Sammy's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Sammy's 6th Birthday on Saturday, January 17th (he actually turned 6 on January 20th) with an extra-special Yo Gabba Gabba Party. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Yo Gabba Gabba I am providing you with this little tidbit of Gabba love:

Sam had a great day and really loved the decorations we put up on the ceiling. Many thanks to Becky for helping me cut out all of the Yo Gabba Gabba characters I had printed onto cardstock.


She also helped me make all of the iron-on transfer T-shirts. At one point we had dueling irons going to get the shirts done in time. We asked the kids which characters they wanted on their shirts. But we didn't stop there, the adults also joined in the Gabba-fun! Sam's Dad requested a Muno t-shirt, I definitely wanted Muno and Brobee because I like them both best, Becky wanted something pink and pretty so she chose Foofa. Mike didn't really want to wear one at all but we made him a Brobee shirt anyway (he is such a good sport).




DJ Daddy Rock sporting his Muno T-shirt
The next adventure came when I decided I needed to make Sam a Yo Gabba Gabba cake. It really was pretty easy. I just frosted a 9x13" cake with white icing and then made the shape of Muno with his 1 big eye using my cake decorating kit.


Sam had a great time blowing out the candles and even though he didn't want to eat a piece of the cake he did enjoy pointing to it and saying, 'Muno Cake!' so I consider that 2 thumbs up from one of Yo Gabba Gabba's biggest fans.


Everyone joined in the fun by wearing the DJ Lance Rock hat and glasses, something which will come in very handy for any future bribes. Here is a snippet...


Sam had the most fun opening his birthday presents. Just a year ago Sam didn't really 'get' the idea of opening the gifts so his friends opened them for him. But, this year he was on the ball and immediately wanted to open EVERYTHING! In fact, he was so into the presents that he snuck into my bedroom shortly after his dad arrived and proceeded to open 2 of the presents I had hiding in there until it was time to open presents when the guests arrived. He came running out into the living room toting his toys and jumping up and down in glorious elation! I wish I could have caught a picture or video of that!

I've been tagged

Robin tagged me this afternoon from her blog. This sounds like fun so I will give it a try. Here is what you have to do when you are tagged:

1. Go to your photo folders and open the 4th folder.

2. Choose the 4th photo.

3. Explain the photo.

4. Tag 4 other people!

The photo to the left is of Mike, my boyfriend, taken at the Renaissance Festival in August 2008. When we decided to go there were some 'musts' for our visit.

#1) We must have a smoked turkey leg for lunch. This was my first time having one and I have to say they were pretty tasty. However, not as tasty as #2 on the list.

#2) We must have steak-on-a-stake! This is by far my favorite meat item offered at the Faire. What I love about it is that it is a real piece of steak and it is only $4.00! I think I had 2 or 3 of them on our last trip to the Faire in October.

#3) We must have at least 1 dark chocolate covered frozen cheesecake on a stick! (Now I am realizing all the top 'musts' are also food items, I am such a pig!). These cheesecakes are so good you really don't want to share them with anyone but you can, if forced.

#4) We must shop for a kilt, sporran, and shirt. This was on Mike's list, obviously I would look silly in all of the above. We were able to get him outfitted on our first visit and I have to say he looks quite handsome in his Highland garb. On a second trip we looked into getting me a ladies costume but they were grossly over my budget! Maybe next year.

#5) Mike and I always enjoy a stop at the Wine Pavilion for a glass or 2 of red wine or sangria, within moderation, of course. There are more than enough people at the Faire who do not follow the moderation rule and frankly the last place I want to be drunk and feeling ill is outdoors during a Maryland summer with 90 degree temperatures.

What is fun about the picture is that you can actually see my reflection in Mike's sunglasses as he is enjoying his giant hunk of meat.

I look forward to the 2009 Maryland Renaissance season coming this summer.

One Person's Trash...

