Saturday, June 26, 2010

Luau for Laura

 

Aloha!  There is a blessed silence from my daughter’s room right now.  She is done, luaued, hulaed and caked out.  Today was her 7th birthday party – a little early to catch the elementary crowd before they scattered in the Laura's 7th b-day party 036summer winds.  Judging by the smiles and lack of total mishaps, the tropical celebration worked.  Here’s the lowdown.

We picked the luau theme because a) Mommy wanted it and b) it is easy to find all the loot (unlike Laura’s latest obsession with DIY channel and shows like Bathtastic which Party Packagers does not have coordinating napkins and decorations for…. I hadn’t tried Home Depot mind you, but I digress).  And c) it’s tons of fun with so many possibilities for a mostly girls party and d) did I mention that I wanted it?

I worked my butt off getting ready for this thing!  (Don’t woI love these monkeys in the palm tree I made with the support pole!rry – my butt grew back thanks to cake.)  I’m solo this weekend so it is all up to me.  As the fates would have it, the weather did not decide to be Hawaiian tropical sunshine with happy chirping birdies but rain, rain and more rain.  *sigh*  The only option to entertain 15 kids is the dreaded basement.  It is an unfinished lair of clutter and man-stuff.  But a few garbage bags and some  creative work later, it is now a tropical vacationland.  Yay me!  I almost want to go down there now just for fun! (piña colada colada in hand, of course.)

 

When the guests arrLaura's 7th b-day party 054ived I had Laura welcome them with leis and get them a grass skirt and flip flops.  (It is amazing what you find at the dollar store when you leave your consumer conscience at the door!)  Then it was off to craft land.  The easiest and best craft was making flower clips for their hair.  They turned out so well with so little effort.  You just need to destroy a few leis for the flowers, get some brads and some hair clip bases (Michaels) and layer away.  The girls looked SO cute with their outfits. 

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My wonderful sister came to help out and brought all her teacher-ness with her.  She led them in “hot coconut” with a real coconut and what “I’m bringing to Hawaii” memory game and other such things to Hawaiian music in the basement while I set up a treasure hunt.  The kids had fun with that while I set up a piñata as the final clue destination.  The piñata was shaped like a big flip-flop. ( I have a thing about beating animate objects with a stick.)  Happy campers with lots of candy and mini-toys to add to their loot bags. 

Cake time!  There seems to have been an earthquake in my attempt at a home made beach scene cake.  Laura's 7th b-day party 001 (Apparently I may have made some miscalculations on the cake design as I attempted to multitask by icing a cake with the help of an almost 7 year old while answering the phone, doing dishes and decorating the house about an hour before the party.  Not sure how I could have been so distracted!) My nephew seemed quite fine with it pointing out how cool it was to have a real river running through it.  But when it comes down to it, the kids really just want to eat cake and there was plenty of it to be had. 

Presents, free time and loot bags and rounded out the exciting day.  I didn't even get around to doing a limbo dance, doing a hula lesson (now that would have been funny!) or luau freeze dance.  But, alas, the time flew by and I couldn't be two places at once. 

I would say it all worked out very well!  Now that I have all the luau loot, I'm thinking I need to have some kind of adult luau thing, if my energy returns someday.  Or maybe I need to go to Hawaii, you know, to do more research or something.  Aloha ahiahi!

Monday, June 21, 2010

My Sweet Stalker

Yes, I have a stalker. I can hardly call him that. But I do get frequent phone calls and post cards from him without me returning the favour. He has told me he likes my smile and thinks we are somehow connected because both our first names start with a 'P'. Is that stalker behaviour?

He's from India, visiting his family and he is about 80. Sweet man and lonely. I met him last year when he visited Canada. He stopped me on the street and asked me to follow him to his home and help him with his fax machine. Quite the line, if you ask me. Being always one to fall for a pick up and since I had some time on my hands, I took pity and helped him out, going into a stranger's home and apparently into his heart.

So what's a girl to do? I thought the complete lack of reciprocity on his communications from afar would be a deterrent but Mr. P has tracked me down. He is back in the country now and I am to meet him for a chat in the park. *sigh* He is nice enough and we do find something to talk about for short chats, though I find him hard to understand at times with his thick accent. It just takes up time and I just don't have tons of patience for it. You know I am way too nice to be anything by friendly. This has got to be good for my karma, right?

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - Fabulous Fathers






There are three fathers we are celebrating this weekend.
First is Steve - my husband and father to our wonderful kids. He's a little camera shy but quick to shoot photos of us. Great to laugh, learn, live adventures and love. We are all so blessed.










My dad, Dave. Forever the scientist, teacher and fixer with a big heart to both generations. Wish he lived closer but we enjoy any time we get together.




My father-in-law Bob. Huge heart and so much spunk for a grandpa. Adored by all, even when he teases too much.
Looking through the photos reminded me how precious all these dad's are to us. I will aim to take more photos and cherish the times we get to spend together.
Happy Father's Day.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

New look?

