Check, Check and Check.....

Hard to believe that the years are flying by!

Bug will be 6 this Sunday, and I don't think I have ever seen a kid more excited about his birthday than he is! :)

I have SO much to do, and so much to plan....especially since we have decided to do a home party, (on the 11th) and I will have to keep 13 kids preoccupied for 2 hours.

fun fun.

So...this is what I have so far....

Invitations.....CHECK....

Now, allow me to brag a bit if you will......because I am so incredibly PROUD of my son, my heart bursts with love.

This year since we have decided to have an all out "party"....I asked Samuel if he would mind if the guests brought gifts for children that have nothing...instead of birthday gifts for him...

(now.. before you get all "WHAT? You mean mom, that's his BIRTHDAY!" like my DH did at first.....hear/read me out)

He WILL be getting PLENTY of gifts to open....between my husband and I, his grandma and grandpa, Nana and Uncle Tony, and Popo and Papa (not to mention his aunt and uncle)....he will have MORE than enough.

Besides....I feel like he has plenty of "stuff" as it is, there isn't a lot he wants anyway, and, what fun is it to watch someone open like 45 gifts?

Well, Guess what?

He didn't even hesitate to say "yes"....

side note: now, if he had said "no" I would have been o.k with it.... since I understand it is HIS birthday, and he IS a child....

But he didn't...in fact he got so tickled thinking of how it would be, and the kids/families faces when we dropped everything off....that he wanted to go through some of the stuff he already has and give it to them as well.

I think it's because we have done things like this before and have talked about it.....so he is very familiar with the fact that people reach hard times and need some help.

Well, after asking him where he would like to help out the most, we thought of all the people that have lost homes, or had to leave everything behind because of a bad situation, called the Red Cross, and were referred to Interact....after a few phone calls, we manged to get hold of the director and talk to her about our plan. She was all for it! :)

I double checked with Bug to make sure he was O.K with it, and we decided to write on the invitations:

I only hope it is well recieved among the guests....I am not sure how they are going to feel about it.

Anyway...on to the rest of the party planning...

Mario Party Supplies....CHECK..

Pinata....CHECK...

Games......CHECK, CHECK, and CHECK...

If you are familiar with Super Mario Bros. than you will recognize most of the names in the games. (altered to fit our theme)...

We will start the party off with a Yoshi's Egg Hunt. This is a game that follows along the same lines as your regular Easter Egg Hunt, but instead of candy in the *speckled* plastic eggs, there are gold coins (plastic of course) similiar to those that Mario collects as he bashes blocks. There is a point to the coins as you will find out.

After that is over and done with we will move on to the "Get the Goomba"....which is where I will fill up brown balloons with 1-3 coins and blow them up, and the kids will run and pop them, collecting the coins as they go.

Next i think we will have a little free play, and snacks......and then it will be time for cake and ice cream (also made in the Mario theme...I wish I were as talented as some of my girls on BBC who have taken classes!)....

After the cake and ice cream we will do the pinata...which is filled with Toys, and Candy.

And then last but not least....we will go on a "Save Princess Peach" hunt, where the kids will have to follow clues to finally find and rescue her....collecting coins as they go.

When all is said and done, they will turn/trade their coins in for Gold Stars....10 coins=1 gold star

Then you trade the stars in for goodies.

Now...I know how parties can be...and I know how kids can be.....so this is just an IDEA of how I would like it go. We'll see how it really does go ! :)

Well, I better get my butt off of here, and get crackin' on some of the game stuff.

Love to all!~

P.S Miss and LOVE you baby!

Kristi, Kristi, Kristi....


Like, seriously...WHAT were you thinking??

I can NOT believe I did this. It happened last night around 7:30...

where?

of ALL places...

a freaking drive thru!

Stupid S*onic.....

Stupid ME!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

Nice one Kristi....

Nice one.

At least..... I can be thankful I was the only car involved

The bad news the pole fared MUCH better than my van did.

Again I ask...HOW did I do this? I have been through the drive thru a MILLION times, and I have never come CLOSE to hitting those thingy's.

Like the insurance agent said..."that's why their called accidents"

yeah well.....no comment.

Oh well...

Check it out the results from the fight with the pole...

Nice huh?

I need to go sulk....and make some brownies.

Pity-Party anyone?

Whew' and a few Ar' Ar's

What a weekend!

We made it to VA and are now back home again....after a busy, busy weekend.

Brad's company picninc was great. It was nice to meet his co-workers, and have a family day at the same time. The kids had a blast as they had rented the biggest bounce I think I have ever seen. I mean adults could have used the thing!

I was disappointed since we were supposed to get together with Tom and Amy, but crossed path's, and our timing was off. pooh! Ah well....hopefully soon.

Anyway....I have some pictures and some VERY FUNNY/CUTE video to share.

Hope this gives you the chuckle I got! (Popo...I KNOW you will adore it as much as I do!)

Love to all!~ enjoy.



My cowgirl....


My photographer (he took this pic himself)...


This child in such a treat. I really do thank God for her (and Bug) everyday!

My son also cracks me up....if you turn up the volume and watch at about ...oh..the 1:39 mark...listen to what happens and he says....he is a treat as well! :)

Th-th-th-th-th-that's all folks! :)

****edited to add....if you still can't understand what Bug says...he says "I shoulda wore a helmet"....even though it was his knee that was scraped.**** :)

Going to VA

Yay! :)

We are headed up to VA this weekend to see Brad and go to his companies picnic.

Leaving this morning (yes, I am taking Bug out of school...bad mom!)..and coming back Sun.

