Pre-Birthday Bash

My darling husband has a birthday coming up. We won't talk about the fact that he's turning 50. (Shudder) We WILL talk about the fact that his birthday is on a Thursday this year. Thursday! To maximize the number of people who could attend his 50th birthday dinner, we held it early on a Sunday. 

My cousin and his family came over, my niece and her family came over, and my niece's mother-in-law was in town so we allowed her to come over too. Lasagna was on the menu. It was DIVINE.

Mykey chose cheesecake as his fabulous birthday treat, and his birthday buddy chose strawberry rhubarb pie. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find rhubarb anywhere. I went to 5 grocery stores and finally admitted defeat. 

So he changed his mind and requested anything berry. I went triple berry and it was DIVINE.

Don't worry - I will make him a strawberry rhubarb pie whenever I stumble upon the elusive rhubarb.

My cousin gave Mykey a Lego minifig display case and 3 figures to begin his collection: Sloth from goonies, Chewbacca, and a guy in a hot dog suit. It was perfect. 

My only faux pas was that I forgot to get the candles out for the Happy Birthday song. I remembered as we were eating our dessert. Myke's birthday buddy was turning 47 and I said, "Well, great! Now what am I supposed to do with this 4 and 7 candle? Who's turning 4 or 7 this year? No one! Who else is turning 47? No one!"

And then the crowd pointed out that Booney is turning 47 this year. Use the candles for her. I was embarrassed and ashamed that I'm going to be so old that I've lost all critical thinking skills.

Ah, well. Just add it to the list of things I've lost. It can go right underneath "bladder control."

It was a wonderful evening and I was grateful to have my home full of people who love my 50-year-old husband.

Happy early birthday, boys!

Nerds Reunite

The nerd band got back together and scampered down to the Maker Faire, a carnival of nerd displays. The nerds show off their nerdy gadgets and their nerdy knick-knacks and they all coalesce into one big nerd. 

It's heaven. (For a nerd)

My tribe had a wonderful time perusing the displays and soaking in the whimsy of nerd land. And then when they were finished, they ate Chick-Fil-A and wandered home.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

My cousin nerd even managed to build a parachute contraption that launched inside a wind tunnel. He was lauded as having the best floater of the day. Wait. That sounds fecal-ish. Let's just say that he was the best flyer of the day. Huzzah!

Baby and I stayed home and fiddled around. And by "fiddled around" I mean that I spent the day cooking lasagnas and pie and cheesecake for Mykey's upcoming birthday bash. But we did manage to sneak in some pool time so it was a successful day for all.

I love a good, nerdy Saturday.

Oh, Mr. Sun

The ol' fireball himself decided to shine his rays upon us.

When Mr. Sun is ablaze, there's only one thing to do...get out the inflatable pool from Grandma and Grandpa!

And bask in the warmth of the radiation of course. (We always wear our sunglasses. To protect our eyes from the sun.)

And then we enjoy a nice cold hot dog. (Of course)

It must be genetic. You can thank my dad for that one.

Hooray for warmer days!

Destructo

Let's get wild. Let's do something crazy. I know! Let's tear the front porch to pieces. 

Now, why in the world would we do that? Well...because of things like this:

 And this:

And this:

Thems are Carpenter Bee tunnels right there. Carpenter Bees are nasty creatures and I hate them. Board after board was tunneled through by those vermin. Even after we tore everything out, those jerks kept hovering around trying to find new places to bore. 

I hate 'em!

We are leaving the support posts in place and will strip and repaint them. Then we are replacing all of the balusters and railings with metal and composite materials. I'd like to see those bees try to bore through metal.

Take that you buttheads.

Easter Weekend - Part 2

We awoke Easter morning to light rain outside. The moisture intensified the colors of the awakening springtime blooms, and accentuated nature's rebirth. It was the perfect backdrop to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I love Easter. I love the truth that death is not final. I love the comfort that accompanies my certain knowledge that Jesus Christ is real. It's one of my favorite days of the entire year.

In addition to celebrating our Savior, we also celebrated the heathen Easter bunny cuz that's fun too - and he brings cool stuff.

