The Im Family

this year was a particularly difficult year to plan mimi's birthday.  after rob's dad became terminally ill, i didnt think it was good time for a party for mimi and her friends, so we decided it was best to skip a party this year and just have a quiet family dinner out.  then after dad passed and we slowly started to get back into our routines again, we all began to feel bad about not having a party for mimi, so we decided to have a party after all...although, a much belated party. mimi said she really wanted to have a party here at the house.  she really really really wanted it here, so i told her she could, if she kept it small.  since she was turning seven, i allowed her to invite seven friends. then i tasked her with thinking up a theme, and she finally settled on a favorite book series of hers called Rainbow Magic .  how perfect...each of the book sets in the series showcases 7 fairies, whether they be the rainbow fairies, the gem fairies, the party fai...

mimi asked me about earthquakes tonight.  more specifically, how earthquakes kill people.  do they shake you so hard it makes your heart stop?  she wondered. i answered her as carefully as i could (not even sure why she was thinking about earthquakes???  maybe it was from reading too many Magic School Bus books today?!?).  i was afraid to make her feel any more worried or scared about natural disasters, which is really terrifying even for me to think about.  and mimi tends to be a worrier.  i slowly explained that sometimes they are strong enough to make buildings and things fall and that hurts people.  even as i was saying it, i was not comfortable telling her such things. she thought about it for a moment and said, "but it wouldnt hurt people if there were super heroes around."  then she adds, sadly, "i wish super heroes were real.  then nobody would get hurt.  they could stop bad things from happening to people."  th...

while at toys r us today (which ozzy didnt want to go to at first, he said he wanted to stay home and watch Chuggington, so i told him they have Chuggington trains at the store, let's go get one!) we were looking over the Chuggington train assortment and i asked ozzy which one he wanted and he says, I waaaaaaannnnnnnt......Action Chugger!  it's an orange one and he's fast and he's strong! k....action chugger, action chugger...here you go, here's action chugger!  i say as i hand him a small die cast train labeled "Action Chugger" for $7. no, not that one.  says ozzy.  but it says it's Action Chugger.  THIS IS ACTION CHUGGER,  i say. no, not that one.  says ozzy.  i want THAT Action Chugger.  and he points to another one that is twice the size of the one i picked up and costs $15.  well, ozzy, i think this ($7) one is better because it will fit on your take along thomas tracks (and it's cheaper, i think to myself, so if he wants ...