Category: Uncategorized

Here is just one of what will be many pictures posted on this blog from yesterday, MAM’s early 2nd Birthday Ducky Luau. It was a fabulous time, and she was soooo into the “Happy Birthday to MAM” part of it all–completely adorable.

The weather was perfect, the food turned out well, the cake was gorgeous and delicious (if I do say so myself). The company was grand, the neices and nephews darling as always, and not a single umbrella on the cake caught fire (not even the green one behind the #2 candle).

There will be more pictures soon. Oh there will be more pictures.

Take a moment and scroll to the bottom of this page….note MAM’s ticker. The little fairy girl is practically holding the #2 in her precious little hands. As of yesterday, MAM turned 23 months old. HOW, I ask you, did that happen??

Convientently, while we were on vacation, assorted notifications came in the mail alerting me to MAM’s impending birthday. It’s a good thing too, or I would have likely forgotten (not). It was nice to have it all at once though–I probably would have pitched each individual mailing had they come on seperate days, but since I got a big pile Monday night, they actually held my interest.

So this morning I locked myself in my room and planned MAM’s 2nd birthday party. I ordered a party pack, made evites and paper invitations for the dinosaurs we’re inviting. I planned out the cake, and have started tossing around a menu.
(Her party is 2 weeks before her actual birthday because I’ll be working like a mad dog the weekend of her birthday getting things ready for school to start–her birthday is August 3rd and we’re slated to move into our new school house on August 1st. That’s too close to comfort for me.)

I digress. Probably, you really just want to know what the theme is, right?? What adorable theme will be used to celebrate the adorable girl’s 2nd birthday. Have I mentioned that it’s her SECOND birthday???

So to celebrate, we’re throwing a “Ducky Luau“ for our famly and friends in a few weeks!! All the kid-friendly fun of a ducky party, all the grown-up fun of a luau….could there be a better match?? I think the cake will be a duck pond with the lei-wearing rubber ducks that I ordered. Add to that some grilling out, a fruity cocktail and a wading pool, and MAM will be turning TWO in style!

Every small child I know has gone through the “train” phase. Specifically, the Thomas Train phase. So when we were invited with M’s god-family to go for a “Day out with Thomas”, how could we resist? She’ll be two in less than two months–we may as well get the train-party started!!

I have to say, while it was, of course, over the top, it was a lot of fun, and pretty much geared toward the toddler/preschool set. With admission, the kids got a wrist bracelet, which gave them access to all of the activities, including a tractor/train pull, petting zoo, pony rides, bouncy house, train tables and tattoos. I can proudly say I was with my daughter when she got her first tattoo! (and was tickled pink by it!) Personally speaking, the actual ride on “thomas” was sort of anti-climatic–it was a train to literally nowhere. If we were to do it again, I think we’d pay for one adult ticket for the ride, and flip a coin as to who has to go with the kiddos!

Today, to follow up on our weekend field trip, we went to a rather fancy toy store to spend a gift card and purchased M’s first engine, Rosie. She’s having a ball just pushing the train all over God’s green earth. I think we’ll hold off on accessories, and heaven knows in this house we don’t have the space for a train table, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go visit the fancy toy store and play with what they’ve got out! (Between that and the Croc-making station, M was in sheer delight!! No, we didn’t actually make a pair of Crocs, she just likes digging through the buttons. We did, however, get a smaller strap so the ones she inherited fit better!)

While there, the clerk told me about a recall and when I got home, someone emailed me the same info. If you have any Thomas trains at all, please go look at the website www.totallythomas.com and check the list of recalled pieces. Lead paint on one of the most beloved toy series of all time–scary stuff.

I think that covers all that is Thomas for the moment…I’ve off the listen to some real music until the Monkey wakes up and then we’ll be back to Little Red Caboose!!