And, she's six.

Here she is turning three.
Then she turned four.
And, you guessed it, she turned five.

So, I guess it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me that yesterday she turned six.

When Brad got to the party I said, "Where is the P-R-E-S-E-N-T?" She immediately knew what I had spelled. How did that happen?

She was singing "Yesterday I was five" with one hand of five fingers in the air. Then she'd sing, "Today I'm six" and add another hand with another finger. Her age now needs two hands. When did that happen?

She was able to read her birthday card aloud herself. How did that happen?

And, we finished off the night with a purple cake with light pink frosting - at Natalie's request.

 In case you were wondering, Natalie did not turn 312. There weren't six regular candles, and we didn't have a "6" candle. We opted for 312 because 3 + 1 + 2 = 6.

In case you were wondering, I have not fallen off the photo-a-day wagon. I just haven't been sharing my pictures. And, I haven't been keeping up with my 365 album. I have been hoarding little goodies (like packaging and tickets and envelopes and other ephemera) to put in the album, I just haven't actually been working on it.

Anyway - here are the pictures from last week.

Saturday 4.09.11.
It was actually nice today! So nice that I decided we needed to have our first cookout (with Kurt, Angie, Jason, and Isabella). Of course, it wasn't nice out by dinner time and we had to eat inside, but that didn't make the potato salad, brats, and vegetable salad taste any less like summer.

Sunday 4.10.11.
Brad went to a Blackhawk's game today with Chris. I hung out with Nicky, Natalie, Katelyn, and Jonathan. We went to Olive Garden and shopped a little and played. Good times. The night took a scary twist, though, when we got a thunderstorm which knocked out our power. After about an hour without power I checked the sump pump; it was pretty much full. I ended up needing to call a friend to come help me figure out what to do about it. Then, I set the alarm for every few couple of hours to check to be sure it wasn't filling up again. The power was out for almost 8 hours.

Monday 4.11.11.
This month's Studio Calico goodies came a little differently. Em had to order for me because I was at a birthday party for Brad's grandma. Not only did she order for me, but she also sent my loveliness to my house. What a friend!

Tuesday 4.12.11.
I still haven't changed the calendar to April yet. And, the worst part? I still didn't change it today. I just took a picture. And, it may also be interesting to know that I just took down a calendar from 2010. I still haven't transferred the birthdays to my 2011 calendar, either.

Wednesday 4.13.11.
Look what came in the mail today?!!?? I decided a needed a new lens to play with in Seattle.

Thursday 4.14.11.

I have been hoarding a couple of gift certificates for a local book store. I ordered this stack of books more than a month ago. The one on the top just came out this week, so I stopped to pick them up today on my lunch hour.

Friday 4.15.11.

After almost a year of not being able to squeeze my wedding ring on my fat sausage of a finger I finally got it resized. Paying the almost $200 to go up two sizes seemed like an easier and less painful solution than actually trying to get back to my wedding-day weight.

Hello, Paper. I've Missed You.

 Way back in March I went to a scrapbooking retreat with Stephanie - a Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday and paper and food and friends. I didn't stay up nearly as late as most of the people there, but I did have a great time. And, I did make lots of things.

Here are a few of the goodies. It wouldn't be any fun to share them all at once, now would it?

 

Little Gnome

Studio Calico Kit and Add-ons: Napa Valley (November 2010)

Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill

Adhesive: American Crafts

Embellishments: Making Memories (butterflies), Sassafras (flowers), The Twinery (twine)

Patterned Paper: Crate Paper, Sassafras, Basic Grey, My Minds Eye, Studio Calico

Letters: American Crafts

Other: EK Success (punch), Vintage (typewriter)

Apple?

