Boys' Bathroom

Our boys share their own jack-and-jill bathroom. When we moved here I had this vision to make the bathroom look like they were stepping into a tropical vacation. I'm not so big on "theme" rooms, but thought their bathroom could be an exception. I had hubby construct the frame for the shower so it now appears to be a tiki hut. My inspiration came from the two framed prints I found. The paint used is aptly called "citron" and, by far, is the wildest color we've ever used in any of our rooms. However, it works. The back half wall behind the shower is painted light blue, like a sky, and I painted in white clouds. It's a fun room. Lots of quality conversations take place here while overseeing baths, tooth brushing, and messes, too.

Take a peek...

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Ours was our own. No parties, no guests, no activities. We got much needed rain and had fun watching movies, Target shopping, reading, napping... Ok, the minis are both crying....collision while playing. Got to run be a mom again!

Five on Friday

Here are a few facts about me this Friday. I don't know if I could ever do one of the "100 things about me lists" I've seen on other blogs. I'll just spread them out from time to time.


1- I like to buy cookbooks from different cities I visit. It's a fun way to remember the trip, the cuisine and the sites we saw.


2- I almost became an international flight attendant in my senior year of college. Interviewed in Dallas and D.C. with two airlines. Finished college instead. Too chicken to take the plunge. Oops. Poor choice of words given the occupation I considered.


3- I become demon possessed when taking the minis to get photos taken or when trying to get "the" picture for the Christmas cards. Everything has to be perfect- hair, smiles, clothes. I even take their clothes to change into upon arrival to avoid wrinkles in the car. My blood pressure is sky high until all photos are complete! I'm not too nice and the minis completely see through my fake, calm, pleading voice. "Now so-and-so sit up straight, sweetie." I can't be the only one like this can I?


4- I'm left- handed. Only one in my immediate and extended family.


5- In college, pre 9/11, I once rode in the cockpit of an airplane. I was right behind the pilots! Awesome experience. It was a Friday night during my freshman year. I was going home (hour flight), plane was full and I was traveling standby. At the last minute, I was pulled out of my first class standby seat for a paying customer. The crew knew there were no more flights that night so they let me ride up front. I was a freshman and had no idea what "jump seat" even meant. Today, this would not be an option!


Cheers Mothers! We made it through another week! Have a great weekend! If you've been reading for a while, leave a comment. Tell me about yourself. I need some new blogs to visit!

Highs and Lows

Today was a pretty good day. It was about 73 degrees! We had a few highs and lows.

High- Mini#2 continues to hug/kiss me all day long. It is sooooo sweet. You may be thinking blah, blah, but this is a BOY. He's 3 now. He won't do this forever so I'm savoring the attention I've been getting lately.

Low- We went to the bank today and mini#2 told a woman she was little. She was just a tad short. He has no filter on his mouth these days. Yesterday, I stuffed him into the stroller (he's too slow when we both walk) and went for a walk. I was checking new voicemail I discovered I had on my cell phone when I heard him say "hello" to a woman smoking on her front porch. I said "hello", too and went back to listening to the message when I heard him say "We don't like smoking" to her! I tried to correct him and she said "That's good. It's a bad thing." I apologized and picked up my pace. I was mortified!

High- Mini#1 was one of three in his class to be selected to go to a special reading computer lab every Wednesday with other students from the other three first grade classes. He's being rewarded for his high reading level. Made me so proud of him. He couldn't wait to tell me when he got home. He had the biggest grin on his face. Sorry, had to brag a little.

Low- We met our good friends for dinner at our favorite Mexican place for one last get together before they move to S.C. tomorrow. We've been going to this place for a while together. 5 kids, 4 adults and good food. The wife, out of all of our neighbors, is the one most like me. We have similar tastes, ideas and laugh a lot when we're together. I'll miss them all. Saying goodbye really sucks!

