Valentines Day Party!

Valentine Kinda Day!

Unless you are living under a rock, you know February 14th is Valentine's Day.

I made these Valentine's cards for MJ to pass out to the kids.

 I remember passing out V-Day cards at school when I was a kid. It was so much fun! I bet it's against school policy now!

The Mom/Kids group had a V-Day Party. It was lots of fun. All the kids brought Valentine cards to pass along to the other kids.

Here is some of the treats we had. 

One of the Moms, Helen, made this. Isn't it YUMMY!

Who doesn't like rice crispy treats! I dare you to find someone that doesn't. There were made by Mama Cathleen.

TIME TO PASS OUT VALENTINE CARDS!

Molly

 McKenzie and Maddie~Mom loves giving them sugar!

Samantha

 The kids really got into this. They had so much fun and it was a great day for us all!

~Sara and Mila~

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

The Overshare

I realized something the other day:

KIDS DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO SHARE!

This past Monday MJ and I hit one of his favorite parks. It was a little windy, just enough wind to fly his kite. It was just he and I, no kite flying play date. I took a kite from the back of my soccer mom SUV and we started to fly the kite.  The park was empty with the exception of a couple with two small children around MJ's age. As many of us moms know, something as simple as a kite catches the attention of the kids nearby. 

The kids made there way to the grassy field where we were and looked in amazement at MJ's flying kite. Then the older girl, about 4, told MJ that it was her turn. This time, I did what I never have done, I asked MJ if he wanted to share. He said no. I said ok and told the little girl sorry, but he did not wish to share today. She insisted it was her turn. I again said sorry but no we are not sharing today. THEN the father of the kids pointed out to me that she had asked nicely. I explained to him that I understand the concept of sharing and I have asked MJ to share about a million times before. I said that this time I left it up to MJ. I said to the father that I have told MJ many times to get off a bike or leave a toy alone that was not his and was not offered by the owner to share with him. I explained this was our time to be alone with each other and have some MJ and Mommy fun.

Why are we fixated on making our kids share ALL THE TIME? It's complete at total CRAP! I get it if we are in a playgroup, but if we are there on our own, minding our own business, why then? It really didn't matter that we did not know these people. I'm pretty sure I would have said the same thing if it were someone that we knew that happened to be at the park that day. I know it goes against one of the cardinal rules of child rearing, but does it really? I think the lesson that should have been taught here is with the father and his child. He should have explained to her that sometimes kids don't need to share and it's perfectly fine. It's doesn't mean the kids that chooses not to share is bad. They just want this particular time for them self. I don't want MJ growing up to be a puss and think everything that is his has to be shared with everyone around and cave to the demand of his peers.  

I took a stand that day and it felt really good. Sharing is nice and should be taught, but sometimes it's okay to say "no thank you" to sharing.

Does Nick Jr Think Our Kids are Dumb?

What Happened to The Fresh Beat Band?

(It's Darrin Stevens all over again!)

Okay, I will fess up right now, I really don't pay THAT close attention to what MJ is watching. I only let him watch certain channels and assume what he is seeing is acceptable for his age group.

You know Nick, Disney, Toon Channel etc..

Mid afternoon the tv is rarely on. Most of the time we are not home midday and if we are MJ is playing in his room or we are doing something else together.

Today went a little different. MJ does not nap anymore and wanted to watch the tele. So I let him. I put the channel on Nick Jr and started crocheting. The Fresh Band was on. It's about a group of 4 kids that are in music school and there is a lot of singing and dancing, which MJ totally loves. We had not seen The Fresh Beat Band since about last summer, I think. The opening song and intro started and I was sitting beside MJ crocheting and not paying attention to the tv.

Then it happened, MJ was getting very upset with the opening song. He said, "I don't like this". I thought ok, it's been a while and he didn't care for the show anymore. I said I would change it and he did not want me to do that either. He said "she's gone", I said who and he said "her". I then said who's her and he said Marina. I said, that's Marina and he kept saying no, I don't like her. Where's Marina. This went on for about the first 15 minutes of the show. He would say that's not Marina, I don't like her and I would say yes it is and she is nice. Then I took another look and it's wasn't the same girl playing Marina. Like I said, it was Darrin Stevens all over again. And with the exception of the red hair she looks completely different. They changed actressess and thought our kids would not notice. Our little ones see and notice EVERYTHING. Do they think our little ones are stupid? They must. Oh well I told him that real Marina had to go on to do other things and she had a friend of her's take her place while she was away. I didn't know what the hell to tell him.

WTF!



Giving Crochet Another Try

~What I Learned From My Grandma~

My Grandma Sylvestra (Beta) had many talents. 

The thing she will be known for the most is her crocheting.

She was the best out there. She can take something as simple as a ball of yarn and spin it into something beautiful. I was fortunate enough to have spent some evenings with her and trying to learn anything she would teach me.

When I look back at my life so far, those are the simple moments that I cherish the most. I enjoyed learning to crochet with my Grandma, but I grew up, moved away and she passed on.

It's been almost 20 years, but I thought I would give crocheting another try.

I'm starting with some very simple projects like beanies and scarves to get the hang of it. Then graduate to more complex projects.

