March celebrations

March is a time to celebrate in our family. Hope's Homecoming day (3/22) and Brooke's birthday (3/23). Even Nana's birthday is in March...and sometimes Easter.

We celebrated Hope's 2nd Homecoming Day (3/22). We treat it kind of like some one's birthday. I guess you could call it our family of 5 birthday. We don't do presents, we do go out to dinner, like every other birthday in our house, and we (well mainly me) talk about what we were all doing and thinking on that special day. This is only the second time we have celebrated this event and each time we have chosen (really I have insisted) to go to a Korean restaurant for dinner. It is soo yummy. Last year we were in MI for the big day, so this year we had to find a place close to home, which was not easy. But the place we ended up , after a couple false starts, was great. It was a Korean barbecue, so they cooked the meat at the table with a Korean "hot plate", so dinner and a show. Everybody found somethings that they like to eat , big deal for my family of picky eaters (well 3 out of 5). It was great, until I burned myself (after warning the kids time and time again) on a bowl my dearest husband handed me. Apparently one side of the bowl was too close to the hot plate (the side he presented to me), while the other side (the side he was holding) was not hot at all. So I ended the evening with an icee under my pillow, trying to find a way to sleep so my thumb would not fall off the icee. Not comfy. A few days later, after my stomach convinced me that I can no longer throw caution to the wind (where gluten is concerned), I decided I would be making Korean at home from now on. I have found some gluten free Korean recipes online and then we can eat it more than once a year too.

Then on to Brooke's birthday. 9 years old. I don't know if I am ready for all of this. Princess one minute and tomboy the next. Dresses and painted toenails changes to not brushing her hair and stained clothes the next. Back and forth. Snuggly and sweet to yelling and smart mouthed. I am told this is all normal. But I would love an abnormal daughter. I just keep praying that God gives me the wisdom and patients I need deal with her and pass to her. She did enjoy her birthday party..I took just a few girls and Brooke to a salon to get mini mani-pedis then to DQ for ice cream. All the girls were great..the only one to drive me nuts was my own, who seems to turn in to some kind of weirdo when she is with friends. (roll eyes here) I don't know what to do with her. That party was on the Sat after her birthday. On her birthday we went to see "Wicked" again, and out to dinner at Maggiano's. Dinner was wonderful, especially for me the gluten-free. They have gf pasta and the chef came out to talk over all of my gf options, it was first rate service and yummy, hard to beat. The show was great. Much better than I was expecting considering it was a tour. Of course Brooke had a little melt down at the beginning of the show. Nothing is perfect when it comes to the view at a packed production and it took a trip out to the hall and a shot of reality and consequences to get her to come to terms with that fact.

Looking forward to see what spring break holds for us!