High- After dinner I rushed mini#1 to church and I sat in the car and read Atonement while I waited. Book club is in a couple weeks. This is a slow book, but shhhh, don't tell anyone, I watched the movie last week so I'm set. Anyway, on the way home, mini#1 and I saw 2 deer on the side of a quiet road. I stopped while one crossed and we both got to stare at them for a few moments. They stared back! It was exciting. They're so beautiful. I feel guilty that so many houses are being built in the area and running them out of their habitat.

A day with highs and lows is a good day. Each make you a better person. Life is all about the challenges, the smiles, the frowns, and filtering a 3 year old's mouth!

Talent competition continues...

Ok, watched it again. Our Bachelor, Matt Grant, went out on two group dates on this episode. Eight went on a "Runway" date and seven went on a Vegas date. Still trying to determine if I like this bachelor or not. Here are a few highlights as the talent show continues. Why oh why are these girls singing? Stop it already. I'm still cringing in embarrassment for them.

1- Matt, aka Mr. Brit to Mrs. Pink, gets red cheeks when he's miffed. Case in point, when Lorenzo Lamas' daughter, Shayne, went a bit psycho in Vegas. He didn't like the "drama" with her, yet she got the final rose Monday night.

2- Mr. Brit made a grammatical error tonight. This probably bothered me the most. He told Robin from MI, "I feel a connection between me and you." You and me buddy.

3-Michelle P from NY(clarinet last week, song about "I want to touch you, I want you to touch me" Monday night), Erin H. from WA(wanted to sing before rose ceremony, but didn't get the chance) and Carri from OK (sang opera during her 1-on1 time) all need to try out for American Idol now that Mr. Brit left them empty handed at the rose ceremony. Maybe Simon, hey another Brit, can judge their talent. I was nice. No quotations around talent you will note.

4- Standout Drunk of the night: Kelly from CA. She even commented that she could hold her alcohol while she dripped something all over the table.

5-Holly, the hiccup-er. I felt sorry for her! She seems sweet. She hiccups when she's in a nervous situation. Has she seen the show before? It makes me nervous watching in pj's at home.

6- The kissing has started. Ashlee, after practically begging, was the first to get a kiss. Robin was second. She dove in like her life depended on it.

So who's your favorite so far? I kind of like Chelsea (double jointed tricks at the end) and maybe Amy, the nanny, but it's too soon to predict.

No white wolves or lunchboxes around here.

In case you were wondering, mini#2 didn't dream about the mean white wolf last night. I asked if he did and he said "No, he didn't come again! What a celebration!" Count that readers. My just turned 3 yr old said a 4-syllable word! He has been extra loving today. I think he has hugged me, kissed me and said he loved me about 50 or so times today! What's up with that?

Today was a very good day. No spills or messes to report. The only real thing of interest I did today was race to the middle school bus lot to see if we could find Mini#1's (1st grade) lunch box.
He loves the bus. I was so reluctant to let my #1 baby ride the bus last year, but all his friends had talked their parents into it and it's such a short ride, I decided to let him. Well this morning it was freezing again (fickle weather!) and the bus was late. We were almost back home when the substitute driver and bus came. By that time mini#1 wanted to go "carpool" so we went. This afternoon, she was late again, but no biggie. I like to catch up with my friends at the bus stop. Back home, as I was going through the bulging Monday folder, I asked mini#1 where his lunchbox was. He got this panicked look on his face and said "I left it on the bus and that's not my regular bus". Then the tears welled up in his eyes and my heart started to break. So what's a good mother to do? Grab the keys, the kids and sprint to the car to try to find this lunchbox stealing bus. Thankfully I knew that they park the buses at the middle school. As we pulled in the lot on two wheels I saw the lady I thought was the substitute driver that day walking to her car. Mini#1 confirmed she was the driver and we asked her if she saw his lunchbox. She didn't but said we could take a look. We did and no lunchbox. Mini#1 thinks he left it in his classroom. Let's just say we had a nice "chat" on the way back home about self reliance (word of the month at karate). Then we ran inside, changed for karate and out the door we went again. The Monday after school rush.... How was your day?

Happy Easter!

