The Birthday Bash! That's a Wrap! (WARNING...this is LONG!)

Okay...I'm warning you again....this will be long. I'm about to post a mother load of pictures.... and I'm going to do it the easy way through snapfish, so I hope you can all see 'em!

So, we had Gage's party on Saturday. I assure you...we were busy, busy, busy getting ready. It does not matter how much time I allow for preparations...I always seem to need about 10 helping hands right before the party!

But...the party was fun for our little Army Dude!

The decorations were out...








My mom made THE most amazing cake!








Just look at how "little boy" he looks. Where did all that baby go?????


Racelle, Austin, & Jason...


...getting ready to blow out the candles...




Just look at the excitement on his face in this next shot!


Aiden & Victoria...he had soooooooo much fun with that saw!!!


Rachel making the "fishy" face.


Pam & Mr.Pam


...which leads me to this thought: there are many couples/families at the party that I didn't get photographed as a couple or as a family! Sorry.... I was slackin'.

Nathan & Ginger & Dean & Emory...


Why, yes, that IS a tank-tattoo on my face.
And yes, that IS my husband in the "dickhead hat".


Tera & Nathan...


Mark & Mamasita in the camo-netting tent we erected in the backyard...thanks to our neighbor Bill with the gardening stakes!


Tera, Me, Pam


Gage asked me, "You wanna be in my band?"
...of course I do!

(we were singing the theme song to "Maggie & The Ferocious Beast")

"NO MORE PICTURES, PLEASE!"

Gage was REALLY tired of the paparazzi by this point.

...in fact...Gage was just really tired by this point!
He zonked out on the couch while the party...or rather, AFTER-Party, was still a-blazin'!


And perhaps that's where I shall leave this today...and share the tales of the after party another day.
Let me just say---it took 3 grown men to get one after-party goer home. Damn those strawberry daiquiris!

BLD vs. Sweet Tea

For those that didn't know...my initials are BLD.

So, this is the official story of me vs. sweet tea.

When I was in 8th grade...or had just finished 8th grade... a few of us were spending the night at the home of our then friend, Kim P. We were playing around, having a good ol' time, etc. At some point---two of us were zipped up in a sleeping bag & jumping around. I fell & hit my head on the corner of the fireplace.
I can't remember if I cried or not. I know it hurt like a muthah!
The next day, my parents & I went shopping for clothes for the upcoming rafting trip. (Megan & Susan...I know you remember that trip!)
Anyway...the first red flag for my parents should have been the fact that I did NOT want to be shopping. (Hello!? How UN-characteristic is THAT?) And...for lunch, we ate at some Kenny Rogers restaurant or something... some chain that I think just never took off. Anyway.... I had sweet tea there, and I puked in the bathroom. Got home, puked all through the house as I ran to the bathroom. Didn't quite make the turn to aim at the toilet & puked all down the glass windows, and FINALLY landed some puke in the toilet.

...up until that point, I was okay with sweet or unsweet tea. After that day, I've never had a glass of sweet tea again.
I'm sure I had a concussion, but....whatever. I'm fine now. (.......right?)

LP & the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day...continued.

So...Thursday my luck was not much better.

On my way into work, my badge clip broke. Luckily, I didn't lose my badge. I just recently had to pay $30 to replace this badge.

So, I had to go to HR to get a new badge clip b/c I don't have any in my desk drawer...then, I get to HR & set my coffee down, but end up spilling it all over the front counter. Lovely.

After that...I'm down in my office...trying to print something. My printer is on top of a 4 drawer filing cabinet, and I'm barely 5 feet tall. When it stops printing, I have to kick off my shoes & stand on my chair to see what exactly is going on.
So......I do this. Except...I've got a youtube video of "Mercy" by Duffy playing on the computer. When I get the paper jam undone & I'm waiting for everything to start printing again, I'm standing on the chair looking at the printer, but I'm totally dancing. Who walks by? Um........the President. The President of this hospital walks by as I am standing barefoot in my chair & dancing. I just turned away from him as he cruised on by. No telling what he thinks/thought....

Then, my boss forgot to place my lunch order b/c we ordered out. The person who picked up the food said that my boss must have gotten my salad order wrong & she handed me this grilled chicken salad to eat. So, I grab my fries (the ones that I thought I ordered) and my jacked-up-order salad & I go to town. Before lunch is over---it comes to light that I've eaten one person's lunch & another person's fries...and it's just all kinds of f*cked up.

And...on top of that the only thing to drink was sweet tea & I haaaaaaate sweet tea.
(rememer...Alexander & the terrible horrible cereal situation...that was me yesterday with the tea...it was sad.)

Today...started my morning off bright & early taking my car into the insurance service center, and they were...well, let's just say that it was not as easy this go 'round as it has been in the past.

