To Treat or Not to Treat??

It is two days before Halloween. Everyone is asking me what Madelin and Evan are going to be. The truth is, I have no idea. I don't plan on taking them trick or treating. They don't even know what candy is, and I plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. At this point in time, I can eat M&Ms in front of my two year old and she has no idea what is going on. Sooner or later, I will have to share. But what is the point of rushing??

I think the best example of our hard work came at Maddie's birthday party last month. The kids had a blast with the pinata, the excitement was rising, candy was about to fall, and then with one last swing - children's dreams were answered. And what did my lovely child do? Like all the other kids, she ran to grab the candy, of course. And then she put it all in other kid's bags. I know my time is limited. One day she will have a piece of candy and know the joy she has been missing. But that day can wait...for at least a little longer.

I wonder if I am causing them to miss some great rite of passage. Will their childhood be tarnished by the delay of sugary goodness? I doubt it, but at least they will know I felt a little guilty during the time.

One party down, one to go...for now

The baptism is over, things are finally settling down. Yeah right. Now I am in full-blown planning mode for Maddie's birthday party. This years theme is Alice in Wonderland. I think I made too many plans and now I hope I get half of the stuff done. I have my lists and have been looking around for decorations. We are going to have a big tea party, with all mismatched items (teapots and clocks) and decor. Which you would think would be easy, but I am beginning to think it requires more thought. Mismatched and cute is very different from mismatched and tacky. Plus, there is now "teapot" party theme stuff that has nothing to do with our birthday theme, but seems to be the only thing showing up during my endless searching.

Also, I have been calling around looking for the perfect place to make her cake. For some reason, I am absolutely convinced she needs a "Mad Hatter" style cake. For those of you who do not know, the cake's name is only a coincidence. It is the style that I am after. I put an example above. The bad thing is, only a couple of places in San Antonio will make these cakes. You can think I am a horrible mother, but I refuse to pay $300 for a birthday cake for a toddler.

Luke keeps telling me to make the cake myself. I went to the cake decorating classes, I should be able to make one in a couple of hours. Probably not. I really would like to try...but I also want a backup plan. So, I will continue calling around to different bakeries, begging until I find some wonderful soul who will make Maddie's beautiful cake for a decent price.

One good thing happened during my quest for the perfect birthday cake...I found Evan's birthday theme and his cake. I am keeping that a little secret for now, just in case I change my mind. But it is super cute. Only seven more months to wait...

The Dunking

We had Evan's baptism this past weekend. Everything went great. He loved all of the attention! After the service, we had a small party at Mimi and Fa's house. The kids had a blast and were exhausted afterwards. In fact, they ended up going to sleep at 6:30 that night (which was fantastic for us!).

Thought I would share a little baptism story with everyone. Last night, while I was giving Evan a bath, Maddie was assisting me. She kept splashing water on him, and every time I would look at her and ask her to "please stop", she would just pat me on the shoulder and say "It's otay, Mama" and continue her little fun. As I have learned with many situations in my few years of being a parent - it is usually wise to not let them see you laugh. So, I just smiled and went about my business.

After bath time, I called Mimi and told her the bath story. She had an enlightening thought. She asked what I was telling Maddie when Evan was being baptized. And I just laughed. Maddie was pretty worried about some strange man dropping water on her little brother, so I telling her that it "was all right, it's okay". So, it turns out she was just mimicking the weekend events. Guess she is going to baptize Evan every night at bath time now.

Hello all

Well, I discovered a new way to pass along information to all of our friends and family. Although I have started a couple of these in the past, hopefully I can keep up with this one. Maddie is now 20 months old and running around like crazy. I have never realized how much energy that child could have. She had fun playing with her cousins and bubbles yesterday.

Evan is is three and a half months old and is growing by the minute. He is almost as tall as Maddie. I don't know if this means that she is incredibly short, or he is really tall. Guess we will find out in the next few years. It amazes me how sweet and cuddly he is, which does nothing to stop him from becoming spoiled rotten (I just can't put him down!). Maddie loves his as well. They spent yesterday morning watching cartoons together.

If I do not update the blog this week, it is because I have gone into hybernation. I am completing my final project so that I can finish my masters program. It is a one week process, so if I ignore all of you, it isn't because I don't love you, it is because I am trying to finish school for the last time!