Party Like You're Four!

After Emily's party on Saturday, we loaded up and headed out to our house with some of our family.

We got out the Power Wheels and rode around for a while.

We played on the swing set.

We ate some sand.

We ate some sloppy joes, baked beans, chips and dip, fruit, cookies, cake and more! Mike's Mom and Dad came over to hang out with us for a while. His mom brought a lot of goodies for us and even made some chocolate dipped strawberries. Yum! Thank you SO much, Wanda!

We flew kites.

We tossed around the football.

We visited.

And we just hung out!

And that's just what we did on Saturday. What did we do on Sunday? Well, you'll have to check back tomorrow to find out.

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Emily's 4th Birthday Party

On Saturday, we had Emily's 4th Birthday Party at a local bowling alley.

We had pizza and coke for lunch (I'm from Arkansas .. it's coke no matter what variety it might be. In Oklahoma, they're more likely to call it pop but it will always be coke to me.)

And after lunch we had the cake that Emily picked out. She said she wanted butterflies and flowers and a rainbow on her cake. I asked for "extra puffy" clouds on each end of the rainbow. Maybe a bit of an ulterior motive there because I love Love LOVE the buttercream frosting. We got the cake from Johnnies Bakery in case you're local and wondering. We have used them several times and they have always done a great job for us.

We also got a couple dozen sugar cookies with royal icing. I think I am more pleased with the way this batch of cookies looked than in years past. I like the colors and the unique pattern on each cookie.

Fortunately/unfortunately, the leftover cake and cookies came to our house. I was able to send quite a bit of it home with my out-of-town family though. That's a good thing because I nearly made myself sick on that yummy icing this afternoon.

All the kids and several of the adults played a few games of bowling while we were there. Emily and her friends had a good time bowling. Some of them used a ramp to roll the ball down the lane. Some of them rolled it down. Mason especially liked the bowling and didn't want to stop.

I'm not sure who won all the games, but I heard that Cornelia won one game and Daniel won one.

Heather, Stephen and Cornelia waiting for a turn.

Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" and Emily blew out her candles ... with a little help from Tyler.

Then Emily opened her presents. She got a lot of Barbie toys and clothes and accessories. She also got some coloring/fingerpainting/chalking stuff which she really enjoys. She has wanted to fingerpaint every day so far. She also got some roller skates and a Barbie bicycle and helmet and much more! Her Pops (Mike's Dad) told us today that he put her bike together so she'll be ready to ride tomorrow. The bicycle will probably stay over at Mike's parents so that she can ride it when she's over there with Madison. This will be my first experience teaching a little girl how to ride a bike. Do you have any advice that will help us get started?

Unfortunately, I didn't get to take many pictures with my camera at the party. Mike helped me out and took some pictures for me. I know that a lot of other people took pictures at the party so maybe they will send me some more.

After the party, we headed back out to our house with my Mom, Daniel and Cornelia and the boys, Heather and Stephen to play/rest and hang out. We had lots of fun activities for the kids and "kids at heart."

But more on that later ...

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My Sweet Emily

Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet Emily!

Emily,

I can't believe you are four years old today. You are just getting so big and so smart! It seems like just yesterday that your dad and I were bringing you home from the hospital. You were so tiny (5 lbs, 6 oz), but so strong and so feisty! Now you've grown into a beautiful little girl who is sweet and loving and very inquisitive. I love being your Mama! And I love you.

Love Always,

Mama

Birthday Party #1

Tonight after work, we went out to eat at Toby Keith's I Love this Bar and Grill for Emily's birthday. We brought some strawberry cupcakes with pink icing that Emily and I made the other night. They were soooooo good, but sooooo sweet. Somehow, I managed to not get a picture of them but they had swirly icing on top. (If anybody has more pictures from tonight that include the cupcakes, please email them to me and I'll post them on my blog.)

Emily is really getting into Barbie now so she got a couple Barbie toys. She's going to love playing with these! I remember having a Barbie horse or two when I was a girl ... but I also remember that one of my Barbie horses was missing a foot. No telling how that happened. Things always seemed to happen to Barbie and her friends.

Emily's "big" birthday party is Saturday afternoon at the bowling alley. Until then .. here are some pictures from tonight.

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Up!

