We almost succeeded in surprising my mom with a special dinner for her birthday (all Dad's idea). Almost, because it would be pretty hard, if not impossible, to completely conceal the prepartions for a dinner with her in the house. I think she liked it though and we all had a jolly good time. The boyfriends came over as well so that made for a full house: 2 parents, 4 siblings, 3 in-laws! :)
My mother is an amazing lady! I pray she has a truly great year and that she continues being the blessing she is to so many. Love you tons Mom!
We got her a bouquet of eight roses (representing her eight children) ...
And presents!
My brother decided to show up in his pajamas ... and to be weird:
I like!
These last few weeks have been preeeety hectic work-wise due to us participating in our state's 10-day book fair, as well as preparing for another fair which we're participating in simultaneously in another state. My dad's business partner is overseeing the other fair, so we all pitched in with the one here. I work in the administrative/finance department of my dad's company, but it's fun to go to a fair every once in a while.
Things were going just great, better than we expected, when suddenly two days before the end of the fair the organizers canceled it due to some problem with the building caused by a storm. It's ridiculous! The building belongs to the state government, why the hell didn't they fix it and have it in perfect working conditions BEFORE the event began?! We couldn't believe it! The last days are usuallly the best sales-wise since people put off going till the end.
Oh well, at least we were able to take the girls one of the days, even if only for a short while. After the abrupt ending and packing everything up, we went out to celebrate our successes.
A few pics from the first day:
Laurie being a tired grump:
Entertaining herself while Mommy works:
Alina had started reading "The Princess Diaries" series and after walking around a bit, she got the next book she was on, sat down next to me, and read the entire thing in the three hours she stayed there. She bought the first book with her allowance (half-price since we work with it), and was planning on buying the other ones, but I doubt she'll do that since she's already on the last book after having borrowed all the other ones from the company as if it were a library. She has watched the movies that came out based on the series and when I asked her which she preferred, she replied, "The books! Because then I can imagine everything!"
The Mother and Father:
A lovely blurry shot the Mother took of us:
We're such hard workers ... yay for us! :)
Smiles!
And more smiles (my sis and her bf)!
I got to have almost the entire day to myself after enjoying a yummy breakfast which Alina helped Daddy prepare. I was greeted at the table by my silly monkeys wearing "I love you Mommy" T-shirts ... awww, such loves! Later that day we went out for a meal of sushi which was a first for Alina.
The day before that we went over to my grandparents' place for a Mother's Day lunch. Yum!
My little princess:
My big princess:
I love you girls!!
A silly girl:
Looking at photos before lunch is served:
And the day before that, Alina's class performed a song for the mommies. It was so sweet I almost cried, sniff. She made at least three cards for me full of stickers, rhymes, and words of endearment. Such a love! This was the first year that she really got into the whole "Mother's Day" groove. :)
Alina went to her best friend's birthday party:
I went to my friend's baby shower:
Grandma took Alina to the theater to watch "The Little Mermaid", which was a first for her. She loved the play and the experience. Thanks, Mom!
We went to the zoo with a friend and his kid. Always great fun!
Having a picnic ... and being weird:
My sister and her boyfriend:
My Love:
Laurabee:
Enjoying the great outdoors:
