school!

I got to visit with Julie for a little bit this morning and hope to see her when she visits OK for Memorial Day…

Miki got home from Mexico late late last night after flight delays! I’m glad she’s back!

I have a hair appointment at 5:30 p.m. today, nothing drastic… just the usual. I heart Jill!

Ok, that’s all for now.

One more thing…  guess what I just ordered from Amazon?

I hope it’s as good as all you guys have been saying!

Emelia came third into our family. She was different from the very beginning. I remember the day she was born, ten years ago, she had the most black hair I’ve ever seen on a baby.

The first two (amanda and bailey) were both born with light hair and not much of it. I would not have believed she was my child if I hadn’t seen her come from me! I literally sat and laughed for at least an hour… maybe too much medication? I just couldn’t believe she was mine. She was so beautiful. (still is.) The nurses would take her during the night so I could sleep for a little bit and she would come back with a new hairstyle. I don’t think many newborns had enough hair for the nurses to fix with little doggy ears and bows. I breastfed her for too long in my opinion.

I realized it when it was a little too late. Matt had to help get her to sleep for almost a month so that she could be weaned. It was tough, for us both! She had a case of RSV when she was about a year old. We had to use the nebulizer. It was scary. When she was about three she came out of her room to show me she had cut her hair. She had the most beautiful hair I had ever seen and I loved it! She had cut a complete doggy ear off. To the nub. Let’s just say I was creative with her hairstyles for the next year or two. We did a lot of side pony tails until I could even it out. I refused to cut it short!

She was so excited when Isabelle was born. Finally a playmate! Amanda was eight years older and although Bailey was a playmate for her, he was a boy and wouldn’t play dolls. She was in kindergarten when Izzy had her near drowning accident. When the accident happened, Matt and I were right outside the back door on the ground doing cpr on izzy. We told the kids to go inside (and pray) as we worked on her waiting for paramedics to arrive. They took Izzy around the side of the house and away in the ambulance. When we talked to Emelia on the phone later that night she thought we were burying Isabelle in the ground. She just didn’t understand. It made me so sad that she thought that. I guess she had seen animals buried and just thought that was what you did when something died. (of course you know that Isabelle was resuscitated and is alive - praise God.)

Emelia is a stubborn little girl who doesn’t take no for an answer. She is smarter than most, but will argue for 2 hours about doing something that will only take her five minutes. Creative parenting has been very useful for Emelia. She has a huge heart and would give away everything she has, without question. At church they are raising money for a missionary group called speed the light. She had $8.00 in her purse. She gave all she had. Without thought. Tonight was her bible school teacher’s birthday, she made her jewelry with the beads she received as a gift. She tucked money into the card (money she had been given for her birthday) and I told her I thought the jewelry was enough. She shrugged and said, “okay.” She’s never selfish and always thinking of others.

She is on the phone 24/7! While it might appear that I am a “cool mom” by giving her a cell phone at ten, truth is I just wanted mine back. She always had it. She is the epitome of a social butterfly! Happy tenth birthday! It’s been a fun 10 years and I look forward to what the next ten years bring (please be a sweet teenager, please be a sweet teenager…)

After church last night, and after I had my pj’s on… Emelia tells me she wants to take cookies for her class.

I told her if she got up extra early we could go to the store. She did, and we did. It was weird going out while it was still dark!

We found the exact cookies she wanted and she was happy!

All’s well that ends well huh?