And my rental car...Oh, my rental car.
If one single person posts about me being an ungrateful bitch after reading what I'm about to post, well... well, I am sure I won't do anything. I really don't care at this point.
My rental car: a big a$$ Chevy Impala.
Are you f*cking kidding me?
This car is so big that it really should be measured by square footage. And, have I mentioned that I'm 5 feet tall? I am a nervous nelly driving this thing & I have to keep two hands on the wheel to keep the f*cker in my lane. It's huge. H-U-G-E. I hate it. I hate the Chevy Impala. The interior is as big as the White House & Gage will be sitting in the West Wing. Not to mention the fact that it does not have GPS. Don't they realize that I am one of those people who becomes dependent upon technology? I rely on a calculator. I rely on my GPS. I rely on that little screen on my normal car that tells me exactly how many miles I have to empty. I rely on the next screen on my normal car that tells me where my nearest gas station is located. I rely on my back up sensor & this Chevy Impala has a back up blind spot as wide as a mobile home. It's crazy. It's ridiculous that THIS should be my assigned rental. Surely there is a grandma some place having her big ol' car serviced & would thoroughly enjoy something like this. Me? Not so much.

I.HATE.THE.CHEVY.IMPALA.

Surely my luck will change soon. I ought to just have orange cones set up all around me lately.

Bad Day.

I've had a bad day, and now I don't feel like blogging much. So, here are the high-lights...or low points...whatever.

- ran over a squirrel
- thought I was getting attacked in my own home. I was sweeping the bathroom floor, and I put the heater towel rack in the hallway while sweeping. Then, I backed into it & all hell broke loose. I turned around as if I were being attacked...because I truly thought someone was trying to attack me from behind. I actually ended up losing the fight with the towel rack, and I have a nice scratch across my leg to show for it.
- left the house without my shirt on. Yes...I wore this ratty, non-public, so old it is barely hanging on by a thread undershirt while cleaning today. Then I was in a rush to get out the door & go get Gage...I got to the highway before I looked down & realized that I could see way too much of myself. Had to turn around & go back home to put a darn shirt on...
-2nd time approaching the highway---I'm stopped at a red light, and some woman in on-coming traffic tried to make a u-turn behind me. She misjudged...um...the presence of my car & ran into the back/side of it. "I just didn't see you there!"....what? is my car clear? is it invisible? what? because I certainly don't feel like I have any super-powers.... This is the 2nd time in just a few months that I've been hit in this car. I've had it less than a year. I swear...I think this car is bad luck. My next car is going to be red. Flaming-Ass-Red so that people will see it for a change. Or perhaps I should have bought that Hummer that I test drove....
nah.

Anyway. I am just tooooooooooo beat from the day to blog about fun/cute stuff from the past two days. I'll do it some other time.

Weekend Recap...Part 2 !!!!

So........Sunday....
We woke up, and Colin & Melis came over!
Melis lives in St.Louis, and she & Colin got engaged. Just so happens that Colin's parents moved to Dallas, and live about 3 minutes away from my house.
:)

So, they were in town visiting Colin's parents, and came over on Sunday.
Couple of things to mention here:
1) they drove down, and on the way, Melissa noticed the city/town of Melissa & the Collin County sign all right there together. She thought it was so fun!
2) they went to a Texas high school football game, and it was Homecoming...complete with mums & all. None of them had every really experienced anything like it, so they thought it was fun. I think Melissa said it was a Mesquite school vs. Lakeview.

Anyway...they came to my house! I was so thrilled!

Me & Melis:


Melissa's engagement ring...


Melis got to open her birthday gift (you know, from her birthday back in April...)


Melis brought Gage a drum, which he loves! He even requested to sleep with the drum on Sunday night...




Colin got suckered into helping out with the swingset...


There was MUCH playing...


Melis...playing "Hide-n-Seek" with Gage...


We all had a great time, and I think Gage has a new best friend in Colin. At one point, Colin called Gage a "goofball", and since then, that has been Colin's new nick-name. In fact, hours after they left, Gage wanted "Goofball" to come back over. Silly goose.

So, after Colin & Melis left, we spent hours working on the swingset. To note---that part of our backyard is sloped, and it just isn't in the plan to level the whole backyard right now....so we worked around that with the swingset to ensure that it is stable & works with the slope of the ground.

When we were FINALLY finished....Gage had a blast. He was so thrilled.
:)






And look! We only had 3 leftover pieces of wood! (LOL!!!!)


And today is Gage's birthday!
He's three.
He's not excited about being three. He says, "I'na just be two!"
I'na = I want to

So far today we've only had one major meltdown, and it was really a sweet meltdown. Let me explain: Gage brought his "Diego Truck" in from outside. While outside at some point he ran over a bug. So today when he was playing with the truck, he found this squished bug on the wheel. He ran & got me & just demanded that we take the bug to the ER because the bug was squished. In reality, the little bug was dead. Gage then started to inquire about the whereabouts of the bug's parents, and how they will be sad if he does not go home. So, he was very very very very upset that I didn't take the bug to the ER and that I didn't find his parents. I told him that the bug's parents live on the garbage truck that comes once a week, and that if we lay the bug on a napkin in the trash can, then the bug will see his parents tomorrow. And----all that driving of Diego's truck made that little bug soooooooo tired. So, he just needs to sleep for a while...
He bought it.

