The belated birthday party post

Max's birthday was a month ago and I finally got the pictures in the computer. (thanks CJ)

We invited 5 three and four year old kids to the party. Remembering the fiasco that was Brielle's first "friends" party when she turned three (yes, I know.........A BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH A BUNCH OF THREE YEAR OLDS...... WHAT WAS I THINKING???) We scheduled the party for ONE hour.
I wanted to have a "Pirate" party. Seriously, how much fun that could have been? We could have got pirate eye patches for all the kids, had a treasure hunt, a treasure chest cake and pinata, played "walk the plank"...........

Max did not want a pirate party. He wanted a garbage truck party.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find garbage truck party stuff?

I went to the dollar store to buy invitations for the party, and the only boy type of birthday invitations that they had were some with a pirate theme.
I took that to be a sign.
I bought the invitations and some party favors and came home to show them to Max.

Me: "Hey Max, look at the invitations I got for your party, aren't they cool?"
Max: "Yes!"
Me: "See, now we can have a pirate party!"
Max: "I not did want a pirate party, I want a GARBAGE TRUCK party!"

I still sent out the pirate invitations, because I HAD spent a whole dollar on them and was still holding out hope that he would change his mind.
Naturally, Max did not change his mind, so we went ahead and planned the garbage truck party. We decorated the house with green and yellow balloons and streamers.

On the day of the party, at the appointed time, 5 cute little kids arrived at our house. (after Brielle's party the night before, this one would be a piece of cake)

When they first came, we had some crafts for them to do. I bought some plain party hats and some animal stickers, and let them decorate their own hats. This was great fun for the kids, and Max covered his hat with bird stickers.
Next, we had some pages for them to color. Brielle went to PBS.org and printed some Oscar the Grouch coloring pages. The only one available had a big number "4" on it, which was perfect, because it was Max's fourth birthday!

The first game we played was "Pin the garbage can on the garbage truck"


The next game we played was a version of duck, duck, goose which we changed to be "garbage, garbage, recycle"

The next activity we had planned was a pinata.

Just try to find a garbage truck pinata. I dare you.

At first, I planned to make a ghetto pinata, but instead we decided on a different way to get the big bag of candy to the kids.

I had bought the big Costco bag of candy (planning on having some left over) We dumped some of the candy on the living room floor, covered it in a big pile of torn up newspaper and told the kids to dig through the garbage to find the candy.

We called this game "dumpster diving"




The kids had a blast digging through the paper to find the candy. I went into the kitchen to get the cake ready, and it seemed like it was taking a long time for the kids to get the candy. I later found out that Aaron had continued to dump candy in the pile of newspaper until we had gone through the entire 10 pound bag of candy.

That's right folks, a 10 lb bag of candy divided between 6 kids. I'm pretty sure there were a few moms that weren't too happy with me that day.

When they had stuffed their goodie bags full of candy, Max opened his presents, then the kids came into the kitchen for cake.

A garbage truck cake.



I will say that it was quite delicious!

At that point, the hour was up, and the moms started arriving to pick up their children.
And Max said that it was a "reeeaolly fun birthday party" then he spent the remainder of the day playing with his new toys.

I sliced myself another chunk of garbage truck cake and sat on the couch with my feet up, happy to have the parties over.

Except they weren't over. We were having one more party (I know you are wondering "how much more can this poor woman take??")
The next day we were having a family birthday party for both Max and Brielle.

And Grandma was bringing the cake :0)




A pink elephant, you don't get any cuter than that.


As we were growing up, my mom would make these fabulous cut up cakes every year for our birthdays and also for all of our cousins and now she makes them for her grandchildren.

Fashion to the "Max"

Fashion statements made by Max in the previous week.

Rolled down socks

Cowboy boots with shorts (my personal favorite)

I'm not sure exactly what WHAT kind of fashion statement he's trying to make with these.

Any ideas?

Max freaks out

Several months ago we went to the store and when we got there, Max wouldn't get out of the car.
It didn't matter what we did, he held on tightly to his carseat and refused to let go.
I have to admit that it was kind of funny at first, but after a few minutes, I was growing tired of the game, and told Max that he needed to get out of the car NOW!

He looked at me calmly and said "Before I get out of the car I need to say lee............. lee."

