The 12 Days of ??? Party

Good Monday morning!

NOTE FOR JENNIFER: If we could get one more person who is married to a "Plaque Reader" to come forward, we could start our own support group. It only takes three people to make it official. We could go to dinner together and discuss vacation destinations that have no plaques. We could write letters to our state representatives asking them to ban the making of any and all plaques. We could feel sorry for each other. We could turn this "Plaque Reader" thing around to benefit the silent minority out there who will not speak up. I've already thought of a name... MAPs (Moms Against Plaques). It feels good to be involved in something that really matters, doesn't it? (All joking aside... I feel your pain.)

My Readership Count has grown. Thanks for sharing my blog address with friends who might be interested. The count went from an average of 27 (hits a day) last week to 28 (hits a day) this week. Very exciting. And you know me... still trying for 30!

Weekend Update -- Austin and Mike had a great time at their college day. Roxie won her basketball game 14 - 12. Josh had a fun football party that turned into a fun basketball party. We enjoyed having Katie spend most of the weekend with us. We had a wonderful dinner at my Mom's after church on Sunday with my sister and her family... And last, but not least, the Steelers won the Super Bowl. On a scale of 1 - 10, this weekend would have to be a 9 or more, wouldn't it? Lots of memories. Lots of moments... great and small. But do you want to know my most favorite moment of all? When we all came home Sunday night from church, friends' homes, etc. and we were all under the same roof again. Everyone safe and sound... in their own bed. I used to take that for granted, but I'm much more aware of it nowadays. (Can you say "depressing?" I'm going to have to do some major shopping or something today to snap out of this "mood!" And then Mikie will be in a mood because of the major shopping thing. Oh, well. I can't make everyone happy, can I?)

In the Gallery today, you may recognize my daughter Roxie... or you may not. We decided we wanted a perm more than anything in the whole world and we would just "die" if we didn't get one, so with the agreement she had to pay half, here she is in all of her curly glory. I think she's beautiful any way, but she's at an age where she wants to experiment and experiment she does! With gusto. I try to keep my opinions to myself, but it is very difficult since I have the one and only correct opinion, and she is of the mindset she has the one and only correct opinion. I think this may be the main difference between the male and female gender. (1) My guys never asked to get a perm (and if they had they would have changed their minds when I mentioned the "paying half" part); and (2) They may think they have the correct opinion, but at a very early age, they learned never to say that to my face. (They'll make good husbands some day, I think.)

I'm learning, too. The day after she got the perm and asked me what outfit went with "curly" hair, I just agreed with the one she had already picked out... even though I knew that outfit went with straight hair with bangs pulled over to the side. I didn't say a word!

I've also added some Blast From the Past pics. With Austin looking at colleges all day, I got a little nostalgic (meaning I cried a lot this weekend), so I'm putting up some pics from a time they were little and college was still far, far away. (I'll be adding one or two a day for the rest of the week.)

The Showcase Pic of the Week is a tubing picture. I miss tubing right now. I'm ready for the water to warm up so we can go again as the Fabulous Faulkner Five. It's one of those water sports you can start fairly late in life... unlike water skiing. I tried to learn to ski in my late 20s. It just didn't work. I felt my arms being pulled out of my body and after five or six tries, I decided it wasn't for me. I enjoyed riding in the boat backward and letting Mikie know when a skier went down, but it was evident skiing was not going to be my sport.

However, tubing has easy hand signals, and there's much less wear and tear on the arms being pulled out of socket. I find I like a gentle "breeze blowing in my hair" kind of speed. I'm not fond of "getting air" (a phrase the kids like to use when said tube rises up, up, up off the top of the water three or four feet before it crashes back down onto the lake's surface). Nor do I like to be flipped. Again, I do not see the fun in this. Anything fun should NOT require large amounts of drugs (or several Blue Hawaiis -- see last Wednesday's post) for two to three days after participating in said sport. Holding on, wind blowing in my face, spray hitting me ever so gently... that's refreshing AND fun.

