Jack Turns 8

My baby turned 8 years old... yikes!  Jack is such a sweet boy and we love him a lot!

He had a fun party with some of his friends on Saturday.  I threw it together in the few days before, but it turned out really fun, and it was pretty easy.

Jack's past party themes have been Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Carnival, and Army.  For a theme this year we decided on "Every Holiday of the Year."  I don't know if this has been done before, but it was really fun.

As the boys were arriving they sat down and made Valentine's for each of their family members.... they fought over the "Star Wars" themed ones.

Then I dressed up in my leprechaun hat, put green shamrocks on each of the boys (so they wouldn't get pinched), and we played "Lucky Leprechaun Says" (Simon Says), and then ate green jello.  Meanwhile, Jay was hiding Easter eggs in the backyard.

So, of course, the Easter Egg Hunt was next (are you following this?) which the boys loved, of course.  They were quite please with the hilarious marshmallow chicks (not Peeps, but cute dressed-up chicks with faces from Dollar Tree) they found inside some of them (the rest had boring jelly beans).

After that they each got a patriotic boat hat and an American Flag and I made them sing "God Bless America" for me.  Then they got to "explode" a bunch of party poppers, which was a huge hit with this group of 8-year-old boys, naturally. 

Then I pulled out our "dress up box" and they dressed up for Halloween.  We had six stations around the backyard where they could go trick-or-treating, but we made them do "tricks" at each one before they got candy.  Most of the tricks were pretty silly (karate chops, kicks, cape twirls, head banging), but I saw several impressive cartwheels.

For Thanksgiving we had a "Turkey Hunt".... they shot paper turkeys with the Nerf guns.  I couldn't think of anything else (eat a lot?  watch a football game?), but the boys thought it was great. 

Naturally, Christmas meant it was time for Jack to open the gifts from his friends, but I also had a bunch of wrapped dollar store gifts so each of the boys go to unwrap one too.

Finally, we brought out the party hats, blowers, noisemakers, tinsel confetti, and (birthday) cake & ice cream to celebrate New Year's Eve.  (Jack could NOT decide on chocolate or vanilla cake/frosting, so I ended up making half-and-half.  It turned out pretty good.... all from scratch.) 

For "loot bags" I was really cheap and pulled out my stash of Godiva Chocolates gift bags (from the many times Jay has purchased them for me over the years) that I have been saving for some strange reason (now I know why) and it was perfect.  :)

Anyway, it was a really fun party and it was pretty easy.  Fortunately, the timing was great because my local Dollar Tree has stuff for Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day AND Easter right now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!  It's a big year for him... he gets to join Cub Scouts and will be baptized as a member of our church.  We are very proud of him.

Jay's Birthday

Yesterday was Jay's birthday.  We celebrated on Saturday by going to dinner and then to see I Am Number Four.  (Jay's choice..... go here to read what I thought of it.)  This is what he wanted me to make for his birthday cake.... a recipe from an advertisement in a magazine!  Oh brother. 

Actually, it turned out pretty good.

That was Saturday.

Yesterday (Sunday, his actual birthday) I made him his favorite breakfast, Eggs Benedict.  And for dinner, his favorite meal....
- Rib Eye steak, rubbed with butter and seasonings
- Red potatoes, boiled and buttered, with garlic salt and parlsey
- Salad of red leaf lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, croutons and Creamy Garlic Vinaigrette

I made him another cake, which we took to his parents' house to share with the rest of his family.  I made this Strawberry Cake (adapted from Paula Deen)....

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 (3 oz.) box strawberry instant jello
• 1 (16 oz.) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup water

Combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into 2 round cake pans (prepared), and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

I layered the cake with this filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 large box banana cream pudding
2 c. milk

Beat cream cheese; add pudding and milk and beat until smooth and thick.  Spread half of mixture on top of first layer of cake.  Add second cake layer and top with remaining pudding mixture.  Frost the whole thing with 8 oz. Cool Whip, and top with fresh strawberries.

It was yummy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY!

Want to see what I gave him?  Go here and here.  He loves them both.  I think I did pretty good this year.

Valentine's Day

Even though I always tell Jay that he shouldn't let a commercial holiday that requires an annual expression of love to your spouse force him to buy me roses and chocolate, he does it anyway.  And who's complaining?

He gets me Godiva chocolates.  He selects all my favorites.  Heaven in a box. 

He also took me to dinner at Zinc Bistro.  Heaven on a plate!  It's too bad I didn't have my camera with me because the food was a gorgeous as it was delicious.  We shared an appetizer of crab and mushroom crepes with lobster sauce.  Oh my.  Our entrees were a crab and truffle omelette with straw potatoes, and scallops with risotto.  Both were amazing!  We were full, but we couldn't resist ordering the chocolate souffle, which was incredibly rich and decadent.  Too much so.  We didn't finish, of course.

Jay is very romantic and thoughtful.  And kind, and handy, and funny, and handsome, and a great dad.  And the very best husband in the world.  I'm one very lucky gal.

The Perfect Ending to a Nice Mother's Day

Mother's Day was very nice. Jay made me a delicious breakfast, the kids sang a beautiful Mother's Day song at church, Jay cleaned my messy kitchen and gave me tulips and Godiva chocolates (heaven!), and my parents came to our house for dinner and we had a lovely time visiting.

[And then the Suns eliminated the Spurs in a 4 game sweep! Sweet! What more could I ask for? :) ]

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I love being a mother. Best job EVER! I also happen to have the best kids, and the best husband ever, so... yeah... I'm pretty lucky. :)

Happy New Year!

Happy new year! Funny, but we did almost an exact repeat of our New Year's Eve last year..... the kids spent the night at with their cousins, Jay and I had dinner at Carrabba's and sat at the counter (so fun!), and then we went to a movie, which was pretty much the only thing different; last time we saw "Valkyrie" and this time we saw "Sherlock Holmes." Good food, great movie, my favorite dinner companion.... it doesn't get any better than that!

'Twas the Day After Christmas

On Christmas Eve we went to Jay's parents' house for dinner with his family and a visit from Santa. The food was great, and my in-laws brought back lots of fun stuff from their recent trip.

Then we made a stop at my parents' house, where my youngest brother, who spent two years in Germany as a missionary, taught us some German traditions, including looking for the "Christkind" and singing "O Tannebaum" and "Stille Nacht" in German. (To German speakers we probably would have just sounded like we were mumbling.)

Christmas day was fun and crazy. Jay finally woke the kids up at 7:00 because we couldn't wait any longer. Of all days, this was the one day in the whole year they decided to "sleep in."

After opening gifts, we went to my parents' house for a delicious breakfast of my dad's omelets, pancakes, and bacon, and lots of visiting. And my brother gave me a beginning lesson in using my Christmas present.....
Then we spent the rest of the day playing with our toys.... I took about a thousand photos. It's so much fun! (But I have a LOT to learn!)

My awesome parents....Mary at Grandma's house...
I tried to take a photo of Jay with his present from me.... a Fender Guitar (and lessons)... but this was all I got.Jack wearing the "Yoda" hat that Mary made for him. You can't tell from this photo, but he loves it. Then we played some basketball.
Today the house is still a wreck, but what the heck. I went running with my new iPod Shuffle that the kids got me (with their own money, they were sure to let me know). Hooray! It was really frustrating taking along my old classic iPod that seemed so small when I got it several years ago but now seems gigantic. Funny how that happens.