Then he climbed out of the car.


Several nights ago after Max had his bath, he was refusing to get his pajamas on. He was laying on his bedroom floor in his bathrobe and was very adamant about NOT getting dressed.

"I not getting dressed! I not getting my pajamas on!"

I explained to him that I was very tired and needed to go to sleep but he needed to go to bed first and to do that, he needed his pajamas on.

"No!"

Aaron came into the room to see what was going on. He was already in his pajamas and told Max that he needed to get his on too.

"No! I not need to get my pajamas on now. First I need to say lee"

Then we sat there and waited for him to say lee but he never did.

Aaron asked "What did you need to say to get your pajamas on?"

Max replied "Lee."

Aaron: "Hey, you just said lee, now you can get dressed!"
Max: "I not did say lee!"
Aaron: "You just said it again!"
Max: "NO! I not did say lee! I need to say lee before I get dressed and I not did say lee!"
Aaron: "Dude, you said it like three times."
Max: "I NOT DID SAY LEE! I NOT DID SAY LEE! I NOT DID SAY LEE! I NOT DID SAY LEE!"
Aaron: "Four, five, six seven.............."
Max: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

I finally wrestled his screaming, wiggly little body into his Lightning Mcqueen pajamas, then went into the other room.
Two minutes later, Max walks in without a stitch of clothing on.

"I NOT. DID. SAY. LEE!!................LEE!!"

Then he went and put his pajamas back on.



Edited to add: We have NO idea what "lee" means or where he got this word and why he needs to say it before doing anything.

I just put up a poll on my sidebar. Please vote.
(but only if you are not one of my kids)

Proud parenting moment

Last week, Max heard Beyonce's song "Single ladies."
Today as we shopped at a rather crowded Wal Mart, Max was singing at the top of his lungs.......


"IF YOU LIKE IT THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE PUT A RING ON IT! IF YOU LIKE IT THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE PUT A RING ON IT! IF YOU LIKE IT THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE PUT A RING ON IT!

Wo wo wo, Wo wo wo wo wo wo wo................

Breakfast bluff

Three weeks ago, my kids brought home notes from school saying that last week, they would be having their end of the year testing, so to "Please be sure that they get a good night's sleep and have a good breakfast in the morning."

I assumed that by "good breakfast" they didn't mean tossing them a frozen waffle to eat in the car on the way to school so I got up bright and early Monday morning and made them french toast.

The kids were delighted, and devoured every last slice.

Tuesday I got up early and made them pancakes.

Wednesday I got up early and made them scrambled eggs and sausage.

Thursday morning, chocolate chip pancakes

Now one thing you need to understand is that I am not a morning person. I value my sleep and really felt that I was doing an incredibly noble thing by getting up early every day that week to make sure that my kids were properly nourished, so Friday morning as I was making another batch of chocolate chip pancakes I said "Hey, this is the last morning that I need to get up early to make you breakfast so you can do well on your tests!" (While making a mental note to be sure that we were stocked up on frozen waffles for next week)

And Aaron says "We didn't do testing this week. The tests aren't until next week."





Say what?




So Monday morning of this week, I got up early again to make them breakfast, but this time I got smart. I made a triple batch of pancakes and FROZE THEM.

This week the kids have been getting up early to remove a frozen pancake from the freezer, heat it up in the microwave and enjoy a hot breakfast.


(don't worry, I still got up early and cut up some strawberries to eat with their pancakes, but next week, we are SO back to tossing them frozen waffles in the back of the car)

Top ten things we thought about doing while waiting for a really long time in the exam room at the oral surgeon's office

10. Make balloons out of the latex gloves and see how long we can keep them from landing on the ground by hitting them in the air.

9. Turn off the lights and make shadow puppets in front of the x-ray light box.

8. Put a big sign in the window that says "HELP ME PLEASE! I'M BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN THE ORAL SURGEON'S OFFICE!"

7. Use the phone to make prank phone calls. Be sure to use the name of the receptionist in case anyone has caller ID and calls back to complain.

