Party time!

What a busy weekend.

It started on Friday when I decided to take advantage of a storage room rental special. I had found a $1 move-in coupon. I thought it would be a good idea to use that as we pack things up and get them out of our way. Hopefully it is more helpful than aggravating. I am trying to make sure that nothing that is getting moved out there will be things that I will need for about a month or so. That can be harder to do than you think. We'll see how it turns out. I am trying to label things well, in the case that I need to un-pack and find something.

My father-in-law and I went out to the building and took all the boxes that I had packed up so far. It took a long time to load them up from here and then unload them to there. I had decided to splurge and get a room that was climate controlled. The downfall is that they are inside...you go in a door from the outside and walk down hallways to get to your room. It would be tons easier to have one that you could just back-up to and drop your things off and go. However, seeing as how we live in SC and the weather is in the 90s this week and probably going to be in the 100s by the end of the month, I thought it might cut down on the sweating. Who knows if it will end up being more of a pain to have the storage room or not...but we have it now and it was nice to be able to walk through the house with our company this weekend.

Aralyn will be 2 years old tomorrow so we celebrated this weekend. My parents came, one of my sisters and one of my brothers and Adam's parents came for the party part. I was so behind on all my plans for the party, that I sort of threw everything together at the last minute. The cake was one of those things.

For Alora's 2 year old party, she had Dora, more my choice than hers. Aralyn chose Dora herself. It is all we talk about some days it seems. Doda eh Boots eh Doda eh Boots.

The cake I made for Alora was in the shape of Dora's head. It was the pattern that they have on the Nick Jr. website. Cute, but time consuming. I didn't have that sort of time, so I faked it. I made two rounds and decorated them (orange and purple and green...I know it looks like blue water). I had some Dora figures that were birthday party themed, so I decided to put them on as cake toppers. I didn't think about the fact that they don't have wide bottoms, so they didn't want to stand up. I think Boots and Dora were stuck in up to their waists to keep them from falling over (again), so the swirly purple (which looks blue in pictures) looks like water and Dora with her arms up looks like she is drowning. Oh well! Aralyn was happy with it!

She got lots of Dora related things for her birthday and she and Alora have had some fun dressing up her new Dora doll in the 3 outfits that she has.

My mom always brings all my children something when she comes...spoiling them. She brought Alora a cute little book that you decorate with little magnets that look like stickers. Aidan has a train book that is like this, but Alora doesn't care for it. The one she received is about some princesses getting dressed for a party, so you put their dresses on and shoes and crowns. Cute!

Aidan's book is super cute too. It is called Why Grandpa Rides a Harley. The grandson in the book is named Aidan, so my mom said she had to get it. The last reason in the book is-because your grandma likes to ride her Harley. Since both my parents have Harleys, it is fitting.

We watched 3 very good movies too. I had stopped by the rental store with my sister and we picked out Stranger than Fiction- weird but funny, A Good Woman- this one was based on an Oscar Wilde play and was surprisingly witty and ended, also surprisingly, happily. The last movie was Blood Diamond this one was vary good and riveting, but so hard to watch. I have read a book or two about the African problems mentioned in this movie and it just seems so futile. Probably most heartbreaking were the child soldiers. I just can't imagine the horrors that they endure in the brainwashing they undergo. What a heartbreak.

Overall we had a wonderful weekend with our families. I was glad that my parents got to hear Adam preach on Sunday...might be the last time they have the opportunity for a while. And, I don't even have to be sad that my baby is growing up until tomorrow!