Being a good mom is so exhausting!

Even just trying to be a good mom for an afternoon can take a lot out of a girl! We had Haley's friend b-day party this afternoon. WOW! Total of 13 kids for 2 hours. We had a luau theme. We did sand art bottles, had a limbo contest and a hula hoop contest. Haley opened gifts and for food we had fruit kabobs, chips and trail mix. I also made some "really awesome" (Haley's description) punch.

The kids all seemed to have a really good time so all the work and frusteration seems to have paid off. Haley was happy and that was my only real goal for the day. I am glad that we had the party outside and in the garage- 10 year olds have no concept of keeping things neat and clean. I guess it's not just that Haley is a slob- it's all kids her age! Good to know you are normal in that area Boppers!

Here are a couple pics from the afternoon.

Time for me to go collapse on the couch with the man of my dreams.....or whoever happens to be there........

Happy Birthday Boppers!

Haley Jae has hit the double digits! On July 3, 1999 Scott and I became parents for the first time at 11:54 pm. That's right- I was bound and determined I was not going to have a "firecracker baby" like everyone kept saying. Luckily Haley agreed with me and didn't take her time joining us! Weighing in at 6 lbs 15 oz, she was so tiny that I was more scared about holding her than I ever thought possible. Fast forward to July 3, 2009:

Just Haley and I went shopping to find her b-day outfit. I love getting to spend one-on-one time with the kids. It doesn't happen very often, especially with the girls, but we have a good time when it does! This is the outfit she chose ( I knew she was going to pick this one the moment she put the hat on!):

Then we went out for lunch. We went to Johnny Carinos cuz Haley is the carb queen and they definitely have that going on! Too bad we had bought jelly beans earlier in the day and weren't even hungry for lunch! At least they had take home boxes!

This year we ordered Haley's cake from "The Cake Lady" here in town. Haley picked French vanilla cake with chocolate mousse filling and chocolate buttercream frosting. Nope -wasn't good at all.........

We had her b-day party in our usual fashion. Grilled burgers and hot dogs, had cake and ice cream and then we were hoping to do some fireworks but mother nature decided that this year we needed rain instead. This is the first year that it has rained on Haley's b-day. The kids still did some poppers by standing in the garage and shooting them outside. Scott did light a few fireworks but with the rain I don't think they lived up to their full potential. Haley did make sure that everyone looked pretty by giving them some flowers from her cake. She even did grandpa Bakker's hair for him....

It is still raining this morning. We were hoping to go to lake Vermillion and hang out with one of Scott's photographer frients and his family. They have a boat and a camper. We were hoping to spend some time on the water and around a campfire. Maybe the day will dry up soon. Here's hoping!