I am always amazed at what some people consider trash. A couple months ago I spotted a very large black and white matted and framed photo of a large tree propped up outside one of the apartments in my building. Every morning and evening I would walk by and think to myself how simple and pretty it was. A week passed, then a couple weeks and finally I noticed that there were also roughly 10-12 newspapers still in their plastic also propped up against that same apartment door. Apparently the occupants were either evicted or left in a hurry and didn't bother to clean out their apartment. The next day there were more items stacked up against the door. More framed artwork, although none as nice as the tree photo I had been admiring from afar. So, that night when I came home with the boys, I brought the picture inside with me. It sat inside propped up against my door for another week or so. Then I decided its perfect home would be at my office which ironically is a landscape nursery where we sell very large mature specimen trees. It was as if this piece of art was destined to be mine. It now hangs proudly in our office where at least daily we get a compliment on how nice it is.
Today I had a similar experience, except this time it was much more blatant. With the frame I had some doubt initially if it was really 'trash'. Perhaps the owners forgot it in their move and would be coming back for it any day. After 2 1/2 weeks I thought not. But when someone either throws something in a dumpster or props it beside one I call that fair game.

Please meet my newest treasure. To think it was one person's trash. I realize that Christmas and New Year's have come and gone and that now it is time to clean up and put away all the decorations for next year, but why on earth someone would throw away a perfectly good (and BEAUTIFUL) 3 1/2 foot poinsettia tree is beyond me. It needed a little TLC when I first brought it in the apartment. I pruned and deadheaded the brown leaves, took it out of its over-watered foil pot cover, and placed it lovingly in the sun just inside my patio all afternoon. I can practically feel the love this tree must have for me. It kind of makes me feel like Charlie Brown and his decrepit Christmas tree. Now all I need is a warm blue blanket to snuggle around its roots.

Before I receive dozens of comments warning me about the toxicity of poinsettias I will put all your fears at ease. Given that I worked in the landscape industry for 11+ years I have more than once had to forward a customer or homeowner lengthy articles which debunk the myth that poinsettias are toxic to children and pets. The scientific studies proved a 50 pound child would have to eat more than 500 to 600 leaves (1.25 pounds) to exceed the experimental doses which were still shown to be non-toxic. So, no worries about my kids eating the tree bare. The worst that could happen is they would get the pukes (after all, you feed someone 1.25 pounds of anything and they are going to get one heckuva a bellyache!).


As you can see, the boys really loved the new tree. Noah sat under the tree for over 20 minutes mimicking the sign for tree and then he proceeded to talk to it. He told it all about Dora and Diego's adventures. He especially seemed to be highlighting the ones that had to do with trees. I heard mention of animals that lived in the trees, birds that made nests in trees, fruit that came from trees, etc. Sam mostly liked peering at the leaves very closely as if to check and see if they were translucent. All in all we are very happy with the treasure we found right here in our own front yard. Apparently apartment living does have its perks!

New Year's Eve 2008

My BFF (Am I trendy or what?) Becky has a New Year's Eve party every year at her home. It is always low-key and chock full of good food, great company, and even better conversation and wisecracks.
This year we had a newcomer to the party: The Wii! I cannot tell you how much I love this machine. Not since the deluxe Kitchenaid Mixer have I coveted an electronic more. Nevermind the fact I got beat mercilessly by a 4 year old while attempting to finish a game of bowling. I want this electronic, time-sucking, fun-machine
like its nobodys business. I have even convinced myself that the hefty $250.00 console is soooo worth it if I also purchase the $150.00 Wii Fit board and use it to reach my newest new year's resolution of losing the 20 pounds I have packed on in the past year. Somehow I think the more prudent thing to do is let myself buy the machine after losing the weight, as a little prize to myself. Either way, its a mute point. I don't have an extra $400.00 just laying around with its feet propped up sipping a Mai-Tai.
Seated at the above pic from left to right is Mike (my sweetie), Bill (Becky's hubby), Becky, Lisa, Dan (her hubby), Jay (Bill's brother), and our Friend Tara. Under the table is Moose the party dog. Not pictured were the many children also present at the party with thanks to the Wii as the best neglectomatic to parenting EVER! I think every party with adults and children should have one!
I pray you all had a safe and happy New Year's Eve. Why not leave me a comment and let me know what you did with your night?!

My Favorite Christmas Gift

Technically I bought 2 of these wild slingshot screaming monkeys for my boys. In reality I bought them for me.
The idea is very simple. You slip your fingers into the little folds in the hands and then pull back on the tail and let'em fly across the room as they scream in all their monkey-glory. Every time I let one fly is makes me laugh. The boys also have fun mimicking the monkey scream. Its like my own little primate chorus every time I do it.
So, if you are having a bad day or just need a good chuckle, why not go out and get yourself your own wild screaming monkey. You can tell your friends you really bought it for the kids.