All In A Mom’s Day

We really can learn a lot from our children. I know it’s inevitable that they will become affected by the world around them but for now they have such pure hearts and minds (well maybe not when they are lying on the floor throwing a huge temper tantrum in the middle of a public place . . . but that’s a whole other subject). We were at a party the other day and my kids didn’t know everyone there. Later, when my 2 ½ year old daughter was telling a story about the party she was talking about a little boy she didn’t know so she just called him “the green guy.” Life is so simplistic and non-judgemental when you’re that age. Nothing about skin or hair or the way a person looks – just the color of the clothes they are wearing. My older daughter did this same thing when she was younger. We went to the beach for a long weekend with some friends. She couldn’t remember two of the guys names so for the entire weekend they were known by the color shirt they were wearing when she first met them. It works for them and it gave us a good laugh for the entire weekend. Now if we could only come up with a way for them to continue this type of thinking forever.

I started writing this post a few days ago but got distracted (the story of my life) so now it’s almost the weekend again. Just a quick update on our Golden Retriever. He is doing better. We opted against the surgery they were recommending because they couldn’t give us a lot of answers and let us know the surgery was just exploratory because they didn’t know what they would find. They got the biopsy results back and don’t think it’s cancer but they are not 100% sure. Right now they think the masses might be from a perforated ulcer. Our dog is 11 ½ years old and we just decided that surgery was not the best route. He’s on medication and is almost back to 100% of the way he was before he got sick. We’ll just have to wait and see how he does over the next few weeks.

I hope you have a good weekend!!

Doesn’t it always seem like when it rains, it pours? So far this month we have been to two birthday parties and a baby shower. We’ve got 4 more parties coming up (that I know about) and then in April all of our family birthdays start. It’s not everyone but it seems like most of our family birthdays are concentrated within the same few months. Don’t get me wrong, I love birthday parties. The kids get so excited and they are so much fun to plan and I love picking out gifts – it just seems like they happen all at once. So far my daughter has been to a Bratz party and a Polly Pocket party. Coming up we have a Cinderella party, a Tinkerbell party and a luau.

The twin’s party theme is still in the works. I’m thinking about Dora’s Adventure to Radiator Springs to meet Lightning McQueen or maybe something to do with racing. I’m still thinking that I’m going to do the Mexican Fiesta. I wanted to do a frozen margarita machine and then I was thinking of getting a second machine to do virgin strawberry daiquiris for the kids. The first place (and the only place I knew of in town) seemed kind of pricey and when I e-mailed for an actual price quote no one responded. Then I happened to mention it to a friend and she gave me the name of someone else who does the same thing and when I contacted them they were a lot cheaper. This just shows that it pays to ask around. I’ll definitely be looking in the stores to see if there’s anything on clearance after the Daytona 500 and after Cinco de Mayo. It really does pay to plan early so that you can shop around and buy things at the best price. I was able to get some Cars stuff for the goody bags at the dollar store. I was also able to get some other goody bag items on clearance at Walmart. I’m sure if I was shopping for that right before the party I wouldn’t be able to find it or I would have to pay full price. Now I just have to hope that my kids don’t change their minds about the theme they want!!

Time for bed. Tomorrow is the start of another busy week . . . school, work, doctor’s appointments, playdates, birthday parties, cleaning, laundry, errands and the list goes on . . . Have a good week!

I love planning birthday parties. My 6 year old loves it too. We choose a theme and then work on it for months coming up with ideas and buying things for the party. She is a very good decision maker. She makes a decision and then sticks with it. I’m learning that life isn’t always that perfect. My 2 year old daughter loves Dora. She wants Dora everything – the other day she told me when she grows up she wants a Dora bra – I wonder what she will say when I bring them up on our first bra shopping trip!! Anyway, planning parties for twins is a little bit trickier when you’re doing a theme. My 2 year old son likes Diego. I thought it was perfect – we would have a Dora and Diego fiesta. Then my son started changing his mind and saying he wanted all these other character – all of which he likes. I figured since he wasn’t really set on one thing and he likes all of the characters about the same we would stick with Dora and Diego. Maybe not! Now all of a sudden he keeps saying he wants a Lightning McQueen party. Unlike before, now it is consistently Lightning McQueen. I figured that’s okay, I can work with this. Instead of a Fiesta we will have Dora’s Adventure to Radiator Springs. I like to go all out for their parties because it’s fun and I like to spread the cost out so I buy things as I see them. That may not work out in this case. Today my 2 year old daughter was in my closet and saw a Cinderella game that we’re giving as a gift to one of her friends. I told her that Mary is having a Cinderella party. That was a mistake – then she told me, I want a Cinderella party. I said, “What about Dora, don’t you want Dora?” No, she tells me, I want Cinderella. I already bought the Dora piñata and when I told her that she easily switched back to Dora but I can tell this just isn’t going to be as easy as it is with their older sister.

Do you like planning birthday parties? Do you have any great ideas? So far the party themes we have had are: Teddy Bear, Sesame Street, Blue’s Clues, Care Bears, My Little Pony, Mermaidia, Winnie the Pooh and The Wiggles. I had a lot of fun planning each one. A great place to get ideas for your birthday parties is http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/. I’m thinking about devoting a part of my web site to party ideas too. Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas you would like to contribute.

Have a great day!