Vegetable Soup

Yesterday I was outside, talking with one of my neighbors.

All of a sudden, a flower delivery truck pulled into the driveway.

My neighbor turned to me & exclaimed, “Are you celebrating a special occasion?!”

I did the quick mental breakdown – it’s no one’s birthday, or anniversary, Adam & I aren’t fighting…

“No,” I told her.  “They must have the wrong address.”  And then I thought, “Well, Ava lost her first tooth yesterday.  Maybe it’s something for her?”

An older gentleman got out of the vehicle & made his way toward the back.  He pulled out a plant with a balloon & sang out, “It’s someone’s birthday!”

My neighbor looked at me & I quietly insisted, “No, it’s not.”

I asked if he had the right address.

He did.

I looked at the name on the card.

It was mine…

but it wasn’t my birthday.

My birthday is still about 2 weeks away.

Still, I played along & thanked the man as he again wished me a happy birthday & gave me my gift.

I immediately opened the card & it was from my parents.  Now it all made sense.  They’ll be away for my birthday, so I figured they sent me an early gift.  I called my mom to thank her, but she was really quiet.  Then she said, “I placed the order…but, they weren’t supposed to deliver it until your birthday.”

Long story short, the flower company missed that part on the note…

But I got an early birthday present!

So, Mom & Lindsay, here is a picture of the plant.  It’s so pretty & I absolutely love it!

let’s see how long it takes before I manage to kill it…

…the tooth fairy!!

That’s right – Ava lost her first tooth yesterday.

She came home from school beaming (apparently she pulled it out during math).

Last night, the tooth fairy left her a “gold” dollar.  Ava’s been talking a lot about silver dollars.  However, when Adam went to the bank, he was given a gold one.  I guess this is something new??

Anyway, she was very excited when she woke up this morning…and of course, she’s begun the wiggling process all over again.

By Adam Newton
Negotiation.  A necessary competency for any marriage.

Those couples that can navigate the waters of differing viewpoints and opinions and still able to agree on some common ground are the ones that will stand the test of time.  When a couple successfully negotiates terms of an agreement, it usually involves concessions from both sides.  And by design, both parties expect the other to hold up to their end of the agreement.

So, I ask you, the Soupnuts….should Kelly be allowed the privilege of growing a garden?

For reference, here is the original post.  I welcome your feedback on how I should handle this dilemma.

Thank you.

Yep, that’s right…

I am now the proud owner of my very first (and most likely, only) Webkinz.

Ava has several Webkinz and she really enjoys “playing” with them online.  One of the site perks, is you can connect with other friends & send them letters & gifts.  We let Ava be “friends” only with kids she knows.  Our rule is she cannot accept anyone without showing us first.

For a while, Ava was sending out letters and gifts to her friends, but she wasn’t getting anything in return.  This led to a good conversation between the two of us.  We try to teach our kids that the while it’s fun to gets presents, they should have just as much joy giving gifts.  One thing we talked about was unconditional giving.  If she gives a gift, it’s because she wanted to do something nice for the other person…not because she was trying to get something in return.

Well, a few days went by.  Ava still sent out her notes, but wasn’t getting anything back.  I would watch hope glimmer in her face as she opened her page, only to be replaced by a sigh when her mailbox was empty.  Sometimes, she’d catch me watching her & she’d say, “It’s okay, I’m glad I got to do something nice for so-and-so.”

Then it hit me.

I could send her something.  So, I went out & bought Sunny.  I set up my account & sent the friend request to Ava.  I logged on to her account while she was at school, set up the whole “friend thing” & then sent her a surprise package.

When she came home, she asked to play Webkinz.  This was too perfect.  Before she logged on, I heard her mutter under her breath, “I bet I didn’t get anything today.”  And then…

Voila!

I think she actually jumped out of her chair a little!  She called out, “Mommy, I got something!”  I told her, it was from me & she was so excited.  She just couldn’t believe that I actually bought a Webkinz.

Well, since then she’s been receiving little tokens from her friends & family (I have to give a shout out to Carissa & Jaidyn.  Ava loved hearing from you today!).

This whole Webkinz thing has been a fun little bonding thing between the two of us.  We send each other letters & gifts throughout the week.

It’s something I hope she remembers…I know I will.

We had such a wonderful Easter weekend!

We spent Friday & Saturday with Adam’s family.  We all got together not only for Easter, but also to celebrate Seth & Jonathan’s birthdays!  We went to a thai restaurant in Rockford that was soooo good & then headed over to Monkey Joe’s.  This place is basically an indoor moonwalk extravaganza.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins.  I remember how much I loved seeing my cousins when we were growing up – I’m thankful that our kids get to enjoy that same experience!

My family came over on Sunday – yep, even Lindsay & Steve made it in from Texas!  My mom made a huge ham that rumor has it, was outstanding.  We spent the afternoon eating, enjoying time together, laughing, eating, looking for Easter eggs & eating some more!

It was an awesome weekend and the weather was great!

Here are a few pictures from Easter Sunday:

Grady was still kinda confused by the whole Easter egg hunt thing.  He was way more fascinated by all the Easter grass…especially when he figured out how much of a mess it made!

Garrett, on the other hand, loved looking for eggs.  He fact, he was convinced there was a whole slew of them in the manhole…

Ava found the most eggs (surprise…) She loved putting on her Easter outfit – the fancier the better!

