Party #2

Saturday, January 24
Part 2

After the first party, my sister, my nieces, Mana and I went to eat lunch at Chick-fil-a. Then we went home to get ready for the second party. We blew up balloons and the girls decorated with crepe paper everywhere!! Very Festive!! All the cousins got to come!! Brian's Parents, Brothers and family, and Great Grandmother all came. My Grandmothers and Grandfather were not able to come this time. My Aunt and cousins came. My Dad got to come. My step Mom did not. She was not feeling well. We had a packed house! The girls got into Mana's Barbie box that Mana and I made for one of her photo shoots. My Dad went into Mana's room and pulled the box backwards. By the giggling and loud screams coming from the room, I think they had fun! My sister and the girls spent the night. Jen and I stayed up half the night reading the book, "Have a New Kid by Friday." We laughed at a lot of the things that we read. Mainly because we were tired and a few things rang true. We had a great time with them visiting for the weekend!

Pictures of the day...

"Dad's Paparazzi Picture""Dad and the Box""The Girls in the Box""Mana & her Cake""The Family""Present Time""Rock On"

ONE of TWO Parties!!!

Saturday, January 24

A little late on the posting about the birthday parties. This past week was my work week. Not much extra time that week. As you know from an earlier post, Mana had two parties. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Grandparents like to sit comfortably and socialize. Not much room at a children's party to do either of those. Mana chose a paint your own pottery place . It was nice. The party room was painted with fun bright colors. The walls were painted with chalk board paint. That occupied all the children before and during the party. They had a great time. They all got to pick their own critter to paint. We get to pick them up today! I'll post the before and after pictures of their critters later!

Pictures of the day...

"Mana & Rachel chalking""Picking a Critter""Mana & her cousin Painting""Secrets""Make a Wish!"

A New Stylist

I am finding new ways to cut some unnecessary spending. I went to a new hair stylist today. My friend Jamie just raves about her. I had an 11:30 am appointment. She use to go to church where I attend so I knew of her. I almost did not recognize her since it has been three years since I have seen her. I told her I wanted to keep my hair in the same style, just shorter. She did a great job. Now I will rave about her also! Thanks Jamie for recommending her. I went to Movie Gallery to rent "Fireproof". The guy and girl that work there even made a comment on my hair. He said,"Girrrrrrl, I don't know who does your hair, but they sure do a good job. It looks great!" I have gotten a lot of compliments on my hair since I got it cut short for the first time over a year ago. I have never liked the back of my hair much. Now I do. She took a great cut for me and made it better!

Let Us Make a "Duck Dog"!

Friday, January 23
Let Us Make Cake - Part 2

My lovely daughter wanted a 3-D "Bolt" Cake. I could not find a 3-D dog pan anywhere! I did find.....a 3-d duck pan! So, I had the smart (ha! ha! Do not think I would really call it that) idea to use the duck pan and make a dog that is laying down! Mana thought this to be really humorous. We started calling the cake the "Duck Dog" cake. We even went as far as saying "Bolt" the Duck Dog had the super power of the Sonic Quack. I carved (ha, ha) the body of the dog and spread the white icing on the body. It still looked like a duck to me! Mana added all the black icing details. She did so great. I had my doubts!! The face really did look like "Bolt". Such a proud Mommy I am!!

Pictures of the day...

"The Duck Cake" "Decorating the Duck Dog Cake" "Bolt"

Let Us Make cake!!!!

Friday, January 23

I spent all day finishing up the house and baking two cakes. I got really close to completely decluttering the house. At least the parts you see. The other parts, I will have to do one day and one drawer or cabinet at a time. I was so tired by the time I picked Mana up from school. She was bouncing off the car walls!! I told her that we had to finish cleaning up her room and then I would let her decorate her cakes. Every year I made her cakes she would ask if she could help. I never let her. We got finished with her room at 6:30 pm. Then we started on the cakes. One for the morning children's party and one for the family party in the afternoon.

She put all the ingredients into the mixer. She stirred the color into the icing. She iced the cakes. She did it all. All by herself!! She was so happy. She was literally bouncing up and down!! She did a great job!! It took the stress out of my day to be able to see her having so much fun!! We got done in the kitchen at Midnight. I got done with the rest of the house at 2 am!!

Pictures of the day.....

"Mana Making the Icing""Mana Mixing the Colors""Spreading the Icing""Decorating the First Cake""The Best Part""The Cake"

Have you ever???

A friend of mine had this list on her blog! What you do is highlight the ones you have done in blue and add your comments in pink. You do it also and let us compare!

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland or World - Would love to take Mana!!

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped-I have absolutely NO desire to do this!!!

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables- Does helping my Grandparents plant the crops when I was little count?
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France - I was sick the whole trip and do not remember some parts of it? Not sure what all I saw in France!
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort-no snow here
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox - Worked in a daycare while in college and got them.
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day - Never will happen unless a children's book counts!

