My wonderful Family and Birthday Week...

Kicked off my birthday week (YES!!! I make them celebrate it all week, and the older I get, the more time I add on... soon, it will be my birthday month!) Really, only because I had all 4 kids under the same roof at the same time. Those of you with older kids know what I mean... It is hard with jobs and extra curricular activities to get them all together... My mom and stepdad and my Aunt Joan came to celebrate too. I went to the flea market early in the morning, (I will post pictures of my schwag later) and the kids cleaned the yard, pulled weeds, cleaned the house, made me a cake and banners, my resourceful daughter even went over to the neighbors house and asked to pick some of her roses to make me a bouquet... (She knows how much I miss my rose bushes) My 13 year old son Zack barbequed pork loin, chicken and ribs. It was one of my best birthdays ever. This is the first time my kids have all worked together to do something for ME... and it was really sweet... I forgot to photograph the cake... A triple layer chocolate, fudge and milk chocolate cake with homemade frosting, before we cut it... My boys ran out of powdered sugar, so they ground granulated sugar in the coffee maker to powder it up... very ingenius of them I must say... It didn't work, but the cake was still delicious... Little Kayleigh and Adrianna my niece cleared the table and washed the first round of appetizer dishes, (spanish potato omelette, or tortilla as they call it in Spain, like a fritata with eggs, onion and potatoes... really yummy)and then my mom did all the dinner dishes. I feel so spoiled...

Pascual usually gets off work at 6 or 6:30... He told his boss last week, "Hey I gotta leave at 5 on Tuesday, it is my wife's birthday and if I am late, I am dead..." His boss says, "Well, who wears the pants in your house?" and Pascual says, "Same as in yours... the WIFE" that CRACKED me up... Actually, he came with this programming already installed... I have to give his mama the lovely Feli the compliment... her son is one in a billion, and I am the lucky one who got him... He has some surprise planned for me, but I don't know what... I told him no gifts... cause my trip to Artfest was my gift... but he says he already got it a long time ago...

I am so working on compacting our life... I don't need more stuff... Now, when the kids say they need something, I tell them to focus on it, and attracting it to themselves... and usually within a week, it comes into the Hall Closet as a donation, I get it cheap and bring it home to them... We are into recycle and reuse, and are trying not to buy anything that we don't absolutely need... it is hard, but it has made my kids not be label conscious. They are not trendy in the Abercrombie way... they are trend setters, Megan with her retro look was voted most unique in high school, and the boys with their own surfer grunge style... Kayleigh is just happy with anything that is new to her. Most of her stuff is hand me downs, and she absolutely doesn't care... It is new to her, and when she is done with it, we donate it to the Closet so the next person can enjoy it.. I am blessed with a bunch of kids that are eco friendly recycle and reusers.. My son goes dumpster diving with his dad, and also they pick through people's stuff on the side of the road during the big yard clean up days in the neighborhood.. they call that sidewalk shopping... He got a bike and a computer and a tv and dresser that way... I have never once heard my kids say, "eeewww... it is USED, I want a NEW one..." they just say "COOL! Thanks mom, it is perfect, I love it..." We are doing good on the Attitude of Gratitude around here...