Five Brown Kids

A la humans of New York....

Carrie found baby Taye at the register in her local grocery store.  That cute brown baby is almost 14!

Tyrone ended up getting back surgery last week. He was back at work in January even though it would still be hurting by mid afternoon, but then he had a day where he ended up in the ER and we decided to just get it taken care of. We were in and out in a day - everyone was so nice. Although still sore of course I would say he feels tons better - the lower back pain and stabbing in the leg is gone although his foot still feels numb- that might take some time to heal.  He is instructed to rest and walk with no driving or lifting. So my mom came down to help and everyone is still getting where they need to go.  We are on our third cold snow day of the year but I can feel spring coming and hope it will be better than this yucky winter!

Taye is part of a service group and one Saturday they volunteered at the food bank.  A farmer had dropped off two tons of "seconds" potatoes and the kids spent the morning bagging them. I asked Taye if it was fun?  "Not really." Was it boring? "No, not really". It was not glamorous or exciting. The food bank just needed workers and they showed up and worked. Perfect.

Will you join me in a birthday party revolution? I love birthday parties.  It's a great opportunity for my kids to have big play dates with all their favorite friends. But.... 1.  I am so tired of watching kids open 10-15 or more presents at every party - even if you packed up your old presents and took them to goodwill for "needy kids' (who don't want your used junk)  it is still ridiculous.  Who has room for all those toys anyway and what does that many presents teach  kids about their real needs? 2.  I hate stopping at Target in a rush on the way to a party to grab a present.  My per person birthday party budget is never enough to buy something that a kid would actually want or use. 3.  I am bugged that after my kids eat pizza, chips, cheese crackers and soda they leave a party with a bag full of more treats. So I started my own little Brown kids birthday party revolution.  A few years ago I told my children that I was putting "n...