Another busy weekend. Beautiful day on Saturday. 76 degrees I believe. We went to the park, went to the neighborhood egg hunt, met the Easter Bunny, dyed eggs (without cracking too many!), cooked out with neighbors and played outside until 8:30 last night! Today we awoke to chilly temperatures (48 degrees) and mini#2 having a nightmare about a white wolf in his bedroom. Nontheless we all went to a packed worship service at church and came home and had a nice quiet Easter lunch. The minis requested me to make a pumpkin pie, their favorite, so we had pumpkin pie on Easter. New tradition? Hope your Easter was fun-filled.

"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" Luke 24:5b-6

Five on GOOD Friday

Here are five of my favorite things:

1- Alaskan King Crab Legs

2- Gerber Daisies









3- InStyle Magazine. Love the Party Guide and Recipes.















4- My new super comfortable cute green patent shoes. Try to say that twice. Thanks Clemsongirl for telling us all about them.








5- A new blog I found. A man in Paris posts a new photo taken around Paris every day. Love it. Feels like I get to visit my favorite city every day. http://www.parisdailyphoto.com/

Have a great weekend! Happy Easter!

Be warned...

I'm grouchy today. I know when I started this blog it was to record my life as a SAHM to two sometimes wild little boys. Now it would be pretty boring if all was peaches and cream wouldn't it? So again I might rant a bit. Today was a pain in the you know what. Here is some random venting to make me feel better. It may make you feel better, too.

1- Why is that when you spill something in your house it seems to multiply 10 times over before it lands? Today mini#2 spilled half of a half glass of milk at the table and didn't bother to tell me. I never totally fill his glass for this very reason. Doesn't matter. It was everywhere. You can't cry over spilled milk, but you can mutter a few choice words under your breath.

2- Example #2 of aforementioned vent. Lunchtime. Made mini#2 grilled cheese. He was happily eating and I reheated my black bean chili. This is an awesome low fat recipe I'll post when I'm less grouchy. Poured myself half a glass of sweet tea I had made for relatives (read: our parents) last weekend and no one really drank it. I only make this for company, being southern and all. I had just put the pitcher back in the refrigerator and it fell out of the refrigerator, onto the floor and on me. It looked like a flood. Sticky flood. Mopped forever. Chili cold. Me ticked!

3- Mini#1 will. not. listen. Drives me insane. He gets home at 4:15. We have one hour for snack, changing, homework before karate class. That's a long time...by yourself. With mini#1 (1st grade) he sometimes needs about 3 hours to accomplish these tasks. Needless to say it wasn't pretty here today. I yelled. A lot.

4- Tomorrow there's no school. I think I promised the kids I'd take them to see Horton Hears a Who. Should be real rivoting. I hear Oscar buzz. Normally I love taking the kids, but I still might be grouchy.

5- I got my April Southern Living. For the second or third month it's so flimsy I almost tossed it out with the junk mail. What has happened to this magazine? Where did the rest of it go? Does this mean they're planning to charge less?

Ok, I feel a little better. I'll be sweeter, nicer, calmer tomorrow. After all it's Good Friday. I have no reason to be grouchy on Good Friday. I hope your day was better than mine!

A few photos...

When I planned this party I had visions of a nice group photo with all the kids in their bandannas and cowboy hats. I did not get this. The girls did not wear the hats and the boys quickly took them off at the table. The parents had to help with the craft (cowboy puppets) and it was basically a zoo for an hour and a half. You've all been there I'm sure. Oh well everyone had fun.

Photo#1 was taken Friday afternoon on his actual birthday. I even let him wear that NC State jersey that I'm always hiding. He would STILL wear this every day if possible. Photo#2 waiting for guests to come Saturday. Photo#3 post party. If you've read a while you'll note that his hair is still shorter than I like. That disaster Jan. 29 haircut I posted about is still growing out!

Did you cringe like me?

So I watched the first episode of the Bachelor and cringed quite a bit. I really wanted to turn the channel and had just about had enough after one episode, but the highlights for future episodes have probably reeled me in for yet another season. Here are the cringe worthy moments:

1- Half of the girls' entrances and introductions. I was nervous for them! Hello! You girls know what the show is like. Why did most of you have to get trashed in the limo right before first introductions?

