It's in the mail!

Rylee mailing a package to the Maile girls........she was very excited to get it in the mail!

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Why is it that kids LOVE to get stuff in the mail? Every time one of the children has a birthday....the mail box is under constant surveillance. (even the FBI would be proud) A mad dash is made as soon as they realize the mail has been delivered. There is always a build up of excitement as the big day approaches. Usually it trickles in....a card at a time......until BOOYA......there's a package! Yay for packages! I think the surprise of getting mail makes them just as happy as the actual gift. My kids love it! But it doesn't have to be just gifts, they seem to love getting ANY kind of mail. (that will wear off when they start getting bills!) They love magazines, fliers, holiday cards...ect. To be honest, I love getting mail too.(I just figured I'd hurt myself with the mad dash part) As a matter of fact, that's one of my favorite parts of Christmas.........all of the cards.....and all the mail that we get. Funny how that doesn't seem to go away with maturity. I think it's because you know that someone thought of you. Good to feel remembered.

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Doesn't everyone love to get mail sent to them? Email? (I mean the good stuff...not the bills) Even Greg loves to get one of his sports magazines in the mail...........and then he's off to his favorite reading spot! (lol...I'll leave that to the imagination!)

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Sending mail seems to be just as exciting as getting it. The kids love to write thank you notes and draw pictures. It's good manners too. (right?)However, I am honestly not good at "getting it in the mail" I do really good at preparing it for mailing....but somewhere between attaching postage and taking it to the post office...........I drop the ball. Then it sits there for too long, and eventually I never send it..........'cause I'm too embarrassed that it's so late. I guess it comes down to being organized. Kuddos to Nana and Grandpa Busse. They never miss a holiday, birthday or fundraiser.(the kids know it and I appreciate it.) Amanda seems to always be really organized too.....guess that's why she's a teacher. So one of my new years resolution this year was to "get it in the mail" Although I have been more diligent, I have to admit that I still have a pile of stuff needing to be mailed. So to all of you that I owe...Christmas gifts, Valentine cards, thank you notes and pictures...............start watching your mailbox, 'cause................ "it's in the mail!"

Fairytale Birthday Bash!

Rylee's Castle Cake!

Spiderman on Bay horse!..(a.k.a. Braylon Ramey)

Sharolyn (horse trainer) helping Rylee jump off the horse onto the trampoline. (Christian Hayter and Elysia Nelson are also pictured)

Alexa Beall and Princess Hunter.

Glitter!

Rylee and Trevor on Tango

Emma,Beall,Ein,Rylee,Anne,Braylon,Ginger....................

Picture of some of the costumes. (note the baseball game in the background?)

Prize table!

We celebrated Rylee's 5th birthday with a fairytale birthday bash! Complete with a castle cake, castle pinata, and royal horses. Overboard?...nah not me! Greg always gets a little anxious every time I start planning one of the kids birthday party's. (he thinks I go overboard). ...... ..... ....

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. I must admit that, although it's a lot of work, I love planning these party's. I love the fact that I can be part of a magical memory. The sight of all those little children laughing and smiling makes me so happy. The kids looked so adorable in their costumes! The royal guest list included several princesses and a couple of spidermans. We had lots of games, and a big prize table for the winners. At first, I was surprised that Greg didn't try to jump into the game action since he is so competitive. However, I soon realized he had taken the "older brothers" away from the party for a little game of "driveway baseball"...(uh huh...typical) He did jump right in when it was time for the pinata. (thanks MiMi for the castle pinata!) Something about smashing stuff with a baseball bat.....that seemed to be masculine enough for him. However, I think the horses were the biggest hit, and even I took a ride. (no comments please..) Tango and Bay horse looked especially cool with glitter on their hoofs. Sharolyn (the handler) let the kids jump from the horse's hiney onto the trampoline......yep....that got lots of laughs! (I didn't try that one, but was a little tempted) .

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We did have one "hitch"........ In order to minimize chaos, (and essentially Greg's anxiety) I made the cake the night before the party. A castle cake is not an easy feat and it took me several hours to make all of the fondant and decorate it. All I had to do is set up and decorate on Sat. So I was relaxed Sat. morning. But calm quickly turned into panic when I learned that Sasha (our very well trained dog) had secretly taken a piece of the castle for herself under the cover of night!....oooooh that dirty dog! She had helped herself to one of the tiers of the castle.....Can you beleive it! .ughhh.....don't panic!......Luckily, I had just enough left over fondant to make a new one.( this is lucky...cause my kids like to eat it) and the castle was repaired.... with plenty of time to spare! Special thanks to MiMi and Braylon (a.k.a. spiderman) for making a very long drive to attend our fairytale bash. We had lots of fun.....everyone loves a party!

Tell me a story..........Alexa Beall!

Alexa Beall...awe look at those baby blues! . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexa being silly.....she looks like she's giving a speech! . . . . . . . .. .. . . Most people have heard the saying "the squeaky wheel gets the oil." ...(or something like that) Seems like our little Alexa Beall tends to fall into that sometimes. With all of the hustle and bustle of the Busse house.....it is easy to be swept away with all of the daily events and we forget to stop and truly enjoy our accomplishments. I want to try so hard to not let that happen. ... ..

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Two weeks ago Beall competed in the invitational UIL tournament. She is on 2 teams....math and storytelling. (basically public speaking) When we pulled up to the tournament I noticed that the cafeteria seem to hold an endless amount of children and the buses were from miles around. (they can really pack 'em in a place around here) This meet seemed to be an especially big tournament. Beall really enjoys these meets and wasn't intimidated by the vast number of kids competing. (she just wanted her snack bar money and for me to be on my way) Usually, I receive a call to come pick her up about 2 hours later, but the call never came. Instead, I received a call from Beall that she had made it past the first round and was in round two! Yay Beall! I was so very excited for her that I kept checking the phone to see if she had called. (kinda like the expecting dad waiting for baby news) When she did call it was for a ride.....I braced myself for a disappointed little girl (just in case) When I picked her up....she was all smiles....seems she had made it all the way to round 3. This had never happened before.......they had never had a round 3. I couldn't believe it when she told us they wouldn't know the winners until Monday at school. (it was only Sat.) How could they do this to me? uhhh...I mean her. ........ .......

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. .. So Greg and I picked her up together on Monday..........yep.....she had the trophy in hand! whoo hooo! Way to go Alexa Beall! She placed 2nd in the storytelling! I never knew what a good public speaker she was. (she got that from her dad) Mom and Dad are so proud of our little genius! Although she didn't place in math (they compete against 4th graders) she did get the 2nd highest grade in her school!...(and she gets the math smarts from me!) We love you Beall!