Happy Birthday Panda!!!

Friday was Panda's 8th birthday!!!

Happy 8th Birthday Panda!!!!!

We started out the day with our traditional happy birthday song and unfortunately for her, school.
She was really bummed that she was not able to bring cupcakes or cookies to celebrate her birthday. Our school board instituted this asinine policy about not being allowed to bring any treats into school to celebrate the student birthdays. They are all into this healthy lifestyle crap, which totally blows my mind because their lunches are not exactly what I would call nutritious, especially when they serve ice cream and Popsicles. Really, I think the policy totally sucks because they are kids and class birthday parties are a rite of passage. But what do I know.
OK, end of rant.
Sooooo, when the kids came home, I took Panda and the boys to see the movie "Shorts." It was...a kid movie. Not the worst I've seen, but not the best either. The kids liked it, Panda LOVED it and really, that is all that matters. I think they just like to go and eat the popcorn and suck down all that movie candy, if you want my opinion on the matter. (By the way, in the spirit of being transparent, I paid for the movie and the snacks for all of us, with my own money. This is not a paid endorsement of any kind.) I subjected them to a little embarrassment by making them pose for this picture to document for future reference, that YES, we actually do fun things on our birthdays.

They were thrilled-can you tell?
Oh, and here's the trailer for the "Shorts" movie in case you're interested.

After the movie, we rushed home because Panda had been waiting to see "Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie" and did not want to miss it. She had been seeing the previews practically the whole summer and missing the movie was not an option.
Here's the trailer in case you're in need of some more kid movie entertainment.

Panda wanted to go to TGI Friday's for dinner, but since she did not want to miss her movie, I ordered it and brought it home for the birthday girl. She was ecstatic! Mainly because she got to watch two movies in one night.
Just saying.
After the movie, it was cake time. She had picked out her cake last week, when we went to Target to pick up Mini Me's cake and was all about the chocolate.
Sigh.
There is no denying that the child is mine. She loves chocolate too much.
Panda's first words when she saw the cake were, "They spelled my name right!"
Yeah.
After misspelling "Grandpaw" last week, this time I checked before leaving that her name was correct.
Panda's chocolaty cake of goodness was really yummy and everyone but Mini Me sucked down a piece. He doesn't like "chocolate" and well, he was out of luck. And really, the kid eats Oreos, brownies and chocolate cake with white frosting, but doesn't like chocolate. Yeah. Go figure that one out.

Panda wanted an MP3 player for her birthday. And remember those shoes I mentioned awhile back in Justice that she just had to have?
Yeah-well, I broke down. And they weren't $30, they were $36. It's her birthday. What can I say? I'm a sucker for my cute little girl. And they were way cute. Black hightops with hot pink and those funky 80's neon colors splattered on the black, with silver peace signs. When you fold them down, they are purple. Very freaking cute, I might add.
Like?
I actually bought them two weeks ago and made her wait until the first day of school to wear them. I didn't have the heart to make her wait another five days until her birthday.
Sigh.
I am such a softy. Or a sucker. Whatever. I'm the mommy damn it!
All-in-all, Panda's birthday was way fun and she was really happy with her day. And like I have said before, THAT is what it is all about.
Happy Birthday Pandabears!

Happy 7th Birthday Mini Me!

Friday was Mini Me's 7th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mini Me! I cannot believe he is 7 already. He was just a little munchkin, clinging to me and growling at everyone who tried to talk to him. My how he has changed! Now, the clinging munchkin is still a cling on, but in a good way-he is actually Mr. Loveypants and he is way more social. Like never stops talking social and well, that is why I call him Mr. Chattypants. :)

Mike has been working crazy hours, so the kids and I went to Mini Me's favorite place for his birthday breakfast-Yep, the blue house. Also known as...IHOP. Not my favorite place, but not my day. He had a blast and I took a great picture of him with the Monkeyboy doing that brother thing. They are so cute! Mini Me almost had a major snag in the birthday breakfast festivities when he left his Nintendo DS in the restaurant and didn't realize it until we pulled into the driveway. I about had a heart attack, drove back and our waitress, Melanie, was a total sweetheart and had left it at the register in case we came back. Mini Me was freaking. Yeah. He knows the rules, DS stays home, but he was so excited about his new Harry Potter game that he brought it with him. And I think he learned his lesson.