Photo Lesson, Bubble Wrap & Crazed Fans

Monday, I went to my friend Sherry's house. I had two teenagers that I know that wanted me to take their pictures. One for a pageant and the other for graduation. Sherry taught me how to set up the lights and gave me advice here and there through out the process. I really enjoyed taking pictures in a studio setting again. I am having trouble going back and forth from my camera to her camera. They are both Nikon, but very different. My D60 does not have a place to attach a cord for the lights to be in sync, so I have to use her camera. I also like to take pictures better with props. It is hard to instruct them on poses with nothing to work with but your model and a plain backdrop. They seemed to be pleased with their pictures. I will ask them if they care if I post some here.

When Mana & I were on the way home, my friend Anggie called and said Lauryn wanted to come over and play with Mana. I told her to bring her over and then she could go and get the rest of her errands done. During this time, UPS brought Mana's birthday party supplies. She was so excited. Better yet, there was bubble wrap!! When Anggie got back to my house, the girls put on a book fair show for us. They read us a story and sang a song. Then they signed autographs for us. Anggie and I started acting like we were crazed fans and screaming and all. They got a kick out of that! Mana asked me that night, "When I get famous, do I have to like those people that act like that?" I told her Yes.

Pictures of the day....

"The theme is BOLT""Party Supplies""Bubble Wrap""Signing Autographs"
No, we did not get a picture of Anggie & I acting like crazed fans!!

A Mouse, A Cow in Rollers, and Chores

The farewell to Dr. Pepper has not gone very well. I have gone one whole day with out one. Huge headache that day. Today was a different story!

Today was Mana's day. She brought home her report card on Friday. She had straight As!! Our agreement is that if she makes all A s, she can pick

out a surprise. If she gets an A/B report, she gets a good job, but no surprises. If she gets a C. She gets more study time every day to bring up that grade. So far, so good. She has had all A s since she started getting report cards. Since her birthday is in one week, she decided that she wanted to go see a movie instead of picking something out at Wal-Mart or some other store. We went to see "The Tale of Despereaux". It was a good movie. She chose Chick-fil-a for lunch. Chick-fil-a is one of my favorites and it is very hard not to order what I normally order. Needless to say, I had a chicken sandwich, fries, and a large Dr. Pepper. (I know, I know!) It was the only one for today. I did not get a headache all day. Hopefully tomorrow I will not crave them all day like the last two days. I have been drinking small bottles of water through out the day. Not all that I should be, but I am working on it. I haven't been to the grocery store yet, so I am making due with what I have already in the house. It is not the best for a diet. I am trying to hold out until Tuesday for going to the store. At least I am out of Dr. Peppers!!! I will plan what I am going to eat and go shopping. Weight Watchers Taco Soup sure is sounding great right about now!!

We are also in the middle of decluttering the house. We have so much clutter that I have no room to put any thing else! It is hard for me to let go of things. I had a friend of mine come over on Friday to help me make the decision to keep, donate or throw away. It was a lot harder then I thought it was going to be!! We did make a lot of progress. I threw three bags away, donated one bag and pack two bags to store. Those will be gone through at a later time to put in a consignment sale. I asked Mana to pick three chores for her to help me with. I know I should have done this with her a long time ago. She picked washing the dishes, sweeping, and hanging the clothes up. That is hard for me also. I am one that likes to get things done when doing them. Going slow and waiting is not easy for me. I will say that we got through the chores with out myself going crazy or getting impatient with her. She did a great job helping me out. I might of even had a little fun doing house work with her!

Pictures of the day...

"Mana at the Movies" "Mana at Chick-fil-A" "Mana doing the Crossword Puzzle" "She found out all the answers were Chikin" "Mana Washing Dishes" "Mana Sweeping"

Fry Guy, Weigh In & Farewell

Today I got to share my lunch with the cutest little fry guy. I went to church to get some information to start working on the newsletter. Kara and her youngest son were there. He is so cute. I tried to take his picture and he would move back and forth really fast. That is why he is blurry. I had gotten a chicken sandwich, fries, apple pie and a huge Dr. Pepper from McDonald's has my farewell to eating bad meal! At least for 10 weeks!!

Three of my friends from church and I are participating in the state weight lose program. There has to be four to a team. You have to weigh in as a group and ten weeks later weigh in again. I only drank two Dr. Peppers today. That is really good for me. The only reason I drank the second one is that I had a huge headache and the Motrin was not working. I usually have around 5 or 6 Dr. Peppers a day. I will just have to fight through the headache tomorrow because we have officially weighed in. I can not lose any weight if I drink any Dr. Peppers!

Pictures of the day...

"The Cutest Little Fry Guy!""Goodbye Dr. Pepper! :("

My First Tablescape Tuesday

I love looking through all the ideas on Tablescape Tuesday. I have finally decided to join in on the fun! Susan at Between Naps on the Front Porch hosts this event every Tuesday! Those that regularly read my blog, please excuse the repost of the Tablescape.

This is a tablescape that my friend and I did for our Women's Mad Hatter Tea Party Event in December. We used three buckets with a dowel through them for a base. Each bucket is filled with Styrofoam and topped off with paper easter grass. My friend and I made the Alice in Wonderland characters out of clay. Each bucket represents a part of the story. I use the same clear glass plates every year and paint on the underside of them to match the theme. That way I just scrap the paint of the back, wash and they are ready for the next event. I got the take home goody bags, napkins (handkerchiefs) and material for the runner from Hobby Lobby. I got the cups and saucers from a thrift store. The placemats and candles from the Dollar Tree.