sleepy time

besides the obvious reasons, bedtime is one of my favorite times of the day. it's a great time to spend quiet time with the girls. ryan and i switch off reading to the girls before bed. with afton, we usually read Junie B Jones or some other chapter book. it's so fun to hear her reaction to something funny that happens in the book. i love to share those funny, laughing times with her.

with ella, we still read little books and sing to her. she LOVES twinkle twinkle little star and i am a child of God. tonite i sang/read from a beautiful little book i picked up a year or so ago. i love it. the illustrations are so sweet and make you want to drift off to sleep just looking at them. i sang brahm's lullaby to her (with the real words; i usually make them up as i go) and she kept saying "one more time, mom" until she fell asleep.

i thought i might be mother of the year last night as ella woke up and i got her into the bathroom before she threw up. usually i panic, for some reason can't move, and the girls end up throwing up all over me and the bed. so, i felt quite successful. but i really knew she wasn't feeling well today when she actually laid down and took a nap for 3 hours. that never, ever happens...unless she's not feeling well. she does seem better tonite.

and last but certainly not least...a happy birthday wish to my mom! my gift to her is a little recipe organization/overhaul. she has a lot of newspaper clippings and very little organization. so, we are going to give her a recipe binder to be proud of! one of the funniest things about my mom is...she has used several recipes i have given her for her catering engagements. apparently some of them have been big hits with the crowd, and when anyone asks if they can have the recipe she says, "well, these are from my daughter who lives in New York (that sounds fancier than Buffalo) and i really don't want to give out recipes that we are using for our business." however, i know when she doesn't really like a recipe i've shared because she tells me that she gave it out to someone who asked for it! happy birthday mom! and thanks to megan for showing her how to read this!!!