6. Use the phone to order 127 pizzas from several different pizza places and have them all delivered at the same time.

5. Take turns riding up and down in the exam chair.

4. See how many loud crashing noises it would take before someone from the office staff comes in to investigate.

3. Make some crafts using tongue depressors and dental cement.

2. Write "secret admirer" type love notes from the office staff to the doctor on gauze, then hide them in various parts of the room where the doctor will be sure to find them.

And the number one thing we thought of doing while waiting for a really long time in the exam room at the oral surgeons office.................


KARAOKE TO THE MUZAK!!!!

Milking it and word verification Wednesday

Monday Max had his 4 year old check up with the pediatrician, and you know what that means.

Immunizations.

Poor kid, he didn't even know this was going to happen. He was all cute, giggling as the doctor did her exam and then she walked out and not one but TWO nurses came in the room.
As soon as he saw what was on the tray they carried, he knew what was going on.

We sat him on the exam table and I held his hands and tried to distract him as each nurse quickly gave him two shots in each leg.
His eyes got large and he looked up at me with a panicked look on his face. I thought he was going to cry, but he didn't.

Instead, he got mad.

He just glared at me.

Then he gave the nurses the meanest, maddest, look I've ever seen from him or any kid his age. I could almost see the laser beams shooting out of his eyes at the poor unsuspecting nurses who were at that very time, trying to give him a popcicle.

Max growled "I not want a popcicle."

Nurse #1: "Are you sure buddy? Here's a red one."
Max: "(grrrrrrrrr) I. Not. Want. One."

Nurse #2: "Would you like a sticker? We have Spiderman or Spongebob?"

Max: "No. I. Not. Want. One."

Seriously, if looks could kill....................

I took the popcicle anyway and gave it to him in the car where he finally ate it. (well, some of it, after a good portion had melted down his arm and onto his carseat)

When we got home, he went in his room to play with his cars for a while.
Not too much later I heard him calling to me.
"MOM! MOM! MOM! HELP ME! I NOT CAN GET UP!

I went into his room where he sat, surrounded by cars, reaching up for me to help him. I stood him up and he winced and grabbed his legs.
"MY LEGS ARE HURTING!"

We went through this for the rest of the day. Every time he needed to go somewhere, I needed to help him.
Yesterday morning when my alarm went off, I found Max laying in the doorway to our bedroom.
"I not feel good. I can't know how to walk."
I gave him a warm bath and even carried him around for a while. I finally told him that he would need to start walking because he was going to school today.

"I not go to school! I not feeling good! I can't know how to walk!"

Naturally, me being the mean mom that I am, I took him to school anyway. (while there he seemed to get along just fine)

For the rest of the day he still couldn't use his legs and insisted on being carried everywhere.

This morning when he got up, I asked him how his legs were feeling and he said "They still are hurting."
A few minutes later he walked slowly into the kitchen and said "I have a great idea! We should make some cookies today!"
To which I replied "I don't think we could make cookies while your legs are still so sore."

Max paused for a moment then said "My legs are all better now! They aren't so hurting!" then he walked around the kitchen to show me that they were OK.

Which confirms what I've thought all along.................

A chocolate chip cookie will cure anything.

**************************************************************************

Hey, it's Wednesday and time for everyone's favorite game show (OK, "everyone" might be a bit of an exaggeration)

WORD VERIFICATION WEDNESDAY!

The fun game where you go to the comment box, look at the word verification code and make up a definition for the word.

Seriously, it doesn't get any more fun than this!!

Last week, I gave the option of writing a limerick using the word and several of you outdid yourselves.

Way. To. Go!

Feel free to write a limerick again this week, but remember, this is not a competition, it's merely an exhibition, please, no wagering.

And please keep it clean, my kids read my blog.

A Mother's day gift from Max

I used to rock Max to sleep every night.

I would sing to him while he cuddled in my arms and twisted his fingers through my hair. The soft glow of the night light would cast shadows across his sweet face as he drifted off to sleep while I sang his favorite songs.

As he got older, he wouldn't fall asleep, but would sing the familiar songs with me, then when he got tired enough, he would tell me that he was ready to go to bed.

A while ago, we decided that he was too big for his crib. We took the crib apart and put it away, replacing it with a toddler bed.

Max was thrilled with his "big boy" bed. It was right at that time that he decided that he didn't need to be rocked at night anymore.
"We not do rock a bye now. I'm also bigger."

