so much to catch up on...and a puzzle to solve

#1

 Disney on Ice, Ice Baby. 

It was awesome. 

This Uncle Austy is any 3 year olds dream come true.

He g-chatted me one day & said Buzz Lightyear & the rest of Disney would be in town,

& he wanted to take Avy.

He ended up taking the whole Tatwood family.

What a dude of an uncle.

Anyone who knows this little red should have some inkling that she has been obsessed with Toy Story for several months.

Anywho, her face was priceless when the Gang came out.

Thanks Austy!

#2

Avy finished her ballet/tap class with a bang.

This class went much better than the one she took when she was barely 2.

I was worried.  I was concerned that my own daughter, my own flesh & blood had no love for the performing arts.

But this time around she proved me wrong.

She's a rockstar.

I know EVERY mom says this, but by far she was one of the best ones in the class.

She does that alligator walk across the floor like it ain't nobody's business.

Her teacher, Ms. Christine, told them to invite a few friends and family to their last class to watch them perform.
On her list were her dad, mom, Linc, Uncle Austy, Auntie Whit-Whit, Kaari & Blakely, & my friend Michelle.
Here's Avy's cheering section:


Blakely came ready just in case someone got stagefright & they needed a back-up:

It was sweet.

#3

Minnie & Mickey Mouse at Santana Row

  Before they appeared on ice, the ol' ears couple spent some time at the Row.

Kaari, Baby B, myself & the Reds went for a quick meet & greet.

Oh, & the kids made a new friend, Donna.

Donna would have taken them home & raised them like her own had I let her.

#4

Exploratorium in SF

Maybe I should have titled this post "Catching up with Kaari & Blakely" because we have sure logged some fun hours with those 2 lil ladies this past week.

It was a rainy, rainy week last week.

The babes & myself were way done with being inside our house.

I. had. to. bust. out.

I decided to trek up to rainy-er SF & play at the Exploratorium.

It was fun.

This guy would have stood at the little house & stared at the train going round & round the track all day if I would have let him.

The kids were free b/c they are under 4, & my ticket was 1/2 off since I'm a Happy Hollow member.

So the trip only cost me $7.50! 

Not bad, right?

Wrong.

We decided to eat at the cafe.

My kids shared a mini pizza & I had to have a hot dog.

the meal cost me almost $14!

Lameski on the cafe.
But yay-ski on the museum.

#5

Hasta la Vista Mista Jeepsta

Sorry to all you potential buyers out there, but it's sold.

That's right.

Gone.

Out of my driveway & out of Tat's life.

But don't mention it to him.

He may cry.

I considered calling the HR team at his office the day he sold it, just to have them check in on him every few hours to see if counseling was necessary.

That was his baby.

He reminded me ALL DAY about the great memories in that bad boy.

If you're feeling kind, don't bring it up to him.

If you're feeling like a good laugh, listen to him list all his good times with the Jeepy.

So long Jeep.  We will miss you.

(but not too badly)

 #6

Did you solve the puzzle?

If not, here's one last clue:

Last week my kiddos & I tossed some cookies,
I mean we tossed some ingredients into a bowl, to make some cookies.

Did all the highlighted words bring something to mind?

I don't know...

maybe something like this:

That's right folks, our little Red #3 is currently adorning our fridge and my body!

Not that you can ever see anything in an ultrasound anyway, but this was taken at 4 weeks, so that's why it's really, really unclear.

Why at 4 weeks?

That's a weirdy story to be documented in a whole other blog post.

Anywho, we are 11 weeks & due in September.

Are we surprised?

Yes?

Sick as a dog?

You know it.

Ready for bed by 7pm?

mmmm-hmmm.

Excited?

Very!!!

In the words of Miley...

...it's a party in the USA.

Or for you old schoolers out in Blogville,

maybe you prefer the likes of this:

I don't wanna work, I just want to bang on the drums all day.

What I'm trying to say is that it's been all play and no work around here the past week and a half.

Party after party after party after party.

Here's the itinerary:

Avy's preschool Valentine's Day Party.

I was the snack mom for this.

I took Big Red to the store & she helped me pick out all things Valentine for the party:

Pink Lemonade

Red strawberries

Pink sprinkle heart cookies

Purple berry rice cakes

So I may or may not have gotten into it a bit with a fellow class mom who didn't agree with me that purple is a Valentine's Day color.

Hear me out.

She's from another country.

A country where heart day is not celebrated.

She told me she's never heard of purple being a V-day color.

I politely educated her on the colors of V-day (red, pink, with purple as an accent).

She continued to tell me she didn't agree with me that purple belongs.

This went on for several minutes.

The conversation ended with me saying,

"Listen, Lady. 

I happen to be the Valentine Queen, and purple does indeed belong with pink & red.

If you're going to continue to challenge me, I will swipe those purple berry rice cakes off your plate so fast you'll never know what hit ya."

Just kidding.

But I was so bugged by the conversation that I continued to poll people the rest of Valentine's week.

And, just as expected...I was right.

The rest of the party ran quite smoothly.

Kids made cute candy jars:

Avy gave Mrs. Vargas her handmade crafty card:

She had me write inside the smaller card attached to the bottom,

"To Mrs. Vargas.  From Avy and Avy's Mom.

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy New Year."

The class walked a few blocks to the nearest mail box to mail Valentine's cards:

I love this picture.  You see the girls in their lovely feminine party dresses spinning around, & then you see Avy and the boys in the background discussing the finer points of Buzz Lightyear & Woody-dom.

Kids took turns passing out Valentine's to one another:

The 6th Annual Atwood Valentine Shindig.

Always a fun time.

Lots of food.

Lots of lovers licorice racing to the heart.

Lots of awesome white elephant gifts.

Ashley was the winner with her Valentine's Card that Kaari is modeling:

She took home this booty:

Kids Valentine's Day Party.

Hold it.

This was NOT a party.

I made it very certain to classify this small gathering as a playdate.

Linc was struck by Cupid:

Avy REALLY wanted to have a Valentine's Day Party for her friends.

I can't say no.

Seriously, it would be blasphemy for me to deny a request for a party.

But I had to technically call it a playdate.

Here's why:

1- Tat-man would never have approved the budget for another party in February.

2- When I party, I like the guest-list big.  The more the merrier.

Not this time.  My house can only handle so much in one month, so I told her she could only invite a few little friends.

3- When I party, I want the food to be worth driving over for & the activities to be worth taking a seat for.

Classifying this one as a playdate,

a) left Tyler feeling very positive about the kids utilizing their social skills with other children

b) gave me no guilt in informally asking only a few friends to bring their kids over

c) let me feel that throwing pretzels & leftover weekend party treats out on my counter was totally substantial

The playdate-goers took the job of passing out Valentine's VERY seriously:

As per tradition at the Tatwood household, the Valentine's Fairy stopped by for her annual drop & run visit:

Lindsay's Baby Shower.

My friend LY is having her baby girl in a couple weeks!

Woo-hoo!

Friend Whitney & I threw her a fondue shower.

Y to the U to the M.

YUM

We did a swiss/gruyere blend for the cheese

(thanks Kaari for manning this station all night)

& a peanut butter chocolate blend for the chocolate.

I was too busy stuffing my face with 30,000 calories all night to take any pics of the fondue itself.

Oh well.

Take my word for it that it was finger-licking good.

Here are the dipper tables:

Cheese

Chocolate

What a fun night with great people.

So I guess it's back to work around these parts.

My kids need a detox from sugar.

My house needs a deep clean.

Tat wants to count pennies with me.

Wish me luck!