11 Years Ago today

This little bird popped out.  Lucky Mama am I.

Happy Birthday Phoebz.

Partay

Jason started the morning with a 17-mile run in the snow.  His usual running partner and I dug our cars out of the parking lot we both park in.  There should be a gym machine that simulates shoveling snow-muscles hurt on me that I did not know exist.

After that we had some vegan and allergy-free thai food at Spice and then headed to Dun Well Doughnuts for some delicious Vegan donuts.  We spent all of 10 minutes obtaining said doughnuts, and upon exiting Phoebe said: “That store and everyone in it was the definition of Hipster.”  We then spent the entire 15 minute ride home further defining HIPSTER.

Jason got some nice cards, including a homemade one from my parents which was pretty cute.  My gift did not arrive in time, but it will be good I think.  Pickle clapped on her own for the first time on her Dad’s 40th birthday, and even gave him a birthday kiss little sweetie.  She loves her Daddy.

We had Snowmagedden this past weekend.  I worried that the snow would deter my guests from coming for the surprise.

Come trudge through the snow and then we’ll warm you up with some ice cream!  Thankfully our nearest and dearest did make it and made the surprise so amazing!

The ice cream of course speaks for itself.  I had my favorite: Salted Caramel…but I should have gone back for seconds–cookie monster and chocolate are OH SO GOOD. If you are ever in NYC, you must visit Malu.  Our Resident, 40-year-old Vegan had a little sorbet.  Pickle was so lucky–she got to share lots of guest’s  ice cream at the party.

We did it true NYC-style, cramming the people into the small spaces.  Here is a little snapshot of our party.  Be glad he left his hat on, you should have seen his after-the-nap hair.

When he’s 50 we will still have a little Phoebe hanging around in our Pickle….but I betcha her Dad will have lot more grey hair by then.  We had a great weekend. We are so blessed.

Surprise!

We pulled it off! He truly had no idea up until he walked in the door to his surprise 40th birthday party!
Scene:
Leaving the apartment to walk to dinner, Kristy: Hey, on the way to the restaurant we just need to stop by the ice cream store to get a special Vegan Cake I had them make you.
Girls: Ooh! Can we run ahead? (girls run ahead and enter the store)
Jason approaches the door and sees a sign: PRIVATE PARTY 5-7, he hesitates going in….Kristy urges him on…the door opens and:
SURPRISE!
It was crowded. A LOT of people showed up for the surprise part! There was ice cream, guest-booking, a little dancing, great beats from all 4 decades and of course, a photobooth!  Our best snaps:
Sheesh I’ve been blessed to be a part of 16ish years of it!

Happy Birthday to my favorite old guy. ; )

10!

The morning began with chocolate chip pancakes (like most mornings, only I made sure I made them fresh on her birthday morning) and opening presents.  The big hit in the presents department was a bag embroidered with Phoebe’s name, full of yarn from her Grammy.  She was also particularly thrilled with all the cash gifts! (Thank you Aunt L, Great-Grandparents on both sides, Grandpa Lou & Gma Janet)

That day she had a community service concert.  She was playing a Hoedown, so I thought it might be fun if she had a Taylor Swift-inspired outfit in the Country Spirit.  I was inspired by TS’s wardrobe at the Grammy’s, and came up with this for her (thank you zara & Minnetonka):

Carrie thinks I should tea-stain the entire ensemble, but that’s probably not going to happen…I see her point though.

The original after school plan was to get a sitter for Lolly and take her to the Lion Brand Studio to pick out some yarn for her next project, but since she got some in the morning (and some cash of her OWN), we just went shopping with her spending money.  She chose to go to Toys R Us in Times Square in search of an animal jam something or other that we never quite found, then headed to the Disney Store and M & M World.  She always wants to go to these stores, so I figured her birthday was a good excuse.

Despite my heavy, aching, pregnant feet, I powered through and enjoyed the time spent with my oldest girl.  She chose to buy a Tangled Nightgown, Barbie’s a Mermaid Tale 2 DVD, and some nail polish in pinkly fresh (oh yeah, I snuck in a stop at MAC).  I made a new family rule during our adventures: Whenever you come across a photobooth, you must take some photos!  Phoebe had the best idea, to pretend the m & m’s were falling on us for the 3rd photo. Brilliant.

After her birthday dinner (spaghetti with meat sauce that her friend’s mom always makes (meat, barilla, Worcester, garlic), strawberries, orange peppers and green beans), we had ice cream cake from our favorite ice cream store.  I told her she could choose to have her cake on her birthday OR at her party, she decided we would use it for both, so it will have a few chunks taken out of it for her party. She also passed on candles until the party, to make it look nice…so she pretended to blow some out (not a first for us, I often FORGET candles).

Aside from a few Lolly meltdown moments (inevitable), it really was a great day with my 10-year-old daughter.    Love her.

