A little bit of Fun

I feel so bad for my littlest bunny, Addie. She's been getting a little overshadowed by her big sisters and Bat Mitzvah planning. We have to schlep her along to rehearsals, and clothing appointments and services and tutoring. It's hard to have special Addie time. She's been a good soldier, but the pangs of guilt I have are killing me!

Addison turned 7 on Saturday, so we had a practically Bat Mitzvah free day. My parents and my sister-in-law (and her wonderful bf Bill), and my beautiful niece Dawn came over to help us celebrate.

Aunt Wendi couldn't be there due to her winter cold/flu/bug, but, nevertheless, she called about 20 times to wish our princess a happy birthday...

Addison invited her best friend Jireh, (the 2nd cutest first grader we know) to spend the day with us. They even had a sleepover together. They were so good, so I told Jireh that she could come over anytime she wanted. This has now caused a ruckus in Mrs. Feeney's first grade class. When I stopped by yesterday to drop off birthday treats, all the other little girls wanted to know if they, too, could come over whenever they want.

Okay. I told them. Really sounding as if I meant it.

The best part of Addie's day might have been receiving her very own American Girl Doll from Wendi and the Grandparents. The doll she got has the very same hair color and style as Addie, so how cute is that??? Addie talking to Aunt Wendi on the phone as she opens her American Girl Doll. Doesn't it look like she's looking into a mirror?

My favorite part of the day actually happened the night before. Addie and I had the house to ourselves (the rest of the family was out), and we baked her birthday cake together. She chose the colors and the style and helped decorate it.

We made a mess. We licked the spoon. We even played with marzipan and made little mini-fruit. We sang songs as we took turns stirring the cake batter. We got food dye all over our fingers. We just had fun. And to be honest, I'm not very good at just having fun (I have to work on that)

mmmmm...looks good

Way too often in my life, I get stuck on the obligations. I have to make dinner, fold the laundry, pick up the kids, check my e-mail (okay that's not really an obligation, but the lull of the computer is like a magnetic force), return a phone call, work on the centerpieces, pay the bills. And all the while, sweet little Addie just wants to be with...me. Too often, I say, "in a minute, dear", or "no, I can't right now". It was really nice to put her at the very tippy top of the list, and put everything else on hold.

So this is my promise to my Addie...I will make "having fun" a top priority on my list of obligations. And who knows, with practice, I might actually get good at it.

Happy Birthday to my darling.