WOW!!! Hard to believe that Niah is 10 years old! I still can remember holding her on the day she was born--she weighed a lot less and wasn't quite so tall!!! She was adorable then, and she is even more precious now.
The whole day was dedicated to Niah--even her school closed in honor of her...they said something about President's Day. That is how special Niah is--even her school thinks that she will be the future President!!!
We had family pictures taken first...then we went to eat at Niah's favorite place. After that, she beat me at a game of laser tag. Finally, we returned home to open up presents and eat the ice cream cake.
Aliya was so excited to give Niah her present...it wasn't really a surprise because Aliya told her over and over that she had a frog present. The word "secret" is not in Aliya's vocabulary yet.
The favorite present award goes to the ant farm from Daddy and Mommy, but the best supporting sister award goes to Aliya and the coin dollar cake card from Nana and Papa.
Niah just finished her science project for school. Even though this is HER project and HER grade, I would feel responsible if she got a bad grade because I "helped" her with it. It's just like when she is late for school and gets a tardy--I know that I am actually the one getting the tardy because Niah doesn't drive herself to school! There have been times that she has lost grade points because I didn't sign a paper or because I didn't get her report card returned by the deadline--sad, huh? I know this is to help teach them to be responsible, but I think that the real lesson being learned is 'you will be punished at times for other people not doing what they are supposed to be doing'. This is one of those "life is not fair" lessons we all struggle to accept.
What a great time!!! Aliya, Kiahna, and I traveled to Arkansas to see Baby Gwyn for the first time. In kid time, Aliya had been waiting FOREVER--In adult time, I had told her the day before we left...just kidding. I really told her about two weeks before Gwyneth was born. I had been making a blanket for her (please, no jealousies--I will make a blanket for ANY of my sisters right now if you have a baby within the next year!!!), and I had been telling Aliya that we would have to go to Arkansas to give the blanket to her new baby cousin. Needless to say, we couldn't get there fast enough, but we did finally make it there late Monday night.
By Wednesday we had tons of snow! It was great! Aliya played with the snow out in the side yard. I ate some snow every time I went outside. It really made the visit extra cozy--we were pretty much snowed in from all outside activities... forcing us to stay in and eat ice cream while drinking coffee after coffee after coffee. For Betsy, it was coffee, coffee, coffee, ice cream. For me, it was ice cream, ice cream, ice cream, coffee. I also ate my lifetime supply of bran and wheat while at Betsy's. I think even the coffee was made from wheat beans. Thankfully the ice cream was just regular Braum's clog-your-arteries and straight-to-your-hips creamy goodness. If I didn't have the ice cream, I probably could have lost a few pounds--scary thought, huh? All kidding aside, I am very proud of Betsy's habits--she works hard to cook healthy meals for her family. She learned all those lessons that mom tried to teach us growing up!
It did not take Aliya long to "spy out the land". Within a day, she found Aunt Lori's secret stash of chocolate (good hunting, Aliya--I taught you well), and she also found play dresses that Betsy had forgotten about. Taya and Aliya dressed up and danced a few songs. It won't be long before they will be ready to perform on Dancing with the Stars.
I enjoyed holding Gwyneth as much as possible. She liked to snuggle, but mom (Betsy) kept making me keep her awake. Betsy said she was trying to put her on a schedule--then Betsy would complain that Gwyneth was waking her up at night. Didn't Betsy see that Gwyneth was angry from the intrusive interruptions? Gwyneth was only trying to communicate that it is not fun to be woken up when you really just want to sleep. Gwyneth was only exposing the hypocrisy. That's why Gwyneth and I bonded so quickly--I would let her sleep when her mom wasn't looking!
While I was there, my mom had made an appointment to get my hair cut and also to get highlights--this was her present to me for my birthday. I had always wanted to get highlights, but had never done it. It was fun and of course, I look FABULOUS!!! Thank you, Mom, for my special treat!
Overall we had a blast! I look forward to our next visit...I sure am glad that I am Betsy's favorite sister!
--Heidi
P.S. For legal purposes, here are the disclosures for this post: Some statements may appear to be fact, but in reality might be an exaggeration based on the perception and disillusionment of living in her (Heidi's) own world--a world not occupied by any other intelligent life sources.