2- Stacey from Chicago. Enough said. What lounge did she fall out of and tumble into the back of the Bachelor show's limo? What a complete embarrassment to America. She couldn't name one intelligible fact about England when Mr. Brit asked. And did she honestly think he would enjoy receiving your panties?

3- Ms. Oklahoma chewing a piece of aluminum out of a can to "impress" her future "husband" (we all know there are never any marriage results). Again, thanks for showing this Brit true American class.

4- Musical concerts. What was up with those? Ms. Guitar singing of her love and Ms. Clarinet giving a mini concert. I don't get it. Have they added a talent portion to this competition? We all know there's a bathing suit portion. How well you wear your bikini in a hot tub that is.

Ok, I'll stop. It's my fault. I chose to watch it. Mr. Brit (can't even remember his name) doesn't seem to have a very good selection. I don't think his mum is going to approve of any of these women. None seem to be able to fit into the Royal Ascot crowd....

On a side note we went to mini#2's check-up this morning. He's 75 percentile in weight and 80 percentile in height! Wow! When I told him this morning we were going for his check-up he said "I don't like really check-ups." I said "You don't?" He said, "No, I hate 'em!" Cracked me up. However, getting in the car to go home he said "Dr. Wyan (Ryan) is the bestest doctor in the whole wide world and he's bro-bro's doctor, too". Thank goodness some check-ups don't require immunizations and you leave happy instead of mad and cranky.

Really quick...

I've read a lot of blogs tonight so no time to post. Why you ask? Because the new Bachelor just started and I need to give it my undivided attention. He's a Brit. The first few episodes are the best. We'll see psycho girls, drunk girls, and desperate girls get weeded out. Well, the drunk girls usually seem to hang on a bit longer than I'd like, but who cares. This is entertainment at its best. Hey, after being around a crazy 3 (weep. weep. He's not 2 anymore.) year old all day I need this mindless TV. However, I'm taping HS Confidential Preppy Mama. I want to see this, too. So, if you watch the Bachelor, let me know what you think of the new guy tomorrow.

Weekend highlights: Limo, Mini Cowboys, Grits and a Magazine

What a fun, busy weekend. Here are the highlights:



1- Friday night "Girls' Nite Out" complete with a Hummer Limo and 14 crazy women. It was a going away party for my good friend in the neighborhood. She's moving a little further south. We got one final hurrah in before she leaves our fun group. We called our night "Mommies Gone Wild". We had such a fabulous time laughing, eating, dancing, posing for photos, being child-free for 7 hours and more laughing. Yes, we got in at 2:20 a.m. Haven't seen that hour in a long time! Tried a new favorite at our evening's first stop, a tapas bar. It was a hot spinach and feta cheese dip with roasted red pepper flat bread. Need. This. Recipe. Now.



2- Had a successful wild west/cowboy party on Saturday for mini#2's 3rd birthday. I had even planned for an afternoon start time to help 3 of the "Mommies Gone Wild" whose children were attending. Am I nice or what? Mini#2 cutely welcomed his guests with a cowboy hat, bandanna and a hearty "Howdy Partner". It was so cute. We had a great time. He was happy and I finally relaxed about midway through after all the stress that goes into planning these affairs. I'll have to post photos in another post this week.



3- Went to an awesome brunch this morning with Hubby, minis, and my parents who drove in Saturday for the cowboy's party. The grits I had were phenomenal. All creamy with real butter on top. If you haven't tried grits, give them a try. Contrary to their questionable reputation, I find them quite yummy! I also had this egg "scrambler" with broccoli, mushrooms and cream cheese. Yum-O! Between the spinach dip, birthday cake and brunch this weekend, I will not eat at all this week. And I'm hiding my scales.



4- Hubby took minis to ride scooters this afternoon at the park so I could have a couple of hours to myself after this very eventful weekend. I read a People magazine cover to cover WITHOUT interruption. I also did laundry and have one last load to put in the dryer. Back to reality.

