Daddy's Girl...

This morning Abby told me that she was pretty sure that her fifth birthday party would be a "pony party". I told her that her "pony party" would be without the main character... a pony. I know I am a mean mom, I would have totally done it if Jack asked for them at his birthday. The problem is timing... or better put THE TIME OF YEAR! July in Fresno is not known for its horse riding temperatures.

I was pretty sure that I had convinced her that a nice indoor tea party with fancy dresses and food would be fun or the old standby - a pool party, could be a nice alternative. Abby was having none of that especially when Daddy came in and told his little princess that "of course she can have ponies" at her party. Thanks a lot! I guess I better start looking into one of these...

I Just Realized...

That these were sitting ripe and ready in our orchard! I love summer!

Now what to do with my beautiful trees full of them? Any ideas?

Abby and I checked it out and the peaches are about 3 weeks from being ready. Then we are really going to need some help. 8 peach, nectarine, and apricot trees will leave us all with the runs if we eat them all.

Four eyed, brace face (part 2)...

Today is the big day! Jack is getting "Phase 1" of his braces put on. He has asked no less then 5000 question since he woke up. He is very excited to get his very own Kubo Super shirt (he needs to earn 5 more points before he can take one home, Mom was late to his appointment this morning).

Before... When Jack couldn't see the board in the classroom or read street signs.

Monday... Add 2 more eyes, he sees clearly now!

Thursday... Let's work on those teeth now!

He was so proud of his yellow and lime rubberbands this morning. By 3:30 this afternoon he was ready to have them taken off, so he could have the licorice that the PE tutors gave him. This is going to be a long year!

Congratulations to Jack! You are growing up so quick!

A "Wimpy" Party...

Jack is infatuated with the "Diary of the Wimpy Kid" books. I decided that a "wimpy" party could possibly be the best 8 th birthday party EVER... but I was missing one thing... SUPPLIES! I am sure that I am not the only one who received the all too timely party supply catalogs in the mail. Every party you could possibly imagine right there at your fingertips. Not so for the wimpy set. AGHHHH! What will a desperate mother do who has less than 7 days to the party, who has not every read one of the books?

CREATE HER OWN SUPPLIES!!!

I started with wimpifying my child.

Then I dreamed the best cake EVER! A Wimpy Jack on the cake not too hard- right? The friendly baker at my local grocery store was all too happy to indulge me with my dream of a fudge piped cake of Wimpy Jack.

Then I used the same image and made labels for brown paper goodie bags. On Tuesday I may or I may not have dropped everything and read the original Diary in less than an hour. I needed ideas for goodie bag favors, I got them alright! I even came up with a Goodie Bag Challenge.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Goodie Bag Challenge All of the contents of this bag somehow relate to the Wimpy Kid stories, do you know how? 1. Greg and Rowley like to use this with their Big Wheel. 2. Fregley's favorite candy. 3. Greg could have woren this with his Halloween costume. 4. Grandma's favorite junk food. 5. Are you "it"? Cross your fingers to avoid the "touch". 6. Greg didn't want to miss throwing these at Patty Farrell "Dorothy". 7. Safety Patrol always gets this before homeroom. 8. ZOO-WEE MAMA! Jack is 8!

(Contents of the bag- Apple, Hot Chocolate pack, a miniature football, jellybeans, Cheese Its, M&Ms, a pirate tattoo, Sour Licorice)

On the day of Jack's first party, I decided that the cousins needed a party favor. I made a last minute run to Target with $5 and an idea. I came out quite with 5 of those cool, retro notebooks, some change, and a feeling of satisfaction. This is what I came up with... Pretty cute right?

Ultimately having nothing to start with resulted in me being VERY happy about all the ideas that I was able to come up with (on pretty short notice) for the best 8 year old boy that I know. Love you Jack!

Crash...

Ouch!

Four eyed, brace face...

Poor Jack, the kid can't catch a break. Today he got his first pair of glasses. In the car he promptly asked his sister if she could read the street sign because he could. Really? This is really bad! To make matters worse, Thursday he gets braces! The first step is to admit you have a problem right? Do my dorky kids make me uncool? Luckily my favorite wikihow can instruct you on "How to Rock Glasses and Braces". Thank God for wikihow!

When 10 years feels like 20...

It is something to be celebrated... Right? 10 years of marriage is a long time.

But Steve and I belong on the "Not so Good about Telling Each Other What We Really Want" List. Our Anniversaries have gone something like this.

Year 1 (Feels like Meter- 2)- Romantic dinner at Bass Lake and the purchase of our first DVD player and DVD "Braveheart", I vaguely remember falling asleep about 20 minutes in.

Year 2 (FLM- 4)- Newborn baby, Post-partum tears, Mom, Dad, AND baby go see Spider Man, Mom and baby lasted 55 minutes.

Year 5 (FLM 10)- Pregnant, hot, uncomfortable... quick night out to the movies to see... Episode 3... YES! a Star Wars movie for our anniversary.

Year 7 (FLM 14)- Totally surprise trip to New York City, tickets to Wicked, dinner at Nobu. AMAZING!

Year 8 (FLM 16)- Repeat performance to NYC! Romance is in the air! Burgers and beers at our favorite bar under the Brooklyn Bridge- it doesn't get better than that.

Year 9 (FLM 18)- Forgettable... because I can't remember what we did.

Year 10 (FLM 20)- No trips to Maui. No dinner plans. No babysitter. I am thinking about buying a Blu-ray player and Star Wars and Spiderman Boxsets... romantic right?

Like I said neither one of us is very good about saying exactly what we want.