I really missed this time with Max, and would frequently ask him if he wanted to sit in the rocking chair with me before he got in his bed.
"No, we not do rock a bye. I just go to bed."

During this time, I was growing increasingly tired of Max's sippy cups. We had an abundance of cups, but only a few lids left and he was quite picky about which ones he would use. I told him that when he turned four, he couldn't use the sippy cups anymore.
During the weeks before his fourth birthday, I reminded him frequently that after his birthday, there would be no more sippy cups, we would be getting rid of all of them. He wasn't too happy about this, and told me that I should just go buy some more.

About a week before his birthday, I got an idea.

"Hey Max, I'll tell you what. After you turn four, you can keep your sippy cup if you let me rock you in the rocking chair before you go to sleep at night."

I was partially teasing, so I was quite surprised when he agreed to this bargain.

Over the next several days, I would remind him of our deal, and he would agree every time.

The morning of his birthday, I filled up his sippy cup with milk and handed it to him with his breakfast. He handed it back to me and said,
"I not using those anymore. I'm four now ." And that night he still wouldn't sit with me in the rocking chair.

Last Friday night we had been to a wedding reception, and Max fell asleep on the way home.
I carefully lifted him out of the car, carried him to his room and put his pajamas on him. He woke up just a little, but went right back to sleep.

So I carried him over to the rocking chair, sat down and rocked. Even though he was asleep, he instinctively reached up and rubbed my hair between his fingers.

The next morning I told him what I did.
"Hey Max, last night I rocked you in the rocking chair."
He giggled and looked at me like I was crazy.
"Hey, I totally did! I cuddled with you and you played with my hair"
He laughed and walked away. I don't think he believed me.

Saturday night after he said goodnight to the family, I asked him if I could rock him again. "I won't even sing" I told him "I'll just rock you a little bit."
Much to my surprise, Max replied "No, you should sing."

I sat in the rocking chair and he cuddled in my lap. He played with my hair and sang his favorite songs with me, then gave me a big hug and kiss and went to bed.

I don't think he'll ever know how much it meant to me to be able to rock my baby.

And yes, I know he's four years old and no longer a baby, but as I've told him many times, he'll always be MY baby.

Thanks Max.

The Eagles "assisted living" tour, and a tale of 8 port-a-potties

As a Mother's day gift, my DH got us tickets to the Eagles concert Saturday night. This was the last concert of their Long road out of Eden tour.


Glenn Frey got up and announced it as their "assisted living tour."

Apparently, they're still hanging in there.

We went to their concert the last time they came through town several years ago. As we sat in our seats and started looking around, we noticed that we were the youngest people there, with the exception of the kids who were brought there by their grandparents.
This time, there were more young people there. Either that, or we have just become the old people.

This concert was held in the new soccer stadium in town, and lucky for us, the weather cooperated, and the night was clear and not super cold.

The concert was fabulous! The Eagles put on a great show. (even for a bunch of old guys ;0) They played all of our favorite songs.
We've always been fans of The Eagles. We even bought the box set of CDs and have forced our kids listen to them.

I won't say much more about the music itself, because it was really great! I mean, seriously, this was THE EAGLES in concert!
What more do I need to say?

I think one of the best parts of going to a concert is the people watching opportunity. You truly see all kinds of people at a rock concert.

All kinds.

Like the row of people sitting behind us. They were several years older than us. Before the concert started, they were all talking about how great this concert was going to be, and how wild and crazy they were going to get as soon as the band started playing.

"Yeah, 20 minutes from now, it will be like we're 18 again!"
"It's going to be just like it was back then."
"Hey, we're going to get pretty wild!"
"PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!"
I think my favorite part about this group was when a few of the men went to get some beverages and instead of climbing over everyone in their row to get to their seats, they decided to climb over the empty seat next to me to get to their seats behind us.

The guys couldn't lift their legs over the seats and climb over without a great deal of assistance from their wives behind us.
And some grunting and groaning.

I bet those wild boys were pretty sore today ;0)

Our seats were on the front row of the stadium seats, at the back of the stadium, directly across from the stage, and we were sitting right next to the stairs that led onto the playing field. This was great because we were able to see all of the people who got to sit in the close seats on the field as they went past the security guard who was checking to make sure that everyone entering that area actually had a ticket to be in that area.
It was fun to watch him ask everyone for their tickets, and try and stamp their hands while they were holding various food items and beverages.

