The life and times of the Redding family.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Happy Birthday Esther - Shopping Adventures - Surprise Fire



It is so hard to believe my baby is 5. It made me a little sad. Esther said what's wrong with growing up mommy? I told her, "nothing". I just wish she didn't have to do it so fast. This is such a fun sweet age. I love it! One of the highlights of the day was receiving birthday calls from her grandparents, cousin Phoebe, and her niece Anya. Cell phones are wonderful for that! More about the birthday coming up.

Fridays are my shopping day, errand day, thrift store, Free cyle day, etc. We headed out yesterday morning with a map of all our stops. I have to make those miles count. So we headed for the library, to pick up a Freecycle item, thrift store shop, make deposits, Sarah to the dentist, Costco shop, etc. On days like these we usually do granola for breakfast and sometimes even in the car. On Costco day we eat lunch at Costco -who can beat the $1.55 for a coke and a polish sausage or hot dog? We made at least 10 stops (yes I said we, all 8 of us). I was half way through my Costco shop when it was time to go a block or so down the road to the dentist. I left my oldest with my list and I took Sarah to the dentist. When we were done with that I came back and finished up the shopping and checked out. As we got the car loaded with almost a month's worth of groceries James went back for a refill on his drink (which I did not know) -and out of character I didn't count heads. I had to stop back by the dentist office for Sarah's earrings and it was then I discovered a missing child. I hurried back to Costco (max 10 minutes) there was my little James looking around the parking lot all alone for the car. Where was his buddy? I was so sad - but he seemed fine. It has been a while since I lost a kid. I will be checking heads from now on. Things get even better than this or worse..............

We finally get home and unloaded and it is time for me to take the birthday girl to the Walmart a few blocks away. She picked out a little bike and rode it all over Walmart. We picked up the ice cream and pink plates etc. and headed home with less than an hour before we were to have her cake and ice cream. I already had the cake thankfully!

We were not really having a kid party with all the frills but more like our usual family parties. Esther wanted the girls we kept for a couple of weeks to come and a couple of the neighborhood kids came for cake and ice cream. They had a great time playing and as we lit the candle and started to sing I turned my head and my hair caught on fire from a scented candle I lit the birthday candle with. I got it out pretty quickly and we went on to sing happy birthday! That was a first for me! With all those heads of long hair flying around my house I was really thankful it was me. My husband doesn't think it looks noticeable but I really cannot see it well enough. He said the fire looked like a halo glowing around my head. I wasn't impressed! I washed my hair and went to bed after the party. Another Redding adventure I guess.