My friend Cindy hosted a party tonight where we all came in our pajamas, brought pillows and ate junk food while we watched the movie Grease. Grease has always been one of my favorite movies, so I was very excited about this fun time, hanging out with the girls.
I decided to really get into it and channeled 1985. I teased my hair and put a scrunchy in it. I pasted on some blue eyeshadow. I found my retainers and shoved them in my mouth. I even stopped and bought some Bartles & James and then I headed over to Cindy's. It was loads of fun! I even won a Grease trivia game and won a HUGE chocolate bar and a People magazine.
Looking forward to the next one - Grease 2 party! :)
This morning, though I tried, I could not muster up the energy it took to get showered, dressed and to church on time. Blame it on the week after week of activities, or blame it on the allergy-ridden dog who whined incessantly all night. Whatever the problem, I was unsuccessful in finding that energy. Rather than fight against it, I decided to spend the day enjoying the warm weather and my family. I grabbed a cup of coffee and my laptop and downloaded pictures while supervising the kids in their painting and play and supervised my husband in his trimming of bushes in our back yard.
Ever since Morgan built her bird house with Lance and my dad, she's been begging to paint it. I mean, we'll have like 10 minutes before bed and she'll ask if she can paint. Ummm, not quite that simple, my dear! So, we decided this morning was a good time to let her paint it. Of course, that meant allowing Bennett to paint something also since what is done for one must be done for the other. I want you to notice the levels of drop clothes I have going on for Bennett. Ha! And the paint is even washable. No, I'm not anal at all. Also, please note the reuse of the Easter egg dying cups for paint. Brilliant, right? Wish I could say it was my idea, but no, it was my husband searching for yet another reason to not throw something out.
While I was out there with such coverage over the deck, I decided that, heck, it wasn't messy enough. Let's pull out the moon sand! I try not to let the mess get to me too much, after all we ARE outside and the ARE kids. I remember being super stoked as a kid because on occasion, we would be allowed to finger paint. I didn't realize why we didn't get to do it ALL THE TIME before I became a mother. Now I understand. But, in keeping with recreating my own childhood for my own children, I want them to enjoy these special treats occasionally. I guess that's what makes them special??
When you have a messy situation, including some paint and moon sand, what is the perfect ingredient to add??
WATER!
Since I was too lazy to get ready for church, you know I was too lazy to actually fix lunch. This is where my wonderful hubby comes in. He offers to grill burgers for us to enjoy al fresco. Mmmmm. So the kids come over, dripping from the sprinkler and sit down to enjoy some juicy burgers fresh off the grill. Mmmmm. We can't wait for summer!
We went inside and the kids got baths and went down for naps while Lance and I enjoyed some down time before the mothers club Spring Party. When the kids were up, it was time to head to the party, where -- in keeping with the theme of laziness -- there was a dinner of pizza and veggies and fruit awaiting us. Not to mention, Morgan's all time favorite kids' performer, James K. Bennett even got into it this year, enjoying the songs and movements. :)
A good way to end a lazy spring day, because when we were done, it was time to go home and get the kids ready for bed. Doesn't get much better than that!
Today was my friend Melissa's baby shower. I think everyone had a good time, and it was only mildly embarrassing to her to have so much fuss and ado to be made. Things went off without a hitch, so that's nice! Her mom and her aunts were all so wonderful with their help and all the yummy food. There are far too many pictures from the shower, but here are a few just to give a general sense of it. It was Hollywood themed. Here was the first draft of the invitation...
The setup out front with the limo parking (her brother picked her up and drove her to her mom's house), red carpet and adoring fans/paparazzi, and her arrival. The best moment of her arrival was when one of the paparazzi (Cindy) shouted out, "Melissa, how does it feel to be carrying Marshall's baby??!!" Everyone got a good giggle out of that one. :)
Inside, we had the fine china out and the tables decorated with confetti and favors. I had a hard time tying the bows onto the frames we gave out as favors, so I tied them like a necktie instead!
We had two tables set up outside where everyone could have fun while drinking some champagne (or sparkling cider!) and having hors d'oeuvres. One area was with precut scrapbooking supplies, and every guest had their picture made with Melissa and they decorated a page to put their picture on. Fun! The other station was our "Project Runway" where there were tons of fabric pens, paint, buttons, fabric, etc. that could be used to decorate onesies (mine is the one with the vest!). We also had a spot for "Pin the baby on Angelina", but we never got around to giving her babies. :)
Inside, there was food and cake, more decorations, and even a celebrity baby name matching game.