I'm not entirely sure about this. Being a non-computer savvy person, I am relying on templates to change the look of this blog. Does it work? Let me know what you think. I think I'll fiddle with it some more.

Not like anyone reads this sporadic musing of my thrilling life but I'm having fun with blogging and what the heck am I going to do that is semi-productive at 4 am this morning anyway. Ooops, did I type that out loud??? Better attempt to go back to bed now.

Monday, June 14, 2010

My kids are nerds

Is this a bad thing? Well, no, not really. It does mean that they will fit in nicely when they are 30 in Grad school and going to chess club, I suppose.

Right now, my son is home sick with a cold. And what does he want to do? "Mom, can I listen to classical music and lie in bed?" Weird. He is also getting quite into sports stats - baseball, hockey, and now world cup soccer. Fascinating stuff.

My daughter has some definite ideas of how to dress herself. Usually it involves clashing colours and a headband. She collects rocks and loves to watch the DIY channel (Do it Yourself home improvement shows). She's turning 7.

So I'm guessing I will never have to have the sex talk with my children because they will be 25 before they even think about it and peer pressure will not be a big issue because they really don't care if they fit in. Yes, being a nerd is a good thing. I'm thinking those apples don't fall far from the nerdy, awkward tree they came from. At least we all understand each other.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Knowing Me, Knowing You – June 2010

 

Time once again for the monthly interview project, knowing me, knowing you, courtesy of Fairy Blogmother Shannon.  Great for getting the little noggin’ working and getting to know fellow bloggers.  Feel free to play along and connect to Shannon’s Mr. Linky thing to share your post with other players.

1. Do you often have out of town guests?

On occasion.  Usually family or unsuspecting friends who haven’t figured out how to gracefully book themselves into a hotel.  I like guests but at some time run out of social energy and want to retreat to my room.  But I do love pulling out all the stops, feasting and drinking like royalty and laughing with everyone until my stomach hurts.  Well worth all the tidying that is involved to have the lot.

2. What kind of an overnight guest set up do you have?

We have a guest room!  Woo hoo!  Love this house.  The kids can bunk in together or have other’s sleep in their room so that makes room for a family to stay in comfort.  Any takers?


3. Cupcake or cake?

Is that a trick question?  Both of course! But if I had to choose, it would be cake – something with yummy icing or a fabulous cheesecake would work.  I don’t bake cakes often because my belly can’t take me sneaking down for just a tiny sliver of a piece ten times a day until I burst.  I have a real sweet tooth (and the gut to match.)

4. Iced tea or lemonade?

I like both but am more likely to crave ice tea.  Unless my kids are making it and they are beaming with pride over their lemonade creation (which hopefully involves some sugar instead of salt) then I’ll pick their lemonade and slurp it with a smile.

5. When you get into bed for the night do you go right to sleep or do you read, internet or watch TV before lights out?

Read if I can keep my eyes open for 15 minutes or so.  No TV or internet in our room.  I often flake out in front of the TV after the kids are in bed or play an all important round of Farmville before turning in.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Kicking Cancer, one step at a time.


Too tired and disorganized to post much but more to come. I had a great weekend with my 60 long, soggy, blistery and exhilarating kilometers to raise money and awareness for women's cancers. I raised over $2000 and made some great friends along the way. Here's a picture when it was not raining of me hanging out with Maman in front of the National Art Gallery in Ottawa.
Cheers! I think I'll put my feet up now.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Frequent Fairy Miles

It’s all about the teeth for Laura right now.  Specifically, the rate at which teeth seem to be ejecting from her growing six-and-a-half-year-old mouth.  This morning was the third in a month.  Laura is thrilled.  I am thrilled. No more wiggle-wiggle “Mom, my toof is loof… look!” wiggle-wiggle, looking like a hillbilly with teeth askew while I chop up her food into soft tiny bites.

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So on to the important business of Tooth Fairy note writing.  We’ve got it down to a science now.  Laura spends a lot of time creating a letter of devotion to the beloved TF.  The last one was 3 pages long including a full sized picture.  She absolutely had to have the book “Dear Tooth Fairy” to help her compose the letter, which her mother, ever her servant, picked up at the library for her.  This is hard work! 

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Not to mention how the TF has to respond in a way that is acceptable to a little girl.  For some reason, the TF got in the habit of giving a twonie and a small trinket upon discovery of a precious tooth.  It is now too late to explain to the TF that it would have been simpler to just leave the money.  A TF must always be prepared!  I suppose the TF may have been overwrought with guilt after once failing in her duty and not remembering to do the exchange one night.  The heartbreak of a little girl pulls very hard on the heartstrings.

So the tradition of childhood fairy business will continue tonight and as long as they write to her.  She loves her little ones so very much.May-June 2010 024