Race Cars Birthday Party

I had a lot of fun putting together Jack’s fourth birthday party. Pinterest was a huge help to inspire me and I found a bunch of things to copy.  This is the end result.

We taped down black tarps from home depot with black duct tape.  Then we went around with a broom as a measuring tool and put down road lines with white duct tape.  I found blow-up road signs and racing banners from Oriental trading.  This was the bulk of the set up – it took four hours in all.  Of course, we could do it in half that time now that we know how to do it.  You know how it is…

We invited our friends to bring their “vehicles” to join in on races and free play.  We think it turned out great and no one got hurt!

We tried our hands at making our own cars, but they didn’t work so we helped things along by setting up a ramp to have them slide down.  I think the kids still had fun making the cars, anyway.

We played, we created, we ate, we hit a pinata and we ate cookies.  I made red ones that said stop and green ones that said go.  I’m really sorry that I don’t have the link of where I found this idea but believe me when I say that I didn’t make this one up.

They were easy to make, were whipped up in no time and served a bunch of people.  That’s a good deal to me!

The party was low-key, fun to do, and made Jack smile.  All in all, I’d call this one a success.

How to search other blogspots

My hubby taught me a way to search for things in other blogspots and it has been so helpful!!  Thought I'd share:

I use google, so I can't tell you for sure that it'll work on Bing.  In the search box, type:

site:*.blogspot.com [space] search word(s)

Again, that's - site colon star dot blogspot dot com space search word(s).  In the example above, my search word was "clipart".

This little trick has literally saved me hours of searching online and I hope it will do the same for you. :)

The Hair

I had me some crazy hair.  One person (who will not be named – I protect my friends) even went as far as to claim that it looked like a lion’s mane.  I don’t blame them, really. 

This is how I used to wear my hair.

 

Then I had some babies.  Two gorgeous, funny boys.

 

That’s when my curls said so long.  Hormones – they’ve done a number on me.

The funny thing is, I miss them. 

Those who have known me long enough will laugh at that statement.  I have all but cursed the curls since puberty.  Never really knew how to tame them.  Dreamed of the day that they would leave and never return. 

Well, that day has come and it’s not as happy as I had imagined.  My hair doesn’t have the body it once had.  I’m reduced to cutting it short and making sure there are variety of lengths to artificially add back in that volume.

 

Although I am very grateful for talented hands that can make that happen, I kinda wish I didn’t even have to think about it.  I mean, those curls were sorta my thing.  The thing that set me apart. 

I have been using a hair straightener for a long time, but maybe it’s cuz I always thought I could go back to curls when I wanted to.  And now that I can’t, I want to.  Pretty human of me, I guess. 

Or maybe I’m scared cuz it means that I’m getting old.  I’m 29 this year after all.  Almost 30. 

Yikes.

The current hair cut is great, don’t get me wrong. But I think I’m throwing myself a little itty bity pity party.  Or a farewell party for my curls.

Farewell, curls.  I really will miss you after all.

Jack vs. the funk!

What this kid thinks up, is amazing to me.

I’m feeling very vintage lately

I’m starting a “covet” list.  Everywhere I look I’m finding cool things I want.  But I can’t, just can’t, buy everything I want so I’ll add them to my covet list!

Lately, I’ve been really digging vintage dresses:

And I could add something like these…

 

Oh, and this shirt looks so comfy!

 

I’ve got the perfect boots to go with this skirt:

 

Ah, I’ll be dreaming good tonight!

Dear Mother

To my mother, and my “mothers”: I love you!

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new.  ~Rajneesh

The phrase "working mother" is redundant.  ~Jane Sellman

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?  ~Milton Berle

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights.  ~Terri Guillemets

Now, as always, the most automated appliance in a household is the mother.  ~Beverly Jones

There's nothing like a mama-hug.  ~Terri Guillemets

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.
~Ann Taylor

My Teacher

I’m definitely not keen on showing my faults to the world.  I wouldn’t normally share this side of me in this forum, but my gratefulness and proudness of my son is so overwhelming that I need to share.

My Jack-Jack has become my best teacher. 

Lately, I’ve been feeling… out of sorts.  Surprises (some good, but mostly not-so-good) have been popping up everywhere I turn.  And I lose my pleasing personality sometimes, if you know what I mean. 

[Enter Jack]  “Mommy - don’t be bad, mommy.”

[Cue my heart breaking]  “Okay, baby.  I won’t be bad. Thank you, my lovey.”

Those big, gorgeous brown eyes are watching my every move.  And can tell that I’m losing my temper faster than I can regain control.

Pete sometimes gets the brunt of my frustration and this morning was an example of that. 

[Enter Jack] “Mommy – don’t yell at daddy.”

[Cue my heart breaking – again. Add in a gulp this time] “Okay, baby.  I won’t yell at daddy.”

Are these the type of things about me that I want my toddler to learn?

No.  Absolutely no.

And I forgot to say thank you.  Duh, Keri.

So, here’s my thank you to you, Jack.  In front of everyone I know and even some I don’t know:

Thank you, my beautiful son.  I’ll do better, I promise!

I am so proud of you.

Another One Hit Wonder

My very first blog post was about Jack’s one hit wonders.  Well, now he’s teamed up with Tommy and they’ve come out with one more:

Falling asleep on the floor without any effort on my part!

That’s never happened before!

Nor do I expect that it will happen again.  Especially since we’ve given all of Jack’s binkies to the Binky Fairy.  :-)

Jack is 3 years old!

Of course I’m a little late posting this but Jack turned 3 years old on March 18th!

The stats:

Weight: 27 lbs
Height: 35 3/4 inches
Binky: not any more!
Diapers: yes, they are still around
Favorite color: orange
Favorite show: Curious George
Favorite toy: any type of car
Favorite comfort item: a yard of dress lining fabric in white
Favorite candy: chocolate (always said in a whisper – I wish I could record it cuz it is soooo cute)

Some of our favorite things: how he says I love you.  How he gently touches and kisses Tommy.  How he says thank you or no thank you or your welcome – even for other people who have forgotten their manners.  How he wants to cuddle with mommy and only mommy sometimes.  How he jumps up and down when he gets excited as though he just can’t control it.  How he picks up on some of our phrases: that’s cool, dude and how awesome, etc.

Jack is becoming so independent!  He wants to dress himself, brush his own teeth, pour his own drinks, cut his own food, put in the movie by himself, turn on the Wii by himself, take pictures with my camera even though he has his own… you name it, he wants to do it by himself. 

Taking a trip through memory lane, we find it incredible that we’ve been parents for three whole years.  I know, that sounds pathetic to most.  But it seems like yesterday that we were looking at this:

 

or this:

 

or even this:

 

But look how old he is looking now-a-days!

 

Anyway, we digress…

We celebrated his birthday practically all month long and it was so fun to see that so many people love our little gus as much as we do.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped make his 3rd birthday so memorable!!

The Love Affair

Tommy has a crush on Melina, our neighbor.  They are two weeks apart and a world apart when it comes to their size.  Melina is a petite 9 lbs, while Tommy tips the scale at hardy 18 lbs.  It’s like Beauty and the Beast! And they can’t get enough of each other:

Tommy reaches for her every time he sees her  - and succeeded this time. :-)

 

I love how they play with each other during “tummy time” – these cuties are too much fun!