I hope everyone had a fun weekend, too. Share a highlight of yours!

**Special note: Hubby just read this post and said "That wasn't a Hummer. That was an Excursion!" Ok, as much as I hate to admit this, I'm sometimes wrong or easily confused. I can't believe I was in and out of that now clarified EXCURSION all night and didn't know what it was!

3 years ago today...

3 Years ago today mini#2 was born and changed our lives forever. I cannot imagine life without this little firecracker. He has been a real joy. His zest for life and sports is so special. I have people ask me all the time, "Does he ever stop smiling?" The answer is YES, but, for the most part, he is a very happy child. He wakes up smiling! This is like neither father nor mother. Being so girly and having mini#1 first who is into art, reading, creating, mini#2 has changed my life for a very long time. I am the one with ball throwing duty during weekdays. I even watched golf with him yesterday! I play football. I wash jerseys. I talk sports quite a bit with him while hubby is at work and mini#1 is at school. Saying he LOVES sports is an understatement. He also loves his brother, his mother and his father and he'll tell you often. He's considerate and always wants to get a treat for brother when we're out. He welcomes his dad home like the man has been gone for months instead of hours. He says "hello" to every person that walks down our sidewalk. He squeals with delight when his brother gets home from school. He says "hey big buddy!".

However, 3 years ago, he made a very quiet entry into this big world. He was soft and sweet and cuddly. He had chubby cheeks, teeny tiny fingers and toes and a soft cry. It was love at first sight for hubby and me. We gave him my dad's name and didn't reveal this until he was placed in my dad's arms shortly after birth. There were many tears that day... all tears of joy. I think the most came when mini#1 finally met his little brother. He was 3 at the time. I was so worried about what this new little one would do to him, but mini#1's sweet smiles, captured in photos to remember forever, were all I needed to embrace my new family. Today I celebrate my son's life. All that he is and all that he will become. Happy Birthday sweet baby boy! You are loved!

I'm Important...

...to my first grader's teacher anyway. I've been asked to represent her class for the Spring Carnival. I get to create a basket for the raffle, with the help of other parents, with a "gardening" theme. Then I get to delegate parents to bring or do something for the carnival. Now this is a first for me (heading something up for school; not participating) in his elementary academia.
I'm happy that I was asked. However, that may be because I'm radiating joy due to my fresh highlights received about two hours ago. I'm happy about just about anything right now. Empty wallet (ironically, also 2 hrs ago) excluded.

But, just because I'm blonder does not mean I lost a few brain cells. I could have been the 3rd, 4th, 5th parent she asked, but I don't think so. I could experience future frustration because lame parents won't want to participate, but I hope not. I could end up totally stressing over a basket, but..... oh heck I know I will. Wish me luck!

Take a quick visit...

J'adore Paris! Nothing new to post so enjoy a quick visit to my favorite city! What's your favorite vacation city?

Code words

Today at the White house I learned the following.....



"Green berries" - green grapes. As in: "Mommy I love blueberries, strawberries and green berries".

"salad"- lettuce. As in: "Mommy, dat berry good. They didn't put salad on my taco." Thanks Moe's Southwest Grill employees.

"dinosaur" - penguin. As in: "Mommy, dat dinosaur has clothes on". Thanks Noggin for not teaching my child that a penguin is a penguin and not a dinosaur.

"J--- H----- Poop"- When I asked my child what his full name was during bath.


What did you learn from your little Einstein today?

Who's your favorite?

I hope all had a restful weekend, despite losing an hour's sleep. I'm a little tired from running around finalizing next weekend's birthday party for mini#2. However, the gift bags are complete. I've even wrapped a few presents. But, enough of that. I need to get cowboys (our theme) and western things out of my head. Too much testosterone revealing itself around here. Time to retreat to the "pink" in me.

