Only a few more hours of Five

Dear Damon,

I know it's a little early for your "birthday letter," but I'm feeling inspired so I thought I'd take advantage and write to you now.

I just tucked you into bed for the night, much like I do every night. Only, when I bent down to give you a kiss, it dawned on me that this would be the very last time I'd see you at five years old. So, I lingered at your side and rubbed your five-year-old head and kissed your five-year-old cheek more than once. I also told you how very much I love you, with more emphasis than I do on any given night... then, I wished you sweet dreams and left you to turn another year older overnight.

Now, I'm reflecting on the past six years and crying tears that only a mother can. Tears for every ounce of joy that you've brought into my life; and tears for every moment of anger and frustration that you've made me feel. Tears for all of the sleepless nights we endured together when you were a colicky newborn; and tears for the fact that we don't spend those twilight moments together anymore. Tears for the first steps you awkwardly took all those years ago, looking behind to make sure I was still there to catch you when you fell; and tears for the first steps you took away from me as you walked into school for the first time last year, never thinking to look back. Tears because you changed my life in every way imaginable the moment you were born, and I felt a love I never knew possible until that instant; and tears for all the moments I've spent resenting you since then for needing me so much and taking all I had to give, especially when I didn't think I had it to spare.

Mostly I'm crying these tears because I love you more than I could ever express, and I'm afraid that you'll never know just how much.

Tonight, I'm mourning all of the moments we've shared that are now a thing of the past... but I'm also celebrating the fact that all of those moments have made you the wonderful boy that you are today. You have been and will continue to be the brightest light in my life.

I want you to grow and thrive and become the absolute best you can be; but I also want to wrap you in my arms and force you to remain my baby forever!

Happy Birthday, Damon. I love you with everything I am, and then some! And I'm so proud of the "big boy" you're becoming... I could never have asked for more.

Until next year,

Mommy

I should never have been blessed with a daughter...

In an attempt to DO something with Avery's unruly hair, I have done her absolutely NO favors and have, in fact, turned my dear daughter into a Fraggle. Pictured below are dear Avery and her look-alike Red Fraggle.

Damon's 4th Annual Monster Truck Show

Last night, Nick took Damon to see the Monster Trucks, for the 4th year in a row. The trucks are always in town the weekend before Damon's birthday, so it's become a tradition for them to do this together each year... and it works out perfectly because the evening is our birthday gift to Damon (after Christmas and Avery's birthday, I'm ready for a no-brainer by the end of January!).

The past 2 years have been even more fun for Damon because his buddy Elias (my friend Trish's little boy) has gone with them.

Apparently last night was the best show they've seen yet. Two very excited little boys came home to their mommies after a fun-filled evening... Elias, who is usually pretty quiet, was hyped up on cotton candy and talking a mile a minute... Damon, who hated the cotton candy but was hyper regardless, told me countless stories about the evening and showed off his new Monster Truck "goodies."

Each boy got a new "Bad Boys of Racing" ball cap... and at the end of the evening, they waited impatiently in a mile-long line to have all of the drivers sign their hats (they both SLEPT in their hats last night, too).

And Damon was sporting a new Bigfoot t-shirt that was signed by Bigfoot's driver with a special birthday message for him.

Nick reported that the boys had a blast... that the difference in them between last year and this year was amazing. Instead of just sitting and staring, they were very interactive and played along with the announcer all night.

Nick even managed to get a pic of the boys with his camera phone (hence the poor quality, but a pic nonetheless!):

Greetings from The Poconos!!

I'm having a fabulous time!

The resort is gorgeous...

Our "suite" is totally rockin' (we have two bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining "area," and a full kitchen!)...

The ballroom that we're set up in for the crop is HUGE; there are 210 scrappers here this weekend (ummm, WOW!)...

We're eating yummy food (they gave us this "Monopoly"-type money to spend at the restaurants here, because meals were included with the price we paid for the weekend; but all of this fake money is ONES... so imagine us paying our $120 dinner bill tonight with $1 bills only, lol. It was pretty comical!)...

This evening, I relaxed in the most awesome hot tub EVER. ahhhhhhhhhhh...

I'm getting lots of scrapping done... for the first time in ages! And I'm really enjoying it again. I even took a trip to the nearest Walmart this afternoon so that I could get some newer pictures printed out (of course, I have about 10,000 "older" pics that I NEED to scrap, but never mind that!)...

Best of all... IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got a little dusting last night, then it cleared up today. Later this afternoon, the snow started up again, and it hasn't let up much all night! One of the crazy scrappers went out a little bit ago (at like 3am, mind you...) and made a snow angel. I had to laugh. Grown women get a little crazy when you take them away from their homes, kids, husbands, lol.

I'm loving the fact that there is a Wireless Internet connection here... this way I won't have to get the shakes due to lack of online time! It's been fun to check in with everyone now and then (and was FABULOUS that I could post a birthday greeting for my Daddy this morning, since I'm a bad, bad daughter and didn't get a real birthday card in the mail this week!)

It's now 4:15am, and I suppose I should try to get SOME sleep!! Out of 210 scrappers, there are 4 of us left in the crop room at this insane hour... WE are the dedicated ones (or the insomniacs!).

In lieu of sending a traditional birthday card...

Stompin' That Yeti Stomp!

Is it Thursday yet???

Why Thursday, you ask?

Because Thursday, glorious Thursday I am packing up my car bright and early (filled to the brim with every scrapbooking supply I own, and a small bag of clothes and toiletries) and I'm heading to the Poconos for FOUR DAYS and THREE NIGHTS... away from my kids... away from my husband... away from the dogs... away from the house, the laundry, the dishes, the cooking... away from the whining, screaming, crying... away from alarm clocks and bus stops... just AWAY.

