Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!

Wow, I have a 16 year old! Today Elizabeth turned her sweet 16. Where has the time gone? Seems like just yesterday she was our baby girl. The time has just flown by. To celebrate, we grilled out some fish and shrimp. We also had angel hair pasta and green beans (her choice). For her cake we had an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Those are our favorite cakes since Mark gets to eat them too and we don't have to worry about the eggs and peanut warnings. The one thing about the kids getting older is that they get less gifts. I used to love shopping for all their clothes and toys when they were little. Now, they don't play with toys and it's not cool for mom to pick out their clothes. So, her gifts were small in number but kind of pricey. She got an IPOD and a Vera Bradley purse. She also wanted a "nice" copy of Little Women. That's always been her favorite book so her dad went to the book store and got her a nice copy that she will always have. She is already talking about the things she is going to take with her when she goes away to college in two years. I will probably have to go into counseling when that happens. I am just not ready for my kids to start leaving home. I am too young!!!

Everyone is settling back into their school routine. This mom is loving her quiet time. I am slowly getting the house organized and I have been going through closets and getting rid of stuff. It is such a great feeling to be somewhat better organized without all the kids under my feet.

I am also finding time to spend on my scrapbooks. I have forgotton how much I really enjoy doing them. I keep buying all kinds of supplies, but I never sit down and actually spend time working on them.

Well, not much else to share. It's not even 10 pm and the kids are in their beds. They are finally realizing that sleep is good. So, this tired mom is going to crawl into her bed and watch her Northern Exposure DVD. That is one of my all time favorite TV shows. I found season one on DVD and I can't get enough of it. So, good night all..............................