Do you have a favorite female Hollywood star? I'd probably have to say Kate Blanchett or Meryl Streep right now. From "old" Hollywood it's definitely Bette Davis. She had as much, if not more, gumption than any of her male counterparts. She was one sassy "broad" as she called herself. She could care less what others thought of her. I think we could all stand to draw a little of this attitude from her. Life might be easier. My absolute favorite movie of hers was Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with Joan Crawford. You remember it. Bette was the former child star taking care of her crippled sister, Joan Crawford. The two actresses supposedly disliked each other equally and it carried over brilliantly on film. I think this movie might just be where I first heard and liked the name I eventually gave to mini#2. Hint: Davis' last name in the film. I went to a website and found a few great quotes from Ms. Davis. I can hear that raspy, smoky voice now as she says the following:

I've no time for broads who want to rule the world alone. Without men, who'd do up the zipper on the back of your dress?

Old age is no place for sissies.

Success only breeds a new goal.

Men become much more attractive when they start looking older. But it doesn't do much for women, though we do have an advantage: make-up.

Hollywood always wanted me to be pretty, but I fought for realism.

Here's to strong women! I think mothers have to be the strongest women of all!

Five on Friday!

I absolutely love Fridays. Always have. Especially when I was working outside the home, but still do now that I'm a SAHM. Right now I'm unwinding from the crazy week. This morning I told mini#1 to "Get out of your jammies and put on your jammies". Now that's crazy, but today was, after all, "Wear Your PJ's to School Day". Sounds like a recurring dream I used to have about going to school in pj's, but in 1st grade it's still very exciting. It's the end of Dr. Seuss week. Amen to that! I made him wear fresh jammies, too. I wonder how many kids rolled out of bed and went as they were. Anyway, Hubby is putting the kids to bed right now and I'm listening to all my favorites as I type. I've got John Mayer, 2 Diana Krall cd's, Norah Jones (kind of depressing though) and Michael Buble' going. After taking 2 kids to Target and Michael's in the pouring rain this afternoon, I need some soothing tunes to untangle my nerves...

Anyway, I thought I'd start a new thing I've seen from other blogs (can't remember which or I'd give credit!) and do a list of 5 random things about me on Fridays.

1- I have to sleep on "my" side of the bed wherever Hubby and I go- in-law's, vacations, hotels, etc. I don't feel right unless I'm on my side.

2- I've been to a million football games, but still don't know all the rules of the game. This is strange because, for some reason, I know a lot of trivia regarding sports/athletes. I impress my husband with this knowledge.

3- I was obsessed with the Royal Family of England growing up. More specifically Princess Diana, but I knew about all the others, too. I made all kinds of scrapbooks on Princess Diana and her boys. My son was born on Queen Elizabeth's Birthday, but this was not planned.

4-I had exactly 8 hours of labor with both sons. However, each labor was completely different! Water broke, water didn't break... I'll spare the other details.

5- I cannot stand reading directions for anything. I don't do maps. Only written out Mapquest directions for me. I also do not touch product assembly directions. After all, that's why I got married and had 2 sons. Now I'll never have to do anything like this myself.

Have a nice weekend!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

Isn't that what they say? I now think I fully understand this phrase. Boy did I learn a good lesson today. So here goes for all to enjoy. Let me start by saying that it's been a little warm in the south this week. Low 70's Mon, Tues and mid- 60's today. I decided to wear my old Birkenstocks with my jeans/t-shirt mommy attire today. Wow. I'd forgotten how good Birks feel on your feet! But I digress I bit. Has anyone else noticed how "I digress" is a frequent phrase on these blogs? Sorry. Still digressing. Ok, so after coming back from the bus stop I couldn't stand the sight of my winter toenails. I have a tiny bit of polish still hanging on from about January. I decided to polish them because...I don't know why. Just had a moment so I did. I found some dark wine colored polish in the bottom of my makeup drawer and THANK GOODNESS I stayed in my bathroom to beautify my toes. However, as I proceeded to take the cap off of the polish, all of a sudden, tornado(ish) winds whooshed through my bathroom sending the bottle sailing out of my hand and....deep breath....the polish landed all OVER tile, grout, cabinets and a few drops on a little wall by the cabinets. Did you catch that this was DARK WINE COLORED? I was stunned for a full 20 seconds before I frantically started saying "OH NO! OH NO! OH NO!" Yes, I controlled my tongue. Polish was in stringy lines all over my bathroom yet it missed my jeans and shirt. Wild. The above picture does not reflect the true mess. Well mini#2 came in about that time and said "What happen? Lew have an ackadent?" I had to admit that, yes, mommy had an accident. Well a bottle of Cutex, half a bag of cotton balls, paper towels and an almost 3 year old helped me clean up the mess. It was a major task though and the grout is still a little pinkish. However, I learned a good lesson. I can't get so upset at all of mini#2's messes. I told him that parents make mistakes, too. I told him even though he has accidents I still love him no matter what. I think my mess majorly outdid his entire list I gave a few posts back. What do you think?