Many, many beverages.

We were also sitting where we got a really good view of the row of port-a potties that were stationed at the very back of the playing field.



At one point, (before the concert started) I counted approximately 15 people waiting in line in front of each the 8 port-a-potties.
8 x 15 =120
120 people (or more) standing in line, waiting,

and waiting,

and waiting..................

Some of them hopping around and doing this cute little dance (remember all of the beverages that I mentioned earlier?)

And they continued to stand there, waiting, and quite frankly, it was taking a long time. So long, in fact, that whenever someone would finish, and come out of a port-a-potty, the people standing in line would cheer!
We found this rather amusing, because if they were to have climbed the 52 steps to the upper level, there were several restrooms with no wait.
And running water.
And flushing toilets.

There was one couple in particular that I watched stand in line FOREVER to use the little port-a-potty, and when they were finished, they made the long trek upstairs, returning with two large beverages apiece.
It wasn't long before they were standing in the long line at the potties again, after which, they went back upstairs, only to return with more beverages. (I couldn't understand why they wouldn't just use the restrooms upstairs, I mean, seriously, if they were going upstairs to purchase beverages anyway.....)

And the cycle continued.

Port-a-potty, upstairs to buy a beverage, go back to seats, Port-a-potty, upstairs to buy a beverage, go back to seats, Port-a-potty, upstairs to buy a beverage, go back to seats..........

I began to notice a direct connection between the number of beverages purchased and the number of trips to the port-a-potty.

We noticed that when the band was playing a more popular song, the lines at the port-a-potties were shorter. From now on, whenever I hear a song, I will give it a "Port-a-potty waiting line" rating.

Hey, that's a great song! I give it a two people waiting rating!
Meh. This one isn't that great. I'll give it a 12 people waiting rating.
Or
This is FANTABULOUS! No waiting at all here!

We also had the extreme pleasure to be seated directly in front of a garbage can sitting just a few feet away from us on the playing field. We got to see all the fun things that people threw away or spit out in the garbage can. We got to see which people were conscious of our mother earth by putting their recyclable items in the separate container provided especially for the recyclables, and those heathens who just threw them in the trash can.
We also got to see when the stadium staff came to empty the trash can and dumped all the contents of the recycle container into the trash can and then wheeled it away.

We found this rather amusing.

We also saw the guy who was wearing a straw Chinese hat, and he wasn't even Chinese. We couldn't figure out if he was expecting rain, sun, (not likely at 9:00 at night) or if he had a really pointy head that he was trying to hide.

The three girls sitting next to us were quite delightful. They looked barely old enough to be purchasing beverages, however, this didn't stop them from purchasing several of them.
After about their third round of liquid refreshment they danced back to their seats and one girl looked at us, swayed a bit, leaned close and said "YOU GUYS ARE STILL HERE???" then stumbled back, raised her glass and said "CHEERS!!"

I think one of the most interesting events of the night was watching a girl try to bribe her way past the security guard onto the field.
We could see her begging, and trying to convince him to take the wad of cash in her hand.


"Pleeeease"
"No."
"Please, here take this" as she takes his hand and tries to get him to grab the bills.
"No"
"Pleeeeeeease!"
"No. I can't let you on the field without a ticket."
"Oh come on. Here, just take this." smiling sweetly while shoving the money into his hand again.
Pushing her hand away "No."
"Pleeeeease! Pleeeeeeeease!"

I was really impressed with the young security guy. He would not let her past him.
She continued begging and begging until she caught sight of the head security guy started walking toward them.
She turned around and ran as he chased her up the stairs.

It was a great concert and I'm so glad we were able to attend.
And the best part? We left the kids by themselves, and when we returned home, they were all still in one piece. I made them dinner before we left, and they ate, played outside then watched a few movies.
Everything went fine with the kids except for a small incident with Max. Apparently, he "Not did feel like going to the potty." (can you say "wet clean up on aisle 4!")



Perhaps we need to get a port-a-potty for our family room.

A verbal contract with a four year old?

