6 1/4 Celebration

Madigan turned 6 in October. We had her family/friends party then and it was great. However, we were not able to get our acts together to have her school party until this past weekend. She wanted to celebrate at her gymnastics place which was great news for me because it is very easy and we've gone to about 1,000 parties there already so most of the girls already know the drill!

These were the party favors:

I got T-shirts and fabric paint to decorate any way the girls liked. I also threw in a ring pop!

These are my helpers:

They really did not help. They played with the bag ties and sat on everything!

Madigan is obsessed with polar bears so her cake reflected that:

The best part of her party was the Bungie. Only the birthday

girl gets to go on and Madigan's face said it all!

I am so glad The Birthday is finally over!

Minivan + Snowy Road = AAA

So last night, my sister in law and I decided to take the girls ice skating at our town park. There is an area behind the town pool that they flood for the winter months for outdoor skating. My sister in law decided to take the road less traveled to reach said skating area. We slowly drove down the darkened, tree lined path and arrived at the part that was not plowed off. Sister in law decided to back up to turn around. She almost took out a couple trees before getting stuck in the snow. We then took turns trying to push the car out. I am a big girl but not a strong girl. Our efforts were futile until I started rocking the minivan back and forth and Presto: minivan freed! She then decided to pull forward again to "turn around" Bad idea I said and Yes my friends, the Sienna got stuck again. This time for good. The college aged boys who finished playing Heineken Hockey came off the ice to try and help us but nothing could be done. They took off before our fine police force could arrive to assess the situation. Once the two "girl cops" as our girls referred to them arrived and had a peek, we were permanently stuck. It took a flat bed tow truck to get the Sienna back on 4 wheels and flat footing.

We passed the time waiting for AAA to show up by attempting to skate. It was dark, cold and there are no "warming houses" on site. Things were great until 2 people who were walking their dogs came by. The dogs were thrilled to see our bag of hats and mittens. They don't call them Labrador Retrievers for nothing! Boots the Black Lab made off with two hats, a Croc and ear muffs! Seamus the mut grabbed a scarf and they were off and galloping throught the snow! Madigan loves dogs so she thought it was hysterical until she went to put her drooly frozen hat on. Avery my 3 year old niece was freaking out about the dogs even being there. And poor Lara, my 9 year old niece was just bummed out that she left her hockey stick in the minivan on the back of the tow truck!

Lesson learned: Next time we decide to go ice skating, we will either take my SUV or go to our friend's house who just built a high class skating rink in their yard!

Bad, Bad Blogger

Wow, I am coming to realize that I am a much better reader than I am a blogger! I thought I would be better at posting this year, but that does not seem to be happening! I will make a conscious effort to come up with more for you (singular?) to read!

We had a nice weekend. Friday night was LNO (ladies night out) with the preschool moms. A bunch of us still get together quite frequently even though the kids have been out of preschool for almost two years and have gone their separate ways into different schools. It is held at someone's house and we eat, drink and gab. We did a White Elephant Swap that was very funny. I got stuck with a book on the benefits of cocoa oil! I brought a frog soap on a rope!

Saturday, our family went to visit a new cousin, Sebastian August, who was born on December 18th. He is a little handsome peanut with lots and lots of dark hair. Madigan is not impressed by babies. She was more interested in wearing everyone's high heeled shoes. Lots of great Egyptian food and good company.

Sunday was spent enjoying the snow. Madigan and her cousins frolicked outside for the whole afternoon tunneling through all the snow in the back yard. I have been watching 30 Rock on Netflix so I spent the afternoon wiping the tears of laughter off my face! We then watched the red carpet for the Golden Globes but not the ceremony. Our primetime was for Jack Bauer and he did not disappoint! Two hours last night and another two hours tonight. It is like Christmas all over again!

Welcome 2009

I remember the New Years Eves of old. We would go to a party, get all dressed up and get all messed up. Now we are old, tired and too comfortable in our pj's to go anywhere. This year, we had a few friends come by. We ate, had a cocktail or two and made s'mores! the kids had a great time making their own. In fact, I am a little worried about how jubilant Madigan looks with the fire in front of her!

After s'mores, we played a great round of BINGO with prizes courtesy of the Christmas Tree Shop! There were some tears from the non winners but all were assured that they would eventually win even if the last ball left in the cage was the B-7 they were waiting on.

Hopefully, 2009 will restore some sense of order that 2008 shook up. May your New Year be healthy and happy!