This will be my third scrapbook "retreat" that I've attended with a fabulous group of scrapping friends I met online a couple of years ago. Every six months or so, we try to attend one of these events. In October '05, we were in Baltimore, MD; April '06 was Allentown, PA; and this one is at The Split Rock Resort in the Poconos. This will be our first time at an actual "resort," and I think I'm more excited about that than the fact that I'll be scrapbooking 'round the clock!

This time, there will be fewer of us than before... five other women and myself. But all six of us will be able to stay together in a suite at Split Rock (aka, a "party room").

We've been planning this trip since last summer, so now that the time is finally HERE, I'm so excited I can't see straight!!! Cherie actually leaves Omaha, NE late TONIGHT, and will arrive in PA tomorrow morning. Tammi (from PA) is picking her up at the airport and ferrying her over to Lisa's house, where they'll meet up with Katie and her sister Sandy (driving down from Maine)... and they're all having a big slumber party at Lisa's Wednesday night. I'll be the last to join our group at the resort Thursday morning!

(Can you tell I'm excited? I just gave you the intinerary of five women that I'm sure you could care less about, lol.)

But, I have to keep talking and thinking about Thursday's excitement to get me through the next day and a half!! The past two days have been horrible around here, and I'm even more ready than usual for a BREAK from it all!

I nearly broke down in tears an hour ago when my son informed me that I'm no fun; that I never play with him... NEVER (he's already forgotten the six hours of our lives that we spent playing Monopoly over the weekend, sigh); that I work too much; and that he's just a miserable little person because his mommy basically sucks.

I could probably fill a few more paragraphs with reasons WHY I need this vacation... but I'm sure I've droned on long enough already (Wake Up, Dad... I'm wrapping it up now!).

So, if I don't post again before then, I will be back early next week with a full report of my trip. I know you're on the edge of your seats...

Comet Discovers the Beach... in January!?!?

Photo Editing is Evil

In the sense that it is very, VERY addictive!!!

I did not need one more thing to keep me at this computer for countless hours. I really, really didn't.

But, I think I just found one...

My friend Melissa is an awesome photographer and "photo editor." So, I've been listening to her talk about "Photoshopping" pics and adjusting colors, blah blah blah, for a while now. I've avoided it... I have. For one thing, it sounds time-consuming. For another, I have NO CLUE what she's talking about. None. Zippo. Zilch.

But, last weekend, our Mom's Group had a little playdate at a local park (to celebrate the 70-degree day in JANUARY... ugh, don't even get me started on that!)... and my friend Kelly and I followed each other around the playground with our brand spankin' new cameras and took basically the same pictures of our favorite kids.

When we got home and posted our pics for all to see, I noticed that Kelly's were much more "vibrant" and colorful than mine. And, well, I just can't have that!!!

So, again, she starts talking about adjusting saturation, blah blah blah... it's all Greek to me. Clueless. Me.

Tonight, I very innocently opened a recent photo in my photo editing program... just to see what all the fuss was about. And now, a few hours and several edited photos later, I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to post another picture without "editing" it first.

Darn. Darn. Darn.

See what I mean? My original photos are so drab and lifeless... ick!

So if you don't hear from me for the next year or so... you know what's happened (don't worry, Dad, I promise I'm not moving to Montana anytime soon, lol). I'm sitting at the computer editing each and every one of the 20,000 or so pictures that I've taken of my kids since that fateful night in 2001 when Damon arrived!

The only other alternative, according to Melissa, is to actually learn how to use my camera and adjust its settings to TAKE decent pictures.

I'm doomed.

Snippets

I've been slacking on the blog posts lately, so here's a "catching up" post!!!

*Avery's birthday party was last Saturday and a booming success! Thanks so much to all of our family and friends who came over to celebrate Avery's third year... I think it's safe to say that the Princess had a fabulous day!!

*Nick's sister and her husband and baby were with us for almost a whole week! It was so nice to spend some time with them, and to get our hands on that precious baby. Nick's mom and her boyfriend Jay were also here New Year's weekend... also a nice TREAT for us! I always love having Nick's family around, and only wish we could get together more often than we do. Here are Grandma Chris and all three of her grandbabies!

*Much to my initial dismay, Nick added a new member to our family... of the canine variety. Comet is a gorgeous Golden Retriever puppy that my dear hubby surprised me with the week after Christmas. I'm gradually warming up to the idea of another pet to love (ie, another responsibility to add to the several I already have!). The fact that he's adorable and the sweetest dog I've ever met is helping a great deal! I mean, really... how could I not love this face??

Lizzie was less than thrilled with her new brother at first... but she's warming up to him, too. Of course, he's not giving her much choice:

I think those are all of the major "happenings" around here lately. Hopefully I'll find more time to blog regularly in the New Year! The Holidays have kept me pretty busy (that's my excuse this time, anyway). One more major birthday party this month (Damon will be SIX on the 31st!) and then I can officially relax, I think!!!

Damon and Avery in 2006

My friend Trish challenged our Mom's Group on New Year's Day to do a "Year in Review" kinda thing, either with text or with pics (or both)... sounded fun. But it took me DAYS to complete this project!

FINALLY, here is my version of "The Year in Review" for 2006... starring who else but Damon and Avery... my favorite little monsters.

(filmstrip element and some papers by Jessica Bolton; other papers by Shabby Princess)