6 Years

Though I have been mothering for 9 years now, 6 years with this little one has been the real test.

All this, every single day:

No joke, this is just a taste of life with Lolly.  Imagine all we have experienced together since 2005.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Birth

Phantom

We gave Phoebe the choice of having a party or doing something special for her birthday.  After talking it over for a few weeks, she finally decided that she wanted to see Phantom of the Opera.

We took a few photos out in front so that we would always remember it was her 9th birthday that we went to see it.  Though Lolly knew absolutely nothing about the musical she was about to see, she apparently had some sort of idea in her head, as evidenced in the photos below:

Before it began, Phoebe told me that she isn’t a big fan of lots of vibrato.  I told her that maybe we should just leave now before it starts…she ended up loving it though, despite all that vibrato.

Whenever we see a show, I try to tug on a few of my connections to see if I can add that special factor to the experience.  I was thrilled to find out that the current Phantom is a colleague of mine from several years ago.  Unfortunately I lost the keys to my filing cabinet which contained his contact information, so I went through a friend of a friend to get our backstage tour.

Lucky for us, we were still in the theatre when he descended after cleaning up.  Hugh Panaro is as talented as he is gracious, and it was so wonderful to see him.  We also bumped into the actors who played Raul and Christine.  I was so glad I insisted on lugging my big camera to capture the backstage moments.

Not only did we meet the actors, but the girls got up close and personal with the chandelier, the Phantom’s organ, the costumes (gorgeous!) and I think the girls snuck a peek at the wig room too.  It was fascinating to see some of the lighting instruments that are out of date now, 23 year-old technology still in use! And the remote control for the Phantom’s boat is humongous…it’s like an atari, never been replaced since 1988.

I feel quite out of the loop when it comes to theatre these days.  I used to feel a bit melancholy when I went to the theatre, as I can relate to the job of the actors and I used to ache to be on stage with them!  It is not so raw anymore, and I enjoy the theatre much more.  I have to say though, when my very discerning Lolly leaned over to me and whispered: “Mom, you’re better than Christine,” it made me smile.  And later our new friend Mary, who gave us the tour, messaged me: “Raul wants to know, were you in A New Brain in DC?”….that also stroked my ego a bit…for better or worse, someone remembered MY performance from almost a decade ago!  Maybe the theatre is alive for me yet…

Sam

Happy 22nd Birthday to my Baby Brother. I spent a lot of time with this blonde kid, I can still smell him and feel his sweaty little body on my lap. I was 9 when he was born, and he still is my baby.

5

Lolly always keeps us on our toes, and insisting that the theme for her birthday be a “Snow-Dog Party” is no exception.

I wasn’t sure where to begin, especially when Lolly gave me no hint as to what a Snow-Dog Party actually meant.  Over Easter, Lolly got her face painted at our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, and a few days later, I thought….hmmm…maybe the face painter can transform these little girls’ faces into snowdogs!

Next it was time to tackle the decor, which involved making cut-out snowflakes and hanging them from the light fixtures. We added a few strands of white crepe paper and some lace paper for a photobooth….done.

Lolly requested red velvet cupcakes which I managed to make the night before…they tasted pretty yummy. And then hotdogs was a revelation! Snowdog, Hotdog…whatever. It was easy to find snow stuff and dog stuff, just not snowdog stuff.

I bought dog noses and headband dog ears and completely forgot to incorporate them into the party…and I would have forgotten to give the girls their doggie goodie bags had one of them not said upon exiting: What about our goodie bags? Ha! I was so grateful she said that…so I gave them their goodie bags, noses and headbands as they were leaving.

Ridiculous.

Oh, and nobody chose DOG facepaint…they were all mardi-gras princesses….Lolly called herself a Snow Peacock.

Lolly showed me that when she did this and this, she could feel her face paint.

The playlist included:

Let it Snow! (by several different artists)
Snowfall
Snow
Snowman
Suzy Snowflake
The First Snowfall
Frosty the Snowman
Puppy Love
Scooby Doo
Sleigh Embarking (closest combination of snow and dog….)

The party was great! I am tired…Jason cleaned it ALL up because I had to jet to a rehearsal. Thank you honey.

31

It’s here.

The day of my birth 31 years ago.

I sort of already celebrated at the end of March with my trip to Philly.

But I’m never one to let a birthday celebration slip by, so yesterday I got a pedicure. I’m not really a pedicure person, but suddenly it seemed like the only thing to do. Like, ONLY. I picked an easter purply pink and it was perfection.

Then a newish friend of mine invited me to an impromptu birthday lunch which was just so delightful and the second, ONLY thing to do.

I came home to find beautiful and perfect gifts in the mail and a little stack of delights that I opened this morning from my loves.

31, not too shabby, except for the giant boil that now resides on my chin. only me.