I just have to remember to pack my camera :) But if you know me...it will be the one thing i forget. :)

Anyway...I am also excited since Bug's birthday stuff arrived!!!!!!!!!!

I ordered some supplies off of this AWESOME website called celebration express, and I FINALLY found some Super Mario themed stuff! :) yay! ANd to top it off...

Popo got him a Mario pinata...which by the way, when he saw...the child went ballistic. He was whooping and hollering and spinnin' and jumpin....just wait till he see's the actual present they got him....now THAT I'll get on video! :)

Anyway, I better get crackin' and get my arse packin' LOL...

Hugs to all, and PLEASE PRAY for my cousin Randy who is having a rough time with his scleredoma right now....you can check up on them here.

LOVE to all!~~~~~~

Rememberance

7 years ago...



My heart goes out to those lost and their families. God Bless you all.


Now to bring back that smile....

some Silliness!



My little artist.



E-Hugs to all...I am fighting a NASTY cold! grrrrr....

Overheard

After church this morning, Drama Mama approached me as I was preparing a "brunch" (really breakfast for Sam and lunch for Kayla as requested...Sundays we are pretty lenient)...

"mommy, bunny is hungry, wants a horn dog"

mommy: "so Bunny wants to eat now?...a corn dog?"

"yes a horn dog mommy pease...."

I cut up and apple, prepare a corn dog and set it at the table...

"hum on bunny...time to eat"

plops herself down with her 2 bunnies with her (from a story she got from her Nana)

after a few minutes I notice she is more or less "feeding the bunnies" her corn dog rather than eating it herself so I say:

"Kayla, you need to eat your corn dog NOT your bunnies please"

"kayyyyy" she says

next I hear...

"no no bunnies... no horn dog for you...that kaykay's horn dog...no no no"

10 seconds later I get....(please ignore the fact that she is in her birthday suit....she still prefers to be naked than have any clothes on...unless of course it is a princess dress") Is she my child or what? LOL



She is really into playing with her stuffed animals, and baby dolls... and it is such a treat to sit back and watch her interact and come up with scenerios on her own. Her favorite thing to do at this point is put them down for "nite-nite". ..with a story, kiss and a "snuggle bug". It is precious!

Here are a few bonus video's for Popo and Nana...enjoy!

Bugga bugga?.....

SPIN drama mama...

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRAD!!

P.P.S.: Bug is doing great in school and has actually ASKED to join the cub scouts.....hard to know if I should put him in or not since we have no idea how long we will be here. decisions...decisions.

TTFN!~

1 down...1 to go

Well we weathered Hurricane Hanna without much damage.... just lots of rain and flooding.

Our lake actually filled to the top and I was worried about the boat floating off! :)

Thank God it didn't.

So now we are on watch for Hurricane Ike (i think thats the name)...

they are talking about it hitting us Thurs, and how it will be much worse than Hanna.

at least we are prepared.

I bought candles, flashlights, and bottled water. I have also prepared 3 meals that can be unfrozen and eaten.

Also charged the good ol' gameboy for Bug, and got out the board games.

We shall see.

1 down.

1 to go.

Love to all!~and BE SAFE!

Mothers Instinct

I thank God for it every day! I knew last night when Drama Mama woke up around 11 crying and asking for water that something was wrong. But not wanting to be the Drama Queen I can be...I made myself wait until morning to call the advice nurse...not really thinking I should bring her in just for them to tell me it is a virus and has to pass on it's own (after all the child has been there more times in the last 3 months than in her WHOLE life (between the anal strep, ringworm, stomach virus, and nursemaids elbow (long story, another time).....well around 8 I call to schedule her an appt, since she has declined her morning dry cereal (OMG!) and chocolate. (milk) And I see she just isn't right.

They see her at 9:40.

It's strep.

throat this time.

nice.

Anyway my point to the title was this is one of MANY times I was told I should let it ride out and instead followed my own instinct and brought her in to be seen by a Dr. anyway.

At least we caught it fairly early, and it saved me from a night of misery as her temp soared to 104.8.

I am still waiting for it to break, and giving her tylenol every 4 hours.

My poor little "baby girl" (as she insists on being called...seriously!)

Love to all, and hope to report better news in the coming days!

P.S Bug is doing great so far in school...granted it IS only the second week. I am so proud! :P

Home Again...

We (the kids and I) headed up to the D.C area (thereabouts) to see my dear husband.

*sigh*

It was SOOOOOOOOOOO nice!

I sure did miss him! So did the kids....I don't think either one of them left his side for the first 24 hours we were there! Especially Bug! :)

I was thinking about heading back again next weekend so we could go to the Richmond race on Sat for his birthday......but...

I just don't think it would be the best idea. I HATE having to miss his birthday...but really want to be able to go back in 2 weeks for his works family day/picnic.

decisions....decisions!

Anyway...the only down side to the whole trip was that all my nieces and nephews were out of town so I didnt get to see ANY of them! :( ah well.

An upside is that Brad's mom came to see us from PA on Sat.....her and Tony stayed with us and we all had a blast catching up! :)

ESPECIALLY when we went out for breakfast Mon morning and Drama Mama decided to have chocolate cake (it was a buffet...but WHO has cake that early?) and she decided that it was easier to pick the whole bowl and lick it to death, than use her fork. (hey..she IS my child! lol)

Anyway....it was a great weekend, and now we are home safe and sound, and Bug is ready for his 2nd week of school! :) Let's hope it is a good week!

Love to all!~

P.S we got to check out the winchester area, and it looks like that is where we will focus on moving IF Brad's TSSC goes through. It is BEAUTIFUL out there! :) I am so excited for this next chapter in our lives to begin! :)