This was the my first attempt at a beanie for me.

It would fit me, if I were still 9months old.

Moving on!

This was my second attempt. SUCCESS!

Here are the beanies I just made for my sisters
The red one is for Vanessa and the white for Yolanda. I know the flower on hers is super big, but I was practicing flowers and wanted to try making a big one. It's not on permanently.

More size proportionate flower.

Here are the Mommy and MJ matching camo beanies

I love my little guy, he's too cute for words sometimes.

Ladies beanie w/pom-pom. The things I make MJ do.

This is what I will be working on in between

A basket weave scarf.

Well, this is what I have been doing with my time these past few weeks. If I can crank them out this quick, I might sell them (I'll have to get better tho).



¿What's In A Name?

Person Unknown?



I noticed something about Mark the other day. He very seldom calls me by name. No Olivia, no hun, no sweetie, nothing. If he wants my attention he will simply approach me and start talking. When he calls me on the phone he starts out by saying, "Hey" (is that what now passes for a pet name?) or "Can you...." (meaning he has a favor to ask of me). This isn't something that just started, he's always been like that.

Kinda weird huh!

He does use my name when he is talking to others and referring to me. So I know he does in fact know what my name is. That's a relief.

Well my first thought was something must be wrong if he can't use my name in a sentence.  I asked him about it and he was stymied too. He said he never noticed it before. Then I did the dumb thing every broad does, I asked if there was something wrong. Yep, I went there.  He, of course, said no.  Then I proceeded to lightly grill him on why he didn't use my name in any form. Then I stopped myself and thought about it for a minute and remembered. He's a man and I'm a woman. We are not wired the same, we don't think the same and don't put importance on the same trivial things. Men really are more simplistic than us women (not to imply they are simpletons, because they are not). They simply don't over think things the way we sometimes do.

I am a person that has always said and firmly believes actions are more important than words, or lack there of in this instance.  His actions speak volumes in regards to what I mean to him and my place in this little family of ours.

So he doesn't call me by name, What's the BFD? I am the only other person in the house. If he is talking, he is obviously talking to me, right? He may be talking to MJ, but I doubt MJ knows where Mark set his phone down.

Mark asked me if I would like for him to use my name more often. He was very sincere and said he was sorry if this hurt my feelings. I said there was no need to apologize and it really didn't hurt my feelings. I was merely curious on why he didn't.

Besides ladies, when does a man use your name? They call you when want something.  Honey, what's to eat? Sweetie, where are my car keys? Love, did you pick up my dry cleaning? Darling, have you...... You get the idea.

So I remain the unnamed person in our home and that's totally fine with me.

Me 3rd Birthday Pirate Party!

Arrh Mateys!

MJ's THREEEEE!

Having a January birthday in Spanish Springs has its challenges. If you're an adult it's no problem at all, but when you have a little one, problem.

January is cold and snowing, so you are left with only a few options for a party. I really didn't feel like spending hundreds of dollars just for a venue to have a party. That's just for the room! Not too mention adding food, cake etc.

I thought if I kept it small I can do one indoors in my home.

So that's what we did for MJ's 3rd Birthday.
We (meaning I) decided a pirate theme would be fun. I know it's been done
a million times before, but this is the first time I have done it.
So that makes it okay, right?

Here is the cake and goodies table.



~Cookie Pops~
Red tissue paper and a red plastic cup was all I
needed to display them.

 Made some pirate cookies and cookie pops, They were really fun to do.If you make them yourself you can really save a fortune over buying them from a baker. It does take some practice and you really have to like doing this.
Look closely at the cookies. I used an ornament cut out to make the pirate boy faces. Just turned it on it's side and now it's a bandanna!
 

  




For the cookies, I used a paper goodie box treasure chest.  I lined it with red tissue and got a treat box.



I wrapped a couple of boxes and set them on the table and used

then for the cake/cupcake display. A lot cheaper than

a cake stand.

Cake is covered in fondant, I added the little pirate figures and

the pirate candles. I dyed some fondant black and cut out the

tracks for the treasure map on the cake. I also make the "MJ and 3"

out of fondant. Added the gold coin confetti and it cake out great.

 The pirate ship was a pinata I bought at the party store and the treasure chest are the same ones I used for the cookies.

This was a chest was a gift I received for Christmas

and thought it would make a great treasure chest.

I put all the paty favors in it with the loot bags and let the

kids pick out what they wanted.

MJ Posing Before the Festivities!

This is his friend Sara. She was so CUTE in her pirate costume.

Let the Birthday Party Begin!

This is Captain Jack Spareribs. I wanted to do something a little different. Getting him for the party was definately different!

 

                   MJ and Captain Jack performing a magic trick.

 This is Maynard the Monkey. Yeah, he did a ventriloquist act too! The kids really liked him. I thought he did a great job keeping the kids entertained.

Maynard the Monkey singing Happy Birthday to My Monkey

This kids watching Captain Jack to his thing!

 

 Group Shot!

MJ and the Captain

HaPpY BiRtHdAy My LiTtLe MoNkEy!!!

It was really a fun day and a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to the kids and moms

that made his day extra special.

I am truly fortunate to know each and every one of you!