The Mustache Bash

I must say that I had a blast putting together Kippy's 12th birthday party.  When I originally suggested a "mustache" themed party, Kippy was rather skeptical.  Then I told her my ideas to create an invitation "I mustache you a question, will you comb over to my birthday party?", give every one a "my stache" jar filled with goodies, and play a few games, Kippy came on board.

A huge shout-out to my sister-chic, Lori, who went above and beyond with creating adorable vinyl mustaches with her Silhouette cutting gadget. The only supplies we bought were some stache jars at the Dollar store, along with some green, black, and white streamers, plain white cups, white balloons, mustache duct tape and stick-on mustaches.

We stuck the vinyl mustaches on nearly EVERYthing.  From family pictures....

To balloons....

To bulletin boards...

We even hung them with filament from the chandelier... and with a hole punch, made mustache straws.  The City Bakery created some adorable mustache cupcakes for us, even tho they couldn't figure out WHY I wanted mustaches for a girls 12th birthday party!

The mustache crew had a great time selecting their mustache style, creating milk mustaches while dunking their oreos and just laughing and giggling.

 The girls played some games... Who am I? with labels stuck on their foreheads.

got blind folded and tried to stick the mustache on correctly...

 

ate treats, made faces, giggled some more and watched a movie.

I have to say, I love hosting this party for these tweens.  They were a very fun "crew".

Our unique girl

Today is Angelique Grace's 12th birthday!! Our Kippy Grace is a very unique combination of tough and tender-hearted.

She is so caring, loving, sentimental and sensitive, but has a strong, stubborn side to her as well.  She wants to be a marine biologist and a lawyer.

 It is this mix of seemingly contrasting characteristics make her so special:
  

• socially shy, yet adventurous, bold and willing to try new things (sushi, snowboarding, scary rides)

•  high-energy (think "Red-Bull with legs"), yet can sit and read for hours and hours

•  a true tom-boy, yet likes to have LONG hair and dress up

• extremely creative, yet messy beyond belief (may actually be a hoarder)

•  cries during sad movies, yet never sheds a tear when she is hurt (badly burned her arm this summer and was tough as nails about it)

We love her to the MOON and BACK and wouldn't change one single thing about her!

One of Kippy's birthday requests was to get her own e-mail account. Big steps!!

We wish her the very best, joy-filled birthday today!

Just ONE guy

One of our family's favorite sayings comes from our nephew, Nixin Rudy, who when he was 3 years old and wanted to do something by himself would emphatically say, "One GUY!!"

Our Honey Crisp apply tree ended up with just ONE guy too.  One apple that is. 

 It started out with 3 apples due to only one branch blossoming this spring.  The wind eventually reduced our produce to ONE. SINGLE. SOLITARY. apple.

I have yet to pick our ONE guy.  I suppose it is to prevent the inevitable quandary of who will get to eat it!  We are all hoping this year is an anomaly and our tree will go back to being the producer it has been in the past.

Remembering

Yesterday I was honored to participate in a balloon release in memory of Joshua.  He is the first born in their family and a big brother to 4 precious sisters.  The sky was painted a vibrant blue with wispy clouds and provided the perfect backdrop for the 18 balloons to float with our heartfelt intentions.

 

 Death Leaves A Heartache No One Can Heal,
Love Leaves A Memory No One Can Steal.
From a memorial headstone in Ireland.

 The balloons all too soon disappeared from sight, but our hearts were full.

Born September 20, 1994 ~ loved and remembered always.

A tiny little note

Early this morning, before school, Kippy came down to my office and handed me a teeny-tiny little folded up note.  It was the size of a postage stamp.  I asked her what it was and she said, very matter-of-factly, "It's my birthday wish list.", and turned around and left. I was rather taken aback and paused for a moment before I opened it up.

But first let me back up a bit. You need to know that our family doesn't do birthday wish lists.  There just hasn't ever been a need.  My thought is "you get what you get and should be grateful about it."  The only exception is we do ask for Wish Lists at Christmas time.  This is because extended family members want some ideas, plus Steve & I are frequently stumped on what to get the girls.  It cracks me up that Kippy has put together this birthday list when her 12th birthday is almost two weeks away.  However, since this year is a friend-birthday-party year (celebrated every other year), we had already made and sent out the invites on Sunday.  We have even put together the decorations and birthday favors for her 8 friends she invited to her "Mustache Bash".  For the record, this is the first birthday party I have ever had a plan together this far in advance - yeah, me!! So, needless to say, Kippy's 12th birthday has been a hot topic of conversation.

I unfolded the tiny little note and was amused by the long, long list Kippy put together.  I love her handwriting and how the list started out with small and reasonable requests and then got CRAZY with the iPOD touch taking over in capitols with emphasis and pleading.  The one that really caught my eye was "Inheritance".  I was completely lost on this one.  Does she want to see our Will? What the heck??  Since Kippy had already left my office after handing me her note, I called out to her.  "What do you mean by Inheritance?"  She yelled back downstairs explaining, "It's the 4th book in the Eragon series."  Oh, good to know.  Now I feel dumb.  I love the last sentence, "Come on, I don't even care if I get it on my birthday." Which is a good thing, because with a list this long, there is room for lots of disappointment.

A beautiful young lady

 Our lives have been inter-twinned with this amazing young lady since moving to Fergus Falls 10 years ago. I first met her mom, Jean, through a church group called La Familia.  As it turned out, Jean and I had a lot in common, which included not only our faith, but a mutual love of running.  Additionally, we live only 3 blocks apart!  Within a few years, Brianna began to come over to babysit for us.  She always wrote the sweetest notes to both of our girls and made them feel so special.

 As time passed, Brianna and Abby became closer friends especially after attending Steubenville Youth Retreat together and now they even work together at DairyLand!  I have always been an admirer of Brianna's strong faith, warm heart and easy smile.  

I can't hardly tell you how excited I was to be asked to take Senior pictures of this amazing young woman!  It was such a privilege and we had a blast spending a few hours taking pictures.  I am reminded again of His plan and Blessing in bringing us together with Brianna and her family

Thank you, Brianna!

The annual "Back to School" post

 In the spirit of "Hurry UP! So I can take your pictures!", I bring you Back to School Fall 2012 in the traditional we.are.almost.late Lindgren-Style.

Angelique (Kippy - "Redbull with legs") headed off to her first day of school and also her last year at Our Lady of Victory. Just saying that outloud makes me yearn for the bouncy days of super-sized crayola crayons and washable markers of years past.  Kippy has Mrs. Jenc as her 6th grade teacher and is part of an intimate class of 8 (5 girls/3 boys).  She is excited to get back to school to be with her friends.

Abby was ready early enough to eat breakfast, so we all consider ourselves very lucky! (Normally, it is breakfast on the go in the vehicle as her dad rushes her to school.) Abby missed seeing her friends over the summer, but isn't too excited about the "work" part of school.  She heads off to the adventure of her Sophomore year.

 The air was noticeably cooler this morning and there were a lot of crunchy leaves scattered around the yard. Fall is fast approaching and there are many activities on the Calendar for both girls:  Pep Band & Dance for Abby; Soccer, Piano & Dance for Angelique.

 I am looking forward to a more peaceful work environment in my home office during the day, and driving the girls to their various events after school.

 Wishing both Abby and Angelique a school year full of fun, friends, memories and great experiences!