My Greatest Gift

I. Cannot. Stop. Watching. This!

Love her.

'Tis the Season

Around these parts, the end of June marks the ushering in of about a fortnight of celebrations at the Smith-Smiths'.

Today alone, we've got Juneteenth, Father's Day, and Playette's Birthday.

Which also means that I've been blogging for another full year. Wow.

We'll have a few days to enjoy our usual routine and then then comes my birthday, Independence Day, and our wedding anniversary.

I hope I'm not leaving anything out.

But, yeah, this is pretty much our holiday season.

Yesterday, we hosted a party for the Littlest at our neighborhood pool and clubhouse. She's wayyy into Dora these days so we had a luau themed pool party with a some character references sprinkled in.

Cate, you should know that one of her friends came in the suit and I gasped and clutched my non-existent pearls.

The party actually went really well, so I've been told. The kids were happy. The parents were cool. If something was awful, I missed it. Do I want to know? Eh. I think yes, but maybe I should remain blissfully ignorant and go with the whole success thing. We had help along the way, so I needn't be such a pessimist. I mean, from the decorator/photographer to the extra-juice-purchaser to the sure-I'll-wake-up-at-dawn-and-make-your-side-dishes-no-problem and more, we had a lot of great support and I really, really appreciate it.


It was short and sweet. The kids swam during the first hour and then we brought them inside for a lunch of hot dogs, chips, drinks, fruit, and salads.

On Friday night, I panicked, worried that we wouldn't have enough seats for all of the kids when it came time to eat. I pictured everything crumbing to pieces as children cried because there was no spot at a table. On Saturday morning, it came to me that we still had the rubber alphabet/number mats somewhere. Those were found and became the ultimate dining circle.


I was so impressed by our guests, let me tell you. They all were on their best behavior. Amazing, it was. I'd show you pictures of how poised they really were, but I didn't get permission to put their pics on the interweb, so you'll have to trust me on this one.


After eating, we - well - we ate again. This time it was ice cream and cake after singing to the birthday girl. She was soaking it all in and loved being the center of attention.

This is her SURPRISE! face.


I tried to skip out on opening presents, but thankfully I checked in with a friend first who informed me that kids actually enjoy that part and it's way different than the way most baby showers make my eyes go all glassy for two hours.

She was right. Of course. They were all into it, wanting their gifts to be opened next, wanting to help rip the paper off, wanting to see Playette get excited about what they had picked out for her. It was really cute.

Man. The presents. How could I have been so naive? I totally didn't expect the massive pile of presents. I mean, she has never been given so much stuff at once. We're very grateful for everyone's generosity and she's going to be trying out new things for a very long time.

So, after that, we were officially done. Tra-laaaa!

A little later than I had planned, but it seemed that just about all the kids were appropriately worn out and the parents I spoke to were happy that naps were imminent.

Those of us that remained took our time cleaning up while taking intermittent swim breaks, followed by margarita breaks, along with burger and cake and ice cream and dance breaks.

Gotta love a good after-party.

Dora's on to something with that whole "¡Lo Hicimos!" thing.

We did it, indeed.

Four years and counting...

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We came back to the house to find the AC had conked out on us. Thankfully, the day had cooled off some so that the indoor temp of 85 didn't feel a degree over 83.

Ah, it's the little things.

We had houseguests and I tried to assure them that this was not the norm and that sweating in your sleep is not a typical occurance when you come to visit us.

And then, of course, we woke up to everything in the freezer being melted. Ha!

When it rains, it pours.

But that was nothing that a gluttonous celebratory breakfast couldn't fix.

Hey, I felt like I earned it. Not only did I get back into Weight Watchers' good graces this week (yay for not having to pay!), but I also ran an 8K race on Saturday morning (yay for my fastest time yet!). I'm not sure that I completely leveled the scales, but it was something and this weekend is one of no-guilt-allowed. Tomorrow, I'm back on the wagon.

And both items are now fixed. Huzzah!

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For those that enjoy hearing more about the details, we offered sunglasses, water wings, leis, and flower hair clips as take-home items for all that were interested in such things. Finding luau items was pretty easy and I just added them up piece by piece from places like Oriental Trading and Party City. I was thrilled to find the Dora and Diego water wings at Family Dollar.



Also, anyone who was there? I probably have cute pics of your kid. Holla at me.

Aaaaand we're back!

Wow. What a whirlwind!

I don't announce when we're heading out on vacation, but I love to share when we get back.

Wanna know where we went?

Here's a hint:


Traveling with a toddler presents certain challenges, but we're gluttons, what can I say? It was a great experience overall (even though 'skeeters apparently love us) and we're back and refreshed and ready to take on preschool (oh, wait, did the governor cancel that?) and all kinds of other new adventures coming down the pike.

I'll share photos from our trip (birds and monkeys and crocodiles - OH MY!) very soon, but first?

Two of my awesome friends surprised me by flying into town for my birthday so I'm off to entertain them.

Best. Gift. Ever.

Troisième

When I was younger and unmarried and childless, I had a lot of opinions about things.

I still do, but things change. Some remain the same. Others evolve.

I used to feel very strongly about the "no kid parties" thing. I've seen things done over the years that just left a bad taste in my mouth. Plus, who needs that kind of stress?

So, yeah. I was all, "Not on my watch!"

Until one day. A day that cake started sounding really good to me and I remembered that this lady at work makes reaallly good cakes. Cake. That's easy enough.

Until the cake lady asked me what the theme would be.

Theme?

Crap.

And then I needed people to help us eat that cake I ordered, since it now had a theme and themed cakes need to be eaten. And how would I entertain those people? That's what people do at parties, right? Entertain the guests? They'd need food, too, right? What about balloons and bubbles? Yes, we must have balloons and bubbles. And really cute tableware from the display at Marshall's. Along with about a zillion other little things that all of a sudden became necessary.

