Turkey Twist...an unexpected turn of events

I could feel Isabella next to me in bed, the little moves, the little moans, cries...I knew...

Bry at one point brought out the 'Dad Voice' and said, "No more messing around or you're going back to your own bed". But I knew she wasn't messing around and sure enough by 6:45 this morning her little body was on fire with fever. So down to the family room we went and made a bed on the couch for her and put on her favorite cartoons. When I asked what hurt, Isabella told me, "Everything...my body is broken"...sad:(

The day went off and on...when the fever was raging, Isabella was very quiet and snuggled into my lap. When it broke, she suddenly snapped back to her normal self. So the day ended up being a little 'quieter' than normal in our party household...however, I think Veronica made up for it by being extra LOUD today...ha ha:)

So here's some highlights from our Turkey Day:)

*What's a Thanksgiving Day Parade without a little candy???? Our children will never be able to accuse us of not being any fun! We set the girls up in our bedroom to watch the parade on tv so we could get to some cooking. Bryan grabbed our bottomless bowl of Halloween candy and from the doorway, threw candy at the kids onto the bed, as if they were at a 'real' parade getting candy thrown at them. Isabella later told Grandma and Papa that the tv threw candy at them:)

*Turkey Dinner is a family affair!!! The girls both made their contributions in the kitchen! They were great green bean casserole helpers, assisting with putting the ingredients together. Isabella also made her own creation which consisted of apples, celery, salt, and pepper...yummy! Also of note, Isabella told us while helping that "I already did this before when I was at High School Musical, when I lived with a different family, so I already know how to do this"...hmmm, interesting.

*VERONICA...V was particularly animated and spunky today...even more than usual if that is possible:) From showing us how she has learned to muff Isabella's Care Bear blankie to inhaling cranberries and lefse, she was a hoot!!!! Our Thanksgiving feast fell over naptime, so this made things interesting...Veronica would get in a mood throughout parts of the meal and she would puff out her Angelina Jolie lips and give us 'the eyes' - a look worthy of a 13 year old and than march downstairs with quite the spunk in her step proclaiming, "I going to watch Pocahontas" (her new obcession - she LOVES Pocahontas!). She was also particulary precious as she made her contribution to the meal time prayer, which was said all in whispers and began as it always does with "God is great", but I'm not usually able to decipher anything after that. But her eyes are sparkling, checking everyone out to see if they are listening to her prayer, and her little hands are clasped tight...it's pretty cute! We also got a big kick out of watching her skirt fall off throughout the day...these girls, they just do not have the bellies required to keep their clothes up!!!

*Isabella snuggles for Mommy...for whatever reason, I was the chosen one today when Isabella's fever would come on. She wanted to snuggle only Momma...this felt great. Lately Isabella and I seem to have a relationship that resembles that of a mother and a teenager:) She's been much more receptive to Daddy and I've respected that. It felt great to be needed today and to sing her the 'Papa had a baby' song and to stroke her hair, my heart almost breaking looking at the glazed over eyes that were so lifeless. What a beautiful girl, I love her soooooo much...even when she doesn't love me so much and tells me she is going to live with a different family (to which I told her that I would get the phone book out and start looking for a new family for her - how very adult of me...ah parenting, aren't these babies supposed to come out of the womb with an instruction book attached???? Ha ha ha!).

*Playing Elephun with Papa!!! But Papa kept trying to cheat by putting his net over the elephant's trunk! Isabella let him have it on that one:)

*Platters...this sounds silly, I know! The first year we were married, right before T-day, I saw these glass platters with a leaf design at Macy's that I just loved. I tried to resist, but the night before Thanksgiving, I dashed out to get them and every year we have hosted we use them. Whenever I pull them out, I'm filled with such nostalgia of our first Thanksgiving as a married couple and I hope that 50 years from now, I'll be pulling them out to use again and reflecting on how thankful I am for such a wonderful husband and fulfilling marriage.

*Daddy...WOW!!! Daddy effortlessly puts together the Thanksgiving meal pretty much on his own every year with a happy heart and without making me feel bad about my lack of skill in the kitchen. I make the pickle roll-ups, set the table (with our wedding china this year - what good memories - I love that china), run to the grocery store to get the forgotten onion, and dress the girls. Thanks DADDY!!! You are a wonder and the best part is that you do it with such happiness and joy, sharing the process with the girls, and appreciating what little contribution I can give!

Two Little Turkeys

Can you say SURPRISE??????

For the record...I turned 30 on November 14th and am LOVING IT!!! I had no issues with turning 30...I was excited and thankful! I look at my life and where things are at at age 30 and I couldn't be happier! 30 is GOOD!!!! Plus I hear you're supposed to suddenly get a whole lot wiser and smarter at 30...we'll see if that happens:)

That said, I'm not such a big fan of having big parties in my honor...which many find hilarious since I tend to throw big parties for my kiddos and Bryan. I never really had super big parties growing up...mainly due to the fact that my parents seemed to break out in hives if there were more than 5 of my friends in the house (just teasing Mom and Dad, but I think we all know you're not the super huge party kind of parents:). I spent most of my birthdays in college working...for whatever reason, I never saw the point of taking off work for my birthday. This even crossed into bridal and baby showers. The morning of my bridal shower I thought I was going to throw up...the thought of all of those people watching me...it made me want to stay in bed:)

So when the subject of my big 3-0 came up, I was fine with doing nothing and was relieved to discover we had a wedding to attend in MSP on my actual birthday...PERFECT...I could than avoid any attention being put on my bday!!! Bryan asked if I wanted to do anything...I claimed our Disney trip as my bday celebration and he was cool with that.

