Wow - can you believe it's already March? That's big news in our household...
1. #1 turned double digits! I just can't believe it. I'm not sure how 10 years passed by in such a flash. To celebrate, she requested Chinese for dinner. (The "official" party isn't for a couple more weeks.) It's not that she loves Chinese. Rather, she LOVES to use the chopsticks I brought back from San Francisco. She also requested homemade egg drop soup as an appetizer. And of course I had to oblige my 10-year-old daughter!

(Yes, I realize that photo was blurry. We were in a terrible hurry to get out the door to swim practice.) And yes, I will take her outside to do a proper photo session - just the two of us. I can't wait:)
Dear Cate,
How in the world did this happen? How did I blink and you turned 10?
You are such an incredible daughter. I love that you still have a child-like innocence. For example, you want me to teach you "phertography". You like to make "woshes" - not wishes. But at the same time, you are so very wise; almost beyond your years.
You embrace your spot in our family. You are most definitely the oldest. If one of the littles gets hurt and I am not right there, they immediately run to you. You are their second mother and they don't resent it for a second. They love it. They look up to you.
You have such a zest for learning - one that, I hope, follows into the future. You like to read about new things, new places. You love to learn - like the samba dance for your girl scout activity. While you could do without math, I don't know what you'd do without books. You received the entire set of the Chronicles of Narnia for Christmas. You are already done with those and have moved on to Harry Potter. Last week I caught you still reading at 10:15pm! You get so caught up in books that you forget to check the time. I think you were genuinely shocked when I caught you. You simply had no idea it was so late.
You are also a little type A. OK, a lot type A. You just want things how you want them. You can't bear to clean your room regularly because it's such a big task for you. You can't simply hang up your clothes, you have to fold everything just so and it takes you a LONG time. When you paint your nails, they have to be perfect or you will start over.
And you are so thoughtful, so considerate. You gave your American Girl doll to your sister. When #2 asked you if she could have it, you didn't even hesitate. You think about others feelings - like bringing two types of snacks to school because you know not everyone likes chocolate.
I am so very lucky that I get to be your mom. I love you very much!
**sigh**
2. Friday afternoon was crazy - and not in a good way. You see, our dog is almost 14 years old. As in - she's an old lady. While she bugs the crap out of us many times (she whines - and whines - and whines), we still love her to pieces. Well, on Thursday, she wouldn't walk. Her paw really hurt. So I took her to the vet Friday afternoon. As we were sitting at the vet, I got the dreaded call from daycare. #4 wouldn't get off her cot after her nap. She was sick.
I left Chloe at the vet and drove over to pick up the two littles from school. #4 had a low-grade fever and hadn't been acting herself. I decided to take her to an after-hours clinic since the weekend was looming ahead. I dropped off #4 at home with dad (who was on his way out to pick up #1 and #2 from school). I managed to get some ibuprofen into #4 and scooted off to the after-hours clinic.
It didn't long for us to be seen - thankfully - and what did you know? #4 had a double ear infection! She hasn't had one of those for a year. Crazy. And we had NO IDEA.
Cut back over to the hubby. He picks up the older girls from school and heads over to pick up Chloe. And what do you know? They can't tell us what is wrong with her paw. They give her a shot and send us home with some medicine. Our fingers are crossed that she gets better.
When I got home with #4, the hubby headed out to Target to get the prescription while I whipped up a Chinese dinner fit for a 10-year-old! Man, talk about teamwork. We get an A-plus for that effort.
3. I've talked about it enough. Here is my table. In all her glory.

It's really hard to show it off in a picture. But trust me - she's gorgeous! My sister even had to eat her words:)
We brought her in from the garage on Saturday afternoon so we could put her back together. Of course #4 got in on the action.

Now I just have to recover the kitchen chairs. And wa-la - just like that - a new kitchen!
4. OK, Internet. I am going to do it. I am going to post a picture of me, sans make-up and not having done my hair. Don't laugh. I'm doing this because I don't have nearly enough pictures of me with my girls...

We ran in the Truffle Shuffle on Saturday. And can I just say, IT WAS COLD!!! It was so cold, in fact, that while we were huddled at the starting line, I offered to take them to Dunkin Donuts without running the race. But, #1 wanted to run and #2 didn't...so we did it. I am so proud of those girls! The air temperature was right at 25 degrees but there were strong gusts of wind. I have no idea what the wind chill was - I don't even want to know! They trudged along and walked/ran the entire thing. I'm not going to tell you it was perfect - far from it. But they persevered and we made it through. And then rewarded ourselves with a stop at Dunkin Donuts to warm up!
5. This weekend it was the hubby's turn for projects. He scraped another ceiling! This time, he scraped the (empty) living room. He also managed to sand about a third of it. Those two rooms are going to look so good with them by the time we're done. But can I say...MESSY. It is a gross, messy, dusty process.
My projects were of a much smaller variety. I managed to give away our broken office chair and an old highchair. Thankfully, they were gone within a couple hours of posting them on Craigslist. I also managed to get rid of a dresser I bought and then decided we didn't want to keep. We finally managed to post our old kitchen table. It's so beautiful now after I sanded it and refinished the top. I almost hate to get rid of it except we have no room for it. I'll be sad to see it go.
Let's see, what else did I do? I bought an adorable, square mirror at Target and spray painted it orange. It's going in the half bathroom. If it works, that room will officially be done and I'll post the pictures.
And finally, #1 joined me and we found some awesome fabric for her bathroom. Since it's a little too green, we are going to break up the monotony with a cool, striped shower curtain. And I'll use the leftover fabric to make a little valance for her window. I'll post pictures when it's all said and done.
We also managed to find some fabric - half off - at the same store to use on my kitchen chairs. All in all, it was a REALLY productive weekend!
6. Oooh, PROJECT! (Can you name that movie?) My friends, Chad and Christi, were shopping down in the Crossroads section today and happened upon an awesome dresser. I have been looking for just the right one on craigslist. Christi found one and Chad approved. It was perfect because I trust Chad's judgement of the quality and Christi's judgement of my taste. They picked it up for me and I brought it home this afternoon. I think I'm going to try to set aside Friday to sand and paint all three of my dressers. My fingers are totally crossed.
OK - that's all. Have a great week, everyone!