We can't wait to go tubing again. We try to go several times a summer, and this past summer we went seven or eight times. Thankfully, since we found a lake so close to our home (only 30 minutes away), we'll be able to up our "tubage time" to ten or more trips.

Since I've mentioned my inability to water ski, tomorrow I think I'll tell you the story of my one and only snow skiing experience. Something for you to look forward to, I'm sure.

As promised, just a few more conversation starters for your jar:

If you had four eyes, where would you put the other two?
If you had one minute to grab something of value as your house burned, what would it be?
What is the hardest part of a teacher's job?
If you could give $1,000 away, to whom would you give it and why?
What would you miss most without the sense of smell?
If your pet could talk, what would it say?
What would you miss most if you were stranded in the mountains for two weeks?
If you could buy any car, what would it be?
What are some objects you particularly remember from your grandparent's home?
Where is the most beautiful place you have ever been?

The 12 Days of ??? Party

Technically, this isn't really a party. It is a 12-day celebration of someone's life. When each of my kids turned 12, I counted 12 days before their actual birthday and began. (Their birthday should be the 12th day). On each of the 12 days leading up to their birthday, they received a gift. It wasn't always a store-bought gift. However, it was something the child would consider a gift, a treat... something special. One day, grandparents took them out to dinner by themselves. One day, they spent the night with their cousins. One day, they had a wrapped book on their bed when they got home. One day, their favorite candy bar was wrapped on their pillow with a note which said, "No chores today." The 12th day was their actual family birthday party.

Anything Mike and I bought for them as birthday gifts were given to them on one of the 12 days. Mind you, we do not spend hundreds of dollars on birthdays, so if we only had two small gifts and one "big" gift for their birthday, that took up three of the days. On their actual birthday, the gifts came from siblings, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. You have to know your child and know what they like and consider "special."

Roxie's 12-year old gifts from me and Mike included a lime green shag rug for her room, a new hot pink comforter, and a book she had been wanting. On the day we gave her the rug, I told her to look for her gift in her room when she came home that day. Josh had come home early and watched me put the rug down. "She is NOT going to like having a rug as one of her '12 Days of Roxie' gifts."

"Trust me on this, Josh. Girls are different. She will like this rug."

"All I know, if you had gotten me a rug for my room for one of my '12 Days of Josh' gifts, I would not have been pleased... at all."

He was wrong. She came in, ran upstairs and squealed with delight.

Three days later, I told her the same thing, and once again Josh was watching as I put her new comforter on her bed. "She is NOT going to like have a comforter as one of her '12 Days of Roxie' gifts."

"Trust me on this, Josh. Girls are different. She will LOVE this comforter."

"All I know, if you had gotten me a comforter for my room for one of my '12 Days of Josh' gifts, I would not have been pleased... at all.

Again, he was WRONG!! She came in, ran upstairs and squealed AGAIN with delight. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

Use your imagination. This is not an expensive idea. You can even get friends involved. My cousin, Amy, whose daughter, Monica, you have seen every now and again on the blog, had a free coupon to Alabama Adventure (a local amusement park). She asked if Roxie could go on one of two weekends. One of the weekends just happened to be the first day of the
"12 Days of Roxie." Perfect. A really, really nice day spent with her beloved Monica and uber-fun Miss Amy at an amusement park (that wasn't very crowded) was a great way to kick-off her 12-day celebration.

Every child's "12 Days" will be a little different. The three things that were a constant in our three celebrations were the grandparent dinner, the no-chore day and favorite candy bar and the family birthday party on the 12th day. The other nine days just depended on the child.

Have fun with it. Don't spend a ton of money, and make a memory that will last a lifetime!

Tomorrow's recipe is a not so much a recipe as it is a fun LOVE dinner you and your children can prepare together.

Have a great, wonderful Monday, and I'll talk to you tomorrow. GO STEELERS!