Max is a man of his word. Ever since he could talk, if we could get him to agree to something, I knew he wouldn't back out. If he said "O.K." we knew for sure that he would stick to whatever he agreed to, and never go back on his word.

Me: "Max, don't take any more cookies, O.K.?"
Max: "O.K."

And I knew he wouldn't take another cookie.

Me: "Max, I don't want you to open the front door when the doorbell rings. Only Mom and Dad should answer it, O.K.?"
Max: "O.K."

And I knew that he wouldn't answer the door.

Me: "Max, the oven is really hot. Don't go near it right now, O.K.?"
Max: "O.K."

And I knew he wouldn't go near the oven.

Me: "Max, I will read you one more book and then you need to go to bed, O.K.?"
Max: "O.K. Mom."

And I knew that after the last page of the book had been read, he would get into his bed without a struggle.


Lately, Max seems to be afraid to commit to anything, but he's sneaky about it.

Me: "Max, after you finish breakfast, you need to get dressed, O.K.?"

Max glares at me.

Me: "Max, we have a bunch of things to do today, and you can't stay in your pajamas. When you're finished eating you need to get dressed, O.K.?"

Max continues glaring, and emits a small growl.

Me: "Max get dressed, O.K.?"

Glares continue.

Me: "O.K.?.........................O.K.! .........................OK?!?!?!"

Max: "O-Kate."

Me: "What?"

Max: "O-Kate!"

No Max, you need to say O.K."

Max: "O-Kave!"

Me: "No, say O.K.!"

Max: "O-Bay!............... O-Hay! .............O-Say!"



Apparently, he's found a loophole.

Where spoons go to die.

Remember how I'm missing a bunch of my spoons?

I think I might have found them.

Major slacker and word verification

Last week I was a slacker, and neglected to post Word Verification Wednesday.

Go ahead and define the word verification code in the comment box.

Or, you could just leave a strange comment. The stranger the better, however, I will warn you that my mother always taught me that I should never talk to strangers.

Or, write me a limerick! Bonus points if you use the word verification code in the limerick.

Extra bonus points for mocking celebrities.
Using the word verification.
In a limerick.

I really don't ask much, do I?


As always, please remember, nothing rude, crude or unrefined. My kids read my blog.

The birthday party weekend part 1

I had planned on posting about the birthday parties sooner, but someone (CJ) was taking a really long time to put the photos into the computer, and I thought that the post would be better with pictures.

Thank you to those who left suggestions on things to do for Brielle's party! There were so many fun ideas.

I prepared 5 activities before the girls arrived. As it turned out, I neglected to remember that girls that age will spend a whole lot of time talking.

And gigging.

And talking.

And giggling, and squealing and giggling and talking and giggling and giggling and...................

As it turned out, we only had time for 2 of the games I had planned.

When everyone got there, I put a sticker on their back with the name of a famous person. They were to ask yes or no questions to be able to guess what the name was. This was a great ice breaker because many of the girls didn't know each other.

I made sure to put "Hannah Montana" on Brielle's back. I knew this would just make her day!
(the last sentence is to be read with great sarcasm. Brielle is NOT a fan)

Next We played a game called "I never"
The girls sat in a big circle and I handed them each 15 beans. One girl would think of something that she had never done and say "I've never........been to Disneyland" then every girl who had been to Disneyland (Or had done whatever the girl said she hadn't done) would put one bean in the big bowl in the middle of the floor.
The object of the game is to try and have the most beans at the end of the game, so you try and think of something that you've never done that you know that many of the others have)

Aaron joined in the game and when it was his turn he said "I've never worn a dress!" And all the girls put a bean in the bowl. They did get even with him when one girl said "I've never had the name Aaron!"

Sidenote- This is a really fun game to play with adults. You can learn so much about your friends, like the time we were playing this game at a church party and I said "I've never been arrested" It was so much fun to see who had been arrested! Of course after that, they HAD to explain why they were arrested.

Good times.

By the time we were done with the games, it was time to eat. The girls ate hot dogs and more chips and salsa than I thought was humanly possible. (They finished off an entire bag of Costco tortilla chips and nearly two big jars of salsa!)

