If it's Tuesday, it must be...

I had planned on keeping up with my blogging every day. But then the days start to carry me away and the next thing I know a couple of days have passed and I am behind. Oh well, no guilt here. I will just give you the quick version, or at least my idea of the quick version of what has been going on in our household in the last few days.

Friday we had a sleepover for Katy's 9th birthday, it wasn't actually her birthday yet, but we have more things going on this coming weekend, and her actual birthday is on Wednesday (Yes, that is tomorrow!) so that wouldn't work well. Anyhow, we only invited a couple of her friends so it would be more low-key. See, with this many children, you have to be really careful about the whole birthday thing, or you can get over your head! Katy's first birthday with me was her 6th, but since she had never actually had a birthday party before that, I really went all out! We had a Hawaiian Luau in our backyard. For her 7th birthday, we had her entire class plus all of my frineds children to Pump It Up for a big party there. And last year, for her 8th birthday, I hired a Limosine to pick up Katy and 14 of her little friends (including her sisters) and go to Shear Madness for a Makeover/Modeling party! Add to that Madyson's and Mackenzie's parties and you have a woman spending too much money!

So I made a new rule. You get an actual birthday party, when you turn an EVEN number, like 4, 6, 8, etc. And in the ODD years, you get a family party with one or two friends, and your favorite dinner of course! So this was an ODD year for Katy, hence the small intimate sleepover. Of course you add a couple of friends to the crowd I already have in my home and we always seem to be having a party!!

It was a fun night, and wouldn't have been much trouble at all except that I had gotten this big idea about putting this new Texture Softener from Just For Me in Madyson's hair that day. And I needed to take her to a salon and have them wash her hair and comb it out before I could put the stuff in her hair. Her hair is so curly and tight, and she has so much of it. You can spend an hour combing through one small section and then let it go and immediately try to comb through it again and it will have intertwined before you can do it! So we arrived at 2pm and for 3 hours they had 3 women combing out her hair! They never even got to the wash! And then I had to go because Katy's friends were coming over at 6pm. So Madyson wore her hair out...just out there! She looked like Macey Gray with this sort of Afro sticking out all over. Actually it was kind of cute in that natural-hippie-style kind of look!

So Saturday morning I got up early because one of the little girls had to go early and I wanted to get the pancakes done so she could eat before they left. And then I drove one of the other girls home and then went over to KVC to give a little pep talk at one of their MAPP classes. This is the class you have to take in order to be a foster or adoptive parent. I love to meet the newbies! They always have such fun questions, like...how long did it take you to get your first child, did you know you were going to get to adopt her, what if you don't get along with the birthparents, you know, those light-hearted questions that don't require you to think too much! But really, they were a wonderful group of people and I am proud they are all stepping into the role of foster parents, we need more people to do that!!

Then I stopped in at the mall to pick up a birthday present for the girl who's party we were attending that day, I found a really cute top at The Limited Too and could not resist buying another one for Katy! That girl has way too many clothes, but I can't help it, she is sooooo beautiful! And then I headed home to give the kids a quick lunch before heading over to Monique's 11th birthday at Skate World! No, I did not have time to do Madyson's hair before we left, so it was still in her little Afro-girl style! And she looked so cute out there on her skates. She and Mackenzie wore matching outfits...what else is new!? After skating we followed Lisa (Monique's Mom) over to her place for a swim. And even though I asked Madyson not to get her hair wet, she jumped in and soaked it! $60 down the drain!!( That is what I paid for the combing out!)

So Sunday morning bright and early I got Madyson up to finish, or should I say re-start her hair! You know, AA hair is really easy most of the time. You only wash it every 2 -3 weeks and if it is in braids you only need to keep it moisturized. But the actual act of taking the braids out, washing it, combing it and re-braiding takes 3 - 4 hours! And I have 2 girls with this kind of hair! Madyson really enjoyed the pampering. The bigger girls helped me, and even though I have never used this product before...I think it turned out really well. It is NOT a straightener! It just helped loosen her curls a little, so I could divide her hair and really comb it well. Then I put it back up into 6 braids. It really looks great. I will post pictures in a few days.

We relaxed the rest of the day. (Read relax as :I only did 4 loads of laundry, woo-hoo!) Then Lisa cam over with Monique and Trey for dinner, I made 2-foot long deli sandwiches, which the kids loved. And then we went to Starlight to see High School Musical. I had already seen it on Thursday night, I have season tickets. It was so hot during the first half...I was really considering trying to talk everyone into leaving! For intermission I got the girls Frozen Lemonades and I got a diet coke, wow! That really hit the spot. And the night just seemed to cool down automatically during the 2nd half. I'm so glad we stayed. The girls all looked adorable. They were wearing their matching Lilly Pulitzer dresses that we found at Costco! My Mother originally bought them for the girls to wear to Mackenzie's adoption party, but since this has not happened yet, I didn't want them to grow out of them before they got a chance to wear them! Really cute!!

Monday brought us back to the old grindstone. I have a lot on my plate as far as work goes, and I am trying to get as caught up as I can as I have taken on a new client that is pretty big and will probably take up at least one day a week. I am anticipating this, so I want to be prepared and not let it make me farther behind. But I am also spending a lot of time on blogs and websites that pertain to frugal living. I like to learn new ways to do things, in a more frugal manner. I clip coupons, bake bread, re-use plastic bags, just like everyone else. But I want to do more, so I can figure ways to save money, so I can afford all of those expensive dance lessons for the girls!!

And that brings us to Tuesday! Which was another awesome day! Not too hot today, so the girls got to be outside a lot. And my housekeeper came today,she usually comes on Mondays. And I know what you are thinking....how can I be thinking of being frugal and saving 50 cents on a bag of bread and then I have a housekeeper!

Well I will tell you...I need to have a housekeeper. First of all, I am single and the sole earner for this family. I get paid to do accounting, not cleaning. So if I am cleaning my own home, I am not getting paid during that time. My company motto is "So you can do what you do best!" And I "account" best! Also, since I hired Fatima, my housekeeper, my children are never sick! That tells you how great a housekeeper I wasn't! And I just love the way my house smells when she is done!

Well I am yawning and I still have one more set of payroll returns to finish tonight. Sweet dreams!