Donuts

My kids love donuts. We don't have them very often, but when we do, the more chocolate and sprinkles, the better. Last week I bought the kids valentine donuts from Meijer on Friday. Then Mike bought donuts Saturday night for breakfast Sunday morning. That was a real treat. I don't think we have ever had donuts for breakfast on Sunday.

Every once in a while, if we are running errands in the morning we will get a treat if we have time. I would do this with Clara before she started school, with Ian while Clara was in preschool, and now with John while Ian is in preschool. The kid getting the treat thinks he is pretty special. The kid at school thinks they are getting the shaft, if they find out. And John likes to tell, no matter how many times you tell him it is a "top secret" treat.

It is also a great time to sit and listen to your child talk. They tend to talk about all sorts of things when chocolate and sprinkles are in front of them. And it fills my heart to listen to them. I will usually have a cup of coffee, sometimes a treat, and just listen. There is something very special about holding a warm cup of coffee in your hand, and taking a time out from running errands, cleaning, thinking about what else is coming during the day, and what you need to do next, and spend that time with your child. Giving them all of your attention, if only for a short time.

This morning when I was getting John dressed, I told him we didn't have to go to any stores this morning. We could just stay home. His response. "I want to go to a store - a donut store. I berry (very) want a donut."

Hmm. We had coffee together at home. And he ate the one donut left from Sunday morning.

Yesterday we celebrated Clara and Ian's birthdays with my family. Yes, we are just a little bit late, but how many more parties can a person really fit in between Christmas and the New Year. Ian was asking if this was his half-birthday, but we are not that late. Clara turned 7 back in January and Ian was 5 in December. Ian has been asking for an airplane cake. He wanted it to look like the lego cargo plane he got for Christmas. Clara wanted an ice cream cake - preferably with chocolate and peanut butter. So, here are pictures of their cakes.

We had a great time with family and cousins. And now were are done with parties until October!

Dog Party

For those of you who know the Riley side of my family, you know that one of the first books ever read to a child is Go Dog Go!, by P. D. Eastman. At the end of the book all the dogs go to a big dog party. And whenever the Rileys get together, it is a big dog party. A few days ago, on the way home from school, John and Ian were asking when we would have another dog party. So, we came home, found all of our stuffed animal dogs, invited a few of their stuffed friends, and had a dog party for lunch. The kids thought it was great fun. But guess who had to take all the animals back to their homes?

Taking the Plunge

Well, I have finally created a blog. For those of you who know me, this is a technological leap for our family. I am not sure if I am trying to accomplish anything specific with this blog. But I do enjoy reading a few other blogs, and so I thought I would try it. I will try to post some snippets from our life here on Edna, pictures of our crazy kids, and once baseball season starts, updates on the Tigers! So, please bear with me as I try to figure these things out.