The Longest Post in the History of This Blog

Has it really been over a month since the last time I blogged?? Wowza…

I’ve honestly considered giving it up, but…I like it. I miss it. So even if it’s random and spotty, even if I’ve lost the interest of most of the people who used to read it, even if I can only find time to squeeze in a post once every month, I’m keeping it.

So…what’s been keeping me away the past month-ish?

In a word…

BIRTHDAYS

My word at the birthdays! Between our two extended families, we have 15 birthdays from the beginning of August to the beginning of December.

NINE of those are in the months of September/October.

TWO of those belong to our own sweet girls.

In addition to all of that, I’ve started teaching Lily pre-school three days a week, a ladies Bible study at church every Tuesday, we began meeting with our small group after summer break AND we welcomed Dave’s mom and dad to our home for a week.

Breathe, Amy. Breathe!

I once heard an explanation of the difference between introverts and extroverts put this way: It’s not that extroverts like being with people and introverts don’t. It’s that being with people energizes extroverts but drains the energy of introverts.

Listen, that makes so much sense to me! I am in introvert in the sense that I need quiet time to recharge. I LIKE people. It’s just sometimes they wear me out.

So.

I’m making every effort to be sure to squeeze that quiet time into the hustle and bustle that is our daily life.

And now, because nobody really wants to read a long boring post about what an introvert I am…I’ll give you some pictures and birthday party details.

We opted for one family birthday party for both the girls this year. Of course we celebrated with them individually on their own birthdays, but the big shebang was shared, for several reasons, the most important being that Dave’s parents can’t make the trip for two birthday parties in the space of 3 weeks. This way they got to celebrate with both girls!

{Plus…it’s way easier on the wallet and mommy’s brain!}

They {and by “they” I mean “Lily” because Sophia couldn’t care less} wanted a princess theme. They love the Disney princesses, so I did my best to incorporate them into the party without spending too much extra money (because you know Disney overcharges for all their stuff!)

Here’s what we came up with:

My lovely friend Deann, who is the one responsible for Lily’s awesome birthday cake last year, came over to help teach me how to frost the cake.

{And by teach me, I mean, she showed me how to do it and I watched }

But I did make the cake {using the recipe Deann likes} and it was ah-mazing! Seriously, if you are making a white cake for any event this is the recipe you should use!

I had envisioned the flowers being a little more rose pink than hot pink – to match the decorations – but I still think the cake turned out absolutely beautifully! And under Deann’s tutelage, I think I might even be willing to try my hand at something like this on my own. It really wasn’t as difficult as I expected it to be. {Says the person who stood there and watched while Deann did all the hard work }

I bought the tissue pom garland from the party store and the pink striped straws from Etsy, and I borrowed the milk glass bottles from a friend. The pink forks and napkins are actually leftovers from a previous party, and all the rest of the decorations came from Lily’s room!

I had a picture of each of the girl’s on either end of the buffet.

And I splurged on a “Pin the Tiara on Rapunzel” game from the party store that the kid’s had fun playing.

Since this was a family party and we had some boys in attendance I did “princess and pirate” themed favors. The girls got sunglasses and princess rings and the boys got eye patches and pirate earrings

I only managed to get one picture of the present opening phase of the evening because our camera is missing and both of our phones batteries were almost dead. Dave’s dad took tons of pictures, though, so I’ll have to beg some off of him

And that, my friends, concludes the longest post in the history of this blog.

I will be back later with details on the girls’ favorite presents, thoughts on Lily’s preschool, and whatever else I can find time to write about. I’m sure you’ll be on the edge of your proverbial seats

Happy Monday!