That little story is humorous...but more than that, it just makes me think this about Gage: there is a very kind little soul in there. He may not always show that side of himself...but I know it's in there!

What are our big birthday plans for today?
...not really sure yet. I'm trying to make it a "yes" day.
Gage: Can I have chocolate milk?
Mommy: Yes.
Gage: Can we go outside to play?
Mommy: Yes.
Gage: Can we have a car wash in the sink?
Mommy: Yes.

:)
Wish me luck with my YES-Day!
I can't believe Gage is THREE YEARS OLD!
Happy Birthday, Buddy. Nobody loves you like I do.

What a BUSY Weekend!

Okay, so, I posted about Justin's birthday party on Saturday...
But really, our weekend started before that!

We were up eeeaaaarrrlllyyyy. GrandDaddy Longhorn was coming over at 7 to help assemble the new swingset!

So...the manual in the box for the swingset & the online reviews said "8-12 hours of labor for assembly." Well, Hubby said, "that's because those were just 'regular' people. they have no building experience! i'm sure we can get it done in 6 hours, easy." Why? Because his Dad's a contractor & they build stuff, and yada, yada, yada.

How long did it take to assemble the swingset, you ask?
TWO DAYS.
8 hours & 20 minutes spent on day 1.
7+ hours spent on day 2. I say, "7+" because honestly---in the end, I was so worn out at the end of day 2, that I didn't remember to look at the clock to mark quittin' time.

Pics from Saturday...morning....





And then of course, Gage & I had Justin's party to attend at noon. When we got home...the guys were still working on the swingset, and Gage jumped in to help them.





So, Hubby & GrandDaddy Longhorn worked on the swingset until 4:20. After that, we headed indoors for the day. And of course, after Gage refused a nap all day---he fell asleep in his rocking chair around 5 o'clock. Not good.
...but, when he woke up we made plans to get out & about with GrandDaddy Al who just so happened to be in town!

We went to Northpark to visit the Thomas the Train table at the Puzzle Zoo store.


Dad was just as goofy as ever...






And we shopped for a wedding band for Dad's future wife. I saw a few that I liked, but then again...I wasn't in the frame of mind to be toooooo particular. Dad wasn't just SOLD on anything...I think he's got something in his mind & is just waiting to find it in a store somewhere...who knows. But, I did go ahead & get Jason & Samantha's wedding gift! One less thing to think about, and I must say that I think the gift is fabulous.

So...at 9, when the mall closed, Gage, GrandDaddy Al, and I headed over to....


It was Gage's first time ever to have Campisi's pizza!
It was so great!!!


I love Campisi's Veggie Pizza so much. They have just oodles of minced green olives on it. It's just an olive lover's dream!

So, we finally made it home after 10:30. Gage was so tired! He was in the car asking how soon we'd be home so he could go to sleep. It was so cute. He did very well staying up that late...I'm sure that the 5 o'clock naptime had something to do with that!

We had an eventful day on Sunday as well. I'll have to blog about that later b/c I just don't have the time right now, and there is something that I simply must blog about!


Three years ago today...I checked into the hospital to have our son.
Three years. I can't believe it's been that long.
We checked in at 9am, and he wasn't born until 3:59am on the 23rd.
I was already contracting every 5-7 minutes when I arrived at the hospital & had been for hours... So, if we start the clock at 9am, that's NINETEEN HOURS of labor!
Most of it was not rough, so I really can't complain...
And of course my little Buddy was so worth it all!





Happy Almost Birthday, Gage!

Justin's Birthday Party....

Well, we attended Justin's first ever birthday party on Saturday.
Justin is a neighborhood kiddo that we get to hang out with from time to time.

:)

Pics from the party.......







Gage ate a hamburger....or rather, he ate ketchup.



And....some Franciscan Monks came to the party...friends of Justin's parents.

...........so, what does MY child do?
He says as loudly as he can, "HHHHAAAAHHHHH(shock sound)! JESUS CAME TO JUSTIN'S PARTY!"
So, of course, Stephanie tells them what Gage said, and they loved it. And then I replied, "Well, hey, if they do parties---Gage would love to have them at his party!"
Perhaps a bit tacky, but it was funny in the moment!

And then, there was cake, but my camera batteries died. Six days. That's how long they lasted in the camera. I just put a set of the lithium batteries in, and they are supposed to last "8x longer!" so we'll see. I have no pics of Justin with his cake. Bless his heart, he was soooooooo tired by then!