After we retrieved the DS, we had to go to Panda and Mini Me's school to find their new classrooms and meet their teachers. Had a slight snafu with the whole teacher thing, but thanks to MrsFirstGradeTeacher, she helped resolve the issue. Did I mention that MrsFirstGradeTeacher rawks? Oh, and that I love her and am so grateful for all she has done for my kids? Just sayin'.

So, after our school stop, Panda and I went to Target to pick up a little cake for Mini Me's birthday, because like the overwhelmed and overworked mommy that I am, I totally forget to order his GI Joe cake ahead of time. BUT, even though I messed up, I so lucked out and found the only GI Joe cake in the bakery and snatched that bad boy up! His cake was really cool and he loved it.

(Take #2 of the Happy Birthday song-without the tears.)

The kids and I went to see the GI Joe movie and all I can say is that it was awesome! I would pay again, full price, to see that movie. And Channing Tatum...all I can say is that is one majorly hawt specimen of awesomeness! Kids totally loved the movie and want to go and see it again. And seriously, cannot blame them. And just to be transparent, I paid for all the tickets and the snacks, so my thoughts on the movie are not "paid" for in any way. Just sayin'.








After our movie, we headed to my mom and dad's house for pizza, cake and some present opening. My Dad's birthday was earlier this month, so we brought a little cake just for him. Funny thing was, we didn't realize that the girl in the Target bakery had spelled Grandpa as "Grandpaw". Yep-Panda found that mistake. I guess spelling is not her forte, huh?
The birthday boy, well he only cried one time-when we were singing happy birthday. His siblings were teasing him about birthday spanks and he freaked out crying while we were singing. Yep. Just another day in the neighborhood my friends.
The best part of the whole day was when Mini Me happily exclaimed that this was "the best birthday ever!" And really, that is what it is all about.

Happy 7th Birthday Mini Me!

Here's the trailer if you wanna check out Channing Tatum and the GI Joe movie trailer. Sigh. The movie...the man...excellent!

G.I. JOE trailer in HD

11 Days and Counting

School starts in exactly 11 days and I have been running around school clothes and school supply shopping and I am pretty freakin' exhausted. In addition to school clothes shopping, Panda decided to have a major growth spurt and outgrew every stitch of clothing she owned.
Sigh.
Soooo, I have been uniform shopping and in search of shorts for non-school days. I had the hardest time finding anything decent in the stores until I hit JC Penney's. At that store, I totally kicked some sale booty and found Panda 6 pairs of embroidered jean shorts, and 2 pairs of denim, "fancy" Capri's. Oh and just so you know, shopping with my daughter is exhausting and sometimes requires an after shopping drink to relax once we get home.
All this clothes shopping also spurred on a major cleanup and discard project that has been a serious time stealer. I have been going through every item the kids own and discarding the broken and missing pieces toys. I also created an EBay pile and made the kids try on every piece of clothing they own, plus the ones in storage. Yeppers, very efficient I am.
Actually, I am tired of the clutter and dumping everything. Today, I finished the playroom and that is major. It looks like a whole new room and....there are no toys left in it. Now, it only has the video games, my desk and my scrapbooking stuff. Hence, it is now MY cave.
And I am so excited to have my own space. Well, mostly mine.
So for those of you wondering where I had drifted off to, I have been shopping and cleaning. Extremely unexciting, stressful and much needed. Hopefully, I will be finished by the end of next week, so I too can get back to my normal routine and posting schedule.
Thanks for your patience-it is much appreciated!