This weekend, we went to see Up! at the theater with Nanny, Aunt Cherry, Madison and Mason. We got there a bit late and so we had to sit in the first and second row. As usual, Emily did really good in the theater. She was quiet and (mostly) stayed in her seat.


I thought the movie was okay, but not great. Mike seemed bored. Emily seemed to like it. And Madison said it was "a little scary."


Our local theater is having a "Summer Kids Series" this summer where they show different kids movies each week at a discounted price. If you're local (in the Oklahoma City area), you can check out this link to get more information. This week they are playing "Happy Feet."


And just because I can't stand it ... here's one more picture of one of my hibiscus flowers that bloomed today.

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What am I?

• I am originally from China.

• I am a happy spring bloomer.

• I am highly fragrant.

• I have gorgeous white flowers.

• I like lots of moisture and high humidity.

What am I?

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We ate at Babe's

While we were in Dallas last weekend, we ate at a restaurant called Babe's. Their meals are served family style .. all you can eat sides ... mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, buttery corn, and fresh biscuits with honey and molasses.

All the waiters/waitresses sang and danced to the Hokey Pokey song. They even did some verses that I was not familiar with. I guess they do this song and dance thing quite often though. Personally, I didn't think the waiters/waitresses were very enthusiastic. Their dance left a lot to be desired ... not that I am complaing.

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Stunning Stella and her Fetching Friends

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Happy Birthday, Tyler!

This past weekend, Emily and I went down to Dallas for my nephew Tyler's 4th birthday party.


Party in Pictures ...

And a little video for your viewing pleasure ... Tyler playing with one of his birthday presents.

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My Biggest Fan

I love her so much!!!

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Down the Slippery Slope

Since I am off work the rest of the week, Emily and I decided to go to the park this morning. Emily is a pretty good little negotiator and she asked for a guaranteed 12 minutes of play time. But we actually stayed way longer than that.

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Finders Keepers

When someone leaves stuff laying out in my yard, I automatically fill it with flowers. I wonder if someone will come looking for their boot? Hmmmm ...

I sure hope not because I won't have a place to put my hibiscus and my mandevilla and my other little plant. And it looks really nice next to my red garden wagon.

And speaking of the wagon, I finally got some plants to go in it. I went with a red theme ... red caladiums and some other kind of red "star flower" along with a bit of snake plant and a couple other things.

I think the wagon turned out really cute. I just hope I can keep the pots watered well this summer. They are a bit on the small side so I think they'll take daily watering to stay alive.

I also found this little plant in the discount bin at the garden center this weekend. I call it the squiggly plant. Any idea what variety this might be?

And one parting shot ... one of my favorites ... Wave petunias spilling out of a hanging basket. And they smell so sweet? Don't believe me? Wish I could put them on smellovision for you all.

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A Check, A Check, A Big Fat Check!

I got my Big Fat Check from Ebates in the a mail today. Woo! I was so excited to open it and see how much money I got back. It was over $50!!!! Mama's gonna have her a little shopping spree!

Do you want your own Big Fat Check? Click this link: Ebates.com and get on your way to earning your own Big Fat Check.

Don't know about Ebates? It's a program where you get 3% -25% cash back for shopping online at all your favorite stores - Dillards, Gardeners Supply, Barnes 'n Nobles, Bath & Body Works, Walgreens and even eBay! You can also get access to discounts and coupon codes using Ebates. You don't actually purchase items at Ebates.com ... you just have to click through Ebates to get to your favorite store. Ebate tracks your purchase through your favorite retailer and send you a Big Fat Check.

Have you ever used Ebates? Tell us about your experience.

Sign up now!

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Wet Weekend and Who's Dancing Their Way Home

Last week, I predicted that we would have - yet - another - wet weekend. So did it happen?

No! We had no rain on Saturday or Sunday. We got out a did some Garden Center shopping both days. I didn't take any pictures yet, but I will try to do that later this week. We got some really neat and interesting things. And the daylilys are just blooming more and more every day.


Who's Dancing Their Way Home

My sweet mother-in-law gave me this week's Dancing With the Stars spoiler. If you don't want to know, then don't continue reading. Anyway ... apparently, the TV Guide on some cable providers indicates that the finalists are Shawn Johnson and Gilles Marini. That means my personal favorite - Melissa is dancing her way home.

So what do you think? Are Shawn Johnson and Gilles the best dancers of DWTS Season 8?

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