Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday Dear Nikolas...

Well, I did it! I pulled of one spectacular birthday party for my little munchkin...whew! Now my house is a wreck and I have no clue where I am going

to put most of his new stuff...but the party was a success!! He made out like a bandit in gifts, his cake was perfect and his friends had a blast with the slip and slide and the pool we had set up. All in all, it was a great day and even though it exhausted me (to which I am still recovering!) it was worth every second.

The water slide and the pool were a brilliant idea (if I do say so myself!) however once set up a discussion quickly followed on whether or not the slide would be long enough for everyone to enjoy. Which really meant..."Ok, we have a slide for the little guys...but what are the BIG kids supposed to do?!" Well, Uncle Brandon came to the rescue and ran to the wonderful Home Depot to buy the biggest piece of plastic tarp money can buy. Let's just say we were able to set up the coolest looking water slide on the planet and all we really had to do was lay it down, squirt on the baby oil and add a water hose!

It warmed my heart to have my family and friends together on this special day...it is never done often enough! We always say we are going to be better about putting time aside for just visiting, or even chatting on the phone for a few minutes...but it is amazing how quickly we retract on that promise once we get back into our daily routines and the daily grind we are all forced to deal. I make these promises myself...and yet again and again they are broken. I am going to try to change that.........one step at a time.

All in all, my son's million-watt smile as he ran from activity to activity and opened his presents it was worth every tear I shed, every gallon of sweat I lost and a few sleepless nights sprinkled in (the things we do for our kids!)

That's all for now...gotta catch up on my rest!

~Peace