What's my Mommy going to blog about today?

Not my hair again?! She told me I look like a rooster today.

Actually, she's just shamelessly posting pictures of my adorable baby smile! =)

...and some drool too. True dat.

Yesterday was my birthday, and for a multitude of reasons, not a very happy one.

My parents ended up bringing Chinese food out to the house, along with my present. It was nice not having to cook and being with family always makes me feel better...she also made cupcakes with homemade frosting, how can't that make someone happy?! After dinner, they gave me their gift. Along with a beautiful note (which made me cry), she handed me this box (and after I saw the logo, I cried again...because I now had a pretty good idea what it was). I opened it (and cried some more), it was the mother's necklace I had coveted from Etsy and blogged about (apparently Mom reads my blog)!

It's gorgeous, and it made me cry, smile, and forget about my crappy day...and it made my birthday a happy one.

Thanks Mom and Dad, I love you!

You can click on the picture to see a bigger image, I was too lazy to switch lenses to get a better close up. ;)

Riley decided she wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday, so off we went to Claire's to get them done. They gave us a board to choose which style she wanted...she choose diamonds, and unless she asks if they're real, I'll just let her believe they are. So, of course, I break out my camera, because I am after all the meanest mom in the world and had to capture the moment. I was happy to hear they could pierce both sides at the same time, because I have to admit I was a tad nervous that after they did one side, she'd never let them do the other.

As they were prepping her ears, I heard some lady say, "Did you see what they're making that poor little girl do?"

Yeah lady, that's it, I drug here and forced her to get her ears pierced...OR ELSE! Perhaps if she were 2-months-old, but we decided they are Riley's ears and she got to make the decision when and if she wanted her ears pieced. Love those unsolicited comments.

All ready to go! She admits she's a little nervous...

At this point, I'm thinking I should have brought an emesis basin from work. I put the camera down, held her hand, she cried for a minute or so, then looked at her ears in the mirror and was instantly back in diva mode.

My 7-year-old and her new 'diamond' earrings. ;)

You know those moments that make you smile on the inside as well as out, moments that make your heart happy? I witnessed one today, quite possibly the sweetest thing I've seen in quite some time. Cooper and some of the neighbor kids took it upon themselves to surprise Riley and sing Happy Birthday to her. I'm not sure which of the group orchestrated it, but what a surprise for Riley...she loved it!

It may be child labor, but we did let her pick her own uniform.

We call Camdyn the Little Big Sister and up until the birth of Rowyn, we still referred to her as 'The Baby'. Now that she's a big sister, she's still adjusting to how that affects her place in the family. She does, however, love that she can make Rowyn smile and giggle.

And Sissy kisses are always welcome.

When little sisters become a bore, try jump roping as Buckethead.

A Birthday Tradition

Since I was a child, my dad would buy flowers for my birthday...always carnations. So, we decided early on to continue that tradition with our girls. Clyde has bought flowers for the girls for each of their birthdays, Riley especially looks forward to them.

Oh, and for my siblings that didn't get flowers for their birthday...that's because Dad loves me more! :P

The Opportunist

It didn't take Camdyn long to figure out, that when Mommy is nursing Rowyn, she's distracted. It is prime time for getting into naughties. Yesterday, she sprayed Body By Victoria all over herself and the curtains in the bathroom (which now smells quite lovely, I must admit). Last week, she spent 10 minutes chasing the cat with her Fisher Price shopping cart, climbed on the counter and ate 6 pieces of bubble gum and washed them down with my coffee, plugged the toilet, and stuck all our stamps on the oven door.

Today she put on her own makeup.

And later, finger painted peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the window. All in the nude mind you, she loses her clothes by 9am. They're too binding for climbing and scaling.

For the Birthday girl...

Newborn Riley

9-months-old

1-year-old Riley

Riley is 2!

Riley is 3!

More of Riley through the years...

Riley is 4!

Riley is 5!

Riley is 6!

Happy 7th Birthday Riley Breck!

We made cake balls for Riley to bring for her birthday treat at school. Riley decided on pink and brown cake balls and she picked out the cutest sprinkles at this awesome little shop downtown, The Calico Bean Market...check it out online too: http://www.calicobeanmarket.com/catalog/

Grammy is prepping the Styrofoam

Riley was in charge of the sprinkles.

Mom packaged them all for us, thanks Mom!

Cute and yummy!

Karaoke and an organic granola bar...bustin' out rhymes.


She apparently forgot the lyrics.

Rock on.

Next up on open mike night...

