Lucky #7

This is da Boo's Birthday Week. She got to pick the menu (and I had to limit her to only two nights of pizza). She gets to pick her clothes (oh boy...). And she gets to pick a restaurant for her birthday dinner. For the past five years, she's demanded the International House of Pancakes. This year, her tastes have greatly matured. For her seventh birthday celebration, Boo chose Sakura, a Japanese grill where dinner is prepared in front of you. The deciding factor, I think, was the flames.


She's so excited to finally be seven. When I asked if she felt any older, she said she's felt like she's been seven for a whole year already. Oh, the days when you couldn't wait to be another year older...


Here she is trying her first taste of sushi. This is crystal shrimp and she loves shrimp. Consequently, she liked the sushi. Her father's daughter, after all. And the waiter made her some "cheater chopsticks," so now she thinks she's an expert at those.


And here is the Boy and the Co-ed. You'll notice the Boy's choice for the evening's meal. (And if you tell him there's no chocolate milk on the menu, be prepared for tears.) Why does the Co-ed look so sad? Because she was pelted with food the whole dinner! First the chef flung her vegetables on her plate a little too hard. Then he smacked her pretty good in the face for multiple pieces of shrimp (those are supposed to be caught in your mouth, silly Co-ed). THEN the Boy knocked over his drink...right into her lap.

We have yet to get Boo her birthday present. She can't decide if she wants more Littlest Pet Shops (she's not quite to the 100 mark) or an Easy Bake Oven. Hrmmm...maybe she is my kid.

Happy Birthday, Boo!

Obligatory Halloween Post

Wanna see our costumes this year? Of course you do!


Boo was the only rag doll at her school and loved every minute of it. The Boy was one of many law-enforcement specialists at his preschool (because G.I. Joe and superheroes fight crime, too). He also picked his costume because it came with the most stuff. Baby carried on the family tradition of wearing the pumpkin costume that I made for Boo's first Halloween. She wasn't very happy about this poofy orange outfit, but really liked wearing the hat.

And for only the second time since we've been married, I managed to convince the Man to dress up for a party. There was no getting him into a long wig or Birkenstocks but hey, I'll take what I can get at this point. I tried wearing the white face make-up but it did NOT look good, so I opted for powder that was too pale for my complexion instead. Can you guess how we go together?


Hrmmmm...think about it. A hippie and a mime (which was ironic because there is no way to get me to shut up so I wasn't a very good mime). What does a hippie say? And what adjective describes a mime? Think about it...

Thanks for Tolerating Me

Dear Neighbors,

Thank you for inviting our family to your Halloween party. We were really excited to get the invitation, as we don't get out much. And I was super stoked when you asked me to bring a dessert! So I put my whole heart and half my brain into making you something special. I really hoped you enjoyed it and that those gagging noises are the way you express happiness.

Sincerely,
Your new favorite neighbor

(The details on the heart are a little muted...I left it in hot water just a little too long...)

A Mothering Moment...that dissolved into fits of giggles and snorting

I am not allowed to give details about the drama/stress/agony that's been saturating our humble family but I will say this...

It's a lot harder than you think to explain kidney stones to kids.

And when you've got a stone right there in your collection cup, it's even harder to do it with a straight face.

Mmmmm...Cake!

(This is an old post that I never published...oops!)

In grand birthday tradition, my kids decorated my birthday cake the Sunday before my birthday. Aunt Denise always bakes me a chocolate cake using the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa Powder can (so I don't have to go without or break down and bake it myself). Then she brings over frosting and decorations. The kids go wild! Every year, it gets more and more elaborate. This year was by far the most decorated...


Don't they look pleased? As rightly they should! I don't think they left any portion of the cake uncovered by frosting or doused with sprinkles.

Boo even wrote "Happy Birthday Mom" which you can just barely see through all the sprinkles...Here is Baby's contribution:


She had to do it twice because the Boy covered up her first effort with his sprinkles. She didn't seem to mind! Unfortunately, I was recovering from a touch of food poisoning and just couldn't eat birthday cake. By my actual birthday, I had recovered enough to enjoy it. And I gotta say...inch-thick frosting topped with another half-inch of sprinkles sure does cheer up a person!