Grace Like Rain

Sunday, June 7, 2009

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 ...

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.

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.

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?

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.

Stunning Stella and her Fetching Friends

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.

My Biggest Fan

I love her so much!!!

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.

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.

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!

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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?

Do you see what I see?

Yep, it's the first daylily blossom of the season. I am overjoyed by this little fellow.

And it looks like we'll have new daylilys tomorrow. There are two bright orange buds on this one. The flower in this bottom picture is one of the late-comer daffodils. I probably have 20 daffodils in bloom right now.

And look at home many buds are on this one plant! I mean it is just overloaded! All the Stella D'Oro daylilys are just bursting with buds like this one. A half-dozen other varieties are budding out right now too.

The daylilys must be loving all the rain we have been getting. (And ... in case you were wondering ... we're supposed to get more rain later tonight ... and tomorrow ... and maybe NOT on Sunday.)

April Showers et al

April Showers Bring May Flowers.

Something about this classic saying is not working right this year - at least, not in Oklahoma. We had a dry April, but a very wet and rainy May. Someone told me the other day that we had 16 out of 17 days of rain. I don't know about anyone else, but this rain is really wearing me out.

Mother's Day

We had a really nice Mother's Day last weekend. I'd already gotten my presents - my red garden wagon, wind chime, and topsy turvy tomato planter ... along with lots of plants. We went to lunch at Outback Steakhouse with the fam. The food was yummy and we had a good time visiting. We missed Pops though. He was home sick.

After lunch, we went home and took a nap and I'm pretty sure it rained. (See note above.)

Emily probably told me "Happy Mother's Day" 50 times that day and at least once or twice every day since then. She's just the sweetest little girl. I'm soooooooo lucky to have her and I love all her sweet hugs and kisses every day.

All good things must come to an end

Tomorrow is Emily's last day of pre-school this year. They will be having a pizza party. I know she will miss seeing her friends. Her teachers made a book of some of her artwork and papers that she did throughout the year. The book turned out really cute. I'll have to take pictures of some of the pages so that you can see what all she's done.

I hate to admit it, but ...

I hate to admit it, but Emily and I went to see the Hannah Montana movie at the theater a few weeks ago with Nanny, Madison, and Aunt Cherry. I thought it was going to be a bunch of young girls screaming, but I didn't actually hear any screaming or anything. We actually had a pretty good time ... even though it was Hannah Montana. Sad to say, but Emily knows the whole HM theme song and she knows the name of all the characters. Sad ... but true.

Beauty, if only for a day

All of my Stella D'Oro daylilys are full of buds. A few of them will be blooming within the next day or two. I can hardly wait! A few of the other daylily varieties have buds on them too, but none are close to blooming like the Stellas. I am looking forward to documenting my flower garden in pictures this year.

Daffy Daffs

The belated daffodils are still blooming. It's been nice to have such a long season of beautiful sunny yellow blossoms.

Thumping Thieves

Someone or something has been stealing some of the flowers out of my flowerbeds. I mean the whole plants ... just gone. Nowhere to be found. I'm pretty sure it's the bunnies that live under the shed. I just can't figure out why they are not eating the strawberries this year. Maybe they are waiting for the strawberries to ripen!

A Bowl of Fun - Saturday - June 6, 2009
Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details ...

Silly Goose

I think this picture needs a name ... what would you call it?? Leave a comment and let me know.

Sweetly Springy

Since I've been away (read: lazy and tired) for a few days, I thought I would post some Easter/spring/4-year-old pictures for your viewing pleasure.

I also wanted to mention that Kim had her baby on Wednesday morning. Brynlee weighed 4lbs, 12oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are still in the hospital but doing well. Congratulations to Kim and Duane on their beautiful new addition.