Then we had cake and ice cream. I thought the tie dye cake would look really cool if I made it in a bundt pan. (and it would have if the whole cake had come out of the pan at the same time)

After I carefully dug the top half of the cake out of the supposedly non stick bundt pan and molded it back onto the bottom part of the cake, I drizzled three different colors of frosting on it and gave it a generous coating of sprinkles.

It did look quite fabulous.





Both inside and out.




And it tasted good too!



Next, Brielle opened her presents, and was given more pig related items for her pig collection.

The best part of the party was when we started the movie. Only one of her friends had seen Pee Wee's big adventure, and the rest of them had never even heard of Pee Wee.
As the movie started, the girls watched as Pee Wee got out of bed, put on his bunny slippers and played with his toy fire engine and train set.

The conversation went like this...........

"He's acting like a little kid"

"He's a grown up, why does he have all those toys?"

"Is he mentally disabled or something?"

"How sad!"

"Yeah, this is really sad!"

Then one girl FINALLY got it.

"Oh, I get it! The movie is so dumb that it's funny. Kind of like Napoleon Dynamite!"

YES!

They all SCREAMED when Large Marge's face morphed. When the movie was over, Aaron showed them that part again,

and again,

and again.........

And they screamed every time. We had to close the windows.

Precisely at 10:00p.m. the girl's parents came and collected them. We sent them each home with a great big muffin and a bottle of orange juice for breakfast the next morning.

T.hen it was over.

And we did the "happy dance."

The thing that surprised me the most about this party?

It was fun. I actually had a good time! I had been dreading this for weeks, and it really turned out great.

I was ready for some super drama to emerge so that I could blog about it, but all the girls were very polite and well behaved, so all you get is a post about a fun party.
Brielle has some really great friends!

Come back later for part 2 of this post. Max's "garbage truck" party.

(as soon as we find which memory stick has the pictures on it so we can get the photos into the computer)

In your opinion................

Do you think that canned frosting qualifies as a breakfast food?

Please discuss.

Letter of gratitude...because I'm so grateful..........really, I am.

Dear Neighbors!

Thank you so much for the note that you left in my mailbox the other day.




I do so appreciate the concern that you have with our lawn. I realize that we were a few days past the time that we usually mow and our grass may have been a bit longer than usual, and for this I apologize.

I am a little confused, however, at the comment about cleaning up our clippings. (This is obviously a point of great concern to you as you underlined this part of the note TWICE)

We always use a bag on the lawnmower in the front yard and so the only clippings I can think of would be a few scattered on the driveway and perhaps a few may have ended up in the gutter.

I do realize that we didn't use a bag the last time we mowed our back yard and just left the clippings on the lawn, however if this is what has you concerned, I just have to tell you that technically, going into our back yard would be trespassing, and I would strongly recommend that you not go there.

I'm sure that you were smugly watching us that afternoon as we worked in our yard, thinking that you were the one responsible for getting us out there. Little did you know that we had already planned to take care of this yardwork that afternoon anyway. We would have worked on the yard sooner, but there were several things that came up, such as bad weather and a family funeral.

Just so you know, as we were cleaning the dandelions out of our flowerbeds, I was secretly wishing that the wind would take EVERY dandelion seed and deposit it in your yard.
They are such annoying weeds lovely flowers, I think you deserve ALL of them.

I also wanted to thank you for this note, because it literally made my day! After the horrible headache that I had when I woke up, the trip to the dentist where I was told that I have not one but TWO cavities, and the tire that went flat just as we drove in the driveway, this was literally the icing on the cake!!

I only wish that you had signed the note with your actual names so that I could thank you personally, because a note like this deserves a personal THANK YOU!!!

I would also like to mention to you that leaving a note in the mailbox is against the law. I'm going to assume that you know this because of the way the note was cleverly left on top of the mail. I can only imagine you peeking out your window, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mail so that you could sneak over to our mailbox and safely leave this note.

I hope you feel better about your life now that our yard is in tip top shape and no longer an assault to your senses.

Signed,
Grateful for "Super" neighbors.

p.s. If a few clippings bother you that much, why don't you sneak over and sweep them up yourself?!?!

p.p.s. We may not be 100% sure who you are, however, (due to the process of elimination) we do have a pretty darn good idea of your identity.

p.p.p.s. Get a life.