Like 3 gallon jugs of margaritas.

Yeesh.

Next thing you know, there was a party.

I know. I did it to myself.

But, honestly, it ended up being pretty fun!

I really was shocked.

There were adults and children and music and food and cake and an extra special guest that took up a good chunk of our driveway.


It was a gorgeous day that Playette will never remember, I know. But, I will, and so will others. I will be able to look back and think about the day that I realized how good it felt to have our friends come together to celebrate a milestone for our baby girl. They were generous and loving and kind and funny and helpful. It was a great moment in time and I appreciate everyone so very, very much.


It's hard to be away from so many people that we love, which makes the days like that of the party feel even better. I don't know how to explain it as eloquently as the emotion deserves, but it has to do with blooming where you're planted and the song about silver and gold that I learned in Brownies.

So much has changed in three years. Some things remain the same. Others evolve.

And it's good.


By the way, I was so happy she loved that cake.

That there was some good cake, y'all.

Highlights: 7/3/09

I was about to share some more recent photos, but once I uploaded the pictures, I realized that I missed out on some good ones from what turned out to be a really great weekend last week.

Let's get started, shall we?

On Friday night, BD surprised me with a "Margarita Friday" gathering. How did he plan and execute a party in my own house without my even knowing?

Well, basically, he let me sleep most of the day. Which is a gift all in itself. I didn't suspect a thing. Luckily, when I did up and decide to come downstairs, I was fully clothed and clean. Pure luck, that was, since that's not exactly a "given" with me and there were people down there and all.
Cake! With toys!

Too many candles.

Mmmmm. This was, like, healthy or something. Because there was fruit on it. Right?!

I love the look Playette is giving FNPT here. She's all, "What are you doing here? This is my domain and I don't work on weekends."

At some point during the night, I built this city out of blocks. (I vaguely recall a few of us playing with toys for a little while.) When Playette found it the next morning, she promptly destroyed it.

Another great gift from BD: clean kitchen on Saturday morning.

Me and Mr. P

Me: Hey, Mr. P!

Mr. P: Hi.

Me: Guess what.

Mr. P: What?

Me: It's my birthday.

Mr. P: Happy Birthday!

Me: How old are you, Mr. P?

Mr. P: 40.

Me: How old do you think I am?

Mr. P: 20.

I LOVE MR. P!!

Spent

It's been one of those days.

Not enough sleep.

The headache won't stop.

I almost quit my job. (I know. Enough with the job issues already.)

The IFSP meeting. Ok, so that didn't go horrible or anything (amazing), but it's absolutely not something I felt like doing today. We signed it this time, but have to reconvene on the 15th to resolve some additional issues with ST services.

And then the guy I was planning to marry when I was 5 goes and dies. (Those links are to the posters I had on my wall and door as a kid.) I can't even watch the news because I can't believe it.

It's not so much that it's MJ. Well, that's part of it, true. It's more about not wanting to think about mortality and the memories I have of my childhood that are somehow connected.

I remember my mother taking me to see the Jacksons' Victory Tour at the Meadowlands. Floor seats, y'all. My mother was the kind of person who did this type of thing for a kid way before I could ever appreciate it. We bonded over that tour though. She had the Jackson 5, I had Michael. Sigh.

Anyway, I wasn't intending to dig that up in this post, but there ya go.

A few people have asked me today how our vacation was.

Did I fail to mention that?

Yeah, we were on vacation.

I tend not to annouce those things.

I can't wait to look back at the photos (hundreds of them, I'm telling you) so that I can remember what a great time we had before the flight cancellations took us so far off track that when we got home all we could think about was, "Well, that last part sucked."

Thank you all so much for the kind birthday wishes for the Littlest. She had a great time while we were gone and even got to add a new state to her list. (And one more for me, yay!)

I just realized that I, too, have become the the kind of person who does this type of thing for a kid way before she could ever appreciate it.

Heh.

Oh, well.

We're still holding fast to our "You must be able to walk 5 miles without whining before we take you with us to Disney" rule.

Happy BD, BD!

Today is BD's birthday. I mentioned earlier that we went out on Saturday night for a group dinner, but I still wanted to do something on the actual day too.

I knew he wouldn't remember, but over a year ago, he came home from work and was all, "I had the BEST cheesecake ever today. This lady blah blah blah. I got her card blah blah blah." I nodded, probably mad that he didn't bring me any, and made a mental note.

What's interesting about that exchange is that he doesn't really like sweets. Weird, I know. So for him to go on and on about some cheesecake that he couldn't be bothered to share really told me that it must be something special.

Honestly, I had to practically bribe him to eat some of our wedding cake.

Even though we've moved, I have kept up with that little business card. "One day," I'd think.

So a couple of weeks ago I went looking for it and then took it to work so I could check out the website. OMG. I was drooling. Even if you don't live in my area, look here. C'mon. Everybody's doing it. It'll make you feel good good good.

Or maybe you won't feel good cause she's not where you are? Oops. I promise, though, if you come visit? Cheesecake's on me.

Anyway, I ordered two dozen Mini Tease Bites in Turtle, Teresa's Dreamation (Reece's!), Plain, and Plain with strawberries, with the plan to surprise BD during the day in the place where he and his classmates study.

It all went off without a hitch until...

Surprise!


And then, get this, he leans over and tells me, "I knew the whole time. I knew you were doing this. I saw it on your calendar."


WHA?! He got me for about 5 seconds, but no way. No way at all he knew. I called his bluff and he confessed.


The precious little babies.

Little cuties. (They did not last long. *sniff*)


Yes, I make my husband pose with snacks.