Lift of Susan Weinroth

Studio Calico Kit and Add-ons: Napa Valley (November 2010)

Adhesive: American Crafts

Cardstock: American Crafts

Embellishments: Avery (tag), Making Memories (border sticker, gem brad), The Twinery (twine)

Letters: Making Memories

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey, My Minds Eye, Studio Calico

Pen: American Crafts

Tools: EK Success (circle punch), Fiskars (border punches), We R Memory Keepers (corner rounder), Vintage (typewriter)

Currents

 i know. it makes no sense to use a picture from 1982 on a post entitled "currents." it's the best i could do though, as my face is looking fat and my hair flat more often than not, lately.

listening: to the Brewers and Phillies game (tied at 2 in the 8th)

eating: cinnamon toaster waffles (the really unhealthy ones!) for breakfast this week

drinking: lots of water lately - through a straw from a reusable water bottle

wearing: a cardigan and a scarf almost every single day. it's my uniform.

feeling: torn about vacation. . . part me wants to plan every minute and part of me wants to just life in the moment. i'm afraid i'm going to forget about something i really want to do and not leave time for it, though. ahhhhh! the tension!

weather:  tomorrow's forecast? 6 - 10" of snow. on april 18. RIDICULOUS.

wanting: the courage to send out resumes and start looking for a different job. last summer's rejection was not good for this girl's confidence.

needing: to do a load of laundry - dark delicates that require lots of line drying. am dragging my feet about this and finding reasons to wear jeans to work instead of khakis.

thinking: how lucky i am to be an (honorary) auntie. i don't mean to brag, but it feels pretty darn cool to have kids in my life that think i am cooler than Elmo or a Disney Princess or Handy Manny.

enjoying: reading before bed lately. am almost finished with Cutting for Stone and read most of Okay for Now while lounging around on Sunday.

wondering: if i'm still as funny as i used to be. i feel like my funniness may have gotten lost somewhere amidst worrying about work and family and bills and adult-ness. have i become too bitter and adult and sarcastic and negative?

p.s. i'm not sure how this fits with currents, but i should share this random moment from today with you. for about three hours i was completely convinced that the power cord on mac was kaput. i was so busy imagining that this would require me to buy a new laptop that i never even really stopped to investigate the potential problem. close investigation and some poking around with a scissors revealed that the only problem was a staple and other random piece of metal stuck to the magnetic part of my power cord. problem solved. no new computer necessary.

Meal Plan

 The kitchen after a mini-dinner party last weekend--the first cookout of 2011 (brats, potato salad, vegetable salad, carrot cake)

Sunday:
Beef Tenderloin a la Murphy
(a recipe from Granny Mary's published collection)
Baked potatoes
Caesar Salad
Caramel Brownies

Monday:
Barb - last meeting for a BIG project (Hooray!)
Brad - on his own


Tuesday:
Chicken Puttanesca

Wednesday:
Quesadillas de Camarones
Guacamole

Thursday:
Natalie's birthday celebration to include:
chicken alfredo with vegetables
fresh bread
a purple layer cake with light pink frosting

Friday:
Salmon Risotto with Lemon

Lunch:
Tortellini Soup
Chopped Salad

Breakfast:
Toaster Waffles
Coffee
Oatmeal (with brown sugar, nuts, and dried fruit a la Starbucks)

Numbers.

10. No. of days since I last said anything.
21. No. of days since I last said anything important.

2. No. of new men in my life since I was last around here.

8. No. of hours I went without power on Sunday night into Monday morning.

57 degrees. Yesterday's temperature.

11. No. of days until we leave for Seattle.

1. No. of Words with Friends games I am playing right now.

0. No. of times I have been to Starbucks this week.

14. No. of scrapbook projects I have sitting around needing to be shared with you.

Meal Plan

It's been awhile. And, there are so many cool things that have happened. Yet, all I have to share is a meal plan. Apologies.

Chicken and Rice with Spring Vegetables (aka Friday-night Dinner)

Sunday:
Spaghetti Bolognese and Garlic bread

Monday: (working late)
Mexican Stuffed Shells

Tuesday:
Broccoli Leek Soup
Fancied Up BLTs

Wednesday:
Sun-dried Tomato Risotto
Grilled Chicken Breast
Steamed Spinach

Thursday: (scrapbook with Stephanie)
Frozen pizza for Brad

Friday:
Roast Chicken with Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli

For the B's:
(I'm taking them food instead of baby clothes)
Spaghetti and Garlic bread
Mexican Stuffed Shells
Italian Beef
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies