when all else fails, put up streamers and balloons

When half of your family shares the same birthday, it's necessary to decorate your breakfast nook in streamers and balloons.

It's also necessary to decorate your breakfast nook in streamers and balloons when ... well ... it pains me to admit this, but all my grandiose plans for a birthday party for the kids hit the skids because.... (scratching head)

Where have the last three weeks gone?

Wasn't it just September ... yesterday?

Charlie's brother and sister-in-law are in town from California and they are two of the most creative, thoughtful people you could ever meet in your entire life. Both Steve and Kathy are incredibly talented and plan things out so well with meticulous attention to detail. They are the kind of people who start organizing a party months before it happens. They are the kind of people who will have all of their Christmas shopping completed in June.

I'm the kind of person that has all their Christmas shopping completed in January. One month late. Not 11 months early.

Tonight, they stayed home with our children while Charlie and I - the exact antithesis of the planners that they are - went out shopping. Yep, there's nothing like hitting Target at 10 PM the NIGHT BEFORE your children's birthday to try and round up some of the gift ideas you had jotted down on a notepad but are now trying to recall from a rapidly failing memory, because WHERE IS THAT DARN NOTEPAD?

(It's clearly hiding with the three weeks that I've lost.)

The bike supply at Target was lean to say the least, so we scrapped that idea and sought out Legos. William has developed a fascination for building things lately ... and all things Harry Potter ... so we figured a massive Harry Potter Lego set would keep him happy for days.

Once we loaded the 1,000+ piece set in to our cart, I headed straight over to the organizational aisle and stocked up on storage containers that William could use to keep all the little parts straight. It would be really sad for everyone if I tossed the whole thing by Saturday night because there were small plastic blocks scattered throughout the house and embedded in the soles of my feet. As for the girls, we bought them some really nice umbrellas.

WITH FLOWERS.

Tomorrow during lunch, I'll head to a REAL bike store.

Until then ... CAN YOU IMAGINE WAKING UP TO THIS KITCHEN?!