Little did I know that Debbie, Laura, and Tami had begun concoting a plan back at the end of September for a surprise party...along with Bry's help and permission. As Bry said, "I just ok'ed the plan and wrote the check"...I thought that was funny:)

On Saturday after work I booked it over to the CanadINN Water Park to meet up with Mindy, Gretchen, and my girls for what I thought was Godmother/Goddaughter slumber party weekend. As I was running up to the doors I saw three things - WHITE, MY NIECE KAITLYN'S FACE, and a '30' on the WHITE (which was a banner). In a matter of a second, I realized I had been completely fooled and turned away from the door and started to cry and heard a loud group of people burst into laughter. Nowhere to go, so in I went and saw the people I love the most gathered in front of me with a group of sweet little children that I adore more than I can say holding a "Happy 30th Birthday Jenny" banner. And than very quickly I noticed an even bigger surprise, SAM AND MONICA standing amongst the crowd!!!! WHAT?????? They had come up from Minneapolis to surprise me AND BRYAN, who had no clue they were going to be there until they arrived at the CanadINN! Oh my!!!! It was just all too much and I cried much more like a baby than a 30 year old...surprise surprise:)

Where to begin on my thoughts of all of this????? I'll try and cover it with some thank you's and highlights:

*Debbie, Tami, Laura, and Bryan...you did this in the most perfect way that honored me and what means the most to me - family, friendships, and memories. There is nothing I could have enjoyed more than spending that time with my 'big kid' friends and my 'little' friends. You know what is on my heart and you honor it...I am touched and grateful. Thank you for pushing me out of my birthday 'comfort zone' in a way that would be so special. The time, love, thought, and detail all 4 of you put into this is overwhelming to say the least...words cannot express it...I hope the smile on my face as I enjoyed the evening gave you some indication of how much it meant to me. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH...but maybe Bryan the most...hee hee hee:)

*TAMI, LANCE, BELLA, and AVA...Aloha!!!! We missed you sooooo much at the party but I cannot tell you how much that cake and the message inscribed on it meant to me. You have been a big part of my journey these past few months and you touched me so deeply with a simple birthday message on a cake. It was beautiful and your heart was so evident in it. I love you guys so much and miss you so much! Enough Hawaii...come home:)

*I don't know if there was anything more precious than seeing my daughters, my niece, and the sweet children of my friends holding up that Happy Birthday banner...I can't describe it. I often refer to our 'village' of friends here in GF/EGF and I couldn't speak more highly of it (them) if I tried. We are surrounded by this fantastic group of couples, all of us raising our kids, trying to do the best we can, often questioning everything we're doing, and just loving our kids along the way.

To my friends - your children are so special to me. I am thankful to be a part of their lives and for my children to have them as part of their lives.

*Sam and Mon (and Baby Silver) - thank you for making the long haul up here...what a SURPRISE!!! It was so special to see you and to have you be a part of our life up here that you always here us talking about!

*HIGHLIGHT...Veronica going down the little yellow slide by herself and repeatedly pointing at us from the top saying, "NO Mommy, no" as we would move to the bottom to try and catch her. We would have to sneak in once she started sliding down to help her 'dismount' or soop her up onto her feet if she didn't quite get her footing.

*Isabella eating cake, "Um Mommy...after we finish this can we have some more cause there's LOTS"!!!

*Happy Birthday, eh...did that sound Canadian????? Well it should, cause even Karl was home for the weekend from Winnipeg and got to join the festivities...YEAH:)

*The planning details...after something like this it is always so fun to hear the back story and the planning that goes into it - the funny questions that you never even batted an eye at, Debbie sneakily offering to watch my kids so I could go tanning on Friday (that's when you know someone's one of your best friends - they know you'll be a lot happier in a swimsuit if you've got a tan - I LOVE YOU DEBBIE-Day-ANA:), the covert emails, the time the plan almost got busted but I didn't even realize that. All this stuff is so fun!!! The hilarity of it all!!! I love it!!!

What an awesome time!!!! Than I found out that my kids were sleeping over at G and G's and the 'big kids' were going out!!! Man...I think every detail was covered that could possibly be covered!!! What better way to end my night than with some cheesy pickles at the Toasted Frog...YUMMMY!!!!

To everyone involved in the planning, to everyone who was there...thank you from the bottom of my heart!!! Birthday party or none, there is nothing I love more than a chance to get everyone together and have some fun!!! You are all so very dear to me and I am so thankful for your frienship and love in my life!!! I'm the luckiest 30 year old around!!!