We couldn't get Sissy out of bed to claim her terrific heathen offerings, but luckily Baby had enough excitement for both of them. 

We started right in on the chocolate bunny. Naturally.

And then cooed over our new baby doll. I dare you not to say, "Awwwww."

Michael and I gave up sugar for Lent. So, after 40 days of abstaining, it was delightful to imbibe in candy, chocolate, and monkey bread for General Conference. 

Well, delightful until I felt like I was going to vomit. 

We went to my cousin's house for our tradition of watching Conference together. My nausea had subsided by then so I was able to graze on peanut butter M&M's. Thank goodness. 

Baby and Sissy did the requisite sit-ups during the singing. You see - if you're gonna spend the entire conference session eating garbage, you gotta squeeze in some exercise.   

We closed out the day with dying eggs. (Sissy is currently obsessed with Hamilton. Is it obvious?)

It was a wonderful day of spiritual and physical feasts - thank you Honey Baked Ham, et al.

Happy Easter!

Easter Weekend - Part 1

Easter celebrations began for us with Good Friday being a day off from school. We did the religiously responsible thing and observed at the trampoline park. 

Then, on Holy Saturday, we did the religiously responsible thing and observed with an egg hunt. (Our holiness overfloweth.) It was supremely hot outside, and I was sweating like a sinner not properly observing Holy Week. I strategically laid out the bajillion plastic eggs so Sissy would have no ammunition to complain about the ease of finding the eggs. 

I even had my nephew-in-law lay Sissy's golden egg high up in the treetops. She was pleased with the caliber of our hiding tactics. 

Then we escaped to the air-conditioning to explore the spoils.

Sissy's golden egg held a Loki and Sylvie mini-fig. Righteous!

Baby's silver egg held a couple of Neat-o cubes. Righteous again!

It's a day like this that really makes a person appreciate religion. Happy Easter Eve!

(PS Don't stand too close...I could be struck by lightning any minute)

Fool's Errand

'Twas a fantastic April Fool's Day at our place this year. The day snuck up on us but we still managed to squeeze in some foolery.

I put this on Sissy's sandwich container

And these in her lunchbox

And on her toothbrush

Vincent reappeared 

And I made Alexa say annoying things when her alarm went off.

But the best part was filling the cupboard with ping pong balls. (Too bad I forgot about it and opened the cupboard before Sissy found it. Ping pong balls rained down on me and I yelped in horror. Mykey and I frantically shoved those buggers back in before Sissy emerged to unload the dishwasher. I was SWEATING by the end. It ain't an easy task, I tell ya)

Sissy left some poo on the floor

She faked a horrific pencil stabbing accident

And dyed my soap the deepest shade of black imaginable. My sausage fingers soaked that dye right up and I couldn't scrub it off.

She also took her water-squirting pen to school and covertly sprayed passers by in the hallway. Suckers!

It was another successful day of hijinxs for us. 

I hope next year is fantastic as well...this old lady is running out of ideas.

Aristocats

Sissy joined the theater once again to perform in the show Aristocats Kids. Unfortunately, she was sick during auditions so she didn't get a speaking part. Wah-wah-waaaah.

Sissy didn't mind. She was happy to be in the ensemble, singing and dancing with no responsibility. Plus, she declared that she had decided to retire and this would be her last show. So who really needs a speaking role anyway? Amen, sister.

But then...someone dropped out. Who would fill the role? Dun, dun, duuuun.

How about Sissy?

She was recast as one of the alley cats named Hep. Her catchphrase was, "Crazy, man - crazy."

Sissy said she felt ridiculous in her costume of giant cat paw mittens and clip-on tail, but Booney loved it. 

Baby also loved it. She was captivated by the songs and had a great time. And! The people sitting next to us didn't show up so Baby had her very own seat with plenty of room to kick and squirm with impunity.

And! My nephew-in-law and great nephew were able to join us for the performance. I wonder if the barfing is his review of the show. Kids can be cruel. 

And! The requisite Bottle Caps were waiting for Sissy after the show. I threw in some Junior Mints to soothe the embarrassment of wearing giant cat paw mittens.

It was a fun evening for all.

Congratulations to Sissy on her final show!