I Believe...#10

It's pretty sweet what you CAN do once you stop letting other people tell you that you CAN'T.

Posts from the road...#12 (it's alive!)

It's pretty sweet what you CAN do once you stop telling yourself that you CAN'T.

Toys vs. Decorations

'Twas the other day when I was having a convo with a friend of mine and of this blog's about a huge multi-pieced Lego Yoda she just bought online sans instructions and I was all, "How are you gonna build it? Use the Force?" Buz-zing! I'll be here all week. Anyhoo...

That led to me remembering how at some point A and I had established a distinct separation of toys versus decorations last month with the kiddos. In case you don't 'member, the boys' room is all pimped out in superhero-ness. And some of the things I have placed on the shelves are "toys" from Comic-Con and other random collectible-type doodads that aren't so much irreplaceable as they are extremely breakable.

So we taught the kids that some of the stuff in their room, despite bearing an uncanny resemblance to toys, are, in actuality, decorations - and therefore, much like Al Capone, untouchable.

It's so funny to hear E point at the Superman carousel on the shelf and be all, "That's not a toy. That's a decoration." Oh man, lemme tell ya, it's priceless.

So, yea, moral of the story, nugget of wisdom from this word mine...make the distinction between the playthings that you don't mind the kiddos wreaking havoc upon, and those you wish to keep in one piece. At least that's what we do anyway.

Just Etch-A-Sketch It

Sometimes stuff gets to be a little too much, ya know? Work life meets home life meets the feeling of no life and BOOM! There you are...in a funk.

So what I like to do - and I haven't been doing it near as much as I should lately - is shake it off. Like an "Etch-A-Sketch" us oldschoolers used to see in the toy bins that no one hardly ever played with. Just shake off that bad feeling, bad vibe, bad day like you would a drawing on the sketcher and let the sand (or whatever made that weird noise inside) dissolve your problems away.

HINT: It even kinda helps if you literally mime holding an Etch-A-Sketch and pretend to shake the crummy drawing out of your life.

So, there ya go. I'm about to start a new day...with a fresh sketch pad.

Technical Note

"Posts from the road..." have been temporarily sidelined as I try to figure out this new Blackberry I bought. Ugh. Beatdown. If airplanes in night sky were actually shooting stars and I had just one wish, I'd wish for a different phone. Back to touchscreen land and mobile internet service at the drop of a hat...

How do people get hooked on these? I don't see it. No "crackberry" thing happening here.

"Balloons were balloon'ed."

So the bday party for Lil A went supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-ly. Balloons were balloon'ed. Ice cream sundaes were sundae'd. Hot dogs were hot dogged. And ketchup and mustard'ed. And instead of birthday cakes and cupcakes that apparently everyone always does and all the kids are always so tired of, we did glazed donuts with vanilla frosting and sprinkles. Lil A's donut had a "1" and a "0" candle in it. She's a double-digiter now.

Backing up a little, since we were all about not letting her see the set-up downstairs, we made sure the other kiddos helped keep her upstairs. I think at one point, J had to literally sit on her for a bit, and then that other kid, TV, the one that always entertains everyone else...yea, he did his part to keep her occupied.

So as Lil A was upstairs, we decorated the living room and kitchen, transformed the wood floor into a balloon catastrophe, and decorated for our little ice cream social...which had an awesome turnout, resulting in some decent cash flow for the bday girl and some pretty cool presents as well.

I think she summed it up best when this little dialogue piece went down:

Me: So, did you have the worst time ever?
Lil A: (barely containing a smile) Yes.

Oh, and we had a slip n' slide out back that the kids were loving. Soon after they began, word spread through the yard that there was a plan to overtake the guard (me.) I played along. Changed my uniform and went outside. Sure enough...they attacked! I was pinned down on the wet battlefield by an excess of no less than 10 kids. Of course, I emerged victorious. Wet, but victorious nonetheless. So what did I do then? Got back in line for the slip n' slide of course. Duh.

So Lil A had a great day which means we got a 100 - or at least a 98. Go, role models!

And a little aside for the cooking aficionados...everyone, and I mean everyone, loved the fact that I boiled the hotdogs instead of grilled them, despite the surge of naysayers at the beginning of my hot dog venture. So...boiled. Yes. Grilled. Only if you want to melt outside.

The Weekend's Top 3

3. If being late to church was popular, A and I would be Brangelina.

2. We hauled the gang on over to my friend's house for his 4-yr old's bday bash. Great success! The kids had fun, the bday boy had fun and...apparently the toys we bought finished first in the toy-liking contest. Specifically, Joker-and-his-car-that-has-a-hammer-that-smashes-things toy.

And the number one thing on the Weekend's Top 3 is....(drum roll and such....)

1. Today is Lil A's bday party here at the house!!! It's a party weekend. She's just moved into double digits, yet this pre-teen has somehow already mastered the teenager scowl. She's advanced for her age.

What are we gonna do you ask? I think I heard you ask. Right? Anyway, it's an ice cream social with an American Idol karaoke twist, that's what it is. Not quite a Baskin Robbins type o' thing, but it will certainly do the trick. Lots of flavors, a mess of toppings, waffle cone bowls?

Yes. Waffle. Cone. Bowls. They never had that when I was a kid. But, then again, I was always super happy with just vanilla covered in chocolate that I'd mix and swirl together in my bowl until it resembled a modern-day Mickey D's milkshake...okay, now I'm hungry.

Oh wait! What time is it? We're gonna be late for church!