Yep, that's right a big Little Debbie cake.
YUM! William was of coarse there to help me.
Here is Connie and Gracie singing happy birthday to me. I am not sure if Gracie sang with everyone else, but after everyone was done she sang her little version of Happy birthday mommy. It was really cute. And so is that little hand made dress I found at a thrift store. Russ loves it too, it looks so Austrian.
We were able to blow out all 25 candles rather quickly.
But what I really want to thank my mom for is all the help she gives me. Especially coming to help me with the diapers. They work great!I decided to make all in one cloth diapers for Gracie. I wanted to for several reasons.
1. To save LOTS of money.
2. Because of my mother and grandmother - I HATE to waste. It is hard for me to throw ANYTHING away, but when there are things that are constantly being thrown in the garbage I try and think of ways that I can do without those things. This is me consuming less.
3. The thought of being self-reliant brings me peace, and this is one step closer. Next step -gardening.
4. I love this earth.
They needed to be all-in-one diapers (meaning the plastic and the cloth come all together) or else I probably wouldn't stick with it. I used a free pattern that I found here.
It works great I only added some wing-cover-things to go over the Velcro when washing.
And to make them I used flannel sheets found at goodwill and a plastic mattress cover found at DI and an old towel. Then I bought my elastic and Velcro at my favorite fabric by the pound store. They were cheap to make, but took a lot of time. That is why I am so grateful to my mom for coming to help me.
I have made a lot of things, but is feels really good to have made something REALLY useful and that I really need.
This was the gang preparing to launch model rockets. Turns out William really likes that.
No parachute. It's a good thing it was a ghost town lest someone be impaled by a malfunctioning model rocket. 
On the morning of my birthday I woke up to a kiss and a whispered "Happy Birthday" from Russ. Then I crept back into dream land as he crept out the door and off to work. Then I woke up to this- How did he know I would be on the computer?
That only lasted a little while because the kids could not sit still and wanted to jump more than read and eventually Gracie fell off the bed. So I made myself some cinnamon rolls. I don't bake much and don't like a ton of sweets, but I do love a good Cinnabon so I found a recipe that was supposed to be as good and it was very good.
My mom called and told me that there was a gift for me waiting under the counter of a near by store. So I took a short stroll and retrieved my new Clearplay DVD player! This is exciting for me because I will now watch a lot more movies that I would not before and they will be clean to my standards. This was a present for Russ too, he is way excited. Soooo, Chris I need 
My friend Mimi also came over and brought us some movies we wouldn't have watched before and showed me some of the wardrobe she has for our next little stop motion film. Have you seen 
My brother Mark and his wife Ashley babysat for us and when we came home the house was CLEAN and my flowers were in a vase. That is the first time that has happened to me and it felt so good. A wonderful gift. It was a beautiful day.
And look at my kids being sweet.
And Gracie thought it would be fun to play in a waste basket.
Really fun.
The Cardinals did something good 
William heard the hooping and came in yelling, then...
He made a tea party
Russ paced the floor like this the majority of the night
If a game is at all entertaining to watch, then Russ will be too.
And they lost. Dang.
But if I agree to read one, you make sure that there is a whole stack by us and that I go through them all at least once.
Sometimes William "reads" books to you that he has memorized. You both really enjoy that. We all love reading to you. Someday I would love to just take a day and a hundred books and do nothing but just read with you. I want to spend summer nights outside reading to you like my mom used to do with us. I have wonderful memories of that.
You are an adventuresome little girl. You like to climb more than William ever did and if I don't buckle you this is what happens. You love our fish and all animals for that matter. You get so excited at the sight of a puppy. You can't get enough of you Grandma Christensen's cat.
You have started coming up to me and saying "hug" and then you hug me and say "sweet". And you have no idea how sweet it is. You will also look at me and hold one finger up and say "minyet". I don't think you have any idea what that means, but it sure is cute.
You have grown rather fond of your "passy", which is my fault. I noticed it kept you happy in the store and I started bringing it everywhere and now you always want it. You have been seen with two in your mouth and this is the best picture I could get of it because whenever you see me coming with the camera, you take one out.
