Birthday #7

The first (and last) birthday cake I ever bought.
Will has a big role in the acts.
Happy Birthday to Will, cha cha cha!
Everyone donning their balloon hats from the magician
The birthday boy gets the biggest and the best hat!

Well, we bit the bullet. We went ahead and had a birthday party for the big guy. Not that we are against birthday parties! They are fun.....when they are at other friends' houses, when you can leave at any moment and when you don't have the stress of getting everything ready. Nonetheless, we felt it was time for Will to have a birthday party.
We opted to keep it simple. Invite a few of his best buddies from school and call it good. Anyone who knows Will, knows what a struggle that was to slim down the list of friends to the mere number of 10! Nonetheless, it was accomplished and the invitations (created by Mom) were sent out.
Although Will had a Harry Potter birthday cake for his second birthday, the child is still in love with him and begged to have a Harry Potter theme. I didn't fuss too much because it made my job of planning the fun very easy. Hire a magician! I have to say, IT WAS AWESOME! The guy was great and kept everyone laughing at all times. There was never a dull moment the entire hour that he was in our home.
All in all, the party was a huge success. My only complaints were the energy level and lack of manners. All I can say is, now I know why no one else does this at their home! I think I will leave it at that.
Will had a great 7th birthday party and we all had fun.

Weekend in Charleston SC

Well, we are way behind in updating the blog. I guess we'll start with our trip to Charleston. We got a phone call to come check out a time share property in Charleston. I'm sure you know the deal - spend an hour and a half with a sales person and they give you a great deal on a room for the weekend plus some cash. All in all, not a bad deal. We had a great time. We toured several Navel vessels (submarine, aircraft carrier, destroyer), went on a horse drawn carriage, hung out downtown and went to the Isle of Palms beach. Here's Dad with the kids on a pier close to downtown.
Mom and Emma at a city park fountain.
Check out the set of guns!
It takes a crew to drive a boat that big.
Emma watching out for airborne attackers.

Emma's Actual Birthday

Emma started her "real" birthday off with a couple of gifts from her cousins. What a great surprise to have gifts waiting at your breakfast spot, first thing in the morning! At school, Emma and her friends were treated to a couple of stories read by her Nana and then a cookie cake. We could tell that Emma was loving every minute of it, but was rather shy about getting so much attention!

After school, we picked up Subway subs and headed for the park. There we had lunch, played on the playground and visited the ducks and geese. We were hoping to take a boat ride, but no one was at the rental booth. Huge bummer!

Since we had already overloaded on cake a few days earlier during her party, we opted to buy a couple special desserts for the evening. Emma enjoyed a berry creme brulee with a couple of sparkly candles on top.

It was a great birthday and having Nana to share it with made it even more special.

Halloween 2007

I guess I have gotten enough inquiries about Halloween and the kids' costumes that I have decided to actually take the time to blog it. I have been so wrapped up in entertaining, holidays, birthdays, etc., that I just haven't been blogging much lately. Sorry out there!

So, I have to say that this was probably one of the best Halloweens ever! Will had early release from school, so we were able to have some time to goof off before "getting ready". We also decided to have a neighborhood party here this year. We started early, at 5:00, so the little ones in the neighborhood could have a chance to trick-or-treat before bedtime and before dark. It worked out great! Allan made his famous ginormous batch of chili in the King Cooker. We also had hot dogs and any type of beverage imaginable. Neighbors brought all kinds of snacks and yummy treats. It was incredibly warm, so we had the feast in the garage (yeah, no mess!). The kids had a ball trick-or-treating at the 13 or so houses in the neighborhood. Just the right amount for our little ones! It was a really nice evening and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. We then had the next two days off school, so it was a great beginning to our Fall Break.

Here are some pictures of the kids in their get-ups.

Will, aka Harry Potter.

Jack the pirate. And, Miss Emma as Ariel. Gotta love that long red hair!

Jack enjoys one of Miss Pat's popcorn balls. You can't tell very well from the picture, but trust me, his whole face was orange and sticky! Yes, I, Tanna, allowed sugar before bedtime. Shocking!

Emma is FIVE!

Our little princess has turned five years old! We just can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday that we were in the delivery room with lots of nursing students watching (and crying behind their clipboards). Then, Allan and I got to hold our new baby girl. She was so tiny compared to Will. And we were worried to death about her foot being all bent up and the bright red birthmark on her chest. Little did we know what a feisty, confident little lady she would become! Well, with Will as her brother, we had some idea!

To celebrate, Emma decided to invite her neighborhood girlfriends over for cake and ice cream. Actually, she had it in her head that she was having a big party with lots of friends and activities like some of the parties that she had been to. We played the "party" up big and she was so excited, she could hardly sleep for a week! To top it all off, Nana came to help celebrate! Emma was in heaven! We had the celebration a few days before her actual birthday because Allan was going to be in New Hampshire during her birthday. It was a gorgeous day and everyone had fun playing with Barbies. In case you don't have a daughter or are living under a rock, Island Princess Barbie is just THE thing right now. Emma got the Barbie Princess, her prince and the video. I think she is set now!

Emma with her Barbie cake
I think Jack is ready to eat the cake!
FINALLY a boy Barbie to play with. No more girls kissing girls!
Emma and her friends, Jordan, Abby and Cassidy

Spiders

I hate spiders. I dislike them even more since it is believed that I was bit by a brown recluse last summer. They just aren't my friends.

That being said, Will, the bug enthusiast, came to Allan and I and told us that there was a Black Widow spider in our water meter. I obviously was not about to check things out. Allan gave Will the old "OK, we'll check it out later" response. To be quite blunt, neither of us believed the child.

The next day, after hearing about this Black Widow in our water meter a million times, Allan decided to go take a look see. Given that Will IS a bug enthusiast, I have to ask myself, "WHY did we not believe him and check it out immediately?" Lo and behold, there really was a Black Widow spider in that water meter. Scary! Allan disposed of it and life went on.

No joke, not two days later, I was working in the flower bed, donning my flip flops, when I caught something out of the corner of my eye, down by my feet. I moved on, but then came back. What I saw freaked me out. It was ANOTHER Black Widow, with an egg sack tucked into the bottom of a tree stump!!!! I quickly used an entire can of wasp spray trying to make that nasty thing die.

Now, here we are, a couple of weeks later and Will came running like a lunatic, requesting that I check out the spider on the zip line. I should have learned my lesson the first time. I didn't and put him off once again. It just happened that I went to use the zip line and found this gigantic orange, black and white spider hanging from it. Will and I did some research and found that it was a type of garden spider. It looked like the picture below.

I know spiders do good, but I wish they did it in someone else's yard.

I Played Football!

Tonight was an absolute riot at Will's football practice. As usual, I parked my chair alongside the other mom's and started up our usual mom banter (yes, I admit that it is banter). Not long into practice, the coach pointed at myself, his wife and another mom and requested our presence on the field. We women, along with about 5 dads, played against the kids. All I can say is, Thank God I wore my sneakers tonight!

We had a BIG time and the boys just LOVED it! I feel that it is only right that I divulge all information about my playing abilities - or lack thereof! I managed to knock a ball away from a receiver, miss a ball that was thrown directly at me, and lunge at a boy that only came up to my kneecap to take away his flag. The kids got a lot of giggles out of a mommy being laid out on the grass to get a flag!

This was, by far, the most fun football practice that Will and I have ever been to. And we both concurred on the way home. You bet kids keep us young!