Jake's Super Birthday

Jake had a superhero party today for his 6th birthday. All the kids and some of the "adults" came in costume. The kids had a lot of fun doing the things that kids do. Hannah manned the facepainting booth and was a big hit! Not even the mid-party rain put a damper on things. We just moved indoors for the super cupcakes!





I made a Jedi robe, under tunic, tabards, and obi for little Captain Underpants to wear while playing his video games. I also bought him the Lego Star Wars video game that he begged asked for. The costume was just the icing on the cake. I made it with the tutorials of Star Wars enthusiasts on the web. (And that is an understatement. Some people actually believe they are Jedis. Let me be the first to tell you there are a lot of rules involved in sewing a Jedi uniform!) It fit pretty good considering the tunic shrunk up like crazy when I washed it. Note to self: Always preshrink fabric! Shortcuts rarely turn out to be so. I figured if it didn't fit I could preshrink more fabric and make a new tunic for him, and then adapt this one into a Yoda robe for Max. My next project is a Yoda hat... but Don't tell. May The Force Be With You.

Garage SAILing

Today I went garage-sailing with Diane and Gloria. We splashed around Como with a district-wide garage sale map and got in and out of the boat car in the pouring rain. In our defense, it wasn't raining when we decided to go or even when we left. We tried umbrellas, but it just got us more thoroughly soaked while struggling to shut the umbrella with the car door open. All of us stepped in a stream ankle deep while running to a garage. One lady was handing out paper towels to anyone stupid brave enough to face the elements! A truly novel, had-to-be-there moment occurred when we backed up to a garage, unrolled the window, and shook a quarter in a lady's face while yelling to her that she had her fishing stringer sold if she delivered it to our car in the downpour. And she did! I found a St. Paul Fire Department Calendar with Bob's picture for sale for a measly $3 and called him to take him down a peg break it to him. We cut our losses at noon and stopped to get lunch and dry out. The sun peeked through while we were eating our pizza, so we headed back out to Maplewood this time. Here's some of the booty:


Summer reading for 50 cents each; a dozen vintage embroidered quilt blocks for $1.00; and a $2 boxful of 36 tin noisemakers for the Party Queen Extraordinaire Twylla.


A New,complete with $59 price tag Jones NY handkerchief cotton tunic with crochet trim for one of my girls for $1.50; assorted New MN Twins hats for everyone for pennies on the dollar.


But I think my most favorite thing of all is this 50 cent teddy bear for Hannah, complete with a t-shirt that reads " Incontinence" "Tachyarrhythmia" "Enlarged Prostate" and Gastroparesis" among the many ailments printed on it. LOL

Other notable purchases include 6 drinking glasses for $1.50; new Gopher T's for Zach for 50 cents each; new MN Wild ties for 'someone' who wears a tie to work; 10 felt Grad hats for Sophie's preschool Graduation this week- 25 cents; a bagful of Lemony Snicket books for Nate and cute cozy knit shorts,rompers, t's, and a Spiderman costume for Max all for $3.00. All in all I spent $20 and a whole day with good company and a lot of laughs. I'm glad I did that instead of waiting for The Rapture that was predicted to happen today. Well worth it!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

The Fashion Police

I was trying to impress 3 year-old girly-girl Sophie by telling her about my friend Katie who has a dairy farm.
Me:"Her name is Katie. She has cows and a barn! One of her mama cows just had twin baby cows! Katie milks her cows and sells the milk! Sometimes they have other animals - they had a baby goat once! Katie has 5 kids! She has 3 girls and 2 boys."
Sophie: ....."Oh!(barely concealing her disgust)... Does she wear overalls?"

This story was published in the Bulletin Board of St. Paul Pioneer Press on May 20, 2011

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And this from my gorgeous daughter Hannah:
Sophie: "Here Hannah, do you want lipstick? It'll make you beautiful."
Me: (Slightly irritated as she is shoving it in my face.) "I'm already beautiful."
Sophie: "No you're not! You need lipstick."
Thanks Sophs! :D

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Happy Mother's Day

Thank you to Bob for making me a mother, my kids for allowing me to mostly enjoy molding them from infants to the amazing adults they are today, and to my wonderful grandkids for making it all worth it!

Whhhaaaatttt??

Hannah (to me): "You're annoying."
Me (to Sophie): " Hannah said you are annoying."
Sophie (insulted): "No I'm not, I'm little and cute!"

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

A Big Fib

Luke showed up at my house with Sophie this morning. He told his dad he "thought he was going to puke a little", so Patrick brought him here instead of school. I'm not saying the kid was lying, but I can spot a Fibber a mile away. I think the thought of his sister going to Grandma's, and him going to school made him want to puke. After a morning of Dance Party on the Wii and some silly putty fun, I told him it was nap time with Sophie and me. "But Grandma, I'm six" he whined. I explained that if you are too sick to go to school, you are too sick to skip a nap. He bought it. When I got up I left my bedroom door cracked open. He got out of bed, slammed the door shut, and went back to sleep. He didn't get up until Sarah came to pick him up. See, sometimes Grandma knows best!