Overall I think everyone had a good time, and I sure did have fun planning it! Melissa got some super cute boys clothes and her Joovy Caboose stroller she'd settled on. I wanted to make sure her shower was memorable, and I think I accomplished that. :)
The weather is due to turn really nice and warm for the weekend and I decided to take the day to prepare for the weekend. Tomorrow is Melissa's baby shower and I know I'll want to come home and hang out in the back yard with the family afterwards. So, I spent all morning mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, teaching Morgan how to pick up dog poop (which is, unbelievably, a really fun thing for her to do -- she was begging me to do it, so don't go calling CPS), and washing down EVERYTHING. All the cushions got cleaned, the patio furniture, heck, even the kids got a good hose down. :) It was very cute, Bennett kept laughing and running towards me saying, "don't get me wet!!" LOL
I cleared off the deck from all the residual crap my husband has been collecting and organized and set out toys for the kids to play with outside. I hauled the old grill out to be thrown out and cleaned all around the new one. The water fountain is flowing, the sun is shining. Summer is on it's way!
After all this work, didn't end up getting the kids down for their naps until 4pm!! Whoops! We didn't eat lunch until 3 though! Guess that's what happens when you are having fun, huh?
Tonight, I took my stuff over to Melissa's mom's house for the baby shower tomorrow. Need to get a good night sleep because I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!
I've been looking forward to tonight for weeks, every since I got an email from my friend Melissa's husband Marshall, asking me to save the date and get a sitter. I did both of those things and considering the weeks I've been having, I was really looking forward to a night out on the town with my husband and with friends. We were celebrating Melissa's 30th birthday and I was looking forward to the Cajun food at Roux and then cupcakes at Kara's cupcakes after. The kids were a little touch and go...Morgan hadn't thrown up since Friday morning and Bennett got a little better, then a little worse, then a little better again. So, we decided to go ahead and go. We got dressed up a little (I even curled my hair, though you couldn't tell it by the end of the night!) and headed over to the Alexanders' house to carpool with them down to Santana Row where we were meeting two other couples for dinner.
The food was fabulous - I don't think I've ever had hush puppies as good, and being a southerner, you know I've had my share! The drinks were good too, I even got the traditional New Orleans drinks of a hurricane and a hand grenade! After a long dinner with great conversation, with the added bonus of not having to discipline anyone, we headed over to get our cupcakes. It was sprinkling outside, and there was nowhere to sit inside Kara's, so we got our cupcakes boxed up and headed over to The Left Bank to have a few more drinks and enjoy our cupcakes. I got some coffee with Bailey's and we enjoyed even more great conversation with the Alexanders and their great friends.
Two of us couples were paying for sitters, so we ended the night a little early, a little before 10:30. We drove back up, said our goodbyes to the Alexanders and headed home. Where we were greeted by my niece who informed us that after downing two bowls of macaroni and cheese, Bennett threw up. All over the kitchen. And chaos ensued when our dog, Elly, came running in to eat it up. Pukey kids were set aside while disgusting dogs were dealt with. I felt SOOO bad!! Not just about not being here when Bennett threw up, but also about my niece having to deal with all that.
A good friend of mine made a good point though, what better birth control?? :)
Tonight, we had a member appreciation party for the mothers' club at a trampoline place. It was basically like one huge birthday party, complete with jumping, pizza and cake.
After witnessing the world's fasted sign spinner (impressive, huh?), I loaded 20 pizzas into my car and then unloaded my energetic kids at the trampoline place. They had a blast! It was really well organized by the staff at Springtime Tumbling & Trampoline. They split the kids into three different age groups and rotated them through the various stations, which included a mini tramp, a long running trampoline and the three big jumping trampolines. With all that equipment, Morgan was in heaven. Bennett was practicing for when he turns 2 and wanted to be wherever his group wasn't. :) He spent most of his time running back and forth on the bouncy floor. :) All in all, we had a great time hanging out with friends, having pizza and cake and letting the kids burn off energy.
Here are a couple of videos of the kiddos in action.
My friend Cindy hosted a party tonight where we all came in our pajamas, brought pillows and ate junk food while we watched the movie Grease. Grease has always been one of my favorite movies, so I was very excited about this fun time, hanging out with the girls.
