Harvest Party

Every year, my friend, Amy, hosts a fantastic Harvest Party at her home.  Okay, so it's a glorified playdate, but we usually have fabulous weather, the moms get to visit, and the kids have a wonderful time.

We had to run to the bank and Wal-Mart (okay, we drove) before the party, so we arrived around noontime.  It's always such a fun time of reconnecting with moms & friends that we haven't seen in a while.  This is at least our 4th year attending, and it's so fun to see how big the kids are getting.

Amy's daughter, Avanell, has chickens--they're always a big hit with the kids.  Only one child fell into the pond, and for once, it wasn't one of mine!  Our friend, Lisa, made up a great scavenger hunt for the kids (e.g., find someone who likes lemons, find someone who has been to Texas), so they were all running around getting to know one another!

We finally left around 4pm.  I stopped at home, and then ran to the new grocery store that just opened today. They gave Maddie a balloon flower, and gave me a (clearly inferior, non-Pampered Chef) spatula.  I picked up ice cream and the ingredients for shepherd's pie, which the birthday boy has requested for lunch tomorrow.

Once home, we ran around cleaning like nuts, since I had a team member coming over after dinner.  Thank God he didn't stay long.  I'm just too tired to entertain anyone.  The kids are going to bed in 15 minutes.  Steve leaves for work in just under 2 hours.  I can't wait to get into jammies.  I need to make Eli's birthday cake--this year we're trying a new recipe, a "Snickerdoodle Cake".  And a new episode of "Life" on NBC is on at 10pm--I hope I can stay awake!

I can't believe that tomorrow Eli will be 12.  Today he said to me, "Tonight I'll give you your last 11 year old hug!", and I almost started crying.  What a precious gift from God he is.