Yesterday, I made homemade tortilla chips. I made mine out of corn tortillas, but you could certainly use flour if you wanted. So, so easy to make and the kids love them for snacks. I cut the corn tortillas into 1/8th's, lay them on a cookie sheet, spray them with Canola oil spray (or any Pam spray), lightly sprinkle them with salt or any seasoning you prefer. I used sugar and cinnamon, and Camdyn thought she was eating a pop tart. Bake them at 350 for 5 minutes, flip them over and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

While the tortillas were baking, Camdyn played with her Dora dollhouse...it's always easier to play when you're sitting on the roof in your Dora underpants.

My most recent Etsy purchase, cute, right?! I think Riley will wear it for her birthday. The design looks fairly simple, I think I may try to make my own.

In other unrelated news, Lumpy has been singing Happy Birthday to each and everyone of Cooper's multitudinous amount of Matchbox cars. It should keep her busy until dinner.

After a particularly bad morning with a certain 2-year-old, I officially dubbed Friday, September 26th as, 'Take Your Lumpy to Work Day'. When Clyde stopped home for lunch, I notified him of the newly named holiday. After she decked herself out in a glitzy pair of pink cowboy boots, they were off.

And rather than kiss her mommy goodbye, she thought a "STINK!" would be more fitting.

It's Bumbo time!

I love it when they curl those little baby piggies!

Rowyn takes Sigmund Freud's Oral Stage in his theory of child development very seriously, she always has her hand crammed in her mouth.

Lumpy wanted to be included...and she wanted her own Bumbo in pink, of course.

Since her hand wasn't available, note the concentration on shoving the rattle in her mouth instead.

I love my mom; she's artistic, crafty, sensitive, loving, beautiful, caring, creative, she's a fantastic cook. She is nurturing, gentle, patient, intelligent, and she would do anything for any one of her children or grandchildren.

Her creative ability never ceases to amaze me, really, she makes the cutest things. We've been blessed to receive homemade cards from my mom for years, I wish I could share them all with you, because each one is more amazing than the next. She's makes us cards for birthdays, anniversaries, all the holidays, even a first day of school card. Here are just a few of my favorites.




Cooper's bedroom...I hung some of his cards up on a make shift clothesline. The second in from the left was made by my aunt, Gigi (my mom's sister), who is obviously a card queen herself!


Valentine's Day card for Lumpy, love it!


Riley thought this was the sweetest card...and with her own picture on it, she thought she was pretty cool!


A birthday card and envelope she made for my birthday, look at all the stitching!



When Rowyn was born...just adorable. And how did she know that's what Rowyn's hair would look like? ;)



For Rowyn's baptism, she even attached a small pink cross. I framed it and it is currently sitting in her crib, I love it so much!

I've really been trying to get her to sell some of her cards, I think they'd do really well...but then again, I feel a little selfish about them and I'm not sure I want to share them with anyone. They truly are exquisite, and they come from her heart, and that, you can't put a price tag on.

Rin Din got herself a new pair of specs. I finally had my eye sight rechecked, and with prescription in hand, I only waited a year or so to fill it. I found a pair shipped to my house for under $20. Yes, that includes the frames, lenses, and glasses case. I found them at http://www.eyebuydirect.com/nicole-p-1309.html.

God, that sounds like a commercial gone wrong.

Pepé Le Pew ain't got nothin' on Lumpy.






This is what I've been getting all afternoon...she takes her skunkness very seriously and likes to whip that tail around and yell, "STINK!" We didn't just stop there folks, oh no, we migrated into "POOP!" and "PEE!" What fun, I can hardly wait until Halloween night. The neighbors won't know what hit them.

While on the subject of hair...

Busted! ~

Move over Paul Mitchell, John Frieda, and the likes...here comes my faux-hawk sportin', tractor driving, 4-wheeler lovin', skateboard thrashin', 5-year-old hair stylist. Caught in the act of doing Mommy's hair. These are the pictures we'll be sure to save and, of course, share with his prom date...thinking ahead already, aren't we?!

Family Movies ~

The kids love watching family movies of when they were a baby, Riley especially! We recently watched Camdyn's video and I had forgotten how much she loved a song on Noggin...we had it DVR'd and she would watch that thing over and over again, she was a dancing fool!

"I'm so glad I've got skin, I've got skin, I've got skin, I'm so glad I've got skin, that's what keeps my insides in! Insides in, insides in, that's what keeps my insides in!"

Feel free to view it in its entirety...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ1UfcDgoBc

Faux Hawk ~

Rowyn's hair is really starting to come in...in the form of a baby faux hawk. That hair has a mind of its own, most days she wakes up with it sticking straight up in the air. Oh, the hair products we'll need just to keep that crazy stuff down. ;)