Isabella-isms...

From the mouth of our 4 year old...

*While having dinner one night we talked about Daddy's new haircut and how handsome it looked, to which Isabella replied, "Daddy is so stylish"

*Our little friend Isabel was over to play and Isabella said with great enthusiasm, "Isabel, you TOTALLY ROCK".

*Our friend Timmy stopped by and Isabella said, "Timmy is so awesome"

*Isabella dressed herself for a friend's birthday party - a ballet dress, second ballet skirt on top of it, and Halloween leggings. Debbie told Isabella she looked great and Isabella skipped on by and said, "That's how I do it"!

*Yesterday before I left for work I left Isabella's dance clothes out. When she arrived at dance class she was wearing a different dance outfit. Apparently when she adn Daddy went to get dressed, she picked out the other outfit, telling Bryan, "This is so stylish".

Well...what to make of all of that???? I can only guess what will be coming out of her mouth when she is 13!

The Grande Finale of Veronica's 'My Happy Birthday' celebration:)

Tonight we bid farewell to Veronica's 2nd birthday celebration:) Due to our Disney trip and other events, we finally just had Veronica's 'friend' bday party tonight (her bday was September 30th:).

What a night it was!!!! I just sit down after these events, reflect on it all, and am just so thankful! What incredible friends we have in our lives! We just love having everyone over to celebrate...it is SO FUN!!!

We kept Halloween going tonight with Veronica's Happy Halloween Bday Bash! We love Halloween and it is always SO FUN to see all the little kiddos in their costumes...they are the cutest little kiddos in town!!! Princesses, puppies, skunks, witches, a banana, Tigger, and more...so many CUTE costumes!!!
There was pizza and cake - homemade by Dad this year...way to go Dad!!! We also made mini cake bites in the shapes of pumpkins and ghosts...fun:) You know me...I'm all about the theme!!!
Next came the Halloween Trick or Treat Parade! The parents lined up on the stairs and in the living room and with "This is Halloween" playing in the background, the kids marched up in their costumes collecting candy from parents along the way. Fun! I just love it!
Than it was on to the 'sweets' part of the night with cookie decorating, also some crafts, and a couple of rounds of musical chairs accompanied by a 'Ghostbusters Dance Party':)

So now let's talk about the Birthday Girl - Veronica Grace Elizabeth Hanson!!! I thought it was so funny...Debbie called after the party and commented on how Veronica just had everything going on tonight...she was the cutest kid in town...in Debbie's words, "It all just worked on her tonight":) And I have to say, I agree!:) V chose to wear her Cinderella dress tonight and it was DARLING on her...combine that with a pile of curls up on top of her head and her mischevious, endearing smile and oh boy...that little girl is so cute it's dangerous:) She was a precious birthday princess.
Veronica is a birthday nut! Ever since her Scooby Doo family party back in September, she is always saying things like, "My happy birthday", "My bday cake", "I want my Happy Bday", etc...We made the mistake of telling her earlier in the week that her bday party was this weekend, which led to several Veronica meltdowns/temper tantrums when her bday party and bday cake weren't happening right that second. She loves birthday parties...hers in particular! And Miss V definitely had an extra spring in her step tonight. You could see the excitement in her eyes and the pure joy and happiness she was experiencing as the night wore on! It was so special.
I loved watching her big brown eyes sparkle and her smile get bigger and bigger as we all sang 'Happy Birthday' to her...it was so adorable...I'll remember it always! It means so much to see her enjoy the party and sharing it with all of our special friends!

By the end of the night, her princess curls were a wild mess on top of her head and there was chocolate all over her face. As the last of our friends were leaving, she stood on the steps eating a piece of pizza and said, "Thank you my happy birthday, thank you my Jocie (her buddy that was leaving), bye" and blew a kiss and than waved her sweet little wave. Veronica has the most adorable wave as of late...I think it's the result of our Disney trip and all the waving at characters throughout the park and at parades. She stretches her arm straight up and moves her wrist back and forth so that just her little hand waves...almost like a pageant wave...it is so cute!!!

Than she hammed it up for the camera, posing for me, showing me her grand arabesque, and turning around and tilting her head back so I could see her curls...it was so funny. Than she danced around the entry way saying "Shuuuuuu-ffle step, shuuuuuuuuu-ffle step, shuffle HOP step, shuffle HOP step".
Than she discovered the Little Mermaid ball Wadholm's had gotten her and squealed in delight as she kicked it around the living room like a soccer pro! Life is good when your two!

We love bday parties and we love our friends...combine the two together and we couldn't ask for a better night! What fun! We love watching the kids play and make a mess and just BE KIDS! We love watching the moms and dads all interact and connect and build friendships! It is all just so wonderful!!!!

Happy Birthday Veronica Grace Elizabeth! We are so happy you had so much fun at your party! Thank you for showing us your thanks with that adorable smile and sparkling eyes! Mommy and Daddy felt the excitement right along with you!!! We LOVE YOU BABY GIRL...oops, I mean big girl:)