Our Easter babies!  I can’t believe how big they are getting – and hey, we’re getting closer to all of them looking & smiling at the camera at the same time.  The magic phrase is Chuck E’ Cheese’s!!!

I have to brag on my hubby for just a moment…

I made my first lamb cake this year (no, there is NO lamb in the cake!).  I started baking around 5pm Saturday  night.  However, I missed the part where it said “allow at least 4 hours to cool.” I was so mad at myself!  That meant the earliest I could begin decorating was 10pm.  Not good when you need to be up at 5:30 the next morning!  Adam came to my rescue – in a huge way.  He offered to help.  So, I showed him how to use a cake decorating bag & together, we made little stars all over the lamb.  We finished in under an hour & I made it to bed by 11pm.  Let me tell you, it takes quite a man to decorate a lamb cake!  So, thanks honey!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!

So, the kids spent the last two nights with my mom & dad.

yes, I’m excited to see them, but I have to say…

2 days to actually hear myself think…priceless.

Ava has her first loose tooth.

Finally.

Seriously, this kid has been checking her teeth ever since her classmates started losing theirs at the beginning of the year.  Remember when she tried this trick?

Her bottom front tooth is the loose one.  In fact, her permanent tooth is already coming up behind it.  This will move forward, right?  If not, she’s going to have some pretty messed up bottom teeth!

One of her best friends lost her tooth about a month ago.  Wanna make a guess at what the tooth fairy left?

$4.00

here – in case you missed it…

FOUR DOLLARS!!!

Is that what teeth go for these days?  Ava already knows how many teeth she needs to lose in order to get a Webkinz.  Oh my word, I love my child, but the Newton tooth fairy is more stingy.  I remember getting a dollar for each tooth I lost.  But four?  Shouldn’t there be some sort of cap on the amount the fairy can leave?

It would be so much easier if there was some sort of manual that stated how much a tooth is.  For example, maybe the child gets a dollar for the first tooth, but then a quarter for each additional tooth.  And then they can get a two buck bonus if they lose their front teeth at the same time (extra dollar if it’s at Christmastime!!)  And how about when the dentist has to pull a tooth?  Does the tooth fairy leave the typical amount?

We’ve already decided that the tooth fairy is going to leave our kids’ teeth under their pillow.  Their Aunt Laurie bought each of them a special engraved container for their first tooth & first curl for their first Christmas (It’s hard to believe we’re actually going to be filling one soon!).  The tooth fairy always left our teeth under our pillow.  In fact, I used to keep all my teeth in a ziploc bag & store them in my piggy bank.  Well, I still have the bank, but the teeth are gone.  I suppose one of these days my parents are going to discover a bag full of teeth!  Kinda gross now that I think about it…

Most of my friends’ received a quarter when they lost their tooth.  Honestly, I will admit that I did feel special that the tooth fairy gave me a dollar.

So, our dilemma is how to explain to Ava why the tooth fairy gave her friend one amount, but her something entirely different.  Bad economy?  Somehow, I don’t think that answer will suffice for my six-year-old.  If you know Ava, you know how she is all about fairness.  There is just no way she is going to let this go unless we give her a really good answer or threaten to take her dollar away.

Any words of wisdom would be helpful. 

The kids are staying the night at my parents tonight.  Ha – wouldn’t that be funny if she lost it there?  Then Grandma & Grandpa get the privilege of deciding how generous the tooth fairy is going to be!

I had a horrible case of insomnia last night.

I fell asleep after watching American Idol with my hubby, but then ended up wide awake at 1 am & staying that way until 4:30 am.

Whenever I have trouble sleeping I end up heading downstairs to read, work on my laptop or watch television.  Such was the case last night.  The last thing I did was some internet surfing before I finally fell asleep.

Adam came down early this morning & I headed back upstairs to our bedroom before the kids woke up.  Thankfully, he didn’t have a meeting until 10, so he was able to get the kids settled while I caught a few more zzzzz’s (seriously, what would I do without him?).

I came downstairs a bit later & went to check email.  But, alas, my beloved mac was missing.

I thought I remembered putting it on the end table by the couch.  In fact, I was sure of it.  I asked Adam he moved it & he said he hadn’t seen it.  I asked Ava if she played online with it & she hadn’t seen it either.  I even resorted to asking Garrett if he tried to play a movie on it, & he said no too.

Adam suggested I look upstairs.  He thought I might have taken it with me while I was in my zombie state of mind.

I looked, but no luck.

Now, I was starting to get mad.  I knew I set it on the end table, but then again, it was 4:30 in the morning, so I started second guessing what in the heck I did last night.

I was also getting ticked because the rest of the family wasn’t helping me look.  It was obvious, in my opinion, that I was frustrated.  I began moving couch cushions & tearing the downstairs apart, all the while beginning to question my sanity.

Finally, I turned to the kids & said, “Whoever finds my computer gets candy.”  Well, suddenly lending mom a helping hand seemed like a good idea.  That actually made me madder because I needed to resort to bribery to get any assistance.

Ava ran to the oversized chair, reached underneath & said, “Here it is Mom!”

Suddenly, they all sang out a chorus of “April Fools!!!!!”

I had to laugh!  It didn’t even register that today was April 1st & that my family of jokesters would try to pull one over me.

Yep, they got me.

They got me good.