P.S. It was so funny how he showed daddy where I made my "ackadent" and how he helped clean up. Now I'll leave with one final thought. After this happened I kept thinking all day what if this had happened on my beige bedroom carpet? I don't think I'd be writing a cute little post right now. So I'm thankful for a happy ending.

In case you needed to know...

I've got nothing today. However, in case you ever needed to know:

On this date, MARCH 4....

1881- Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President of U.S,
1933- Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated as 32nd President of U.S.
2005- My favorite, Martha Stewart, left prison to serve her remaining sentence at home, baking cookies, making soap, and feeding her menagerie of animals. I added the last part in case you wondered.

And a good quote that, unfortunately, applies to me:

I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end. Margaret Thatcher

Birthdays Upon Us...

So we've been to a few b-day parties lately and Mini#1's is in April and Mini#2's is in 2 weeks. I can't even think about Mini#1's party at the moment. I'm finalizing details for Mini#2's right now. We're having a "Wild West" party and he'll wear the above shirt I got for a steal at Orient Expressed. Each child will be given a cowboy hat and bandanna to complete the "look". We're going to be making paper bag horse puppets and playing good old fashioned pin the tail on the donkey. I've told everyone to wear your cowboy/girl boots if you have them. I'm serving cowboy food- mini pigs in a blanket (I can't stand those, but don't they seem cow boyish?) and MAY make them root beer floats to imitate "sasparillas". What is sasparilla anyway? Beer? It may be too much for 3 yr olds though- to drink and to comprehend. I'm still thinking about the cake. I have always served cute bakery cakes, but kind of wanted to go the cupcake route this year. The only thing is I'm at a loss for an idea to fit the theme. Any ideas out there?

Hubby (I need a new nickname for him. Hubby sounds silly.) and I were laughing last night making fun of the ever so important gift bags. So far their bags will have a plastic pose able horse, a sheriff's badge, and a silly straw they may or may not use for "sasparillas". Still thinking of other items, but it won't be too much else since they will also have a nice new cowboy hat and bandanna to take home. Anyway, my main man (doesn't work either!) and I were brainstorming and started thinking of the gift bag we'd love to give these tiny tots, but definitely will NOT. They would include: candy cigarettes, "Big League Chew", can of beenie weenies (cowboy food!), a little beef jerky and maybe a Hank Williams Jr. cd. What do you think? Anyway it was a fun exercise. One of those really good laughs life throws at you. However, I will continue to be the responsible parent. So responsible that these "cowboys" won't even know what a gun is, but I guess they will learn about beer. Yikes. Maybe not. Well, most importantly, no fine southern tot will learn about guns at this house. It is funny though - a cowboy party without guns and Indians? What is our world coming to?

On a side note, I'm getting a little emotional. My BABY is going to be 3. I held him this morning and caught our reflection in the mirror. His body and legs are getting so big. Despite my obvious frustration with his blatant toddlerness lately, I love this little boy and his brother more than I could ever imagine. God's gifts to me for life. I am truly blessed to be their mother! I tell them all the time "I thank God for you". Mini#2 now says it to me on his own "Mommy I thank God for you". Music to my ears. Have a good rest of the weekend!