Jackson's birthday party... Is it over yet?

I lost count of the kids after 10. It was Star Wars all the way, at least I was seeing stars by the time it was all over. I am so tired that I am not sure I am writing anything coherent right now. Is that even spelled right? It looks funny to me. Another sign that Max is getting up too early. I can't even concentrate on my spelling. The little stinker crawled out of his crib/cage at 6:00a.m. this morning promptly waking up everyone in the house. I guess that was okay because the people delivering the bounce house for Jackson's party came at 6:30 a.m. They were suppose to come between 7-11:30 a.m. It just isn't decent, you know. Well, at least the kids got some bouncing in before breakfast.
Jackson initially wanted a cake shaped like a light saber. I was looking forward to that like I look forward to someone scraping their nails down a chalk board. So after agonizing and consulting various sources on how to produce said cake-- I asked him what he thought about cupcakes. He shrugged and said, "Sure, Mom." He may have a unnatural fascination with scissors but he is an easy going boy--a great quality to have in a son.

Since I bailed on the cake, I tried to make the cupcakes a little extra special. We had green and blue cupcakes and red and purple. The kids thought they were cool and I thought they were cool 'cause I didn't have to make a light saber cake.
Max liked the frosting. He liked sticking his fingers in the already frosted cupcakes. I like straight jackets for two year olds. I think that there would be a market for that product, I really do. Okay, CPS, before you decide to come and pick me up and take my children away, I did not put him in a straight jacket but I did bribe him with this beater full of sugar, butter and saturated fat. I'm not helping my case, am I. Oh, I am rambling here. Tired. Did I mention that? What was my point with all this? I know I was going somewhere with it.... Hmm... Anyway, I think Jackson had a good time at his Star Wars party. I can't believe he is going to be 6 already. Oh, did I tell you that Ella lost her tooth 2 minutes before the party started. She was thrilled and can't wait to get some money from the tooth fairy. I hope the tooth fairy has some money. She might have to go to the bank.

My favorite highlight of the party: When Max rejoined the party after his nap with his pants around his ankles and his legs smeared with poo. It was fun. No, No, wait. It was the bloody mess in the bathroom from Ella's tooth that I had to clean in a panic before everyone came. I should have waited to clean the bathroom until two minutes before the door bell rang anyway. I should have known not to clean it 15 minutes before. Of course it would get dirty, duh.

Kate's 9th Birthday

The Cast: Part Blue

On the first day of Easter...

The Easter bunny brought to me: A sugar-high, 5 extra pounds, and too much introspection leading to a self-diagnosis of being an "emotional" eater. Thanks, Easter Bunny. Maybe some sugar-free candy next year? Or just a nice dress?

The kids faired a bit better:

Until... Ella broke her thumb. It all kind of went down hill from there.

1 splint, 1 blue cast and $800 (ish) dollars later, we decided that the Easter Bunny is banned from our house. To emphasize this decision, Jackson cut up his brand new (for church) Gymboree polo shirt and I almost threw away my stash of cadbury mini eggs.

Fool me once...

So I really got the kids good this year-- I fooled them the night before April Fools day. Ha! Ha! This year we had chocolate/Raspberry pie for dinner disguised as hamburger meat and mashed potatoes colored with pureed beets and jello juice with straws. The jello juice was the most convincing because I poured dye to match the kids jello juice into our water. When the kids had trouble sucking up their "juice"--Robert and I drank ours with no problem. It was funny because Max actually got pretty frustrated and wanted to drink out of my cup instead of his. For dessert we had, grilled "cheese" sandwiches and sushi. The sandwiches were made with orange colored frosting and pound cake. The sushi really was rice-krispy treats with gummy worms rolled in between them and wrapped in fruit-roll ups. It was a lot of fun.

I also threw in a few photos of the kids making cupcakes on Sunday. If you need a sugar-high, stop by, we can help!

Max strikes AGAIN!

Hi,

I am posting this while hiding under my bed with the covers over my head. No, not really but I do wish that Harry Potter's invisibility cloak truly existed and was in my possession for a few hours today.

How is that you can watch your two year old every second as he benignly plays and the minute you glance at another one of your children he is in mischief so deep there is no way out but utter embarrassment? Embarrassment for you that is, your two year old will think the whole affair is great fun.

Let us just say that a fire alarm was pulled at a public place that contained a hundred or more people. This one teeny fire alarm was somehow connected to about 200 flashing lights and 50 more fire alarms that were all going off in unison. If that wasn't enough warning that a two year old was not properly being watched by his mother, a recorded voice over the PA system announced that everyone needed to evacuate the building immediately. I had to make a counter announcement to the lady at the front desk that the chaos was nothing more than a two year old desiring to see what would happen when he pulled the red lever. Oh, and was she irritated. Apparently, she had no clue how to stop the sirens, lights and general noise-making. (I also don't think she has ever had a two year old.) Luckily, the humiliation only lasted about twenty minutes and thankfully the fire department did not arrive. (Although, on second thought, that might not have been such a bad thing. A little eye candy amidst ear-popping, mind numbing noise might have been nice, a silver lining even.)

A few other parents gave me a conspiratorial smile but I could not see the humor. I'm sure I will... in a few decades. As for Max, he was chastened for a moment at least. I'm pretty sure when he told me a few minutes later that he needed to go pee resulting in a dry pull-up and a successful potty moment that he was apologizing.

I'm surrounded!

I haven't posted about the delights of my gym going experience for awhile so I have decided to remedy that with this little nugget:

Dear Chubby Lady who sat next to me in Spin class today,

Please do not sing along to the songs while we are riding our bikes. It irritates me. You are not working hard enough if you can sing! Spin is not a recreational singing class. It is HARDCORE! Besides it is confusing because it really isn't over when the fat lady sings... it keeps going on and on and on and on....

Sincerely,

Erica who is grumpy when sweaty.

Dear nice older man with the crotch sweat stain,

I realize as a lady it is unseemly for me to notice this. However, I think you may have a particular problem because it is extremely difficult to miss as your bottom was in my line of sight for an entire hour. Khaki shorts aren't really the way to go if you want to hide bum sweat. It happens to all of us, we just hide it better. I would appreciate it if you would change your attire so that my ride could be a little more aesthetically pleasing.

Thank you,

No-where-to-look E.